Thanks and no thanks, Mrs. Harris

Over the past few weeks, there have been torrential downpours most evenings. The sky opens up around 6 in the evening and sheets of water fall, drenching anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside. I have taken to carrying an umbrella with me everywhere and trying to be inside in the early evening.

Last night, I had plans for a lecture at 7. When the nightly storm started at 6, I seriously considered not going. But I went. (Would I still be able to claim Seattle as my home town if rain kept me indoors?) I walked and bussed my way to the hall, passing crowds of people gathered in any covered space, waiting out the rain.

I am glad I faced the rain. The lecturer, a Bulgarian professor at an American college promoting a new edition of her book, was interesting and engaging. She discussed ‘Balkanism’ and concepts of Europe and The Near East. Her vocabulary was amazing—-she used palimpsest as one of her central metaphors. Thankfully, my seventh grade world history teacher spent at least one class period teaching us the meaning of that word.

One of the most interesting ideas that I took away from the lecture was that the first meaning of the word ‘Europe,’ as used by the ancient Greeks, referred to the continental land to the north, i.e. the Balkans. The earliest conceptions of ‘The Near East’ meant the Orthodox/Byzantine lands of Southeastern Europe, i.e. the Balkans. So while the earliest meanings of Europe and the Near East referred to this part of the world, now one calls this place the Near East and there are debates about whether it is truly part of ‘Europe.’ Curious…

After the lecture, a few friends and I went out for a drink. Our discussion touched on the fall of the Roman Empire and I realized how huge the holes are in my knowledge of European history. I was embarrassed. It wasn’t even that I had learned things and since forgotten them. I have never learned European history. My seventh grade world history class barely made it to AD. (Not that I really remember anything about the Mesopotamians or the Minoans, but at least I recieved instruction about them at some point.) My knowledge picks up again with the Corn Laws and The Treaty of Westphalia, and the reconquista, things I picked up in political science and Spanish classes, respectively. Maybe I should learn European history in my vast quantities of spare time.

But ask me about palimpsests and I am your woman.