Update 4: Now

Summer in New Mexico does not require many words. It is all sensory: sound and light and shadow, the smell of rain somewhere.

My mother and I were witness to one of the most amazing sunsets a few weeks ago, driving home from Llano, which is just past Penasco.

Evening light through a curtain

As often as New Mexico is beautiful, it is whacky. At the farmers market several weeks ago, I looked up to see a very thin, long-haired man clad in what appeared to be nothing more than a leopard skin, parading around waving a tree branch, accosting customers.

Turns out it was a promotion for the opera that was opening that night, Menotti's The Last Savage.

Downtown window display

It has been a hot, dry summer, but it poured yesterday. Thunder rumbled all afternoon; the evening was cool and breezy. It is easy to sleep on a night like that, and to dream of more rain, of the river running again, the acequias filled to the brim. The desert inspires a wary optimism, a propensity for sincere prayer. But sunshine or thunderstorm, it is always beautiful.

Update 3: Mendocino and San Fran

The Eastern European Folklife Center, based in Berkeley, holds a Balkan Music and Dance camp in the woods outside Mendocino every summer. This year, Nila, Anna Rose, and I were lucky enough to get to go. The last Saturday in June, I escaped the forest fire smoke and flew to the balmy bay area. We drove up to Mendocino that day, up 101 and then onto a winding road through the hills--so beautiful. Just before sunset, we got the camp, deep in the woods, much darker and cooler than the outside world. We settle into our little cabin (I have a deep nostalgia for sleeping on cots, I must confess), and then walked a curving path to the center of camp, where the dining and dance halls were located. Dinner was great--the meals all week were fantastic--and afterwards there was live Balkan music and dancing for hours. This was the pattern every evening at Balkan Camp. After a day of classes in music and dance (the ones we took were Vocal Technique, Advanced Bulgarian Singing, Balkan Dance, Frame Drum, and Tupan [another percussion instrument]), you eat, and then dance for hours.

One of the nighttime music parties

The camp was really amazing. The instructors were all world-class musicians and dancers. The food was great. The location was beautiful. And everyone there loved Balkan music. The three of us would sing while waiting in line at mealtimes, or when walking from place to place, and people would look at us appreciatively instead of bewilderedly.

The machine behind us dispenses not gumballs but seed balls

We only stayed at camp until Tuesday, because we wanted to have time to explore San Francisco, where Nila lives. Wednesday, we packed a lunch and headed out to wander around the Mission district. We sat in Dolores park and watched dogs and their owners frolic. We had ice cream at the Bi-Rite Creamery (Honey Lavender--so amazing), went to a by-donation yoga class at Laughing Lotus Studio, and then went back to Nila's to eat an amazing home cooked Indian meal, courtesy of her wonderful mother.

Only in San Francisco do the hydrants wear crocheted tunics

Thursday, we drove to Santa Cruz to see the farm at UCSC. It's a pretty cool place, situated on a bluff overlooking the bay--very beautiful. They have acres and acres of organic produce growing, maintained by a fleet of interns, which is a great way to run a farm.

On Friday, we went back to play in the city, then drove out to Oakland to eat dinner at our friend Corinne's house. She is a recent Slav alum, and now a member of Kitka. She fed us well, and then taught us a Ukrainian song while her dog Nushka sat on the armchair.

The week was just lovely. Good company, good food, and no shortage of music and dancing.

That Saturday, I returned home to the sea of smoke produced by the Las Conchas fire, which in a single day burned more acres than the Cerro Grande fire consumed in total. On the way home from the airport, it poured.

Update 2: Grauation

With my parents

Graham and I returned from Puerto Rico on May 18 to find the east coast rainy and cold--no great surprise, but disappointing nonetheless, especially given that all the graduation festivities of the coming weekend were slated to take place outdoors. On Thursday May 19, my parents and my Aunt Rosa flew into Connecticut (actually, they didn't arrive until around 5 am the next morning, thanks to a long, looong layover due to bad weather). Friday my Aunt Anita arrived, and Saturday my two cousins came--we had quite the bunch! Friday, 5/20, was my last concert as pitch of Slavs, in which I managed to not cry, somehow (barely). Saturday a reception at the University President's house. Sunday was Class Day, in which everyone crowded into Old Campus to listen to Tom Hanks give a speech. And finally, Monday was graduation. All the graduated filed into Old Campus, to much fanfare, honorary degrees were given to famous people (Martin Scorsese, Youssou N'Dour), and then we all went back to our respective colleges to get our own diplomas. Morse College was the only one that didn't set up a tent in the courtyard, and we just barely missed being poured on. Just as we were all filing into the dining hall to enjoy a nice lunch, the downpour began. Complimentary Yale umbrellas were provided.

Me in my gown, Slavs in the pjs on the morning of Class Day

And on Tuesday, I got to move out of my house.

After the Baccalaureate Service

Needless to say, the weekend was a blur, but although it was exhausting, it was wonderful. It was great having so much of my family out there. We were able to eat at several of my favorite New Haven restaurants--my father is still raving about Miya's--as well as cook together at my house. It was also really nice to be able to spend time with my friends without the stress of schoolwork to think about. The day after graduation, the weather turned beautiful. My mom and I finished packing, and then enjoyed a great dinner at Sol de Cuba.

And on Wednesday, we left for home.

