I Found My LYS

One day, I will not need to physically type my blog posts.  When this day comes, you will all be graced with the eloquence and depth of the dozens of posts I have written in my head mere seconds after the thoughts occur to me.

This day will come shortly after the day we will all be able to take picture with a mere blink of the eyes and then it would be only a matter of mental concentration to implant them into my wonderful, thoughtful, inspiring blog posts (blog posts which, if you remember, don't have to be typed).

That day, unfortunately, is not today.  I say unfortunately because for many of the posts I have written in my head, the time has passed for them to be relevant.  It is unfortunate also because this post will now be devoid of pictures.

I am popping in only shortly to let you all know that I am still alive and my move to Pittsburgh was relatively uneventful.  Uneventful in the sense that the event of my hot water turning on didn't happen for a week.  Uneventful in the sense that the event of my knitting didn't happen.  Uneventful in the sense that the event of my having internet in my apartment has yet to happen.

Luckily events are now happening.  I have hot water, I am knitting (though have nothing to show you because I haven't taken any pictures), and although I still don't have internet at home, I can use it on campus when I'm here (I'm posting between practice sessions).

...and today, the biggest event of all happened.  After class, instead of dutifully marching to a practice room to practice my heart out, I climbed into my car and went for a bit of a ride.  A bit of a ride turned into quite the expedition after several wrong turns (thanks, Googlemaps...) and several episodes of construction causing me to end up nowhere near where I wanted to be.  (Here's a secret about Pittsburgh: there are three rivers.  If you accidentally cross a bridge, crossing another one does not, as you might think, ensure that you will be on the correct side of the river again.  Just thought I'd warn you.)

Once I found my way, I was able to hunt down my as-yet-unknown destination and finally, after driving a good three miles down the road of my googlemaps location, I had arrived.

I had arrived at my new LYS.  (that was spoken rather dramatically).

I wish I had pictures.  I really do.  I walked in and gasped (and I don't gasp easily).  An entire wall of cascade 220!  The most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen.  And what's that behind me?  Shelf after shelf of Malabrigo?  I swooned.  And next to the Malabrigo?  Manos.  On the other side of the shelves?  Dream in Color and Madelinetosh!  They had Noro like you wouldn't believe, incredible lace yarns.  Need Jamieson's for colorwork?  They have it.  Sock yarns, bulky yarns, washable yarns, books...  I nearly fainted.  Every turn I made brought my toward more and more wide-eyed happenings.  And when I thought it couldn't get better, I made it to the back.  In the back, next to the books, past the shelves and shelves of every yarn I ever dreamed I might find, was spinning fiber.  Spinning fiber!!!  I barely even spin anymore, but I nearly collapsed at that point.  This place has it all.

Here are some texts I sent to my sister while I was there:

"Holy crap, I just found the BEST yarn shop!"

"Oh my god, this store has EVERYTHING!"

"It's unbelievable!  A whole wall of Cascade 220.  It's a rainbow!"

"I feel like I just played hookie from school..."

I take it back, I did not find my new LYS.  I have found my new home.

If you need me, you know where to find me.  (And they're open until 9pm!!!)

Sunrises, Shawls, and Squirrels (and Such...)

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my Bali posts.  I hope I didn't bore you all to sleep with my endless ramblings about my trip with picture after picture after picture of scenes that I'm sure meant more to me than they did to you.  It was important to me to be able to document that trip, so thank you for humoring me for the past couple of weeks.

I returned home from my cabin a little less than a week ago and I, of course, can't help but show you all some pictures of the sunrises which I had the pleasure of watching every morning.

Honestly, nothing is more peaceful to me than sitting alone in the morning watching a sunrise.  I could do it all day long (if only... but then maybe it wouldn't be as special).

Every morning I would sneak out of my cabin before anyone else was awake to watch the sun come up behind the trees and listen to the birds begin their morning.

In fact, I would set up my own little stakeout on the deck with everything I needed for my morning.

Just me and the outside world.  A stack of bird books within arm's reach, a pair of binoculars, my camera, and a towel to dry off in case I chose to go for an early morning dip.

I really do miss that place when I'm not there.

Though you may have noticed that I didn't have any knitting with me in the mornings, I did find time during the evenings to work on my Aeolian shawl a little more and wouldn'tchaknowit, I finished!

