Madison, Wisconsin is
dominated by its university and state administration (its the state
capital of Wisconsin – I recently figured out that state capitals
far form being arbitrarily selected are in nearly every case chosen
for their central location in their state). These two industries are
symbolised by the two grandest buildings here: the Capitol building
that rivals Washington's in scale and splendour and the university
library; both are located on hills with buildings for government and
university radiating around them. Though Wisconsin enjoys or should I
say endures a Republican governor thanks in no small part to the rest
of the state with the exception of Milwaukee. In fact its a hot bed
of liberalism away from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, serving as
home to a bunch of housing co-ops and more famously the site of the
occupation of the capitol building in response to the tragically
named Rep governor Scott Walker (I'll never listen to the Old Man's
Back Again in quite the same way) attempts to strip state employees
of their collective bargaining rights. All in all I'm thinking this
place sounds like my kind of town...
My friend and
post-graduate researcher Elena who I first met in Bolivia works here
and kindly offered to sort out accommodation for my stay here in one
of housing coops I mentioned earlier. My expectation was that I'd be
staying in a large shared apartment with maybe 6 or 7 residents,
who'd all be students of one sort or another. This proved to be
rather wide of the mark and after meeting Jeff (one of the co-op
members) on the University campus a brief walk took us to the
lakeside and the site of the co-operative. Its called Ambrosia and
houses around 30 souls, including three kids, students, former
students an apprentice welder and a couple of other folks who's
profession and status was unclear to me. The building was an old
Jewish women's home spread over five floors with shared spaces on
ground and basement and people's bedrooms on the rest. Though a
little ramshackle it was brimming with a character replete with
squeaky floor boards, mid-20th century pluming, residents
both former and current;s artworks and bric-a-brac furniture. Before
I settled in to my accommodation I successfully negotiated a
specially arranged meeting where the residents would determine
whether or not I would be welcomed as a “crasher” - a guest who
stays for a few days as opposed to a full on member and resident.
This meant sitting in front of a around 10 of the residents and
explaining who I am and what I do. Fortunately the questions didn't
seem to challenging and my status as a former banker may have caused
and intake of breath initially but my writing project set any worries
about a potential arch-capitalist in their midst at ease. Winning I
think the first election I've ever stood in I took up residence on
the fourth floor and set to work on a various strands of writing I'd
been struggling to find time to finish. Feeling a little like a
happier version of the man from the underground I enjoyed a very
productive if somewhat solitary and rather spartan couple of days
writing and taking walks around the windswept streets of Madison.
I wasn't a total recluse
and bookended my stay with some more social endeavours... On the
night of my arrival I joined some of the residents in visiting
another co-op house where a story telling evening was being held. The
theme was family and many interesting tales abound – though most
described family dynamics I couldn't quite relate to; reminding me
how different the american experience is to the UK. If anything it
made me feel a little short changed by some of my favourite writers
who are in the main north american writers of fiction who's stories
now seemed a little more run of the mill given their similarity to
some of the stories voiced here and perhaps my own increasing
familiarity with this vast country. The last day of my stay I met
with Elena who'd so kindly arranged for my stay. She'd been out of
town up until then at a wedding in Toronto, thankfully we managed to
spend some time before I left we meeting for coffee and a walk along
the banks of the lake. It was exciting to see her and share news of
our progress in our respective writings and research that seemed to
be progressing for both of us. I expect next time we meet we'll have
finished books to exchange – a tantalising thought if ever there
was one.
I spent my last night sat
around a fire with the other residents in the old living room. We'd
all enjoyed the nightly meal of vegetarian delights that are served
up everyday at 6pm (barring Sundays where a brunch is offered at 12
instead). The atmosphere was familial and though I'd been party to a
few gripes that I guess are inevitable when you have 30 people trying
to make democratic decisions on all aspects of day to day life
(inevitably people in the minority at one point or another are bound
to feel some frustration – its only human, I think?) much of what
they do makes a huge amount of sense to me. Each resident has around
5 hours of jobs a week leaving time to live, learn, procrastinate or
whatever. I made some good friends here and as with so many of my
stops of late I felt short of time and would hurry back if given the
opportunity. Still Chicago lay in wait and its bright lights and
co-ops couldn't wait any longer...
No comments:
Post a Comment