Picture of the Week- Pentecosting

Ten Favorite Pictures from Our Honeymoon

6 Things for Today and Yesterday- Crissy Field, Pentecost, Cherries, and Early Morning Zumba

1. St Tim's Pentecost Decorations this year- I love a good dramatic ceiling, and this shiny red rain of streamers was freaking spectacular. It really feels like there are healthy changes taking place in this church, because it is breeding such creative expression. I am proud to be a part of that. I also love the it really looks like the raining tongues of fire that characterize the holiday. Pentecost is a great holiday, because it is about the birth of the church. On a deeper level, it is about God's divine intervention to allow the apostles to speak to people in the language they can understand. I feel like there is still such a HUGE lesson to Christians in that, as it is a reminder to us that the burden is on us as speakers to reach out to others in ways they can understand. And that it is a fire that didn't burn anyone. Oh I just love it. And it really was a spectacular day for St. Tim's, both because it looked so beautiful and because so many people came together to make it that way. It was the perfect holiday for a church that needs that new start. I loved it.
2. Cherries!! I am so happy we are finally back in cherry season! Eating them right now, and they pure happiness. I think cherries are responsible for any weight I lost last summer, because a good cherry is better than cake. Well, maybe not always, but at least sometimes. But I am loving these cherries right now.

3. Mark Di Suvero's sculptures in Crissy Field- Yesterday morning, I drove into the city to volunteer for the fancypants reception for the sculptures opening at the field, which is the first step in SFMoMA's move out into the city while the building is under construction. It was very cool to see the artist there and to see people hobnobbing (though a shocking number of dogs were present). His monumental sculptures, many of which are painted red, look like they belong in the field where they are currently resting. Also, if I were a vandal, a few of them would really scream for some climbing and spray paint. It makes for a great walk on a sunny afternoon (and thank goodness yesterday had fantastic weather).The sculptures will be up for a year, so if you are in San Francisco, go check them out (but don't spray paint them, because thats not nice).
4. Steve- Steve was one of the volunteers I worked with yesterday, and he was just the greatest. He apparently retired early to travel, and he just got back from the Galapagos islands and is going to Portugal in the early fall. He spends the rest of his time volunteering for SFMoMA and being a board member at a gay line dancing club. I think I may want to be him when I grow up.
5. Doing zumba at 6 AM- I am learning to make the most out of the very early mornings, because apparently I will never sleep after the sun comes out again. I am writing this at 9, because if I wait much longer I will fall asleep on myself! But I am trying to just go with it right now, because I was missing my Beto and latin beats.
6. Being finished with our Africa pictures- Challenge completed! I think it must be time to go on another trip.

Today's Inspiration

Quote of the Week- Doesn't Everyone Want to be Amy Poehler?

"What worries me the most is this trend that caring about something isn't cool. That it's better to comment on something than to commit to it. That it's so much cooler to be unmotivated and indifferent. Our culture can get so snarky and ironic sometimes and we kind of wanted Smart Girls to celebrate the opposite of that."

" I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading, like, 'All right, everybody, now we go over here. All right, now this happens.' "

"They say that sibling relationships are the most important relationship in your life, because they know you for every period of your life. They know you when you were a baby and as an adult, and, hopefully, they know you in your old age. Your parents leave too early, your lovers come much later in your life, but your sibling has been with you."

" I really like playing Leslie, because it’s like the Sisyphean task of trying to get a park built is very emblematic of what’s happening anywhere someone’s just trying to make change happen while everybody tells them it’s not going to happen. She’s one of those people who believe that one person can make a difference; that no matter how small your job is, you still matter… I’m kind of a sucker for pathos, and I was looking forward to turning down the volume a little bit and trying to play someone who—even though she’s kind of grade-A bananas—could maybe exist in the world."

 "As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own."

What We Learned About How to Dress for a Safari

 

Alright, if you are a loyal reader (aka a family member), you know that before we left on safari, we debated (and shopped) at length for the right clothes for the safari. Safari clothes come with a whole load of advice with things that range from sparkly fancypants to dowdy yourmomspants. Examples:

 

Ok, we knew these were wrong, because neither of us can pull off cargo vests or sparkly skirts, but there are some particular rules that pretty much every place will tell you.

