Some roads lead to Simferopol

Yesterday afternoon, my first full day back in Simferopol, I sat down for a rest and a snack on a concrete slab on the side of Sevastopolskaya vulitsa and watched the traffic-clogged street move in fits and starts. I'd stopped into a magazin, where the lady in charge regarded me with what appeared to be scorn, and refused to reach for the plain packet of "Cossack's Fun" peanuts, instead offering me chicken or bacon flavored peanuts. I gave up trying for plain and took the chicken.

Oh, Simferopol. I'm easing in, taking my time, since that's the way in these parts. It's been lousy and raining outside, which resulted in a cancellation of my plans for today's meeting in Bakhchisaray. But happily, an invitation to a birthday party came in, and I've convinced a friend to roadtrip tomorrow to Koktebel' to check out the famous jazz festival going on this weekend. I'll miss Richard Galliano tonight, but catch Archie Schepp on Sunday.

And so next week the interviewing begins. I hope to start learning some more songs, take a few lessons in vocal style and maybe accordion if I can find a teacher willing to deal with an accordion-less student.

It's been fascinating to talk to folks here about the South Ossetian conflict, as you might imagine. I had a sense of how different the American and Russian media were spinning the conflict while in the states, but on the ground, the difference is really palpable. Western analyses of the tensions in Crimea about to bubble over seemed alarmist to me while in the US, and compared to how people here have been talking about it to me that feeling seems justified: the consensus from those I've spoken to seems to be that Crimeans aren't looking for war, but they think Russia did right in protecting its citizens in Tskhinvali. For those that opposed the Orange Revolution, Saakashvili's misstep (or response to Russian threats) and the recent (albeit familiar) political turmoil in Ukraine has only hardened convictions about Yushchenko as American puppet, in the same league of incompetence as the Georgian leader. But then, I haven't spoken to politicians here, and some Tatars I've talked to certainly regard Russia's recent meddling with more cynicism than others. Here's some of the latest in the Western press -- more, it appears, of Russia as provocateur. (I keep wondering why there hasn't been more press about the glaring example of Chechnya.)

Let's shift to a bit of good news: the online journal Triple Canopy is going to publish a version of our No Other Home project! So we're working on getting that together for next month's issue.