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Browsing Posts tagged Beauty
I’m researching the Inuit / Eskimo / Yup’ik mask my Mother bought lo, these many many moons ago, and like anyone born to research, I am hopelessly lost, and enjoying every minute of the journey.
I’m not Alaskan. I was born in Alaska, and so many times through the years when I see blocks that need ticking, I have been tempted to tick “native Alaskan” but I know that they don’t mean me, and that there are people who really deserve those preferences. I FEEL Alaskan, even though I’ve been gone a long time.
(My Mother used to tell us not to play with the “natives” because “they had knives!” (Big scary eyes). LLLOOOLLLL! Can you think of any quicker way to get your kids to play with the forbidden group? They had knives! Plus, they were our neighbors, and our classmates, and we all played together. Skied together. Played Cowboys and . . . Indians. Yes! We did! LLOOOLLL!)
I found this fabulous video of segments from the “Celebration 2010″ There is a reason I am sharing this – first, for all my friends of all nations who love textiles and handwork as I do – and our name is legion – I want you to see this video and to see the magnificant ceremonial robes they are wearing. They have to be hand made; they are each so individual, even among people of the same clan, the bear is different, one from the other, the fish – different, the raven – fabulously different, I even saw a sun! I hope your heart goes pitter patter, just as mine is going.
I wish I could bring this entire celebration to Kuwait and do a presentation with the KTAA (Kuwait Textile Arts Association.) They would LOVE these crafts, and the dancing. Look at the wonderful drums!
Second – did you hear them ululate? This is what I love about my travels; no matter what our differences, we have some amazing similarities.
Celebration, a First Nation heritage event taking place in Juneau, Alaska, originated and was sponsored in 1982 by Sealaska. The gathering takes place every other year and is the biggest event for Native Americans in Alaska for Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples.
To me, the coolest thing of all is that this is not done for tourists, but for the First Nation peoples, to transmit their culture to their children, and to celebrate themselves. This second video focuses on the clans and their special dances:
Now here is the exciting thing. It only happens every two years. This year it will take place June 6 – June 9. Here’s the information:
Celebration Native Cultural Conference
June 06, 2012 to June 09, 2012
A biennial Native cultural celebration featuring colorful costumed processions, dance performances, authentic arts and crafts and gatherings. Held in various venues including Centennial Hall Convention Center.
907-463-4844
www.sealaskaheritage.org
We already have plans for this June (I’ll share more about that later) but I talked to AdventureMan and said I really, really want to go in 2014. He said (are you sitting down?) “That’s just the kind of thing I LOVE! We’ve been planning to go to Alaska anyway, let’s go for that celebration!”
And that is why, after all these years of being married, I still adore my husband. He is a man with a heart for Adventure, and he gets all excited about the same things I do, well, some of the time. There was a falcon fest once in Tunisia that he dragged his feet on because he had just gotten in from a long trip, but once we got there, we all agreed it was one of those things that we would have regretted forever if we missed it. He is always up for a new adventure!
Wooooo HOOOOOOOOO!
See you there?
The Crown Plaza Hotel has the famous Spa Aquatonic and when I was still with Hayati he asked me to give it a try. He wanted to buy me a yearly membership so I could go with him to the aquatonic pool several times a week.
I was very impressed with the size and beauty of the spa. It's just gorgeous! My photos do not do the spa justice at all. I felt like I walked into a calming sanctuary. The ladies room was beyond amazing and very large. I went when it wasn't crowded so I almost had the place to myself.
I immediately met an American lady who wasn't the least bit friendly. She was almost rude as I asked her several questions (utilizing my best Southern manners) about her experience at the spa. Of course she was a damn "Yankee"! ;) LOL! I finally got her to open up a little. She didn't seem like the spa type and kind of looked like a prison guard. Maybe she thought I was hitting on her? In her wildest dreams! ;P
I was quickly whisked away to the aquatonic pool where a spa attendant gave me a tour and explained they would let me try it out for free. That day was mixed and there were about 7 - 10 Kuwaiti men enjoying the pool. I looked for some ladies to join on their side but there weren't any in the pool.
I wasn't allowed to take pics inside the pool area so this one is from the Spa Aquatonic website (here). I loved my experience in the pool and everything about the spa up to that point.
