Šime ide za Amerike (USA): Berkeley (arrival)

Belgrade - Frankfurt - Washington DC - San Francisco.

Posle seta letova koji su trajali skoro ceo dan, došao sam po kalendaru u isti dan popodne. I pored klope (ne u United Airlines, samo u Lufthansi), pića i odabira muzike, novina i filmova na ekranu ispred mene (od tri i po, jedini koji je vredan pomena je Velika lepota - Le Grande Belezza), jedva sam čekao da se vratim hodanju. A čudio sam se japancima koji su se istezali i vežbali u prolazu aviona u Turkish Airlines-u pre par godina...

After all those flights which lasted an entire day, I arrived the same day afternoon (speaking from the perspective of the calendar, of course). Apart from food (not in United Airlines, just in Lufthansa), drinks and a variety of music, newspapers and movies in front of me (from three and a half I've seen, the only one I'd recommend is The great beauty - Le Grande Belezza), I couldn't stand to get back to walking. And I was wondering to Japanese travelers a few years ago in Turkish Airlines when they were doing stretches and exercises in between rows of seats...

Nakon 13. godina, ponovo u USA, samo ovaj put na krajnjem Zapadu i ne u kontekstu (isključivo) srpske dijaspore. Trenutno smešten u Berkliju (Berkeley), gradu koji čini deo zaliva San Francisko (San Francisco Bay Area). Evo nekoliko utisaka iz ovog lepog grada...

After almost 13 years, again in USA, just this time on the far west and not surrounded by (exclusively) Serbian community. Temporarily I'm in Berkeley, which is a part of San Francisco bay area. Here are a couple of starting impressions from this nice city...

Veći deo grada koji sam video je rezidencijalan - male kuće sa baštama koje se protežu ispred i iza kuće, različitih veličina i stilova, u ulicama koje imaju po dve hiljade brojeva. Ulice i bašte su pune biljaka najrazličitijih vrsta. 

Most part of the city seems residential - small houses with gardens in the front porch and in the back yard, different in size and style, in streets with several thousand house numbers. The streets and gardens are full of various plants.

Iznenadio me je veliki broj oldtajmera na ulicama, a tu i tamo se vide neka kola iz Evrope.

I was surprised by a great number of old cars in the streets, and here a there one can see an European car too.

"Aktivniji" deo grada je okružen prodavnicama i restoranima različitih američkih zajednica i kultura: indijska i pakistanska, meksička, tajlandska, afganistanska, korejska i vijetnamska hrana otvara apetit... Takođe, nisam primetio puno grafita po gradu, ali često se u blizini ovih objekata nalaze veliki murali. Murali, pretežno realistično/figurativne prirode, sa puno boja, prikazuju tradicionalnu i savremenu kulturu određene zajednice, tematizujući određena pitanja (npr. granica) i prikazujući raznolikost kulturnih aktivnosti same zajednice. Najprisutnije, koje sam primetio, su afro-američka i hispano, tj. čikano (Chicano).

The "active" part of the city is surrounded by shops and restaurants of different American communities and cultures: Hindu and Pakistan, Mexican, Thailand, Afghanistan, Korean and Vietnamese... all the smells are just opening the appetite! Also, I haven't seen many graffiti, but close to this places one can easily find great murals. Murals are dominantly realistic/figurative in its visual appearance, multicolored, presenting traditional and contemporary culture of a community, focusing on certain questions (for example, physical and mental borders) and making visible the diversity and activities of the community itself. The most available ones, as far as I have seen, are African-American and Hispanic, i.e. Chicano ones.

Klima deluje prolećno-jesenja, bez obzira šta je avgust. Jutra i večeri su prohladni, dok u toku dana bude toplije. Berkli je pod sivim oblacima do 11, 12 sati, potom se oni povlače dalje ka moru...

The weathers seems springish-autumish, although it's August. Mornings and evenings are chilly, while during the day it gets warmer. Berkeley now is under clouds till about noon, while afterwards they are retreating to the sea...

Nešto što mi se jako sviđa, pored klope, je i "običaj" ostavljanja nepotrebnih kućnih stvari - od odeće, preko nameštaja do tehnike - u komšiluku, ispred kuća. Nije reč o đubretu, već najčešće o čistim i funkcionalnim stvarima koje ljudima više ne trebaju. Re-use filozofija. Mene su naravno privukle knjige - upravo čitam Kontakt Karla Sagana (Carl Sagan) koji sam pronašao u blizini, a nekoliko dana kasnije Fukoovu Istoriju seksualnosti i Sartrov Egzistencijalizam i ljudske emocije. Pored toga, tu i tamo se nađe drvena kućica sa natpisom "slobodna biblioteka" sa parolom - "uzmi i vrati".

Something that I've noticed and I like, apart from the variety of food, is a "custom" to leave unnecessary home stuff - from clothing, furniture to technique - in the neighborhood, in from of one's house. It's not garbage in question, but (mostly) clean and functional items which people simply do not need anymore (yes, I'm a hoarder). Re-use philosophy. Of course, I was driven by books - I'm reading an old "pocket" version of Carl Sagan's Contact  found nearby, and later on Foucault's The history of sexuality and Sartre's Existentialism and human emotions. Apart from that, here and there I could notice a small wooden house with an inscription "free library" with an only rule "take and return".

Za kraj ovog prvog bloga, upoznajte se sa mojim kompanjonom, Sali, uz pesmu Vilsona Piketa.

For the check out of this first blog, meet with my companion, Sally, with a song by Wilson Pickett.