Animals in America

Most of my travel time these days takes place in Europe. When I think of traveling, my default setting is packing for an excavation, museum research, and maybe a few days of sightseeing in France. I know what I need, what it will cost, and what I will encounter. It is sometimes a bit of a shock for me when I actually get to travel in my own homeland. The climates, the cultures, the landscapes, the food, vary so much considering we are all part of the same country. One of the most striking contrasts is in nature and wildlife.

Growing up in the U.S., I think we often take for granted how lucky we are to have old forests and diverse species of animals still running around. Our continent has only been inhabited by modern man for about 20,000 years whereas modern man has existed for at least 45,000 years in Europe. The cultures and societies that thrived in both areas differed significantly as well, i.e. the ever-expanding Western world consuming vast quantities of natural resources versus the smaller indigenous societies of the Americas using less and connecting with nature on a different level. The results of these relationships are evident today. We have tons of national parks in America, and within these parks, as well as in less populated areas in the country, we have many thriving animal populations.

As human populations grew, European societies learned domestication from the Mesopotamian world, but still supplemented their diets with wild game. Some of these species were hunted into extinction, or were killed off more recently because they were threats to farmers who raised domesticated animals for their livelihood. In all of my years of travel, the only wild animals I have seen roaming free across the European landscape are red deer (which I saw for the first time last year!), a fox, snakes, squirrels, and a variety of birds.

After my research in Europe this spring, I came back to Michigan to see my family for a few days, returned to Minneapolis for a week, then headed out west on a road trip with Reed to visit my friend Ami and her husband, both of whom are archaeologists. We traveled through South Dakota and stayed in the Black Hills for five days. Our journey continued west as we drove through Nebraska, into Wyoming, and arrived at Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado. During this trip alone, I saw an incredible diversity of wildlife: pronghorn, white tail deer, mule deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, yellow-bellied marmots, prairie dogs, bison, snakes, turkeys, hawks, eagles, squirrels, chipmunks and a huge variety of smaller birds. On a trip to Yellowstone in 2007 I also saw bears, wolf tracks, and a large male moose walking in a stream about ten feet from us. Granted these animals were mostly in national parks, but the fact is you can see these creatures outside of parks as well, such as in northern Minnesota.

Here are a few highlights from my recent trip as well as a few from my trip in 2007.

Reed was either afraid of rattlesnakes, or he was disappointed we didn't see any... (Badlands, SD - 2013)

Deer in Ami's backyard (Custer, SD - 2007)

Prairie Dog! (Custer, SD - 2013)

Bison...I just want to cuddle with one! (Custer, SD - 2013)

Pronghorns -- saw lots of these on both trips. Their butts are white and easy to spot (Custer, SD - 2007)

Wild Asses are apparently a thing (Custer, SD - 2007)

Not-so-fearful Chipmunks on our hike to Harney Peak (Custer State Park, SD - 2013)

Bighorn Sheep owning the road (Custer State Park, SD - 2007)

Funny story, after walking out of the visitor's center I said to my friend Randan, "Wow, their  fake deer look quite real..." And his reply, "...Yeaaahhhh...because they are." (Garden of the Gods, CO - 2007)

Chicaree (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO - 2013)

Reed and I had a surprise visitor show up for breakfast (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO  - 2013)

I named our Elk, Missy.

She even smiled for the camera!

Brown Bear just noming away (Yellowstone, WY - 2007)

This moose came walking down the stream just after we crossed (Yellowstone, WY - 2007)

Seeing such animals in their natural settings is a humbling reminder that we are lucky to have them because they simply do not exist in other parts of the world, and that we must consider their well-being too, and not just our own. Hope you all enjoyed the photos and are inspired to get some nature today!

And be sure to stay tuned, I am heading out in two weeks for the Republic of Georgia for the first time! Yay for someplace new!

Going Home Is the Longest Trip You’ll Take

In most cases, the title of this post is only poetic. After a long journey one looks forward to, nay, craves the comfort and familiarity of home. Getting there can sometimes feel like you are crossing the world several times over. Everything takes longer. The night before your flight never seems to pass and sleep eludes you in your excitement and anticipation. Security checks at the airport seem as though they would be faster if they simply strip-searched everyone. Taxiing the plane to and from the runway goes at a snail’s pace. If you are fortunate enough to have someone greet you at the gate after passport control and customs, your journey may be over because the minute you get a hug from someone you love, you are home.

