A Bike Down Memory Lane

Last weekend a friend was walking me to my car, wheeling along his bicycle so that we'd be going at the same pace.  It was late, it was freezing, and the two blocks to my car seemed endless.  Then I saw that my friend's bike had a flat rack over the back tire.  I remembered that I used to ride on the back of friends' bikes all the time in China.  My friend had never tried this and was kind of scared the balance wouldn't work out, but I told him to start riding slowly and I'd hop on...if I still remembered how.

Fortunately, I did remember.  The movement came back to me as muscle memory took over--I even managed to maneuver around my friend's backpack and sit down without shaking his balance.  I guess in addition to never forgetting how to ride a bike, you also never forget how to ride side saddle on the back of a bike.  With a few steps, and the quick hop-hop I took to get me ready to jump up while maintaining some forward momentum, I was overwhelmed by a visceral memory of living in China.  I often hear about songs or smells transporting you to another time or place, but I rarely think of movement having that power...but it did.  That's kind of a fun interpretation of muscle memory - not only does your brain tell your muscles to remember what to do, but your muscles doing something can tell your brain to remember something.

I went online to find a picture of someone biking side saddle for my headline picture, and I finally found one on an interesting posting about bikers in Amsterdam.  Then I remembered that I have some interesting photos of weird bikes in China.  Most of them, as you will see below, are resourceful re-workings of bikes to function as a business on wheels, but some are also of everyday commuters.

Amsterdam Bicycle Site, if you're interested:

http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

 

rural bike

city bikes

 

three-wheeled taxi bike

 

your favorite blogger on a bike

furniture delivery bike

 mesh delivery bike, actually mesh delivery cart

recycle bike

huge chunks of coal bike

 

vegetable seller bike

 

bike repair shop bike

 

cleaning supplies bike

 

yes, that's a baby napping in a bike

Take a Bollywood Break

For those of us who love to travel and experience new things, one of our challenges is to keep up the spirit of adventure and discovery during the 95% of the year that we are not traveling.  I'm going to be focusing on things I can do right here in LA that allow me to "escape" to another place or culture.  This week, I want to share a dance class that truly transports me - Bollywood Bhangra Beats, a workout/dance class that incorporates Bollywood music and dance moves.

Find an hour to spare and you can escape to a world of wrist-twisting, shoulder-shaking, eye-popping, Bollywood exuberance.  From the moment the class starts I am transported by the music which ranges from soft and coy to loud and disco - but disco in an Indian way.  Somehow as soon as I hear the music, my body suddenly wants to move in a more Bollywood style.  I might walk with heels first, toes flexed or exaggerate my shoulders with every step.  If you're thinking My body would NOT automatically move in Bollywood style, it doesn't even KNOW what Bollywood style IS... don't worry.  The classes range in levels and I've seen total newcomers have just as much fun as the regulars.  Achinta, the instructor, emphasizes that having fun and attitude is more important than mastering the dance moves.  She reminds her students that if they forget the footwork, just keep moving and fake it with your face.  If you look like you're having a good time and feeling the music, no one is going to notice the position of your right foot.

What makes this class so fun?  First there is the infectiously danceable music.  Then there is the animated choreography that you can't do without feeling *alive* (insert jazz hands), if not vivacious.  And finally, there is Achinta's teaching style which makes the dance seem like a fun and familiar narrative thanks to her creative analogies.  A slight transfer of weight to the foot is stepping on hot coals.  Spinning with both arms extended  is offering a platter of silver at an elaborate feast.  A pulling of the hand toward the body  is "come-here, come-here."  A counter-directional movement of the hands is the meat slicer.  A flicking of the wrist while extending your arm out is throwing flower petals.  No, I've never stepped on hot coals, offered a giant silver platter, or never even operated a meat slicer, but some part of my brain registers these as familiar motions and I can remember the moves and execute them with what feels like muscle memory.

The classes are predominately made up of women, but often there are a few brave men who show up and Achinta will kindly give them macho alternatives to the girly flower petal throwing moves.  So ALL are welcome, and I can assure you that, if even for just a few measures, you will forget you are in LA, and escape to another world.  A world of dance, a world of platters and petals, a world of Bollywood!