Every detail of the spa is well thought of and immaculate. You really feel like you're in a 'real' spa and not a tiny space made to feel like a spa.
The lobby where you can sit and have tea and juice.
Ginger tea
The front door and the parking is out to the right. One thing I do not like about the spa is the location. You have to drive to Farwaniya and it's not pleasant. Still, the amazinb Spa Aquatonic is worth it.
Inside the room I was shocked how large it was compared to other spas. Their rooms are very quiet and the massage tables are even heated. Unfortunately the room was freezing cold and I kept asking the massage therapist to make it warmer but she never fixed it. I literally had the shakes from the chill and asked her to cover me with extra towels. :(
Everything about this spa is amazing except for the actual massage. The massage therapist was the worst one I've ever had in my life. She was just terrible and I'm not a difficult customer. Her English was good but if I asked her something she wouldn't do it. I asked her to concentrate on two key areas and she just ignored me. I asked her again and she did the opposite of what I asked. She kept talking the entire time and I just kept getting more and more agitated. She didn't even seem to know how to give a massage so I asked her if she was new. She said that she had been there for years. I was beyond disappointed and on the verge of getting sick from the cold.
Lovely attention to details.
This is where you go to relax after your treatment and I was alone. I thought about complaining but then I didn't want to get her in trouble. I knew nothing could fix her technique and that only those who do not get regular massages would think she was decent.
I would definitely go back and try another massage therapist because Hayati said they are usually top notch. I was disappointed in the treatment but my overall experience with the acquatonic pool and spa itself was amazing.
Every now and then, when it doesn’t matter, when I don’t have a tight connection, I take a window seat because I really love topography. I especially love flying the polar route, seeing the ice fields in Greenland and northern Canada, and I always love mountains.
This flight, I have a great seat, 20F, and I love it because while it is a window seat, there are only two seats in front of us, so I can exit and enter my seat as I please, without disturbing anyone, so it is like having a window seat that is an aisle seat, LOL.
Warning: don’t try this at home. Often, when you schedule for 20F, the plane reconfigures so that there is a three seat across in front of you, so you don’t have that easy enter and exit. One time, row 20 wasn’t even in the plane and the rows started with 21. Life doesn’t come with guarantees, especially when it comes to flying cattle class, so just relax, have a good engrossing book, some snack that will tide you over until your next stop and headphones, if that helps you shut out the world you are in.
Here is some of what I enjoyed (fortunately, my seat mates were also readers and preferred having the window shade open; I’m not always so lucky)
It almost hurts me physically when I have to leave the mountains behind . . .
Don’t you love the way the snow and ice appear to drip over the side of this Rocky Mountain area plateau?
The sheer natural power of the river+time combination that ate these paths awes me.
Back in the flatlands, with some puffy, billowy cloud cover. I keep hearing Joni Mitchell singing . . . . 
كان بخاطري اجرب نيل سبا يديد وطلبت من الفولورز بتويتر يساعدوني وينصحوني بمكان معيَن
بالجابرية Pretty Petals وايد بنات نصحوني اجرب
وقلت يالله امشي على نصيحة البنوتات والحمدلله طلعوا ذويقات بصراحة لأن المكان حده عجبني مشكوووورين النوري وذا ليتل جوي شوب
اول شي حبيته انه المكان يم الدخله اليديدة للجابرية سهالات ثاني شي المواقف مشاء الله راهية وبسرعه لقيت مكان ونزلت
اول مادخلت المكان حسيت براحة نفسية الالوااااان هدوووووووء والمكان هدووووووووء واللي يشتغلون هدووووووء صج ريلاكس
بار صغير يشوق والاحلى الثرية زوغه
الاصباغ من ماركات مختلفة والالوان عجيبة
الكراسي حدهم مريحين .. الوانهم وطريقة الخام المشجر ذكرني ببيتنا في كارديف حسيت بريف ويلز
Original Petals اخترت ال
اضغط لرؤية الصورة بشكل اوضح
ضيفوني بالكابتشينو
Emelyn وبدا الشغل الزين مع
يحليلها وايد مرتبة ونازكة وخذت وقتها عدل ما احب شغل العيَله
اظافري بعد العديل وقبل التصبغ
اختياري كان لون نيون شوي برتقالي على مشمشي حبيته واول مره احط هاللون
حبيت اشكر صاحبة المكان علياء النفيسي وشريكاتها على هالمكان الحلو .. عليا حدي استانست معاج جني اعرفج من زمان موفقين ياربي
Pretty Petals Located in Jabriya, Block 1A, St 1, Building 86, 1st floor, next to Zero Degrees
For reservations call: 25320363
Follow them in Instagram @PrettyPetalsNailSpa & Twitter @Pretty_PetalsQ8
Kuwaiti man sipping coffee in his dishtasha
Filipino staff at cafe
توني احوس بستايل تاغ وشفت هالصبغ اول ماشفته حسبالي الكفيار , لما دققت طلع لا غير هذا جنه شعر قلت يمكن مثل فكرته يعني ست او ع اقل صبغ جاهز ويكون بهالطريقه..
