I have been spending way too much time on Twitter. This has had an unfortunate effect upon me posting here, but I've never compared myself to those "serious" bloggers. I don't even regularly review books, just randomly & sort of haphazardly (except during Halloween when I try a little harder). Anyway, this semester has been seriously boring and I have too much time on my hands - which does not mean I have anything interesting to update about. W/o school or employment I have all this free time & zero excitement. I did decide to read every ethnography on Ukraine ever published. Actually, this is not impressive b/c a) there are about 10 and b) I should have done it a long long time ago. Maybe I'll try to review some of them.
The point of this post is to talk about my much belated trip to Chicago this weekend. I have actually never been despite living pretty close. I also did not end up doing any of the standard tourist things b/c my friend who I went to see lives there.
Karyn's Raw Cafe
A friend of mine has recently become really interested in the raw food movement. I don't cook at all mostly due to laziness so the sheer amount of preparation (and creativity) needed to follow this sort of diet just boggles my mind. This Karyn person though is apparently pretty famous w/in the community of raw food aficionados so we went to her cafe in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The restaurant is part dining area part raw food store. One half is a small fairly swanky looking eating area, while the other is full of cook books, self-help "change your life" type manifestos, a small conference room in the back for weekly classes on how to become a raw food enthusiast, and lots of dehydrated foods.
All of the menu selections sound like "regular" food you've had before - ravioli, pizza, ice cream, nachos, etc - but are really very different from the food that inspired these creations. Now obviously they are different b/c they are made from raw or dehydratedfood, but they are also entirely vegan and mostly gluten-free, so you can imagine that limits the type of ingredients that goes into the dishes. Everything was delicious and I have zero complaints about the restaurant side of things. However, the store was just a bit too "new age" for me - not the food, but the literature being promoted. Such as the book that practically declared you could cure everything with a salt/water concoction known as sole. Clearly, some people are really in to this particular scene, its just not for me.
Ukrainian Village
My friend grew up here so we walked around this historic neighborhood for a while. Many Ukrainians have moved from the area, but you can still hear Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish spoken on the streets pretty regularly. We visited a couple of delis, which made me really nostalgic for L'viv. Also, b/c everyone I ever met there seems to be going back this summer - except me - seeing all the imported foods made me a little sad. I know it might be silly, but I really do love being in L'viv and while I'm not specifically attached to Ukrainian food it was just working yesterday to remind me of all the other things I am attached to.
We also visited several churches. Significantly you can find on the same long street, separated by several blocks two Ukrainian Catholic Churches (new calendar and old calendar), a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a Russian Orthodox Church, and a Polish (Latin) Catholic Church. That street is a fairly good indicator of the complicated religious history in Ukraine, where all those same churches (and many others) compete for parishioners, funding, and real estate.
Baha'i Temple
If you are ever anywhere near Wilmette (close to Evanston) you should go see this architectural masterpiece. It is one of the most amazing structures I have ever seen. Unfortunately, they were remodeling the gardens, but the pictures of the fountains and hedges shown in the brochure are magnificent. I have for a while been passively interested in Baha'i after hearing about it in a World Religion class, but I don't actually know that much about their beliefs or practices. What I learned from the flyer is that this temple in Wilmette is the national center for the Baha'i in the U.S. It was started in 1912, and finished about 40 yrs later. There are only seven temples in the world. It is 9 sided, domed, and carved all over with symbols of various faiths; Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and others. I'm not even going to try to describe the fabulous lace-like stone-work that is featured inside or out, I seriously could not do justice to the building.
I hope that was long enough and interesting enough to make up for my lack of posting. I will honestly try to do better.
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