In other cases, the title of the post is literal. I have already experienced what I described above. I traveled from Dijon to Paris last week, spent a night, caught a plane, and landed in Detroit where my Mom and Greg greeted me. I spent a few days with them before hopping in a car again and traveling three or four hours over to Kalamazoo, Michigan for a conference where I was presenting a paper. The weekend passed nicely, but my longing for Minneapolis was distracting. I ventured back to eastern Michigan to spend Mother’s Day with my mom, the first in several years, and the day after.

This morning I boarded a train in Port Huron at 6:20 AM and set out for home. The first train, heading for Chicago, was to be 6.5 hours roughly. Due to freight traffic, we added another 45 minutes onto our journey. Luckily I had a long 2.5 hour layover scheduled, which did not affect my journey much. I met an old roommate for lunch and relaxed for a short time. My train leaving Chicago was so prompt with its departure I almost missed it! The prospect of spending another 8.5 hours on a train did not excite me, but it meant that with each passing hour I would be closer to home.

An hour out of Chicago, we received word that we needed to stop because the train in front of ours hit a car who tried to cross. Delay me all you want on my first train, but my second train, my key to Minneapolis, that is just frustrating. Ok, only half an hour delay, not terrible. Thirty minutes later we were told it would be another thirty minutes. Thirty minutes after that, we were told an hour. Then we were told we had to backtrack to the last station and pick up people whose train behind us dropped them off and they still need a ride home.

At this point, I have been waiting on the train longer than I have been progressing westward. I try to be flexible most days, and I keep telling myself that I have already waited three months to get home to Reed, Mea Kitty, my home; I can wait another three hours (plus 7.5). While I am calm about the situation, I am mighty damn frustrated. I am also wondering what I will do to keep myself occupied for another eight hours so that my trip home does not seem to take any longer than it already has; I definitely prefer the poetic version to the literal. 

My “Day” in Durham, England

As the weather in France today has taken a turn for the worse (I had several days of 70 degree weather and lots of sun, and now I am back to cold, rain, and clouds…), I thought it would be the perfect day to write about my trip to Durham, England. My last post discussed my trip to Edinburgh, but I neglected to say why I was there in the first place – I had to go there so I could get to my conference in Durham. The prices and routes for getting anywhere in Europe are still a mystery to me, and since I could easily rant about this for several blog posts, I will save my thoughts for such an occasion. The important thing to know is that Durham was my final destination for another academic conference.

This conference was a bit different than the one I attended in Luxembourg because the subject was “Material Religion” (the material side of religion, including objects used in rituals, representations of religious subjects, the body’s role in rituals, etc.), and my audience included sociologists, anthropologists, art historians, theologians, geographers…I am sure some other disciplines too! To my knowledge, I was the only archaeologist attending, but since I used many modern theories and approaches to understand my own material better, I actually felt quite at home here. I also was fortunate enough to present on the first day, and therefore, had little time to get nervous! I had positive feedback on my presentation, and one colleague told me later it was one of the most creative papers he’s ever seen and that I seemed right at home speaking in front of others (thank you, high school theatre and other various forms of public speaking I endured throughout my pre-college education)! Overall, it was an interesting conference, and I enjoyed listening to papers on different or new topics, and getting to know people from other disciplines.

Thanks S. Schaefer for the photo!

Backtracking a bit, I arrived in Durham Monday afternoon via the train from Edinburgh. The conference lasted from Tuesday to Thursday and went nearly from sun-up to sun-down. Needless to say, I did not have much time to see anything in the city during the conference. I anticipated this and planned Friday as my extra day for sightseeing. I did see one awesome sight during the conference – this room looked quite similar to the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies! We dined in it and even made sure I was on the Gryffindor side, just to be safe! Apparently other scenes from the films were shot throughout the castle.

The weather was beautiful during the conference, but rained/misted on Friday of course. I spent the day just sort of strolling about; walking was particularly nice after sitting in a conference for three days. 

This is a view of the River Wear from one of the many bridges in Durham. The river actually loops around the highest hill in the area almost creating a peninsula.

It actually looked a bit more like Fall, but the green is slowly coming back. Below is another one of the bridges in Durham, though much lower than the one from the photo above. The pyramid-looking thing in front of it had a niche on the other side; maybe it was for light/a small fire? 

