Today's Vintage Rusyn Photograph

Lemkos at the turn of the 20th century with Dr. Henryk Ebers

Lake Conemaugh

First, from my awesome WPA-funded Pennsylvania Writers Project OUP-published Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940:

One of the greatest disasters in the State's history was the flood in the spring of 1889 at Johnstown, situated at the junctionof the Little Conemaugh River and Stony Creek.  On the morning after Memorial Day the waters rose quickly.  Then the giant South Fork Dam, which impounded 78,000,000 tons of water, burst and the torrent carried away everything in its path, crumbling the houses of Johnstown like cardboard and drowning approximately 2,200.  Flames completed the havoc.

and

In May 1889 a week of heavy rainfall raised the Conemaugh River and Stony Creek River, still swollen by spring thaws.  The waters inched up the steep hills in a manner familiar to residents, who expected no greater damage than that which they had frequently experienced, and to which they had long since resigned themselves.  On the afternoon of May 31 the South Fork Dam gave way; erected to form a feeder basin for the Pennsylvania Canal, it had been neglected since 1862.  A wall of water, 75 feet high and half a mile wide, rushed upon everything aside, exacting a toll of more than 2,200 lives and about $10,000,000 in property damage.  Bodies were carried down-river as far as Pittsburgh.  All parts of the Nation contributed to the rescue and rehabilitation work.  Only one precaution against a recurrence was subsequently taken, the widening of the Conemaugh River in 1891.

So this leaves out how Frick and friends of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were unconcerned with the potential hazards of the dam and then because the flood was an "Act of God" they were never held responsible for the damage. 

You can go back to this post to read about my visit to the Johnstown Flood Museum, but on the way back from Dunlo on Sunday, we stopped at the former Lake Conemaugh, where I'd never been:

Lake Conemaugh, which is now part of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial

The picture of the lake area was taken from the north side of the spillway - so really, from where it all began.  And the rich industrialists never really apologized, spoke publicly about their involvement or were put on trial or anything like that because the paperwork made it so that they couldn't be held responsible for something that they really were neglectful about, namely not maintaining the spillway.  And so lots of people died and they kept on being rich.

And then three years later, the Homestead Strike happened.  Then Berkman tried to kill Frick, and by that point Frick was so hated in Pittsburgh and he was in grief about his daughter that he had to retreat to New York City and took up the hobby of art. 

Like Going to Europe, except unfortunately not quite

Sunday was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Catholic Church in Dunlo, PA.  This was an excellent excuse to go to the mountains and get some fresh air and meet the people who live out there in former coal mining villages.

After ages of joking about it, I am beginning to better understand cemetery geekiness.  After learning more and understanding more, it's so interesting to go into cemeteries full of immigrant families and see the design and language used - so telling of so much - and yet there are so many stories buried with the people in the cemeteries.

For example, this headstone on the left mixes alphabets at the bottom where it says "VIČNAJA JEMU PAMЯATЬ."  The way they use of "born" and "died" reveals the dialect of these people: rodzena, umerla, etc.

So after the panachida at the cemetery, we went to church for liturgy and then to the Fire Hall for luncheon.  The interior of the fire hall helped me to think about how analogous 'Fire Hall' is to 'Kultúrny dom' in Europe.  'Culture House' elevates the concept slightly, but it's the same difference: a large room where most of the village can gather in one room for a community-building event.

The Dunlo Kultúrny Dom contrasted with the Jakubjany Kultúrny Dom.

As we were driving to Dunlo in Cambria county, through South Fork and Saint Michael, I kept seeing signs for a soft drink called Squirt, which I'd never heard of before.  The design of these signs screamed 1960s, and I was wondering if it is a now-defunct soft drink like one of my favorites, Surge.  Apparently it's still produced but I didn't know that at the time, and so imagine what a strange timewarpy feeling it must have been to drive into Dunlo and be greeted by this:

So, we had to go in on our way out of town.  Mostly because I love these old so-called "ethnic" clubs, and while I've been to them in Pittsburgh, I'd never been to one out in the country - and I wanted to talk to some of the people from this place.