It still (obviously) needs to be blocked, but I'm going to wait until I get to Pittsburgh to do that.

It seems like it would be a good project to christen my new apartment with.

Speaking of my new apartment... I'm moving on Wednesday.  And yes, I am overcome by a wave of stress every time I think of this.  Moving to an apartment in itself shouldn't be a stressful event, but the composite effect of several events occurring at the same time is quite overwhelming.

• First of all, did you know I've never lived in an apartment before?  For undergrad I was required to live in the dorms for all four years, so I have never experienced the wonders of paying rent.
• I am moving to a new city on the other side of the country - a city in which I know absolutely nobody
• Top it off with a large amount of stress about preparing for grad school
• Then add the cherry of the fact that I have an audition a week after I arrive and my clarinet has gone untouched for the past few months.  And let me tell you, I may mentally know how to play, but the physicality is gone.  Sadly, this is not one of those times when the "riding a bike" analogy can be used.  The muscle memory in my fingers is fine, but the muscle development in my embouchure is gone, and that can only be fixed with careful practice.

I don't think a day goes by in which I don't think to myself, "What the f#$! am I thinking?!"  Ah stress, how I missed thee.  (Now please go away).

Also, my landlord seems to think that I owe him rent beginning from July 15, which is something he never stated until today, I have not yet signed a lease, I wasn't even in the country (let alone this half of the globe) on July 15, and my early correspondences with him state that I was looking for an apartment beginning on August 1st.  I kind of wish everything weren't happening all at once, you know?

Anyway, I'm done complaining for the day.  Look what was in our yard a couple of days ago?

It's a baby squirrel!!!!  And also adorable.  It fell out of its nest in the maple tree in our front yard and cried and cried and cried until we picked it up.

It was such a precious little thing, its eyes not yet open and its body nearly naked sans its cute little whiskers and a bit of peach fuzz on its head.  Those cute little ears and tiny claws were so endearing, I didn't want to return it to its family, but we all know that mother knows best and it was back to the tree for this little fellow.  What a cute little guy.

Bali: The Final Days

Friday, July 16, 2010:

This was our last day in the program and in the morning we were all madly rehearsing trying to remember all the parts of the pieces we were going to be performing that evening.  After lunch we all made offerings to decorate the Pondok for our performance and then took a break for the afternoon to rest up.

Making offerings

to decorate the ceiling

It was fun to hang out with everybody before the show and the show itself was fun, too!  There was actually a pretty decent turnout of an audience considering that we were all foreign visitors who had only been studying these tradition arts for three weeks, but I was touched that so many people came to hear and watch us perform.  It started raining halfway through our performance, so the audience had to crowd onto the platform with us, but hey, that's Bali, right?

After the performance we all hung out for a while before calling it a night.  What a fun time!

Saturday, July 17, 2010:

This was my last day in Bali.  The afternoon was spent as a group reflecting on our experiences in the program and we did a final prayer service to close up the institute.  It was definitely a bittersweet time for us all and I'm so glad I had the experience.  When our time together ended at 5pm, my driver came up to me and said, "So I'm driving you to the airport at 10pm tonight, right?"  I thought I wasn't leaving until tomorrow!!!  I had to run home and pack in a mad rush and then had time to briefly stop in at the karaoke bar where everyone was hanging out to say a quick goodbye and run off to the airport to begin my 30 hour trip.  It was such a bizarre feeling as I was planning on an addition 24 hours to prepare myself to leave, but maybe it was better this way.  It was much more surreal, that's for sure.

And with that my tale has come to a closing, I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and thanks so much for reading!  Hopefully I'll have an update in the next day or two with some actual knitting content.  Have a great day!

Bali: Days 17-18

Wednesday, July 14, 2010:

On Wednesday morning instead of attending gamelan rehearsal as we would usually do, we all went to a Balinese wedding at the sanggar instead.

It was very interesting to be present at such a ceremony.

At one point I felt as if I was at some sort of entertainment event as snacks and soda were passed out for all to enjoy.  It was raining in the morning, so we were all crowded under the bale roofs.

Check out that hair!

I was on the west bale and had a good view of the East bale where the tooth filing ceremony took place.  The front six teeth on the top are filed down to represent the six vices, though most people can only remember anger and greed.  Tooth filing ceremonies do not have to be performed as part of a wedding, but in this case the bride (a Chinese-Canadian) chose to do so.