سويت سيرج طلع هم لا مو نوع يديد من الاصباغ اهو صبغ عادي بس متفنتقين فيه شنو الماده مادري بس مو غريبه علي !! , شلون طريقه او من سوتها هم مادري لانه مافي مجال هالحزة ادور عدل :\
تونا مرينا دايسو اختي تبي شغله قعدت احوس صوب البيوتي ماافتريت فيه كله وصورت لكم جم صورة :
هذا لما شفتها استغربت توقعت انه لشي شكلها يوحي فيه !! بس طلعت نفس الشفاط للروس السودا
هالصوره دوختني قلت ايد ماسكه التلفون وال٢ ماسكة الفرش من وين طلعت لي ايد ٣ ماسكة الشفاط!!
المهم النتيجة مو ايدي ايد اختي توني اثبت انه نفس لون والاظافر بالصج اهي بيضه ..
وبالنسبه للشغله اهي فرش ذكرتني بفرش بسيفورا كانت تدورهم مدمد..
وهذي فرش لتنظيف الاظافر كنت باخذها بس اختي ماشجعتني
وتوني ادري انه عندهم مكياج ..
كريم اساس وبودره
حمر
ماسكرا وفي نوعين او ٣ غيرها ..
هذا شنو بالضبط مادري بس صوب المكياج
وهم توني ادري انه عندهم عطور
زووم
وكفرات للايبود والايفون والجلكسي اس..
وماكملت باجي المحل طلعت لا واحلى شي اللي خذيتهم غير عن اللي صورتهم
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Back when we left Grand Canyon, we stopped to take photos at a gorge, and there were some shops setting up nearby, so I stopped by to take a look. As I was looking, the man running the shop I was in asked where I was from. I said “Pensacola” and then realizing that not everyone knows where Pensacola is, I added “Florida.”
There was a silence. I looked up and asked “Have you been in Pensacola?” and he said “Yes.” He had been in the military, trained in Orlando and then had some additional training in Pensacola. Small world. 
It was a nice chat. He knew we were driving through the Navajo Nation, and told us to be sure to stop somewhere for a Navajo Taco, that we’d like it. We tried to stop, but it was Sunday and everyplace was closed. We ended up eating in a Subway, we like Subway, but they’re everywhere and I’m not about to take a photo of a Subway to show you where we ate, LOL.
Anyway, after our 700 Year Cultural Tour, we drove down to Spruce Tree House restaurant, the only place open for lunch in Mesa Verde this early in the season, and there they have a Navajo Taco:
It really was good. The base was a lot like the sopapilla we had in Holbrook, Arizona, and the topping was like chili. Delicious chili.
We also ordered the home-made chips. I always like to see what real chips look and taste like:
These were also delicious, spicy. We didn’t eat them all, just tasted a few. They were good.
In the afternoon, we visited and revisited several of the sites from our morning tour, appreciating having the sites all – or mostly – to ourselves. In the late afternoon, we tried to capture the great light.
Early early in the morning we are up and ready to grab a bite of breakfast at the Far View Lodge and to take the 700 years tour. When we called for reservations at the Far View Lodge, the desk clerk asked if we would like to sign up for the 700 Years of Culture tour, and since Sparkle had told us that the tours fill up early, we signed up.
The light in Mesa Verde is beautiful at eight in the morning, and we were shocked when thirty-something people around our age (I guess we are all out exploring America!) got on the bus. Somehow, for $45, I had thought it would be a tour of five to seven people. I didn’t think so many people would pay so much for a tour!
