New Mexico

The reason I was delayed in a Holiday Post was because I went on vacation! Hurrah!

My mother and I road-tripped to New Mexico, Land of Enchantment.

It's a pretty nice state. It has a dry beauty, much like a person who spent their whole life working outside is beautiful. We were there in wintertime, but you can see color through the sepia brown of everywhere. I liked the landscape. The wildlife, while we mostly saw birds, was pretty cool. We saw so many sandhill cranes, and a roadrunner!

I also like the culture. I got the impression that the locals where the kind of crazy like Minnesotans are crazy. Not so much pride in and appreciation of the state as it is spite, because who else could survive there? Why do Minnesotans tough out -40 degree weather, or New Mexicans suffer through 120 degree weather? Because they can and they're not going to give in!

I also appreciate the prevalence of the Native American cultures in day-to-day life. While Minnesota has adopted some of the indigenous culture into mainstream, like wild rice and landmarks, New Mexico took it to a whole other level. The architectural style of the pueblos is extremely common in all sorts of buildings, and traditions such as a 4 day long Christmas celebration, or silver and turquoise jewelry are everyday sights.

We had a wonderful trip, and I'm glad we decided to explore the New Mexican corner of the US.

Two Kenyan Guys

So, I was watching some TV with my din-din, and I saw this show called "Two Kenyan Guys" on NatGeo. It's about two Kenyan men: A Masai warrior named Lamarti and a Samburu warrior called Boniface. They are traveling around the US to learn more about our modern culture so they can learn to live in the modern world while still preserving their own traditions.

It's so funny! I can't get over it! I am watching an episode about their trip to Texas. They helped the cowboys push their cows around, and then went to learn to play football and cheerlead, ate some barbecue (where they talked with an African American man, which was interesting), and helped a wildlife rescuer. That was my favorite part. They helped him take a couple of raccoons out from under a house. Boniface went under the house with the worker. Lamarti described the noise from under the house, and it was hilarious! Also, they wanted goat meat and went to a farmer. The goats have this odd genetic condition where when they get scared, their muscle stiffen up and they fall over. It was sad to see, but really funny at the same time too.

In any case, funny show. A little weird because they dress like warriors all the time, even in their chaps and cowboy boots. Very tokenized in that sense but still a very good show. I think it's a fair balance of showing their culture but not in a patronizing "look at those goofballs in Africa" kind of way. It's almost the opposite way, actually. Or maybe that's just my pre-existing prejudice against Texas.

They did make me realize that cowboy culture in the US is really really aggressive. They are the cowboys of Kenya, and they don't need horses or cattle prods to get their cows to where they need to go. Their cows don't run away from them, but like them because they protect them. They sing to their cows so they know their voice and know they can trust those people. Cowboys in Texas trap their cows in cages, enrage them and then rope them and pull them to the ground for sport. Hmm....

<.< >.>

Cruel? I think so, but I'm sure there are those that disagree.

In any case, I like the show a lot, and I think you would too!

What an Awkward Relationship

Today when I was getting dressed, I pulled a random t-shirt out of the drawer and put it on.

I should think about what I'm wearing to class. The t-shirt on top of the pile on the right was my VDay t-shirt.

My cute little Japanese polisci prof asked my about it at the end of class. "What is VDay stand for? Is it Valentine's Day?"

I stood there awkwardly, the rest of class was also standing there awkwardly. "Um. It actually stands for Vagina Day..."
"WHAT? Why?" She was shocked and amused.
"It's a movement to stop violence against women."
"But why vaginas?"
"I guess female anatomy is usually portrayed as negative and weak, so they use vaginas to empower women through reclaiming their anatomy." I started inching toward the door, desperate to escape the conversation and to get to my next class which is an 8 minute walk away and I had 9 minutes left before class started.
"There's isn't a DickDay is there? You always tell me the weirdest words!"

She was, of course, referring to the week before, where in a discussion about gender presentation, I mentioned the genderfuck movement (a movement that intentionally challenges social ideas of gender through gender presentation and behavior). She was also shocked and amused at that.

It's probably a good thing she's not a traditional Japanese woman. She is in her 30s and doesn't want to get married and have kids, which she seems to be struggling with a bit. I think she feels pressured to be a mother, but she doesn't want to be and she feels guilt because of it.