One Night in Boston...or Nomads Gone Capitalist

On Friday morning, I left Binghamton. I loaded up the Saturn and made my way east to Boston. The Unsinkable RB was throwing a grand dinner party. This time, it was for one of the unnamed American Shuhadas for Oriental Redundancy, which was meeting in a small unnamed place outside of Boston.

Always up for a trip to Boston, and knowing the True Power of Schmoozing, I decided to accept the invite. Picking up AL in Albany, I drove the 10 hours to spend one night in Boston...

(Silly self photo of me with AL.)

(Pointless photo of me, just to show off my new clothes)

The 80s girl that I am, this reminded me of that 1984 hit "One Night in Bangkok" (which I accidentally typed in as BangCock.)

But instead it was "One Night in Boston."

I was inspired to rewrite the song.



One Night in Boston

Boston, Orientalist greeting
Seven o'clock, it's time to start eating
The creme de la creme of the research world in a
schmooze fest with everyone that's worth meeting...

Time flies - doesn't seem a minute
till the convo turns to research permits
All change - don't act like a student
Acting like a scholar would be much more prudent
At Albright... or ACOR... or CAARI... or... or this place!

One night in Boston and the world's a schmooze fest
No bars, no nightlife, but the drinks are free
Discuss your research with some random house guest
And if you're lucky she's a PhD
She may be on a granting committee.

One grant's very like another
When your setting up your next project, brother

It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity
To be schmoozing with the board, not seeing Boston city

Whaddya mean? You've read one boring uninspired final report...

Tea, food, and Jordanian treats
Some set up in Madafa-like suites

Who knew? They're selling pots to tourists!
They're only reproductions, 10th century purists
I got that plate in D.C., sweetie!

One night in Boston makes a student humble
Not much between you and PhD
Don't let them know that your project's stumbled
Maybe they don't know your pottery
Won't see the research mediocrity

Next schmooze. Gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
He rips me more than could
A bad review from BANGSOR would
And thank God you're not my committee, controlling it

I don't see you guys creating
The kind a books like you're berating
My AZOR paper? I would invite you
But the theory I use would not excite you
So let's just go out to the bars, the yarn stores, the Trader Joe's

One night in Boston makes a student humble
Not much between me and a PhD
One night in Boston and your speech is mumble
Can't be too careful with your company
"Did I dig with you back in 93? "

One night in Boston and you made connections

A few from Harvard University

You'll find someone will give you some direction

"Some text, a graph, a little history..."

"I wish you could sign off on my degree!"

In all honesty, this was an incredibly friendly dinner party, filled with some familiar faces, and some new opportunities to meet people doing research in the Middle East. And RB is always the most fun to hang around with. Middle Eastern Hospitality? Huh? You have nothing on RB!

The next morning, we went out to breakfast with TP, and talked about Roman farmsteads and Islamic period overburden. There was almost a rumble at the table....

Then there were the photo sessions with RB in her place, on the divan...

It also made a great pottery discovery. Remember my pottery find in Santa Fe, while on my search for the Nomads store? Where I found this little beauty?

Well, guess what RB had? Hmmmm.... ?

Apparently these are made very recently (more recently than I suspected even) for the tourist trade. RB got hers in Washington, D.C. Well, thankfully they weren't real 10th century pieces that we were buying. But we knew that....

Oh. And then there was the Boston Shopping.... *Sigh* RB lives right near the row of middle eastern grocery stores. Of course, this means an obligatory visit and shopping bonanza. It's my one shot at some imported food. Of course, I always find something new and exciting. The yogurt soda was special, but this time I found the best product line EVER! And I could not be more surprised...

Would you look at this? NOMAD BRAND olive oil? What the...? Since when are Nomads engaged in capitalist production?

And honey? In glass jars? This boggles my mind. Nomads don't even like POTTERY! Let alone GLASS! Oh... wait a minute. Manufactured in Jersey?

I guess the nomads picked up and moved. Not nearly as exciting anymore...

While in Sevan, the wonderful store that has all my favorite Turkish food stuff, I decided to buy something special.... how about KAZANDIBI! It is nice - a milk pudding, a little caramelized.

I don't know why, but I actually confused this with Tavuk Goguzu, which is basically Chicken Breast Pudding. I thought I was buying Chicken Pudding... But I didn't. *sob*

I know it sounds weird, but it is delicious. And it is NOT Kazandibi. This of course means that I have been away from Turkey for FAR too long. It also means that I was scaring RB and AL with my new purchase.

"Don't you want to try some Chicken Pudding?"

"I worry about you and your food choices...."

Finally, we made the pilgrimage to Lexington, for one of my favorite yarn stores in the world. (My favorite yarn store? As if I actually know more than about 10... Hey, what do I know? I imagine poultry in my puddings!)

Wild & Wooly is a great little store. I picked up some nice alpaca, light alpaca, and a few skeins of merino wool from Wales. (Not whales. That would be strange.) I am giving that to Fire Ox vs Metal Dragon for taking care of the basenjiboys while I was away.

Couldn't wait to take a photo of the yarn... had to do it while on the ride home. And that's Peet's coffee too. It's such a different world, when you actually find civilization...

So, all in all, my One Night In Boston was a great success. Friends.... schmoozing... shopping... What more could I want?

l