Point/Counterpoint

Simply because Jadin's last posting was terrible, I am here with an update.

 I made it home. No need to worry any longer.

In addition, the launch was a party of lavish extravagance. And by that I mean, the 16 of us sat around and drank all of the wine. The website looks ballin' though. 

My heart belongs to Slovenia. In an alley where they sell horse burgers.

Day before the launch

So today , we went to Bled and did some touristy things for the day, to decompress a bit. It was a great day, and now we're back in the hostel working again. Hopefully everything is ready for tomorrow. 

Radicaltown? Really?

As we’ve become more used to the day-to-day workings of Metelkova, in turn, Metelkova has gotten more used to us.  It’s easier to walk up to someone and strike up conversation, easier to float from concert to concert, our interviews are more vibrant and the dialogue is more provocative, and I feel more comfortable taking pictures, more like an observer and less like an intruder.  I by no means have “figured this place out”—to do that would take much more time – but I know what to expect when I sit in on an interview.  Largely, the people here see Metelkova as an outlet for creative expression, an active body of those who don’t fit into the mold of mainstream society.   They recognize the changes occurring, like the generational gap and the relationship with the government, but still remain hopeful and proud of their accomplishments these past 15 years.  And after being around these people consistently for the past three weeks, their reasoning doesn’t seem so radical.  Once I get past the “radical” nature of their appearance, the natty dreadlocks and unkempt beards, I find that their alternative, radical way of life isn’t the shocking, chaotic whirlwind I pictured.  They drink coffee in the mornings, do their work during the day, hang out with their friends and organize cool events.  To me, the stigma of Metelkova as “Crazytown” probably makes up a lot of the problematic relationships with the outside world.  

today II.

haiku:

american girl:
a ticket to the u.s.
or simply awesome?

i've been really remorseful of the fact that i've only really met one or two girls here of my own accord. the rest have primarily been dudes who talk to me about a) music and/or b) being american. it has really made me wonder if american females are somewhat fetishized in eastern european cultures or not. at home i get talked to fairly often but not like here. there have been several of us on the trip who have been hit on inappropriately or proposed marriage. i don't know if these creepy dudes know we're americans before they talk to us or what. i've had a few guys keep trying to communicate with me even though i only speak english and they barely speak it at all. i commend the effort, in a way. i never thought that i would be able to have a conversation with a non-english speakers for such long periods of time before. its really shown me simultaneously that knowing english is a definite privilege, language is a huge factor in life and that we're not so different when we can understand one another.

today.

coffee. the breeze. dinosaurs. wooden earrings. antiques. thai sandwich. walking. sandals. work. laundry. dirty. family news. anniversary. biggest jerk in the world. yarp.

Haiku 2: My Clothes Smell.

Oh Metelkova.

The culture of beer and smokes.

Miha. Miha. Me.

-Emily and Chelsea

Haiku 1.

Slovenia is
not such a bad place to be.
It's raining though. Damn.

"These days are dark, but we won't fall"

Sitting in a weird little room with the same Ikea rugs and hanging lamps I have at home, small round wicker seats, shredded red couches, and Arabic-themed wall decor is unsettling. But not so much as watching everyone on this trip slowly lose their minds while sitting in said room. This trip was sort of like the Real World in that there were "16 strangers picked to live in hostel, a hotel, another hostel, and then the original hostel again together" while being assigned a job they had no real say in. Now we all have to scramble to succeed at this job. Like the season where everyone had to work in a tanning salon together.
That's a great point, self. Metelkova is like a tanning salon. No one is sure why anyone actually goes there; the people who work there are overworked, exhausted, smell of chemicals, and may or may not be robots. There is also bizarre art on the walls of Metelkova, much in the way that the art and posters around tanning salons may contain beautiful things but are terrifying.
Anyway, the point is this is crunch time. We are lucky that we get along so well in general because otherwise we may have all punched each other into moving bicycles, or shoved each other off the 3 bridges, or poisoned each others' crepes and Laskos.
In addition, it is raining today but we shall be wheatpasting up a storm with flyers for our coming out party.

