Macedonian Schnopps, Serbian Stories, Polish Plans

A lot has happened since my last update, but I've been busy and content at work (my normal posting-location) so I haven't been able to fill you in.

This weekend was the IAESTE Vienna weekend for over 150 IAESTE, AMSA (American Medical Students Association), and AIESEC (formerly the "Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales" but now an all-encompassing international student organization). Friday night there was a meet-and-greet party at the Technical University. The event had a lot of free stuff like unlimited bread and spreads from Ströck (a very common Austrian bakery more prevalent than Tim's), and, unfortunately, the Macedonians (whom I became good friends with) were giving out vast quantities of Macedonian Schnopps (which is 65+%). Needless to say, on the way home I spoke 'fluent' German, and spent all of Saturday lying in bed. The moral of the story is: Macedonians can hold far more liquor than any mortal Canadian.

On Sunday Henrik, MA, and I visited the Gasometers and Zentralfriedhof. The Gasometers were really cool, but Henrik still has the photos on his camera, so I can't share them yet. The Gasometers are essentially 4 giant 90,000 cubic meter brick gas tanks used by the city of Vienna from 1899-1984. During the 90s they were the scene of giant week-long raves, a reputation they're still trying to detach themselves from. In 1995 the city decided to develop them into a community, finishing them in 2001. All 4 are completely different on the inside but maintain their original exteriors (including the 20ft diameter pressure gauges on the front of each). Now they contain everything from a movie theatre to apartments to a mall complete with a Gasometer McDonalds. I will come back later and add photos when I get them from Henrik, until then check them out on Wikipedia using the link above.

As the Zentralfriedhof was only 2 stops away and MA and Henrik hadn't been there yet I took them to show them around. All my Zentralfriedhof pictures and stories can be found in my post from June 10th.

Today at work I helped Rakesh build a new type of reference electrode for the systems we have been studying, something which I don't think has been done (well) to date. It worked seamlessly the first time we tried it, which made all the tedious glove-box work worth it. Today I also helped Szilvia with IR Spectroscopy analysis for her research. Szilvia is a PhD student from Serbia, and a good friend of mine. Today she told me all about the 78 days in 1999 when NATO bombed Kosovo as well as her home town (both are in Serbia, Kosovo is a province in the Southwest). She was in University at the time, and had to write her exams during the bombings, one was even canceled by the air-raid siren). She had to move to her grandmothers house along with her brother, mother, and pet parrot, as their 6th floor apartment by the Danube was too much of a target. When you think of the Kosovo bombings, or any bombings for that matter, you become so detached, you don't realise that its real people, with exams and pet parrots. One really interesting story hit me harder than any of the others due to its simplicity. The attacks occurred in the spring, including over the Easter holiday. Szilvia (who was around 20 at the time) was making bunny-shaped Easter cookies with her Grandmother. As she was taking them to the kitchen, a B52 bomber passed very low overhead, enough to shake the ground violently. She abandoned the cookies and got under the kitchen table with her brother and cousin. It sounds like something out of a Cold War era instructional video, but it actually happened. A 20 year-old student, taking an exam study break to bake Easter cookies with her Grandmother cowering under a table in case the B52 over her house decides to bomb some 'target' close by. She also remembered watching CNN coverage and being terrified by the blatant inaccuracies. For example, her small city, which was being bombed regularly, was being labeled as the second largest city in Kosovo, which is an entirely different province. Really makes you put things in perspective.

Finally, on Thursday Henrik and I leave for Krakow, Poland on the night train, and are being met by MA and Fatima on Friday for the IAESTE Krakow weekend. On Friday Henrik and I are going to Kazimierz, which is the historic Jewish district, and Auschwitz. It promises to be a very emotionally charged day, but something that can't be missed, in my opinion. On Saturday we go to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which looks amazing. We're all leaving on the night train on Sunday so we'll have plenty of time to explore the city, and take lots of photos. I promise to take some photos with me in them this time (or risk being disowned by friends and family).

Sorry for the lack of photos, but there will be plenty more to come.