I did manage to visit the Durham Cathedral, which has been voted Britain’s favorite building. The giant, awesome door-knocker is on one of the doors to the Cathedral. If someone sought sanctuary for a crime or any reason, they could knock on this door and were allowed to stay in the protection of the church for about a month. It’s really large and it has interesting columns inside which are all carved with unique geometric designs (no photos inside, sorry!). In the monk’s living area, there was also an impressive library with books in beautiful bookcases that lined the wall and a lovely collection of Anglo-Saxon carved stone art and crosses. It is possible to visit the tower of the cathedral, but I thought paying 5£ to walk up five flights of stairs was a bit much considering the exchange rate.

I was a bit disappointed that the Durham Castle was closed for a private event the day I wanted to see the rest of it. At least I had enough sense to snoop around a bit the night of the HP dinner! I took a few photos near the entrance anyway.

But the best thing I saw in Durham, were signs of life! Flowers! Yes, flowers. I skipped most of this year’s crappy Midwest winter, but it does not stop me from being excited to see these gems! Spring is just around the corner, friends! I promise you! 

Another view of the cathedral. 

The other side of the River Wear which surrounds the hill.

Edinburgh, Even Better the Second Time

I first traveled to Edinburgh in 2006 with my mother and step-father who met up with me after I finished an excavation. We spent several days in and around the city seeing the highlights, such as the gardens, the castle, and a trip to nearby Loch Lomond. With all of the major sights under my belt, I had some freedom to experience Edinburgh in a different way the second time around. Unfortunately, this trip was limited to a single day. I arrived from Paris at 8:30 AM, took the thirty minute bus ride into the city, and could not check into my hotel until 2:00 PM. I had time to kill and had no definitive plans. My train for Durham was leaving the next day at 3:30 PM. I had about 30 hours to spend in Edinburgh – how to make the most of it?

Serendipity was on my side this day and it proved to be one of my most lovely and enjoyable trips in all of my European experiences. Feeling rather defeated about not getting into my hotel and having a shower, I decided to walk around the city. I was staying in Old Town and was already near many of the important sights. I headed along the Royal Mile towards the famous castle on a hill in the center of the city. It was already busy with tourists and I was thankful I was not entering again as I already saw it in 2006. I did walk to the top though to take in the city at dawn/early morning, and as it was a clear day I could see all of the beautiful snow-topped hills surrounding the city.

Being long overdue for a coffee, I found a charming little café near Saint Giles Church, adequately named Saint Giles Café Bar. The staff was nurturing and attentive as they seemed to sense my fatigue. A latte and bacon and maple syrup-topped waffle later, I was feeling a bit more prepared to face the day. I strolled up and down the Royal Mile, and then descended into the more modern areas of the city. I wandered through an old cemetery at the bottom of the central hill before moving on to the Prince’s Gardens, which are, obviously, much more beautiful in the summer when the lush plants are in bloom. It is a good place to have a rest and to people watch for a while as well as taking in the castle from below. 

While walking along the main road, I could see in the distance several structures on the top of a hill that looked like ancient ruins, though no Romans, and certainly no Greeks built cities that far north. Climbing the hill to investigate brought me to a new area of the city I had not explored before. The various signs around the hill and replicas of ancient ruins explained their history and presence in the city. This hill, known as Calton Hill, has a partial, and I think accurately sized, replica of the Pantheon from Athens. This structure, along with its intellectual fame of the 18th century, gave Edinburgh the nickname of “the Athens of the North.”

I was a bit too beat to do anything else after that, though I passed yet another larger, older, and more interesting cemetery on my way back, I did not have the energy to explore further. I crossed the beautifully painted Waverly Bridge, and returned to my hotel for a much needed nap and shower. Feeling refreshed and hungry, I set out for dinner. It was only 5:30, and I decided it was much too early to eat, so I descended the hill yet again, and basically walked all around the castle from below again. I really worked up an appetite at this point!

At the café this morning I inquired if they could recommend a place with great haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made up of sheep parts, onions, and spices cooked inside of a sheep or goat’s stomach. I tried this in 2006, much to my mother’s disgust, and loved it. It is peppery and fully of rich flavor. They recommended a place called The Arcade Haggis and Whiskey House, a charming little hole in the wall I walked past several times that day and failed to see until I actively sought it out. It was quite small and inviting with very wonderful décor. I did not even bother to look at the menu and requested the haggis with the whiskey sauce (as I was instructed this morning). It was phenomenal! It was served stacked in a circular form with mashed potatoes as the base, mashed turnips in the middle, and the haggis on top with the whiskey sauce served all around it. I ate the entire thing. I wandered back to my hotel and flopped in bed to enjoy my incredible food coma.