Thus, the immortal words of Harry and the Potters is a terrific choice. These days are dark, Harrys from two different books dwelling within the same band, but we will not fall. Because that would be painful.

crunch time.

so im chillin in the eastern room at hostel celica getting a ton of writing done for the website. the web designers gave a call for all finalized writing by 18.00 tonight and i plan on having some good stuff for them. its been diffucult to focus on writing in the past week since so many interesting things have been going on! we have met some extremely interesting people within metelkova's organizational structure and outside of it.

two nights ago miriam, chelsea and i went to a vegan cooking night and helped make and eat some awesome pizza. it was interesting to meet people our age who utilize the free spaces at metelkova efficiently and regularly. we wondered if a similar space would be successful in a place like baltimore and our opinions were mixed. i've talked to a lot of apathetic young adults here and it was really nice to meet some that we were essentially on the same mental level with. coincedentally, they also love frisbee. how awesome. we got some weird looks from people who weren't playing but we eventually got a lot of people to play with us. it was great to feel a sense of communal enjoyment with people from various places around the world.

yesterday we had a few interviews and i got most of one 'article' done. it was rainy and cold last night so most of us decided to stay indoors and work online instead of socializing. this morning we had a brief meeting before being let loose to work as we pleased. i had just enough time to shower before miriam and i went to metelkova 6 to try and speak with someone at stripburger/ljubljana forum. the guy we met was extremely nice and miriam blabbed most of the time about all the comics she reads back home. i spent most of the time pouring over the older issues of stripburger as well as some special side projects. apparenty an issue just came out that hasn't been in stores yet and we were able to each buy one for a slightly discounted price. i think we will go back at another time and buy more. i envision my luggage being full of comics, presents and dirty clothes. i think i may have to leave things here. oh well.

we also went to see mor at the second hand market and i ended up getting a plaid long sleeve shirt. i just couldnt resist, i suppose. afterwards i came right back to celica and got right to work. at the moment im writing a piece about the shift from being more punk-inspired to expanding to involve all kinds of subcultures and entertainment. im also missing out on lunch and hoping with all of my might that someone brings food back for me.

blog #1: for scott!

today we met with an artist named andreas who recently painted a huge black and white rat on the metelkova 6 building. we saw his workshop/living area and he was great about answering our questions. i asked him if he thought that graffiti in metelkova inspired people to tag other parts of ljubljana and he said yes. i asked if i would be able to talk to him at a later time about it as well. one of the mini-articles that i plan to write will be about graffiti in metelkova in terms of its meaning and its effect on people. i am not sure if people tag & decorate other areas of ljubljana because they want to emulate serious artists, get their name out there or cant do anything more elaborate out of fear of getting caught.

andreas mentioned that there are no formal rules for creating art in metelkova but i suppose that it is almost expected that he will add to the art around metelkova since he is an artist-in-residence. he also mentioned that the artists are asked to kindly respect other pieces of art while painting in metelkova. he did say that "nothing special" was underneath where the rat now is. laura commented that she wonders just how an artist can decide whether or not another piece of art is worthy of painting over or not. andreas stated that a lot of the art that is around metelkova has been there for quite some time. i know there is some kind of installation going on in the front of celica at the moment and hopefully we can find out more about it. im glad we are here while something new is being constructed.

later in the day a handful of us went out in search of food. the boys wanted mcdonalds (surprise) so miriam, chelsea and i went to mercator and bought some bananas, bread and yogurt to enjoy at star park. while there, my new friend pixie showed up! i met him at metelkova and learned that he is in a slovenian punk band. we talked for a while about american music and his opinions on how metelkova has changed over the past 5 years. i would also like to write a piece about metelkovas change from a strictly punk area then expanding to a more inclusive, varied space and its pros and cons. i hope to talk with pixie again if i run into him at metelkova but probably will not. oddly enough, he said he had something for me and pulled a cd case out of his bag. he said the cds were of slovenian hardcore bands and i am very excited to listen to it. he also plans to e-mail me to stay in touch and talk about music. before coming on this trip i didnt think i would meet people that would become my friends or that i would plan to stay in touch with anyone. its a nice surprise.

i will now go back to reading stripburger (slovenian comic) and waiting for the installation in celica tonight.