The guide, Dave, and the bus driver, Leiter, were both local men, living in Cortez, men who double as guides a couple days a week to liven up their retirement. Dave’s depth of knowledge and investigative spirit was impressive; clearly he has a passion for the Ancestral Puebloans, and reads everything he can get his hands on. He has read all the latest studies and speculation, and as a farming man, he had some of his own down-to-earth speculations which he shared with us. It was all good stuff.
First, we went to look at early pit dwellings:
And then we headed off to visit some of the more and less famous cliff dwellings:
Does this remind you of anything? (Hint: see previous post)
Look at the terrain – so similar to other places where similar dwellings have evolved . . . (Hint Hint: Les Eyzies de Tayak) There are cliff dwellings in almost every conceivable concavity.
From pit dwellings to small family dwellings, to multiple family dwellings, small villages . . .
This is the Cliff Palace, a multiple family dwelling:
And then, the old legend goes, they just disappeared . . . or did they? Dave, the guide, tells us that the Apaches and Navajos won’t come any where near the Mesa, that the mesa is full of old spirits, not their spirits. The Hopi, however, a little further South, have no fear; the customs and dwellings of the Ancient Puebloans are familiar to them.
It’s kind of like conspiracy theories. We all love a good scary story.
“And then, they all just disappeared!”
But Dave thinks they didn’t disappear, that maybe they just moved on. Maybe too many years of drought, or maybe the soil they were farming gave out. Maybe they heard life was easier a few miles down the road and just picked up and moved a little on down the road . . . which seems to me to be a more logical, if less romantic, possibility.
Anyway, one of the things I really liked was that these ancient peoples, whoever they were, built their dwellings in locations and styles similar to the pre-France people of . . .umm . . . err. . . France.
I need to add a footnote here. This doesn’t happen to everybody, but it happened to me. Once I got to Grand Canyon, activities that I normally do without batting an eye began to be harder. I am a walker and a hiker, but any time I had to hike uphill in the Grand Canyon, I was huffing and puffing like a geezer. “Oh no! Oh no!” I was thinking to myself, “I must have some terrible respiratory condition! I’m suddenly getting old!”
Not so. As it turns out, I am just sensitive to high altitude. I should have known. I drove through Colorado once, and my eyes turned bright red, tiny little capillaries in my eyes burst.
At 8000 feet, in Mesa Verde, I could function, but sometimes found myself huffing and puffing. As soon as we descended a couple thousand feet, I was fine. Leiter, the bus driver, told me that many athletic teams train at high altitude so that when they perform, at a lower altitude, they will exceed themselves. It is such a relief to be able to move fast now, and not puff. I always took it for granted before. Not now.
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So here we segue back to the Petrified Forest, and it may not seem logical in a linear, chronological sense, like time-as-pearls-strung-together-on-a-string sort of thing, but in terms of like things, the next chronological entry is going to be on 700 years of culture, the Ancestral Puebloans who used to be called the Anasazi, but before I go there, I want to show you some petroglyphs.
(I’m putting in a lot of links in case you are as big a petroglyph nerd as I am, and want to read more)
I always imagine the problems with being early man. Imagine they are smart, and spend a lot of their days figuring things out, most important being 1. What are we going to eat? 2. How are we going to keep dry/warm? 3. How do we protect ourselves from our enemies? They have the same problems we have, only on a much more basic level, and with fewer resources.
Have you ever thought about how easy it is to get information now? (The hard part being sifting through so you get the most reliable, most relevant information). Imagine a world where you have to figure it out for yourself, every day.
Early civilizations fascinate me. I am always interested in little tiny things that can be very important, like how did they fasten skins together to keep themselves warm? How do you poke a hole in a sharp bone so you can use it as a needle? How do you make a button, or make strips that can be used to tie clothing together?
How do you fasten a spear head onto a spear, or an arrowhead onto an arrow?
Early man was a problem solver, and I am fascinated by petroglyphs, which are either early attempts at documentation, or early attempts at communication, or maybe both? The first petroglyphs and cave paintings I ever visited were the Font de Gaume Caves near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, and they took my breath away. I didn’t even hesitate because it was a cave, I wanted to see them so badly.
