Wednesday, January 29, 2020

El Salvador Reviews Part I

A note: Sometimes writing ideas come to me fully formed. Those are gifts. Other times, I get ideas as eggs, not fully formed and needing the right conditions to be written about. It could be I don't have the right entry point into the topic or the form isn't clear yet so I sit on those ideas. I've had a draft of this post sitting on my computer for about eight months. This post was an egg, needing space, time, and input of new information. 

It wasn't until I listened to John Green's podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed, that I knew I wanted to write about some of my experiences of living in El Salvador as reviews. In the podcast, Green reviews different facets of the human condition on a five-star scale. In addition to listening to The Anthropocene Reviewed, I listened and read things that were sparks to fill in the missing pieces and be able to write about some of my experiences. Here is the first of several reviews of some of my particular experiences as an ex-pat living in El Salvador. 

Sitting on the Beach in the Sand

This is the view from one of our favorite Airbnbs in Punta Mango. We usually had the beach to ourselves. 

When you live abroad, you quickly learn the art of the weekend trip. Weekend beach trips were one of my favorite things to do in El Salvador. We had the organization of these trips down to a science. An e-mail would go out asking for interest/availability. This would be followed by a spreadsheet to sign up for rides and meals. While each weekend carried its own stories, there was a comforting familiarity of each trip following the same beats. We would arrive in time to watch the sunset from plastic chairs pulled out onto the beach. Days were spent in the endless rotation of hammock, pool, and ocean. The cycle was only interrupted by not-yet dry bodies padding barefoot into the kitchen to refill drinks or to get a snack. Gathering happened for meals, games, and star-lit conversations. Sometimes, depending on the beach, we would have the whole beach to ourselves. 

On one beach trip, we shared the beach. I sat on a pulled-out chair and spent a few minutes watching a father and son sitting on the beach. They weren't sitting on chairs. They were sitting, sometimes even lying down directly on the sand. Both were close enough to the water's edge for the waves to reach up and splash over them. Earlier I had been in the water playing an endless game of jump rope with the waves. In some ways, it seemed appealing to sit on the heat of the sand and feel the lap of the waves again. However, the idea was unappealing thinking about sand getting in uncomfortable places and being without a phone to take pictures or DJ. So I stayed in my chair. It was easy to see a pattern of ex-pats sitting in chairs and locals sitting right on the beach.

On one of his last beach trips, a friend boycotted a chair for sitting directly on the sand. He grabbed a bottle of Jimador and took a drink everytime the waves hit him. On our last couple of beach trips, some friends and I also made the move to sit directly on the sand. We were close enough for the waves to hit us, sometimes. It's frequently when things are coming to an end that we most urgently feel the need to pay attention. 

From a chair or directly on the beach, there is no incorrect way to experience witnessing the ocean. However, when I felt the sand underneath me and watched the water try to reach me, I realized that one of these experiences demanded giving more of my attention to the beach. 

There's no shortage of things for people to give their attention to. Herbert Simon coined the term "attention economy" to explain that with the rapid growth of information causes a scarcity of attention. Our attention is a valuable resource that we only have so much to give. This frequently results in giving shallower attention to many things. With the rise of social media, our attention is frequently more focused on what we view as relevant to us. It is so easy to check your phone for messages when there is a lull in the conversation. Does anyone want to talk to me? The internet uses algorithms to make sure content is relevant to use (because capitalism) because something that is not relevant to us costs our attention. Ads are curated to be of interest. Youtube suggests similar videos to encourage going down rabbit holes. Sometimes things that are not as relevant to us, don't get as much of our attention. 

Jenny Odell has studied attention in her book How to Do Nothing. She asks, "How do you do things that capitalism doesn't value? How do you do things that aren't considered productive?" She recognizes that we can't just stop giving our attention so something, like our phones. Instead, she suggests we need to replace it with something else. She answers, "the internet strips us of our sense of place and time, we counter its forces by becoming closer to the natural world." Particularly, she suggests grounding attention to focus on a place and retraining attention to focus on our surroundings. 

Sitting directly on the beach, I was grounded more in where I was. In the 1970s, Palmolive had a series of commercials that featured a manicurist named Madge. She would put people's hands in Palmolive dishwashing liquid and tell them, "you're soaking in it." When I sat on the sand, I was soaking in it. I could feel the grit of the sand getting everywhere. I was more aware of the course of the waves, wondering if shoes were far enough up on the beach to not be swept away by a wave. My attention was fully grounded and holding onto the time and place of my surroundings. I give sitting on the sand of a beach 3 1/2 stars. Again, sand gets everywhere. 

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2020+ A Wish


Lin-Manuel Miranda used to tweet a good morning and good night message of encouragement. He said it was things that he wanted to hear himself. When I write my wish for everyone, it is also things that I hope for myself in the new year and hope that it will resonate with others too. So below is my wish for myself (and everyone) in 2020. Additionally, I have listed some things that I am looking forward to in 2020. 


1) Pay Attention

In many ways, we are/become what we pay attention to. I thought quite a bit about attention and what I give attention to in my own life this year. This year, and others, sometimes this included many thoughts of self-doubt or negative feelings that demanded to be felt. This upcoming year, I hope you pay attention to making and being a part of things that bring you joy. Mary Oliver, who died in 2019, gave the instructions for life as "pay attention/be astonished/tell about it." 

2) Rest

Burnout, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, was one of my favorite books I read last year. They talk about the importance of rest to cope with stress and avoid burnout. They write a number that is the percentage of time that people should be resting and preface it by saying they know it will sound high. The percentage they give is 41%, as in we should be resting 41% of the time. There is frequently a need to constantly be productive. With grad school and work, I felt the need to constantly be doing things. Yet, there were times, when I just couldn't. Pay attention to your body. It's okay to rest. In fact, it's necessary. 

