Panteria

This weekend was Panteria, a local event that I haven't missed since I started fighting in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). It was the most laid back event I have been to. Our camp was small, but very relaxed, which is what I needed.

We got there later than planned, but not by much. Packing for the event included such questions as "Where is my helmet?" "Where is my auth card?" "If I were my fighting tunic, where would I be?"

Once we got to the site, we set up the pavilion uneventfully, and hung out with my household.

(I am aware this next part might get me disowned :) )

I didn't really fight. In all honesty, I debated whether or not to bring my armour. So on Saturday I walked around, and sat in camp, looking at the sky and the trees. I did manage to do a round of thrown weapons, but it was nice to do nothing and know that I didn't have anything else I should be doing. I needed the calm and the nature and the sun.

Sunday I geared up for the woods battle, in my gear for the first time since last Pennsic. Things set weird, though I figured out that I didn't gain the freshman 15, because my armour still fit. I had a different pair of fighting shoes that slid as I walked though, there were a few other pieces that needed adjustment, and really, I wasn't motivated to do anything I didn't need to. So I stayed in for 2 rounds, and then stopped fighting as more people showed up.

What this weekend did do was re-spark my desire to train and fight. I am researching practices that (hopefully) exist in NYC for the summer.

Saturday was also the beginning of the epic squirrel battles. There was a cute little red squirrel who really liked our bread and tents. The little squirrel also worked in conjunction with a brave chipmunk. I think they won, because we left out bread for them.

Something I really like about SCA events are the conversations. The stories. I haven't seen many of these people since I went to school in the Middle East. The most common question I get is 'What is my favorite part about being there/going to school there'. My first answer is always the people I meet - my classmates, who all are such extraordinary people, and then the random connections - a woman in a painting class who can read the tattoo I have in Tamil, who is from Kerala and knows who Gurukkal is. My second answer is the travel opportunities. Though I am always brought back to why I travel, and what I want to do with travel as I talk to an SCA member who was a PeaceCorps volunteer in Africa.

Stories also remind me of chivalry, and the seven knightly virtues. These are the stories we forget, but that we shouldn't. They are important.

I managed to not get injured fighting, but instead hurt my thumb playing volleyball at a potluck.

Sadly, this is my only event this summer due to scheduling and commitments. Which makes me sad, because my household and friends in the SCA are another family to me.

<3

Travel Adventures

And now for some of the inevitable adventures that come with traveling.

First, my name is mis-translated on my UAE visa - it isn't written as pronounced in English, which led to the border guys questioning if it was me/my passport.

That was not helped by the fact that my hair is short now, and therefore radically different looking than all of my passport pictures where it is long and in a ponytail.

I am also not sure how to explain to a US airport guy why I am studying theater in the Middle East after a 14-hour flight. I am not at my most articulate. My answer ended up being something along the lines of "because the people are awesome?"

Also general travel/airplane tips:

The JetBlue terminal at JFK is awesome. Food is good. Reading is good. Naps are good. Also, emergency exit rows are pretty awesome - there is so much more legroom. And yes, if something horrible happens you might have to open a door. Worth it.

<3

7,000 Miles Later

I am back in the US for the summer. Have been for about a week at this point, and so thought it would be time to recap the end of the semester/beginning of summer.

Due to schedule conflicts, I am still not done all of my courses - I am completing one by writing a 25-30 page paper that is due over the summer. However, I can be very stubborn, and I had finished all of my other papers four days before my flight out of Abu Dhabi. Because of that, I wrote a draft of the paper before coming home for the summer, so I just have edits to do on that.

I also managed to pack my life into 2 boxes, 2 suitcases, and a backpack. Books are going to be a problem in the future.

Said the 'see you later's inherent to a school of nomads, and hung out in the evenings when I couldn't bear to write anything more on the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. In that time, I played board games, which got fairly competitive. Important to note: I won one of the games of Settlers of Catan. This is so important because it was the first time that someone other than Jordan won.

Fourteen hour flight home, uneventful. I watched movies, and napped. Had a six-hour layover at JFK, but since I was flying JetBlue, they had a nice waiting area. My connecting flight got delayed a bit, but I made it home. The connection won't be as bad in the future because they are re-routing Sachi and I through Chicago instead of JFK from now on.

