here's the damn picture

fyi, I'm still annoyed at flickr.

here is one of the many Borat-style joints I saw while on my most recent trip to Eastern Europe:

apparently the cats that own this particular joint live in a small section of this _massive_ house and rent the rest out to small companies for retreats. I found the business intriguing and after speaking with one of the folks with whom I was traveling that happened to be from the region, I came to find out that it's not an uncommon practice. In the post-Communist times, people had to go from being supported by complete social welfare to supporting themselves almost overnight (litteraly folks).

There is (of course) more story to this place, maybe someday I'll write it all up.