1. The "Joy the Baker Podcast." So... initially I thought this podcast was totes (ahaha!) annoying, but my sister suggested it, and she and I have very similar tastes in... everything. So, I gave it a whirl. And now I am caught in the whirl and cannot get out. I am obsessed. The podcast is what inspired this list.
2. Obnoxious nails. Sally Hansen has these stick on nail strips that are fab. I am really into the animal prints and the ultra glitzy glitters. Right now I have just my big toe nails cheetah'ed out. And the rest are aqua green. My nails are now Kei$ha'ed. Bam.
3. Talking about eating healthy. I think this is a fave thing all the time, but right now all I am all talk and no walk. And I love it. Doritos? Yes. Wurthers Originals? No doubt.
4. Reading outloud/ being read to. My honey and I are reading Hunger Games aloud right now and I am loving it. I am loving the book, but I am also loving reading out loud and being read to. Except that I try to be the one to read out loud because the second he starts reading I am OUT.
5. Earbuds with a mic. So, I don't know what these are officially called, but they are headphones with a mic built in by your mouth, so that when you are jamming on the treadmill (or driving, or eating) and a call comes in, you just hit a button and you are chatting with your mom, or your beau, or your BFF. Whoever. But, you don't look super weird because others can see the headphones, so it doesn't look like you are just yammering on and on to yourself.
Actually, you still might look weird.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
10 minute poetry #2
I learned to meditate last week.
It was a lot of sitting and thinking about my nose or at least
that is how I interpreted it.
Even while I was swatting and cursing mosquitos,
and thinking about my breathing and how much
my left hip was aching
I felt something.
I felt something like,
I can sit here for an hour and be peaceful.
I have it in me.
Last week I also learned how to contra dance,
with crooked old men and spritely young girls in the
school gym.
Not the high school gym, just the
school gym.
They sold watermelon by the slice, handed out waxy dixie cups of water.
I felt at home.
I felt in the country.
I felt ready to be still and move at the same time.
Last week I thought I learned where I wanted to be.
I thought I found heaven on earth.
I biked and I breathed and I sat and I danced
all last week.
And then I came home and slept so soundly.
It was a lot of sitting and thinking about my nose or at least
that is how I interpreted it.
Even while I was swatting and cursing mosquitos,
and thinking about my breathing and how much
my left hip was aching
I felt something.
I felt something like,
I can sit here for an hour and be peaceful.
I have it in me.
Last week I also learned how to contra dance,
with crooked old men and spritely young girls in the
school gym.
Not the high school gym, just the
school gym.
They sold watermelon by the slice, handed out waxy dixie cups of water.
I felt at home.
I felt in the country.
I felt ready to be still and move at the same time.
Last week I thought I learned where I wanted to be.
I thought I found heaven on earth.
I biked and I breathed and I sat and I danced
all last week.
And then I came home and slept so soundly.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
10 minute poetry #1
it’s sweet, deep, gentlemanly vibrato
and then you listen to the lyrics-
nope-
the words don’t match up.
Are you allowed to still react the way you do to the song?
While your heart is breaking, tears are shaking,
vibrating,
falling,
they are singing about zombies, about puppy dogs,
about silly things.
I was not ready for it,
and I guess it’s not entirely here,
but something clicked on the plane today.
I took a deep breath
and stared at the seat in front of me
and cried a little,
sitting next to a couple from Lancaster
when it happened.
when it happened.
I turned off.
I need to turn back on and not have anyone else do it for me.
I think I just need to do it alone.
I can’t believe I text and then don’t send it.
I can’t believe I dial your number and hang up.
I can’t believe I dial your number and hang up.
But I have turned off.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Maquinga
 |
| Photo courtesy of Lower Kuskokwim School District |
maqiunga- steaming
maqillrunga-steamed
maqivik- steam-house
This week I went to church a few times at the Russian Orthodox church here in Russian Mission. I felt a little out of place the first time, because I forgot to bring a head covering and decided against packing a skirt. But, as I was maqiunga in the maqivik a few nights ago, the former Matushka informed that only the married women wear head coverings and not to worry about wearing jeans. No biggie.
Steaming was really nice. But for me it is not a good substitute for a shower. It is a good supplement, but that's about it. Here, it is used to relax, socialize, warm up and get clean. It fulfilled 3 of the 4 uses for me.
I usually can only stand heat for a short period of time. I pull myself out of hot-tubs after 10 minutes, panting and red-faced. I can hardly stand wet saunas. I lower myself into the bath tub with much trepidation. And a maqivik is basically a wet sauna souped up. The Matushka I went with was being kind to me. I was glad there wasn't a bunch of women, which is custom, because I would be much more likely to try to impress them. The steam-house probably got up to 200 degrees at the hottest, when we were sitting up straight. I, however, kept flopping over onto my stomach to avoid the steam, (handling it like a real pro).
Before my eye-opening experience, I didn't exactly know how this whole maqiunga thing worked. In a small outer room, you get get undressed, get a pan of cool water, and prepare your towels. Then you crawl through a little door into the steam-room, which is probably 4 feet at its highest point. As the Matushka opened the door and went in, leaving me to follow, I was slightly terrified.
As we climbed in, I thought "Hey, this isn't too bad!" We sat on our towels, put shampoo in our hair, then wrapped our hair in cloth so it didn't burn (burn? I was starting to get nervous again). Then came the steam. Damn. That's all I have to say.