Most of the time I didn't know what was going on during the wedding, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Thursday, July 15, 2010:

Believe it or not, Thursday was actually a pretty typical day.  It was our last day of rehearsals before our final performance and it was also my last day of mask carving.  What do you think?

There was an accident involving the chisel and the forehead of my mask

Here are a couple masks that my teacher had made:

Bali: Days 15-16

Monday, July 11, 2010:

On Monday afternoon I began what was going to be a series of afternoons studying mask-making with a master mask maker in Mas.  (Wow, what an alliteration!)  It was incredible to see him make the mask blanks with a chunk of wood and a hatchet.

He was able to see what the final mask would look like even before he began working on it and he offered us all ample assistance as we awkwardly chiseled and hacked away at our shapeless forms.

The humble beginnings of my mask

He would advise us as to where to do more work, he would draw lines to show us the countours of the face, and more than once would take the masks and work on them himself.

Stabilizing the mask with his feet

He was a very patient and tolerant man, very quiet, and very good at what he does.  I was surprised that he allowed us to come into his home, make a mess, misuse his tools, and then repeat it all again the next day.

My mask at the end of the day

I am very thankful for his kindness and I'm anxious to see what my finished mask will look like!

Tuesday, July 12, 2010:

Tuesday was another fieldtrip for the summer program.  We traveled to the village of Tunjuk a little over an hour northwest of Pengosekan where I was staying.  One of our teachers lives in the village and we went to listen to his gamelan perform (again, a variety of gamelan that none of us had heard before.  It was, in fact, a mix of several different kinds to create something completely new).

One of the pieces they performed for us included three singers.  One of our program directors was one of the singers and she has such a quiet voice, but when she started singing, everything else went away and I was entirely consumed by her voice and entranced the entire time.  I have never heard a voice so beautiful and almost otherworldy.  Watching her it was as if she too was not aware of her surroundings and she stared off in the distance, as if her song was coming from a far off place.  She had a very nice quote in her singing, as well, "Kindness, one act of kindness, is the seen of a Banyon tree."  and we've all seen how big and mighty a Banyon tree can get, right?

We went on a walk through the rice paddies of Tunjuk that afternoon to see our teacher's land.

It was so beautiful to be walking through a landscape of terraced rice fields in all shades of green while forests of palm trees lined the horizon.

We eventually ventured down a path leading into one such forest and it led us to a temple in the middle of the vegetation - a hidden gem tucked in among the trees.

The temple

We stopped at the temple and prayed before continuing on to the final portion of our Tunjuk trip.

We walked back to our teacher's land in the middle of nowhere where a bale (bah-lay - essentially a roofed platform) sat while a pair of rindik/tingklik players entertained us with their music.

While some sat to listen to the mis and improvize dance along with the little girls, others went to gamble and play cards on the other side of the bale.  Fresh coconuts with straws were passed around and we all drank its sweet water while enjoying the spectacle of a cock fight (no animals were actually injured).

Coconuts!

I couldn't keep myself from thinking that this must be exactly what a gypsy camp must have been like.  A group of people getting together and having fun with food, music, dance, games, and a fight or two.  Soon it was time to say our goodbyes and head back to Pengosekan for the evening.  What a fun day!

Obama!  Carved by Ida Bagus Oka, the master mask maker

Bali: Weekend No. 2

Saturday, July 10, 2010:

I spent the day wandering the streets of Pengosekan and Ubud looking for souvenirs.  It really was a bit intimidating knowing that I had 11 siblings and two parents to find souvenirs for.  After five hours of looking in every shop that looked interesting, I came back with almost nothing.  But don't worry, I eventually found something for everybody.

Sunday, July 11, 2010:

"Sunday was an unbelievably phenomenal day.  I might even say that it was the best day I have spent in Bali so far.  Seriously, it blew my mind!"

The day began at 8:30am as we headed out east to go snorkeling along the coast.  I didn't really know what to expect and I was a little uncomfortable when we showed up.  We were taken through a back alley to a little shack where they began pulling out random pairs of flippers, snorkels, and masks to have us try on.  It all just seemed very sketchy to me and I had no idea if I should trust these guys.  After we got our scuba gear, they loaded us onto two small, skinny boats with runners (like a catamaran) and took us over huge swells (okay, they were probably tiny, but I'm new to this whole ocean thing) and out into the ocean to a small, rocky island where they simply told us to "jump!".