I want you to look at this photo of a fairly early dwelling in Les Eyzies de Tayac-Sireuil and hold it in your mind before we move on:
Later, living in Saudi Arabia, one of the most fun day trips ever was to a rock formation called Graffiti Rock, which had no protection, so very old petroglyphs mingled with modern carvings, but some of the older carvings were so interesting, so intriguing.
Coming across petroglyphs in the Petrified Forest was a delight.
Here is part of what the national parks website has to say about petroglyphs found in the Petrified Forest:
In 1977 a spiral petroglyph at Chaco Canyon National Monument was discovered which displayed a precise interaction with sunlight at the time of summer solstice by means of a narrow shaft of sunlight that moved down a shadowed rock face to bisect the center of a large spiral petroglyph. Subsequent observations found that on winter solstice and equinoxes there were intriguing interactions of sunlit shafts with the large spiral and a smaller spiral nearby. No other example of a sunlight interaction with prehistoric or historic petroglyphs was known at this time. However, there was a tradition of Pueblo sun watching in historic times, particularly of the varying sunrise and sunset positions throughout the year, to set the dates for ceremonies.
As a result of the Chaco Canyon find, Bob Preston initiated a research project to determine whether other petroglyph sites in the Southwest functioned as solar “observatories.” Over the last 16 years he has identified about 120 examples of similar solstice events at more than 50 petroglyph sites in Arizona, New Mexico and southern Utah. Evidence indicates that the phenomenon may have been spread over as much as a 1000-km region. These findings show clearly that certain petroglyphs were used by early pueblo cultures to function as calendrical markers for the winter and summer solstices. Petrified Forest National Park contains the greatest known concentration of solar calendars, with 16 of the sites being in or immediately adjacent to the park, and has been key to understanding their nature.
Shadows and sunlit images are found to move across petroglyphs due to other rocks being in the path of the sun’s rays. As the sun’s path across the sky changes throughout the year, the positions of the shadows and sunlit images change on the petroglyph panels. In many cases the petroglyphs have been placed on the rock faces in just the right position so that specific interactions occur on the solstices. The most common types of petroglyphs on which solsitial interactions have been identified are spirals and circles. The key to determining that these were intended and not by chance is that interactions are seen from site to site, and occur on the solstices more frequently than on other days of the year. These consistent interactions may involve a point of sunlight or shadow piercing the center or tracing the edge of a spiral or circular petroglyph; or shadow lines may suddenly appear or disappear at the center or edges of the petroglyph; or they may move up to the center or edge and then retreat. It is not uncommon for a single petroglyph to display multiple interactions of this type, either on the same solstice or on each of the solstices. In fact, at one site, there are five circular and spiral petroglyphs that show 15 interactions on the both solstices.
An intriguing question is whether types of petroglyph images were involved with specific dates. In several cases similar sunlight and shadow interactions occur on spiral and circular petroglyphs on the equinox, and distinctive interactions occur with other petroglyphs on the solstices and other dates. Clearly much of the puzzle remains to be unraveled.
There was a WEALTH of petroglyphs. I’m just going to show you a few of those we found:
This one makes me laugh; it looks so much like our modern day stork-who-brings-babies (LOL, where did that legend/story start anyway??)
LOL, these feet are larger than life, or else they were made by giants!
Early people in widely separated parts of the world carved and painted on rock, probably for a number of reasons, maybe keeping track of solar activity and seasons, maybe magical/religious thinking for a good hunt or nostalgia for a good hunt, maybe just someone who, like today’s blogger, just has to document in some way . . .
Yes, it’s early, and we aren’t all that hungry, but it’s easy and close and it’s the last dinner we will have at El Tovar.
They gave us a beautiful table.
We order, AdventureMan ordering the signature soup and a Salad; I ordered the French Onion Soup and Crab Cakes. I know, I know, I can get great crab cakes in Pensacola, I guess I just wanted to see how they did them. (They did great.)
I forgot to take a photo of dessert! I did take a last evening photo of the canyon.
We are up at six the next morning to get an early start on the next leg of our journey, today to Mesa Verde, Colorado, driving most of the day through the Navajo Nation.
On our way out, AdventureMan stops so I can take a photo of one of the signs – Mountain Lion – don’t you love it?
And one last photo of the Grand Canyon as we depart:
A last note – late April is a perfect time of year to visit the Grand Canyon.
