(no subject)
ah. today was wonderful. i am going to type an update to post later so i don't forget. but so, the kgb/genocide museum isn't open on mondays, so we ended up at vero cafe until like 16.00, then we went to this talk by the lithuanian jewish community, which i wasn't sure i would really care about but then ended up being pretty interesting, like talking about the challenges of rebuilding the jewish community and the things the jewish center does there, and the issues with like, lithuania trying to equate soviet oppression of ethnic lithuanians with the holocaust and saying that that basically is the same as being genocided by the nazis.
then clare and miriam and i were headed back on the bus and clare almost got fined by the controllers because she had a student ticket but not an international student id (when the only requirement to get one is that you are a student somewhere... so it's basically like having an extra student id which doesn't really seem to make sense since there's no additional requirement to get it except that you pay like $20?) and she was like but i'm a student, i have an australian student id, they sold me the student ticket, i'm not paying the fine. they seem like they just check people until they find someone to fine, because miriam and i also only had our "normal" student IDs, but we didn't even get threatened. so. then we got off at the next stop and walked back to meet up with clare so as not to abandon her but also we didn't want to get off at the same stop because we didn't want to have to argue our way out of a fine either. but she ended up not getting fined. so.
but so then miriam and i went to the chinese place near the dorms, and they just didn't bring the bill (maybe they don't bring it unless you ask? not sure how that works here) but we ended up being there for like 3 hours, talking about all kinds of stuff. she is vegan and into marine biology and tropical ecology so we ranged over food and agriculture and environmentalism and racism and classism and how much peta sucks and got into queer stuff like gender identity and socialization and ah it was wonderful to get all ranty with someone else who is also interested in the topics and can also be ranty. and she like brought up this guy she knew who like grew up black in the south and how like, he feels like the north is actually more racist, and how it's more insidious, like in the south it's blatant, so you can just be like, oh, that guy was a racist asshole, and move on, but in the north, it's subtle, and so you're never *quite* sure if racism was at play or not, and so like, it just sortof makes you feel crazy. and he said he actually prefers the blatant racism of the south because in a lot of ways it's easier to deal with. fascinating. i'd never really thought about that before. and then we talked about how that could relate to like feminism and how like because sexism is much more subtle today than in the past then it's harder to see it as a systemic thing and it's easier to just say like "oh that guy was an asshole" and ignore the larger system of oppression and also if you notice it it makes you feel crazy because everyone else pretends not to. AND then because no one wants to be crazy people learn to ignore it and then decide that it doesn't exist and so it's really hard to rally people around it.
THEN we went to iki (the grocery store) and i found thread! so i don't have to just keep pilfering people's little emergency sewing kits (i KNOW i have one at home that i meant to bring, but if i did bring it i'll be damned if i can find it.) to patch my pants with. and then back from iki, and we ended up talking in the hallway for like over an hour and a half. clare joined us for part of it and also briefly rachel. AND i finished the patch on my pants! (hurray! but i have to put on more because now the other leg is ripping. i am just going to cover my shorts in patches.)
THEN i went in the kitchen and jean was like, petting my head, because my hair is sortof fluffy (but not as bad as when it's actually clean. especially when it's actually clean with shampoo, of which i didn't bring any. hellsyes bar of soap for shampoo...) which then turned into random back rub which was super nice because my back always hurrrrts here and then everyone was like heeeyyyy when did you start giving out back rubs i want one! and he was like ahhh i don't have time maybe tomorrow! and ran away. he is hilarious.
anyway.
and now it is midnight, and i should go to bed. or read that story for avram's class. but probably mostly go to bed. i will do that soon.
also, i have been having really weird dreams. i dreamed that dad got really pissed at me for not rebooting my computer often enough, and he told me he was never buying me a christmas present ever again. and i dreamed i was at a bar with someone who i've been feeling some bitter anger towards, and our positions were reversed, and woke up feeling self-righteous because i was more or less nice instead of mean. and last night i dreamed that i met ani difranco and she was a total asshole. WEIRD. also at some point since i've been here i had a really weird dream about a new car that drove itself and was like all aluminum and looked sortof like a motorcycle but also a car. i don't know. it was a dream.