Then, home.

Stars, darkness, silence, trees, grass, dogs, a new donkey, my own bed, hugs from family, relaxing on porches, waking up without an alarm, do-nothing days, driving with music blaring, wind, stormclouds.

I went to see the spring production, and worked at the Ultimate Frisbee tournament, taking photos of the games. I miss playing. I hope I can find/make some pick-up games over the summer.

I also visited my high school and caught up with my old teachers...

"You survived!"

"I thought you would be more tan."

"You loved it right? I told you you would love the Middle East!"

(I'm studying theater) "Are you ready to be a waitress?" (Not as an actor) "Oh, then you'll be fine!"

(I'm studying theater) "I wondered about that. You were always more creative - it makes sense" (As compared to political science)

"Welcome home."

...As well as hanging out with some of my friends during their free block. I even went about this the legitimate way, by getting a visitors pass. Helped the GSU plan this year's Day of Silence (I know, it wasn't on the actual day. But it is a miracle that it happens at all, even with the compromises we've had to make).

Caught up with one of my best friends, Beth, which was awesome and crazy, as always. Today she and Kendall came and we talked for a while.

It is good to be home for a while. Good to be in the US, where things feel a bit more stable/make more sense. Good to slow down and reboot after a hectic year.

It was weird - when I was packing and even at the airport in VT, it felt like Christmas. The weather in Abu Dhabi was the same just hotter, and it felt like I was only going home for a breath before it was back into the chaotic busy-ness that is NYUAD. Then, I registered the spring/summer colors and feel to the air, and it felt like summer break, that I wasn't here for a breath, but will have time to catch my breath.

NYC in 1 week, 3 days!

<3

P.S. I can now add lawnmowers to the list of things it would seem as though I have broken, a list which mainly consisted of microwaves before this point. Still, aside from the one in Abu Dhabi, I hold that the rest were coincidences. 

Anchor

I was thinking about this the other night as I was trying to fall asleep, and the next day my friend brought up the same thing.

This school creates nomads. Travelers. We pack our lives every 4 months.

And there is a part of all of us that wants that. The wandering bits of our souls.

But there is a contrary pull - the desire to create roots.

To make a place, a home, somewhere to snap back to after globe-hopping.

It is impossible to create that now, in college, but with all the moving we do, it would be nice to be able to stay put.

<3

Theater v. Performance Art

This post is written as a direct extension of a discussion my Intro to Visual Culture class had a few weeks ago - thoughts/reactions to the ideas and distinctions between theater and performance art.

I don't think a distinction can be drawn between the two. They are both mutually inclusive and mutually exclusive.

Theater can fall under the umbrella of performance art, performance art can be viewed as theater.

Both fall under the category of performance.

Theater is also not just a proscenium stage, with an audience, a fourth wall.

It can be many things, some that could be considered performative, some experimental, some classical, some mundane.

In my class, a plurality of people only saw theater as traditional theater, classical theater. Which it isn't.

Classical theater is the common perception of theater, but it isn't all theater can be.

Theater and performance art are the same in that they are performative and can shock and provoke and heal. I want to learn more about Romeo Castellucci and his 'theater of the image'.

Performance and theater are different in ways that can only be determined on a case by case basis.

One idea that I like but am not sure if I agree with is Marina Abramovic's differentiation - in theater the knife is fake. In performance art the knife is real.

These lines really can't be drawn. But I also know that people do draw those lines, and it is important to break them in order to move art and provoke thought.

In my own work, I don't want a clear line to be able to be drawn between theater and performance art. The notions of breaking and healing and catharsis intrigue me, as do sounds and light and video juxtaposed with text and acting.

<3

Cubicles

There are some administrative floors in Sama that are all cubicle offices.

It always freaks me out when I have to go to them.

Cubicles scare me. I never want to end up in a job requiring me to work in one.

There is just something about them that is so against my soul. I can't stand them.

Then there is the fact that I get easily lost in those floors, lost in a sea of cubicles.

Thoughts only enforced by the snippets of Office Space that I have seen.

<3

(Also, as I am writing this, the episode of "Bob's Burgers" that is playing in the background is discussing a similar fear. In that case, the fear of having to sign office birthday cards)

It's Official

From Albert (our course registration/administration page)

<3