chinese new year, fruit valentines and pencil chimes

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One great thing about being Chinese is the opportunity to feel that fresh "new year" feeling twice.  So, in the name of fresh beginnings (again), Happy Chinese New Year!  May the year of the rabbit be a great one for all of us, filled with love, laughter and great productivity.  (I have been traveling and bouncing about for what feels like months, and I am ready to buckle down and get lots of work done.)

In case you're curious about the Chinese Zodiac (or need a refresher), here are the basics:

Rat

Careful, creative, accumulative, lustful, hoarding and doubting

1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020…

Ox

Patient, preserving, receptive, obstinate, methodical, proud and aggressive

1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021…

Tiger

Wise, compassionate, benevolent, short tempered, proud and aggressive

1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022…

Rabbit

Gentle, friendly, intelligent, discordant, fickle and furtive

1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023…

Dragon

independent, strong-willed, aggressive, powerful, arrogant and prejudice

1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024…

Snake

Idealistic, Intuitive, insightful, financially secure, vain, jealous and egotistical

1905, 1917, 1929 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025…

Horse

hard-working, sociable, determined, keen sighted, high sensual, talkative, easy to anger

1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026…

Sheep

warm-hearted, graceful, obedient, independent, creative, faithful, pessimistic and sensitive, timid

1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027…

Monkey

Ingenious, resourceful, curious, susceptible, impulsive, scatterbrained

1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028…

Rooster

Visionary, versatile, clever, selfish, poor concentration and ostentatious

1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029…

Dog

Honest, loyal, respectful, stubborn, assertive and demanding

1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030…

Pig

Serious, just, good disposition, reckless, impatient and inflexible

1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031…

Symbolic Meanings of Rabbit

According to Chinese traditional legend, rabbits are associated with the Alioth in astronomy. They have a nimble, quick-witted and gentle disposition naturally and are the symbol of good luck. In some coastal areas of Shandong Province in old time, wives usually took a rabbit in their arms when their husbands went to sea to fish, believing that this propitious animal would bring them safeness and good luck. And there is an interesting tradition going that a rabbit’s hair would become absolutely snow-white if it can live for 500 years!

And rabbits have been given many characteristics in China, such as longevity, loveliness, vigilance, fertility, timidity and good hearing.

(Chinese zodiac information from here.)

Now, onto our next upcoming holiday: Valentine's Day!  I know this is a day often greeted with groans and rolled eyes, but here is a cheerful treat that isn't covered in pink and red lace or filled with cheap, overpriced chocolate: fruit valentines, and you'd have to be a real grump not to smile at least a little with these:

So, go ahead and download these DIY stickers for free (yay) at Twig & Thistle and give them to everyone who makes you happy.  (Hey, Valentine's Day doesn't have to be only for significant others-- I say let's celebrate love for everyone we appreciate.)

Here are a couple more for you:

And I came across these at Design*Sponge and loved them.  So simple yet so fun and cheerful:

You can go to Vanessa Boer's Etsy shop if you'd like to see more of her work.

beginnings, endings and the limbo between

Happy belated new year!  I hope your 2011 is off to a fabulous start. :-)

It's been ages, I know.  I've been traveling for over a month, mostly with no internet access-- but the main thing is my really sweet mother-in-law passed away in December.

People always say nice things about those who've passed away, but she really was one of the nicest people I ever had the pleasure of knowing.  My in-laws are a super tight family, and they are taking care of each other, but it's obviously been tough for everyone.

It was my second time seeing someone die (the first was a student I saw pass away and the reason I started this blog), and it just makes me feel we humans are so fragile.  It is truly a miracle that our bodies do so many things for us flawlessly without even a moment of pause.

It's been interesting to see the "circle of life" making its round.  We have a new nephew who was born a few weeks before his grandmother passed away, and they have the same blue eyes.

Birth, death, beginnings, endings.  As Heraclitus of Ephesus, François de la Rochefoucauld and Darwin (and probably countless others) have said, the only constant in life is change.  And Darwin goes on to say, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

Boston feels further and further away as we become used to life in California, but we are in that limbo phase of no longer being east coasters and not quite being west coasters yet, either.  When locals ask us where we're from, it feels like we're answering that "home" is Boston.

Our old friends from the dorms have spread literally all over the world, and making new friends takes time.  So, you might think we were lonely or unhappy, but we've been surprised to find that we don't crave an active social life, that just enjoying each other's company has been enough to keep us happy here.  Maybe because we spent our first year of marriage living in a wonderfully social dorm and our second year on the road with just a little backpack each, it feels like we're newlyweds playing house for the first time, and it's been great. 

So, I hope your beginnings, endings and in-betweens will all be good ones, too.  May the changes of 2011 bring us all a little more peace, love and laughter.

tucumán, argentina

Everyone raves about southern Argentina, but we found northern Argentina to be lovely, too.

Tucumán impressed us with its varied and beautiful architecture, and it's where the Argentines declared independence from the Spanish in 1816 (which Spain finally acknowledged in 1862), where legendary singer Mercedes Sosa (now that's a voice) was born, and is the home of a vibrant arts and culture scene and the prestigious National University de Tucumán. They have a huge music festival in September, attracting folk and rock musicians alike from all over the world.

And in case you aren't familiar with Mercedes Sosa, here's a video (with a nice acoustic guitar accompanist) to get acquainted with her work:

There isn't much to look at in this video, but it's a beautiful rendition of "Todo Cambia" (Everything Changes) to listen to, with acoustic guitar and flute. My father-in-law, a Bolivian musician, would often have Mercedes Sosa playing in the house, and my Bolivian partner has kept up the family tradition. She quickly became one of my favorite singers, and it's funny to compare the simple beauty of her music to other popular musicians, especially in concert: no fireworks or sets, no fancy costume changes, no huge entourage of musicians and producers, all she has is her powerful voice. And if you're wondering how popular she is, this live version of "Todo Cambio" or this video of "La Maza" performed with Shakira gives an idea.

But, we all know why we look at blogs, so without further ado, here are the photos of Tucumán.

Plaza Independencia, a square lined with gorgeous buildings, each more impressive than the last (and all quite different, too):

Just walking around town, I loved the colors and the variety. There really was a bit of everything.

Argentine jerseys were everywhere, of course.

It's funny, too, how markets around the world often look the same:

And unfortunately for my tall partner, most of the world isn't designed for tall people:

You can visit la Casa de Tucumán (officially la Casa Histórica de la Independencia), where they actually declared independence from the Spanish, and it's quite lovely on its own merit, even without its important place in history.

I don't know why there were people in costume hanging out, but there they are.

And when we left, we saw a full circle rainbow, which I'd never seen before. It was pretty spectacular.

I'm still catching up, so next up: Bolivia!

the luxurious 17-hour bus ride

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it really was the most luxurious bus ride I'd ever experienced. And for a seventeen-hour bus ride, it was actually pretty enjoyable. We left Buenos Aires in the evening, enjoyed a pink sunset from the large and clear windows and were then served soda and a tray of snacks.

The idea of a server on a bus was nowhere in my consciousness, and it was such a nice surprise. We were even offered a box with chicken and rice, but we'd just eaten, not knowing we'd be served dinner on the bus.

We slept in comfortable reclining seats with foot rests equivalent to first-class seats on a plane (complete with blankets) and enjoyed seeing the Argentine countryside on our way to Tucumán.