The middle island in the distance is where we went to snorkel

There was no shore and whatever possessions we brought on the boat (camera, wallet, sunscreen, etc.) were left on the boat with the drivers in the plastic bags we had used to try to keep them dry from all the splashes on the trip out to the island.

Snorkeling itself was incredible!  The fih were so brightly colored and many of them were larger than I would have expected.  The coral wasn't too spectacular, but it was still really amazing to see all of this marine life.  I saw many of the fish that are so popular in photographs because of their bright colors and interesting shapes.  I saw Nemo and Dory and Gill and eve Crush (the sea turtle)!  It was such a breathtaking experience to be out by that island swimming along its rocky cliffs and seeing all the beauty that nature had to offer.

We climbed back onto the boat after a short duration in the water and began a 20 minute boat ride to a beautiful white sand beach.  The boat ride there may have been the best part, though.  We passed by beautiful islands rising right out of the ocean and covered with rich, luscious green foliage, separated from everything else by the waves crashing upon their rocky faces.

As we passed by the shore, misty silhouettes of rounded mountains appeared and passed, their surface thick with trees.

Many ended with a steep cliff, topped by carefully carved rice terraces complete with cows.  It really was a sight to be seen.

The volcanic mountains were obviously very old as they were worn smooth into a beautiful curved landscape and the lush vegetation and thin layer of mist really made them something very special.

The white sand beach to which we traveled was tucked between two such mountains and set out in seclusion from all other beaches.

White sand beach - not so white

I played in the waves for a bit while others lounged under umbrellas and enjoyed fresh coconuts.

I know it looks like I photoshopped my feet into this picture, but I was really there

A boat kite!  I love it

I also spent about an hour doing some more snorkeling, exploring all the areas of the beach, including a cave along the side of one of the cliffs that flanked the beach.

My boat, Suci, in front of the cave I explored

I also spent a good amount of time diving down to get right near the fish and coral.  It was absolutely unbelievable and I think now that snorkeling is right there at the top of my list of favorite things to do.  It can be a social activity, but once you're in the water you enter a world that is completely removed from everything else, including those around you.  In an instant you find yourself in total seclusion, but also surrounded by the most amazing creatures as you're cradled by the sea.  It is definitely my kind of activity.

Once we had all soaked in as much sun as possible, we headed back to where we started, past all the unbelievable scenery again, to meet Danu for the next leg of our adventure.

After eating a meal in an empty restaurant with a nice view of the jungle while being serenaded by the vocal talents of Celine Dion circa early 1990s, we got in the car and drove to Tanganan, the oldest village in Bali.

A dark picture, but look at that view!

This village is only open to visitors until 6pm and each home that lines the street doubles as a storefront in which each family is competes to sell the same sarongs and scarves.

A few houses were selling ekat, which are pieces of weaving done in a traditional style for which this village is famous.  I didn't find any such pieces that I liked, but I picked up a silk scarf for each of my sisters after seeing them over and over again in the houses.

Out in the street were several oxen (are they oxen?  ETA:  Mel tells me that they're water buffalo.  I actually remembered this while in the car after writing the post, and knew full well that he would correct me as soon as he saw it.) resting or headbutting, while roosters of every color looked on from their crates - obviously waiting until the next cockfight.

Many villagers were standing around the firepit in the middle of the village where a pig was being roasted.  It was almost time to leave, but there was one more thing I had seen that I wanted to buy.  Before paper and pen, the Balinese wrote their stories down on palm leaves by etching the words and pictures into the surface with a small knife and then rubbing it with charred hazelnut to fill in the small scratches.  In the morning as I was thinking about the day to come I had thought to myself, "I would love to find a map of Bali to hang on my apartment wall back in Pittsburgh."  Never did I think that I would find such a map created in this traditional style and elaborately decorated with designs and flowers, framed by carved palm wood (bamboo?).

It was, perhaps, the most serendipitous thing to have happened to me in Bali and now I have the map I didn't even know I wanted when I woke up to hang on my wall.  The artist even carved my name in English and in Balinese.  Could it have gotten any better?!