As pessoas interessantes que eu tenho entrevistado

Lembram daquela pagina nova no nosso jornal, People of Pittsburg? A cada semana eu escrevo um perfil de alguma pessoa interessante daqui. Num post mais antigo desse blog tem um dos meus preferidos, Bill, que canta todas as quintas no karaoke.

Depois dele teve a historia do professor que fala sete linguas. O Dr Harmon me deu entrevista justamente no dia em que estava se despedindo da universidade, porque na semana seguinte foi pra Africa passar um periodo sabatico. Entao dei muita sorte, porque provavelmente nunca mais vou ver ele na vida.

Depois dele, publicamos o Joe, o cara conhecido em Pittsburg por ter uma cabra na frente de casa. A Emma, como se chama a cabra, fica na coleira e tem ateh uma casinha, entao eh como se fosse um cachorro mesmo. Mas eh uma cabra. Dei sorte de novo, porque a Emma soh estava la por mais uma semana, porque ia ser levada pra acasalar com uma otra cabra (haha um cabro?) pra ter bebes e comecar a produzir leite.

Essa eh a Emma, no dia em que fui entrevistar. Ela tinha recem mastigado meu vestido

Eu sei que podem parecer meio bobas essas historias, explicadas desse jeito resumidas, mas a verdade eh que eu tenho ouvido muitas coisas interessantes dos meus entrevistados. O Joe, por exemplo, sempre me interessou por causa da cabra, pra descobrir porque diabos ele tinha uma cabrinha na frente de casa. Mas ele me contou tantas outras coisas.. que nasceu num campo de refugiados da Austria e veio pros EUA com um ano de idade. E a casinha que ele mora com a Emma eh a mais antiga do quarteirao, e ele vive nela desde os anos 50.

Eu to gostando muito dessa pagina, e espero que as pessoas tambem. Alem disso, a cada edicao sempe escrevo uma materia mais seria, normalmente uma que vai fazer as pessoas ficarem putas, entao nao se preocupem, meu trabalho jornalistico nao esta se resumindo apenas a perfis, essa soh eh minha diversao da semana :D

Nao consegui achar no noso site a historia do Dr Harmon, mas a do Joe e da Emma sim, entao vou publicar aqui.

People of Pittsburg: Joe & Emma Pecnik

Posted by Collegio on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Goat, mmaaaan’s best friend

Val Vita | Managing Editor

Joseph Pecnik was reading a local newspaper in April when he noticed an ad about a woman who was selling goats for $30. That was the day he bought Emma, a nine-month-old Spanish mountain goat.

Pecnik, who adopted her as a pet, gives her food, love and attention, as if she were a dog. Emma can be seen in front of Pecnik’s house on Joplin Street (between Fourth and Fifth streets), and she can be spotted nightly around town when he takes her on walks.

“Goats can make better pets than a dog,” Pecnik said. “A lot of people ask me why do I have a goat. And my answer is: ‘Why not?’”

The primary reason Pecnik says he bought the goat is he considers the animal a good pet. Secondly, he says goats are clean, intelligent, friendly, curious and well-behaved. According to Pecnik, Emma is quieter than a dog, although she warns him if someone is at the door.

He says having a goat in the front yard attracts people’s attention. Once, Pecnik says, some guys showed up at his door, asking how much he wanted for the goat because they wanted to cook a roast. He told them, obviously, that Emma was not for sale.

Another issue he says he faces is police showing up once in a while, after receiving calls from some people saying he has a goat in the house.

“But I have every right to,” Pecnik said. “As long as I keep her on the leash, which is the city law.”

Pecnik says people have misconceptions about goats, the main one being that they eat everything they find on the floor, like plastic and glass. However, he says goats are selective about what they eat.

“Emma loves mimosa trees, weeds and alfalfa. She doesn’t like green grass very much, she prefers dead leaves,” Pecnik said. “I give her supplements, too, and tablets of salt.”

Soon, Emma will be producing goat’s milk. She was taken to a breeding farm on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Pecnik says one of his friends has a male goat, and Emma will stay there with him for about a month.

“She is going to have babies,” Pecnik said.

Pecnik is already known for being the goat owner on Joplin Street. However, not many people know that Pecnik, who is 63, was born in a refugee camp in Austria. He says he knows five languages in addition to English and German, and he has visited 26 countries.

“You could write a book about my life,” Pecnik said.

Pecnik came to Pittsburg when he was barely a year old. The house he lives in is one of the oldest on the block, and it is the same house he has been in since 1951.

He says his job is to help repair houses destroyed by the Joplin tornado, and he takes care of Emma when he is not in Joplin. Sometimes, Pecnik says, he takes Emma to Braum’s. On one such night, Nina Louhelainen says she was in Braum’s with some friends when a guy showed up saying he had a goat outside.

“At first we thought he was kidding,” said Louhelainen, junior in finance. “Then we went outside and I saw the goat, and I was like, ‘Oh, cute,’ until she peed on my foot. My friends laughed the whole night.”

Despite the incident, Louhelainen says she didn’t get mad at Emma.

“The guy said he was sorry and gave me water to wash my foot because I was wearing sandals,” Louhelainen said. “But my friends and I, who are from Finland, just kept thinking, ‘Is it normal to have a goat in Kansas?’”