then clare and miriam and i were headed back on the bus and clare almost got fined by the controllers because she had a student ticket but not an international student id (when the only requirement to get one is that you are a student somewhere... so it's basically like having an extra student id which doesn't really seem to make sense since there's no additional requirement to get it except that you pay like $20?) and she was like but i'm a student, i have an australian student id, they sold me the student ticket, i'm not paying the fine. they seem like they just check people until they find someone to fine, because miriam and i also only had our "normal" student IDs, but we didn't even get threatened. so. then we got off at the next stop and walked back to meet up with clare so as not to abandon her but also we didn't want to get off at the same stop because we didn't want to have to argue our way out of a fine either. but she ended up not getting fined. so.
but so then miriam and i went to the chinese place near the dorms, and they just didn't bring the bill (maybe they don't bring it unless you ask? not sure how that works here) but we ended up being there for like 3 hours, talking about all kinds of stuff. she is vegan and into marine biology and tropical ecology so we ranged over food and agriculture and environmentalism and racism and classism and how much peta sucks and got into queer stuff like gender identity and socialization and ah it was wonderful to get all ranty with someone else who is also interested in the topics and can also be ranty. and she like brought up this guy she knew who like grew up black in the south and how like, he feels like the north is actually more racist, and how it's more insidious, like in the south it's blatant, so you can just be like, oh, that guy was a racist asshole, and move on, but in the north, it's subtle, and so you're never *quite* sure if racism was at play or not, and so like, it just sortof makes you feel crazy. and he said he actually prefers the blatant racism of the south because in a lot of ways it's easier to deal with. fascinating. i'd never really thought about that before. and then we talked about how that could relate to like feminism and how like because sexism is much more subtle today than in the past then it's harder to see it as a systemic thing and it's easier to just say like "oh that guy was an asshole" and ignore the larger system of oppression and also if you notice it it makes you feel crazy because everyone else pretends not to. AND then because no one wants to be crazy people learn to ignore it and then decide that it doesn't exist and so it's really hard to rally people around it.
THEN we went to iki (the grocery store) and i found thread! so i don't have to just keep pilfering people's little emergency sewing kits (i KNOW i have one at home that i meant to bring, but if i did bring it i'll be damned if i can find it.) to patch my pants with. and then back from iki, and we ended up talking in the hallway for like over an hour and a half. clare joined us for part of it and also briefly rachel. AND i finished the patch on my pants! (hurray! but i have to put on more because now the other leg is ripping. i am just going to cover my shorts in patches.)
THEN i went in the kitchen and jean was like, petting my head, because my hair is sortof fluffy (but not as bad as when it's actually clean. especially when it's actually clean with shampoo, of which i didn't bring any. hellsyes bar of soap for shampoo...) which then turned into random back rub which was super nice because my back always hurrrrts here and then everyone was like heeeyyyy when did you start giving out back rubs i want one! and he was like ahhh i don't have time maybe tomorrow! and ran away. he is hilarious.
anyway.
and now it is midnight, and i should go to bed. or read that story for avram's class. but probably mostly go to bed. i will do that soon.
also, i have been having really weird dreams. i dreamed that dad got really pissed at me for not rebooting my computer often enough, and he told me he was never buying me a christmas present ever again. and i dreamed i was at a bar with someone who i've been feeling some bitter anger towards, and our positions were reversed, and woke up feeling self-righteous because i was more or less nice instead of mean. and last night i dreamed that i met ani difranco and she was a total asshole. WEIRD. also at some point since i've been here i had a really weird dream about a new car that drove itself and was like all aluminum and looked sortof like a motorcycle but also a car. i don't know. it was a dream.