I was keeping up with the Matushka, making sure to take deep, even breaths through my mouth, but when she gave me permission to take a break, I burst through that little door like no one's business. It was totally embarassing. This cycle- crawl into the steam room, act tough for about 5 minutes while franically splashing water all over myself to not burn and then panicking and tumbling back out- went on for about an hour and a half.
I needed to experience it. I hear about the steam-houses and always wonder exactly the ritual of it all. I think I was really lucky to have been invited. I love the idea of a bunch of women hanging out naked and just talking. I was told that it can get packed in there, and you can get stuck far from the door. I have heard that ladies will lay on the floor while elders give them massages. I guess my experience was just a baby step to the real full blown maqiviq experience.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Russian Mission is in Alaska
not Russia. And they aren't Russians who live here, but the Y'upik people. Look here for more on the demographics, location, etc. This site contains the most accurate information, thanks to the 2010 census.
For some reason I didn't realize what a small plane we were taking. 5 passengers plus the (very friendly and enthusiastic) pilot. We arrived, were picked up by some man in a truck who didn't speak but knew where to take us, which was straight up the hill to "mid-town" to Russian Mission School (see, mom, I told you).
The school here is brand new and beautiful. Today, however, we are without water. A water line broke or something, so there are garbage cans full of water in the bathrooms, with smaller buckets bobbing around, for when the toilet really needs to be flushed. I have been supplied with "Emergency Drinking Water" which comes in a totally cool flask-like bottle, and school was let out 3 hours early.
The school looks out over "downtown" (named such due to it's location at the bottom of the hill) and the Yukon river, which is still solid enough to snow machine on and drill holes in to manaq, or ice fish. I caught a pike that, despite being beat over the head about 15 times and being out of water for 2 hours, still wouldn't die. We finally had to whack it with a frying pan when it wouldn't stop flopping around on the counter, spraying blood everywhere. A local woman, Delores, taught me how to fillet it and let me use her uluaq, which is extremely sentimental to her. She even brought me some akutaq, or Eskimo ice-cream.
It has been beautiful, sunny, and warm since Friday, and I am definitely sunburned, but only in that raccoon kind of way. I think it makes me look hardcore.
I traveled here with another student teacher, Ruben. We are staying in the school, in a really beautiful room, but on the floor. We brought a box of food with us and Ruben padded it with his sleeping bag. It is now covered in raw egg. I grabbed a sleeping bag from a closet last minute, not bothering to check the zipper. It doesn't work. They keep it pretty warm in here, so it's not too bad.
Last night we went to shower in the locker rooms at around 10:30. We strolled down there, talking and then met back up in the gym to stroll on back to our room. But the doors to the hallway which led to our room were locked. Ruben was in his towel and I was in my pajamas and bare-feet. Uh...? We found some shoes in the gym and trudged through the snow over to a teacher's house to get a key from him. It was totally embarrassing and hilarious. Ruben kept post-holing in the snow (he was wearing some shorts he found) and was stuck behind the guys house when we finally rose him from his sleep. He answered the door in his underwear and a big smile. We got back to the room. Oops.
Hm... what else? There have already been a lot of very sweet moments, fun experiences and unusual circumstances. I am going to borrow a snowboard and hike up the road to "uptown" and snowboard through the slush. I wish I had some sunscreen.
For some reason I didn't realize what a small plane we were taking. 5 passengers plus the (very friendly and enthusiastic) pilot. We arrived, were picked up by some man in a truck who didn't speak but knew where to take us, which was straight up the hill to "mid-town" to Russian Mission School (see, mom, I told you).
The school here is brand new and beautiful. Today, however, we are without water. A water line broke or something, so there are garbage cans full of water in the bathrooms, with smaller buckets bobbing around, for when the toilet really needs to be flushed. I have been supplied with "Emergency Drinking Water" which comes in a totally cool flask-like bottle, and school was let out 3 hours early.
The school looks out over "downtown" (named such due to it's location at the bottom of the hill) and the Yukon river, which is still solid enough to snow machine on and drill holes in to manaq, or ice fish. I caught a pike that, despite being beat over the head about 15 times and being out of water for 2 hours, still wouldn't die. We finally had to whack it with a frying pan when it wouldn't stop flopping around on the counter, spraying blood everywhere. A local woman, Delores, taught me how to fillet it and let me use her uluaq, which is extremely sentimental to her. She even brought me some akutaq, or Eskimo ice-cream.
It has been beautiful, sunny, and warm since Friday, and I am definitely sunburned, but only in that raccoon kind of way. I think it makes me look hardcore.
I traveled here with another student teacher, Ruben. We are staying in the school, in a really beautiful room, but on the floor. We brought a box of food with us and Ruben padded it with his sleeping bag. It is now covered in raw egg. I grabbed a sleeping bag from a closet last minute, not bothering to check the zipper. It doesn't work. They keep it pretty warm in here, so it's not too bad.
Last night we went to shower in the locker rooms at around 10:30. We strolled down there, talking and then met back up in the gym to stroll on back to our room. But the doors to the hallway which led to our room were locked. Ruben was in his towel and I was in my pajamas and bare-feet. Uh...? We found some shoes in the gym and trudged through the snow over to a teacher's house to get a key from him. It was totally embarrassing and hilarious. Ruben kept post-holing in the snow (he was wearing some shorts he found) and was stuck behind the guys house when we finally rose him from his sleep. He answered the door in his underwear and a big smile. We got back to the room. Oops.
Hm... what else? There have already been a lot of very sweet moments, fun experiences and unusual circumstances. I am going to borrow a snowboard and hike up the road to "uptown" and snowboard through the slush. I wish I had some sunscreen.
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