When we walked in, they had just finished their pre-Steelers game chili cookoff, and so there were assorted crock pots plugged in in a row with numbers sitting in front of them.  While I don't think there is a chili cookoff before every Steelers game, because apparently they do different food cookoffs, there is a rather small pool of people so one would think that people would know whose crockpot goes with whom.  This creates a problem because if it's a contest then it's not anonymous and if I was living in Dunlo I'd pay attention to what everyone's crock pot looked like. Or perhaps the contestants swap crock pots beforehand.  And how do they carry them in without everyone seeing?  sigh. Obviously I've just flown my city-kid flag with my stupid worries about a village chili cookoff.

Everyone was sitting around the bar (how do you know where people are on a Sunday afternoon in the fall when the streets are deserted?) waiting for the Steelers game to start, all in their Steelers shirts - I was glad that Troy Polamalu was the most popular there!  I was talking with them, commenting on how they all wore Steelers shirts, and one of the guys at the bar said to the guy next to him, "What, hasn't she ever seen Steelers fans before?"

And really, here we must give some much-deserved credit to immigrant ingenuity.  For a bunch of people who were really discriminated against, who had the worst jobs, couldn't speak English really well and so on, they really knew how to get around the blue laws back in the day when they founded these clubs! I had commented on how much I really enjoy these ethnic clubs, and same smart aleck at the bar said, "If anything, here we're ethnically challenged!"

Many of the people from Dunlo have roots in the village of Malcov, which is between Bardejov and Čirč.  On the wall in the bar, between the pinball machine and Steelers memorabilia, was the requisite homemade plaque honoring the founders of the club.  So if you're reading this and have roots in Malcov, some of your relatives may be here:

But to me, the interesting thing about this is not its potential as a genealogical goldmine, but rather that fist at the bottom of the left column.  Those old coal miners must have had some radical politics, and whoever made this sign knew it?!  Oh, and by the way -- not too many Slovaks at the Slovak American Citizens club, eh?

And now, finally, a comparison of grazing cows, to prove how legit this place is:

 

Which is in America, and which is in Europe?

Today's Vintage Rusyn Photograph

It's been a while!

 

Unknown location and date, but provenance suggests Upper Šariš in the 1970s maybe.

Exotic Timetravel

Now that I think about it, I've seen these before, but they're so cool I'm glad they caught my attention again.  These are color photographs from pre-Revolutionary Russia!

• In Revolutionary Color - Newsweek
  
• Library of Congress
  

Trying for Safety/Learning the Hard Way

This article in today's Frugal Traveler about travel medicine is so timely and so helpful.  Yesterday I stopped in REI and picked up one of these so that I (and hiking partners) could avoid getting caught again the way I (we) did in Subcarpathia. 

Contemporary Rusyn Musical Theatre

Thanks to finding out a friend is from Šarišské Jastrabie, it motivated me to finally upload this video, which is something I mentioned a while ago:

Contemporary Rusyn Musical Theatre from Maria Silvestri on Vimeo.

I think the story is loosely a Snow White sort of thing, the little dwarves (?) are really cute and some of these kids already have great strong voices.

Tiltshift

So let us consider this to be the first of many posts describing the potential pleasures of armchair travels, with a video of Cologne, Germany in the highly lovely tilt-shift style:

Small Life in Cologne from Christoph Schaarschmidt on Vimeo.

The Joys of Sansserif Type

So let us consider this to be the first of many posts describing the simple joys and adventures that can be found in and around my hometown.  Today, as I was leaving Office Max, I saw I was parked near this beauty:

 

and I got in and out of the car twice as I saw the details that tickled my fancy, especially the Quadrifoglio labeling:

  

Very sexy.