 

1. You shouldn't wear bright colors or dark colors- they can annoy the animals.

2. No Blue! It attracts the tse tse flies, and their bites hurt like a mother.

3. Keep yourself covered or the sun will burn you. Wear a hat!

4. Beige. Lots of beige.

5. You want super strong hiking boots.

6. Lots of pockets.

 

Ok, so them's the rules. Now, let me tell you what really mattered.

 

My Observations:

 

First of all, we'll go over the boy wear. He basically wore the North Face every day, and it seemed to work for him. Like a yuppie explorer, just searching for the closest REI. I make fun, but I was cold, and he wasn't. If I could only give one piece of advice, check the differences between seasons, and BRING LAYERS.

 

The beige-ness is nice, but not necessary. The Mara people wear bright red, and I didn't see animals running from them in annoyance or fashion intimidation. I saw pretty much every color out there, and they all seemed fine. On the other hand, one half of Flosaundy did get bit by the tse tse fly, and she was in serious pain. It is worth it to not wear the blue. Other colors are fine.

 

Yeah, you really should wear a hat. I didn't always, and I burnt my part. The Boy wore a baseball cap, but the back of his neck did burn once.Our guide made fun of my more fisherman-y hat, but he seemed ok with the Stetson hat.  I have no idea which hat works best, you just want to cover your head and not look too much of a fool. And no matter how you dress, you are going to look like a tourist. Just let it go. You will now blend in here.

 The suggestion you need heavy duty pockets or footwear is RIDICULOUS. Unless your camp is offering hiking tours, you don't need them. Flosaundy wore their pajamas some mornings, with flip flops or bare feet. It depends on every camp, but unless you know otherwise, you really don't need to upgrade your walking shoes. You need flip flops or casual shoes for walking around the camp, but heavy duty preparation is just not going to help anything.

My Revised Fashion Rules:

 

1. Don't buy anything you wouldn't wear again, at least in less monochromatic contexts. You can mostly just dress however you would be comfortable on a long road trip, because you are just in the back of a car all day.   Think about comfort first, then worry if you have enough pockets, zip-off pant legs, etc.

 

2. Blue is the only color out of the question- Who wants extra bug bites? If you are going in their dry seasons, you want to think more about dirt and dust, but most of the camps have laundry services as well. We picked a brown shirt out of the Boy's donate pile, and that may have been the perfect choice, because worst case scenario, we have to throw it away.

 

3. Do not expect to look cute- I swear our hair stayed wet longer, and African water was not great for my hair or skin. If you are a sparkly skirt girl, I suggest maybe letting that go for this trip. You tried. It's ok.

 

4. Yeah, wear a hat. More importantly, wear layers.  They are right, you need a hat. And bring whatever makes you warm/ dry/ cozy, because that is the nicest thing! I didn't bring a scarf, and ended up using one of the blankets to keep my neck warm and covered. The mornings are sooo cold, and you want to be able to enjoy it.

 

5. You sit all day. Dress for that.

 

6. Pack light- they will do your laundry, and again, you aren't going to look that cute anyway.

 

7. Bring clothes for the nights. Pajamas and something just slightly more fancy works just as well. You can't go buy something if you need it, so be sure you have something to wear for dinner.

 

8. My final rule- Do not just wear your safari clothes in the city. Wear normal clothes, because you are in the city. It comes off as very weird/ creepy/ imperialistic to look like you are on an urban safari spotting Kenyans. And just have fun with it! You will be overprepared, so at least make the figuring it out fun.

3 Things for Yesterday- Janet, Airport Ooops, and Great Eyebrows

1. Janet- one of the kids I tutor is named Janet, and she is just the best ever. I know my mom hates her name, but I have never met a Janet I didn't like. Because I have my big photo class next Friday, this was the last time I would tutor her until next year. I will miss her! She was so sweet!
2. That The Boy picked the wrong airport! Ok, this was a major fail. The Boy is off this weekend hanging out with his best friends. I took him to SFO, and as I was driving out, I had a hunch that I needed to turn the volume back up on my phone. It's a good thing, because 10 minutes later, The Boy called to say he was supposed to be at the San Jose Airport! Thank goodness that we show up so early for flights, because we have enough time to make big old mistakes like that.
3. Great eyebrows- I think thick eyebrows are so pretty. I saw a girl yesterday with FANTASTIC eyebrows, and I hope she appreciates them, because they were awesome.