For more information about class go to:
Achinta McDaniels's dance company site,  Blue 13
http://www.blue13dance.com

Manos 101: Learning Hand Gestures in Mexico

A few weeks ago I was in vacation in Mexico with my family and we had some good times hanging out with some Mexican friends we've seen over the years at the same vacation spot.  We spent a good couple of hours one night cracking up over all the hand gestures that they use in Mexico.  Friends from both Guadalajara and Leon assured us that everyone uses these gestures.  Of course, we have some common gestures in the states, but after learning several of theirs, I feel we have a serious lack of manual communication.  My Mexican friends, on the other hand, could not believe that these gestures, which they consider totally universal, did not exist in the US.  Yes, there was a large variety of gestures along the lines of "F-you" but there was such an impressive range of every day gestures, that I had plenty of  non-obscene ones to choose from for my blog.  If you're dying to know the "swear words/gestures" you'll just have to go to Mexico yourself.

No thanks.  Enough.  No more

Yeah, we use this too, but did you know how to gesture thank you?

Thank you. 

 

No

Most Americans are familiar with this one, even if used more commonly for scolding or "tsk-tsk-ing", not for a neutral "no."

Yes

I was not at all familiar with the gesture for the opposite of no. It's a bending and straightening of the pointer finger.

Just a minute. Can you wait a second?

 

Again, familiar in the sense of a little bit, but in Mexico it's generally understood that you are asking for someone to wait.

Lots of money.  He's a rich guy.  Richer than rich.  Etc..

Here my Mexican friends are demonstrating with zeal!  One of them explained the gesture as someone holding a huge stack of bills, while another said it is meant to symbolize someone holding a giant gold coin.

Really Crowded.  A lot!  Loaded.

Seeing this gesture I thought it was something a bit more vulgar or rude like they hate the guts of the person they are describing.  And it does have that implication in other latin cultures, but in Mexico (or at least according to these trusted friends and ambassadors to Mexican culture) it simply refers to quantity.  Lots of traffic, lots of people, lots of anything.  Loaded.

Share it with me.  Give me a piece.

Wow!  Why don't we have a gesture for this?  So helpful across a crowded table of delicious food! As you can kind of tell from the middle guy's mouth, they also often accompany this gesture with a whistling sound, as if you could hear the knife cutting through the food.

 

Hit or Bliss

So I just finished reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, and I highly recommend it.  It is part travel book, part self-help book but not in the schmaltzy way I associate with books telling you how to be happy.  He doesn't offer any real answers, only a few possible ones, and some observations that are downright confusing.  And yet, it's real and funny and insightful.

A few weeks before I came upon The Geography of Bliss,  I decided to finally read Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture.  Pretty much everyone knows the story of this Carnegie Mellon professor who gave his life's last lecture knowing he was about to die of pancreatic cancer.  I was in need of some inspiration...but boy did I look in the wrong place.  I found it really depressing, even aside from the whole impending death part.  He focuses on making childhood dreams come true.  My "dream job" as a child was to be a medical illustrator, and now that seems like the most boring, tedious job I could imagine.  Hmm...what now?  Of course I have interests and aspirations, but none so clear and long-standing as Pausch's.  On the other hand, he also derives strength and meaning from his wife and kids.  Hmm, I like that idea, but I don't have kids yet.  Not even a potential kid-maker in sight.  I was left feeling like some vital elements were significantly missing from my life.

But then, thank you, Eric Weiner, you reassured me with your grumpy, confused, sometimes whiny adventure through countries familiar and new.  Not overbearing, just enough, to remind me that normal people have happiness in their own way.  The most comforting part of The Geography of Bliss is that after traveling across the globe to observe happiness, Weiner finds that people find bliss in the quotidian.  Some of the top sources of happiness: relationships, trusting people, willingness to fail, a sense of place & geography, accepting contrasts, boredom!, and in some cases, not thinking too much.  Some cultures even find a sort of happiness in sweet melancholy.  Yes, sadness makes them happy.  I don't really get why boredom would make you happy.  I might have to reread the chapter on Switzerland, but I can definitely glean some happiness from this book.  Mostly it reminded me that it's little things, not big things, that actually make you feel content.  The big things can be overrated.  Winning the lottery for instance - a few years later you return to your baseline of happiness.  A particularly striking chapter in the book takes place in Qatar where Weiner experiences riches and luxuries that are almost nauseating, and far from fulfilling.  Another study in extremes is in Iceland, a country that ranks very high in happiness despite being mostly dark for 6 months out of the year.  I don't remember anyone in the book siting their job as making them happy.  I certainly won't snub a potential dream job or dream guy for that matter, but in the meantime, I am finding bliss in the here and now.  Okay, maybe just looking for bliss in the here and now, but it's a start.

Check out The Geography of Bliss here:

http://www.ericweinerbooks.com/content/index.asp