Some Things I'll Miss and Some Things I've Learned

So, a sort of conclusionary post -- though this blog will continue, albiet with more of a southwestern PA/East Coast vibe, which is kind of good, because of course adventures can happen closer to home.  And this post will probably be updated over the next few days and weeks.

But let me start this way: the music I love listening to is Kandráč, Mačošková, et. al.  I was listening to it a bit on the plane and granted, I was mega PMSing, but really I couldn't listen to it without crying and yet I couldn't not listen to it as I was hurtling 400mph in the opposite direction of the music.

1.  I'll be back, just hang in there, I definitely will be.
2. Posts in the near future will be chronologically mixed up, which is the result of me having a stable connection for the first time since the last time I was in the US.  I still have some video to post from early June (!).
   

Leaving was too bittersweet.  I couldn't wait to see my parents (and the rest of my family who I've yet to see), but really, I absolutely don't want to leave, though I already have.  As if it was planned, I didn't even get a last look at the Tatras because the day was as overcast as my mood.  Vienna, which has always been a good place for me to transition between east and west, was lovely as always, even though it was a too-short visit. 

So.  Some things (among many) I'll miss:

1. .5l (1 pint) of beer for less than €1.  €3.80 for a beer in Vienna was a bit of sticker shock, for inferior beer.  And not to bitch even more, but lots of American beer is so noticeably hoppy with such little nuance that it's disappointing.  Yes, I know I'm spoiled and snobby, but I'm also willing to discuss and back up my opinions.
   
2. These bacon rolls to the left.  Fluffy dough, with bacon and cheese.  They were a bit overcooked when I took this pic, but perfect when I bought my last for the train trip today and subsequent breakfast.  Hypernova may be overpriced but this made it all so worth it.
3. Public transportation and being able to walk to places.  Driving in suburban traffic is not fun.  And there's just so many people everywhere.  Where did they all come from?
   
4. My crew.  In Prešov and Ružomberok.  This is the main thing.  I can live without the bacon rolls, but my crews were too excellent -- and it's always the people who make the place most special.
   

Some things I've learned to try to always have with me, especially on hikes:

1. knife/multitool: for many things, namely cutting pork products and vegetables, but you never know anyway.
   
2. fire starting mechanism: for creating cooked pork products in the wilderness, where the pork fat tastes even better than it does in 'civilization'.
   
3. change of clothing: because it may start pouring and no one likes being soggy, though better yet, don't forget your really good, easily packable rain jacket in America -- bring it with you!
   
4. small first aid kit: because you may cut yourself on irresponsibly abandoned beer bottles far away from the nearest village.
5. wet wipes: more refreshing and less alchoholy than Purell and similar products.
6. tissues in those plastic travel packs: good for blowing the nose and also good when there's blood everywhere.
7. hand lotion: it's just nice to have when you want it.
8. toothbrush and a clean t-shirt: you never know where you're going to sleep.

Two things I needed to buy within 24 hours of being back, thus proving that my routine has been modified a bit over the last year:

1. slippers: not easy to find in the middle of August, but I can't do shoes in the house anymore.
2. a drying rack: some of my new €urotrash wardrobe can't handle the dryer.  Plus air drying is so much nicer anyway, even though it necessitates ironing.  We'll see how long I can hold out.

Immediately, I realized that the biggest challenge is going to be to keep on a reasonable diet -- not diet in terms of losing weight, but diet in terms of eating well/right.  Because whereas before I didn't live within a 30 mile radius of a McDonald's, now fast food is everywhere, with hydrogenated oils beckoning me in an overwhelming cacophony.  And I want it, badly.  Tacos, for example. 

I can report mild culture shock and yet at the same time, an eerie comfort with my surroundings.  Eerie because it's comfort mixed with uncomfort, and culture shock mixed with expectations. Keeping up with my Slovak is a priority and at the same time having everything in English all of a sudden is strange, too.

Let's see how long this all lasts, shall we?