3) Keep Going

Two artists, Austin Kleon and poet Maggie Smith, both give the advice to keep going. Kleon gives this advice in his book, which is literally titled Keep Going. Smith frequently gives the advice of "keep moving" in her tweets and book coming out in 2020 of the same name. I wrote more this year more than any other year in my life. It took day after day, brick by brick, but I kept going. Pay attention, rest, then keep going.  


Movies

Miss. Fisher And The Crypt of Tears
I loved the TV series Miss. Fisher's Murder Mysteries, which takes place in Melbourne in the 1920s. I'm so excited for the movie, which takes place in Egypt. It is set to come out in February and through streaming in the United States. 

In the Heights
Lin does such good work. I'm pumped for the movie version of his first musical. The trailer itself is so visually stunning. It comes out on June 26. 

P.S. I Still Love You
The first movie in this trilogy, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, was just like a big hug. I'm excited to continue with these characters in February on Netflix. 

The Lovebirds 
This movie had me at it stars Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. It is described as a "wacky murder mystery," which is exactly my jam. It is set to come out on April 3. 

The Prom
This movie is inspired by the musical of the same name. It is directed by Ryan Murphy and has a *chef's kiss cast that includes Meryl Streep, Andrew Rannells, Nicole Kidman, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kerry Washington. The movie comes out on Netflix in late 2020. 

Tigertale
Tigertale is another movie that is coming from Netflix. It is about a Taiwanese man (played by John Cho) who leaves his life behind to come to the United States. 

TV


Olympics
Who doesn't love being brought together by the Olympics? I much prefer the summer Olympics because of swimming and gymnastics. I'm excited to watch Simone Biles dominate. They also added five new events: baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing. So I guess that will be interesting? 

Maria Bamford's Weakness Is the Brand
Maria Bamford is a comedian from Minnesota. She's one of the comedians I can always go back and still find her comedy funny. Her new special comes out on January 28. 

The Good Place Finale
The Good Place  is one of the best shows on TV right now. After each season, I was convinced that the writers had written themselves into a corner. Yet, each season, they managed to pivot so beautifully into a new idea. I'm looking forward to how they brilliantly and thoughtfully end the story of these characters. 

Insecure
The third season of Insecure ended in 2018. I'm looking forwarding to seeing what these characters are up to again.

Shrill
I loved season one of Shrill. Not a ton has been revealed about the new season, but it is set to premiere on January 24. There are eight episodes instead of six this upcoming season. 

Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo is a queen of fantasy YA with her Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows duology. Netflix is set to adapt a TV show combining these two series. Live-action fantasy can become cheesy very quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing how they adapt this though. 


Music

New Dua Lipa album
I was in Taiwan when I first started listening to Dua Lipa. It's been a minute. I'm ready for something new from her. 

Movie-turned Musicals
There is a current trend on Broadway right now to adapt movies into musicals. For example, last year I saw the musical version of Mean Girls with my friend Sarah. Some of these are more successful than others. In 2020, they are set to open musicals of 13 Going on 30 (love this movie), Some Like It Hot (okay, I can maybe kind of see this), and The Notebook. I wouldn't be overly excited about the musical version of The Notebook, except the music and lyrics are by Ingrid Michaelson (love!). We'll see if any of these are smashes. 

Jagged Little Pill Tour
One of my favorite things in 2019 was rediscovering Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill. This summer she is touring to celebrate the album's twenty-fifth anniversary. At many of the spots, Garbage and Liz Phair are also performing with her. She isn't performing in Minnesota, but maybe it will happen. 

Books

You all, I had to cut this list way down. This past year was such a good year for books. There's so many good ones coming out next year too. I'm also looking forward to my friend Monica's book, which comes out in 2021. Here is the Goodreads page for it. 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is pitched as Rebecca and Gone Girl set in a mansion in Mexico in the 1950s. It is a "reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel." I'm in. It comes out on June 30. 

Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
I'm a big fan of Aminatou and Ann's podcast Call Your Girlfriend. Their book is set to be a "memoir-manifesto about the ups, downs, and life-changing importance of nurturing and sustaining a friendship." I'm happily read anything on this topic. This book is set to come out in July. 

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
First, the cover of this book is beautiful. It is pitched as When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and is a rom-com about two teen girls with a rival henna business. 😍 This book will be available on May 12. 

New Curtis Sittenfeld Book
In Curtis Sittenfeld's new book, she imagines with Hillary Rodham's life would have been like if she had refused to marry Bill Clinton. 

Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab
This book is a YA contemporary about swimmers. I just want to read more books about swimmers. 

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski
I really enjoyed Marie Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy. I'm looking forward to this series, which is set in the same universe. 

Other

Election
I'm looking forward to getting Donald Trump out of office. White women, especially, please don't mess this up. 

Residency
For my grad school program, the majority of it is done remotely. However, in January and July, students spend about a week on campus to attend workshops, lectures, and readings. It's school + writing camp, which is my best portal fantasy. I get to go the week after next and it's softening the blow that I have to go back to work tomorrow. 

Making All the Things
This past year I rediscovered how much I love making things from painting to graphic design to interior design to embroidery. In addition to writing, I'm looking forward to making more things. 

Summer Travel Plans
Summer always seems like it is filled with so many possibilities. I haven't been to a new country in seven months, but who's counting? I'm hoping for some reunions, adventures, and new countries this summer. 


Hitting My Third Decade
Next month, I turn thirty. I've gotten asked quite a bit about how I feel about this birthday. It seems like a milestone, like we made the end of the decade a milestone. More for me, it is has been a reflection of what I want more and less of in this next year and decade. It hasn't been a feeling of dread, it's been a feeling mostly of hope. I'm still younger than Taylor Swift.