Two weeks later, because we just can't get enough of exhausting festivities, we had a reception at my house, potluck style. My mother and I spent an entire day baking eight different cakes--banana cake, coconut cake, rhubarb upside down cake, lemon cake. This was overkill, really, but it was fun. I also made many quarts of ice cream. Now, potlucks are really one of my favorite things--for comparatively effort on the host's part, you get an entire feast--and you don't have to clean the serving ware.

So now I am a graduate, perpetually having to field the question, "What's next?" And what is next? I'll be going back to Yale for a one-year graduate program in the fall of 2012, but until then, I'll be working as an intern for the Santa Fe Farmers Market institute, which is pretty ideal. Best of all, I'll be in New Mexico. It has been far too long since I've been able to spend an entire year here. I'm looking forward to getting to see the seasons change.

Some updates: Puerto Rico

Well! I am home. And there is chile here. I would consider changing the name of this blog, but since I'm going back to Yale next year (Fall of 2012), it will continue to be relevant for a time.

I'll take some time now to give an update on what's been going on for the past two months:

Graham and I went to Puerto Rico for a short vacation right before my graduation. We were mainly on the island of Culebra, where we sat on the beach, swam in the delightfully warm water, fed stray cats, and slept. It was great. We then spent a night in Old San Juan in a cool hotel called Da House (no, really) and drank some really good coffee.

Culebra (after I had lost my sunglasses)

Old San Juan

Sunset in San Juan, after the rain

Looking down into our hotel lobby

Cafe con Leche

It actually rained on us every day we were there (this after 6 months of no rain at all, apparently), but it was really enjoyable nonetheless. Funny, though, how many stray cats there were on the island--so many that we saw a flier advertising "Culebrense Minipanthers" (ie stray black cats) for adoption. I would love to go back, though, and next time for longer than four days.

Sunshine in Cape Cod

Last weekend, three slavs--Sarah, Nila, and Anna Rose--and I went up to Cape Cod for a few nights. Sarah's grandparents have a house there, which is generally only used during the summers, so we loaded up the car, somehow attached 4 bikes to it, and away we went!

The drive is a bit longer than 3 hours from New Haven, up the Connecticut coast, briefly through Rhode Island, into Massachusetts, over a very tall bridge--and then you're in the Cape! Even the areas marked "Densely Settled" are not that dense, and feel rustic and quiet. It was evening when we arrived. The air smelled good, and it was perfectly quiet up the little lane in Harwich where the house was located, pine needles for its backyard.

We feasted like kings, as we are wont to do. For dinner that night, we made yam chips, quinoa with goat cheese, Nila's special tofu, a salad, and a wonderful spinach raita that Nila had made earlier in the day. Yes.

The forecast had called for rain, but the next day dawned clear and bright. One of the neighbors later told us that there were the only two days that it hadn't been raining in months. We ate breakfast in the back yard, then drove to Nausset Beach, where we dozed in the sun and looked for shells.

We walked around the adorable town of Chatham for a bit, bought some books at the Friends of the Library book sale, when into a thrift shop in a church basement, and then went back to Harwich. We ate lunch in the backyard, then rode our bikes to another beach, admired the vast quantities of seaweed there, withstood the wind, and then rode back home.

For dinner that night, we had quinoa pasta, butternut squash sauce, goat cheese, and more salad. Always salad.

The next day--also sunny--we went on a hike behind the house, cutting through the yard next door to get to the trail (the neighbor Nancy was very nice: "Oh, you go to Yale? Bless you." And then, to her dog, who was gnawing on a log, "Oh, no, now don't eat any more wood products."). We ended up at a beautiful pond, crystal clear and cold. Down the shoreline, we could hear kids laughing, and a dog splashing in the water. We walked back home, singing, made lunch, and then rode to the Schoolhouse Ice Cream Parlor, which was delightful. Apparently, in the summer there is a line that curves through the shop and out the door, but that day, we were almost the only ones there.

We drove back to Connecticut through intermittent cloudbursts and sunshine, opening into a lovely sunset as we drew closer to New Haven. It was a lovely weekend, restful and quiet and fun--exactly what I needed.

Tomorrow, Graham and I are going to Puerto Rico for four days! Two beach vacations in a row--I feel very fortunate. And then after that--graduation!

Dairy Field Trip

Well! A lot has happened in the past two months--so much that I have not written anything here the entire time!

A summary:

-Slavs went on tour to Dallas (the third week of March), where it was warm and people were gracious. We sang a lot, drove a lot, acted as judges in a bbq contest, etc.

-I saw a concert in Carnegie Hall--for free.

-I finished my senior essay (total page count: 50--which is actually a lot shorter than many people's. But it was still a big thing).

-Spring came slowly to New Haven. I admire forsythias for their perseverance.

-Slavs had our big spring concert, which went really well. Videos are up here.

-That same weekend, Oye had its spring show. My mother was also visiting that weekend, so she got to see all my performances, which was great.

-I wrote some papers (3).

-I finished school.

Performing in the Oye Show

I have not actually graduated yet--graduation isn't until the 23rd. But yesterday I handed in my last college assignment.

It feels really good. I checked a novel out of the library today. And it is finally springtime here.

Slavs are cool

Check it out: Slavs are listed as being the 5th coolest thing on campus.

I'm not actually sure if this is an ordered list; regardless, it feels good to get this kind of recognition. Slavs are slowly but surely acquiring something of a cult following.

Also, it is springtime--more on that soon. Tomorrow I hand in my last college assignment. (!)