The next morning I had a meeting planned with a professor in the early part of the day. After our meeting, I still had a few hours to kill before my train. I decided to find a vintage and antique clothing store I read about called W. Armstrong & Son. They had an incredible selection of old clothing from Victorian nightgowns, to 1970s maxi dresses, and a range of furs and various uniforms. There really were some fantastic pieces, though nothing I liked fit me unfortunately even after an hour of browsing their collections.

Just up the hill from Armstrong’s was a sort of screen-printing artist collective called TheRed Door Gallery. They had some really unique pieces and fun subjects that were definitely worth the look. Normally I am not much of a shopper, but after leaving this store I walked past another one that I just could not resist. The store, Ness, has all sorts of cute plaids in various happy color combinations. It was all so cheerful! Shockingly, I splurged and bought myself a bag, though it was probably the only thing in the store that had no plaid on it. Oh well.

So, if you just have a short time in Edinburgh, I highly recommend getting to a few of these major sights I have described (and also The Real Mary King’s Close – a sort of famous ghost tour that takes you to underground parts of the city. I did this in 2006 also and it was one of the most interesting and unusual tours I have ever been on!). I definitely recommend getting to The Arcade for some haggis. If haggis is not your thing, they have many other traditional Scottish dishes that are also worth trying, as well as at least six shelves of different whiskeys! 

“Yippie Yah Yei Schweinebacke!”

Ok, so I thought I’d be done posting about Germany, but I keep remembering so many good things I learned that need to be shared. I guess this discussion works for American movies brought to Europe in general.

I do not think I need to explain that many English films get dubbed when they go abroad (not all though, many just have subtitles). Well, since I typically do not understand the dubbing I just watch and laugh because it sounds funnier in another language, and in the case of a piece of crap film like Twilight, the French version was actually better because the actors/ACTRESS actually had some emotion in their voices (see note below on why I was watching Twilight).

Anyway, John the German and I were discussing the Die Hard films on day and he dropped this phrase on me: “Yippie Yah Yei Schweinebacke!” I asked him to repeat it and I said, “Ha! It rhymes!” He was confused because those phrases obviously do not rhyme, but then I explained the English version. I needed to know, “What does ‘Schweinebacke’ mean?” Turns out, this traditional German insult means “pig cheek.” This led to a good long laugh for me. I am not sure exactly why this translation tickled my fancy so much. Perhaps it was the good fortune that there is actually a phrase in German that mimics the sound of the English version,

or that the insult is strange, or that it just seems so innocent compared to the much more offensive English phrase. Oh! On a side note, there is a funny site called “Thumbs and Ammo” where they photo-shopped the guns out of scenes from action films and replaced them with a thumbs-up! Some are pretty hilarious and inspired me to make this gem combining the German phrase and one of their images.

Die Hard, rated G for all ages!

In addition to movies being dubbed, the titles are often changed. Sometimes it is a literal translation into the other language, or they are changed and added to. Brokeback Mountain, for example, becomes Le Secret de Brokeback Mountain. In other cases they keep the title in English, but change the phrase. I have not found a good explanation for why they do this exactly. It seems that the titles which receive this treatment might simply be difficult to translate or they do not have an equivalent word in that language. For example, Step Up became Sexy Dance and The Hangover became Very Bad Trip (it seems crazy the French do not have a word for ‘hangover,’ instead they say someone had ‘too much wine’).

Hopefully this was not overly boring for those of you who are not into films. As a movie lover, and I suppose as an anthropologist, I find it fascinating to see which aspects of films and movie culture are exported and modified to fit a different culture. The best part is, there is always something new to discover or learn about this because there are always new TV shows and films entering the movie world!

**Oh! And as for watching Twilight. This was two years ago, I believe, when I was staying with a friend in Dijon. She had to work for the day and I wanted to practice listening to French. I looked at her movie collection and thought, “Which of these is going to have a simple story line and basic dialogue which I may be able to understand…” Well, it proved to be that one! The funniest part was that after about an hour and a half of listening to and reading subtitles in the French, I became tired and switched back to English. I regretted it immediately. My god, the French made the film bearable because the actors actually had some feeling in their voices, but the original film…my god…how on earth were they allowed to make four of these movies?**