An Ordinary View

Posted by Joe Deegan (Martin, Slovakia) on 28 August 2008 in Cityscape & Urban.

This is a group of garage doors that I pass by on occasion while walking in Martin. I was so happy to be able to photograph them today. At times, vehicles obstruct the view. What caught my eye was the way the graffiti and delicate shadows at once mask and intensify the built symmetry of the garages, street, sidewalk, and tiles.

Today was definitely a day of missed connections. I began by going to the school, where I was asked to attend an oral exam for Jakob, a student who failed English last school year, and had to retake his final. A panel of three teachers— Slavka, Lucia, and Vlatku (the department chair)— were giving the exam. I sat off to the side and listened as Jakob failed to communicate in English. The questions were open-ended and simple: “Can you tell me about this reading? What is your favorite sport? Would you want to be famous?” Jakob often repeated words posed to him in the questions, or simply did not respond at all.

After he left the room, we deliberated, choosing in the end that there was no way he could pass. He had already scored a mere 11/80 on the written portion of the test. This would mean he would have to remain a sophomore while his classmates became juniors. When Lucia et al broke the news, Jakob was visible distraught. He teared up. I didn’t understand the conversation between him and my colleagues, but I was told later that he informed them that he would likely transfer schools out of embarrassment. Apparently this is easy here, since headmasters are given per-capita budgets for their schools. There is a big incentive to attract students, regardless of record.

I felt bad for Jakob, but we wouldn’t be doing him any favors by passing him. In any case, this episode was on my mind all day. I identified with him. Certainly, my own small voyage is fraught with the same difficulties he was experiencing, in a small way, during that exam.

On the way home from school, I took the wrong bus (for the second time) and ended up a good bit away from my apartment. I didn’t mind walking, but it was hot and I had all my books from school. After that, I struck out for the Slovak national library on the outskirts of town. More on that later (I plan on returning to photograph it extensively), but for now suffice it to say that it was a disappointment. No one there spoke English, and I didn’t have a library card. Also, twice today, I promised myself I would get a hamburger. Both times, I ended up with something else. Both were on hamburger buns, but one (lunch) was a cold cabbage and cheese sandwich with onions and cucumber, and another (dinner) was a lamburger with tomato. Then, I sat at a cafe for a beer. Of course, the kind I ordered was not available, as explained to me, in English, by the waitress.

But, as I sit here in the centrum, I’m not as torn up about my failures as Jakob was about his. There is so much life and beauty all around me. Wi-fi is free. I am branching out more now, actually risking an order in a restaurant. And, perhaps best of all, good beer (really good beer) is cheap as hell.

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