Lessons down the river of learning

I just got back from my 2 week training for my new job and these are the things I learned:

1. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about gangs. Okay, who am I kidding? The 2 hours spent covering every gang sign, symbol, color, etc. for every gang were a serious highlight. There were hundreds of slides like this one with every different gang sign imaginable. Awesome.


2. I learned all kinds of wicked choke-holds. Well actually (to be politically correct) they're called "restraints".





3. I learned why these "restraints" are necessary through several anecdotes from other chiefs-- numerous stories of fights, my favorite being the time a camper hit a chief in the head with the back of an axe.

4. We learned that when giving someone who has gone into Cardiac Arrest AED, it's not always a good idea to go with the natural nipple line. We had this zany first aid instructor with an accent that sounded like a mix between a deep south carolina, somewhere in scotland, and maybe a hint of swiss... and he couldn't help but make sexual jokes every 3 minutes.


Favorite quotes:
"Put your hear up by their mouth to see if they're still breeding (breathing). My ears are real ticklish. Just ask my wife."
"Now we usually check for the natural nipple line. But what's the problem with this? What if you've got grandma who was a part of the 1960's liberal women's movement... with all the bra burning... now her nipples might not be at her natural nipple line no mo'!"

5. We learned that if anyone ever asked what company we were with, "Mary Kay" (who was also convening at that hotel) was the wisest answer. First, because we didn't want our misbehaviors to reflect poorly on our program. Second, because the looks on peoples faces were priceless when they heard this (nobody in our wilderness therapy program looks like a mary kay representative)



6. I learned that although I might be okay on a surfboard... on a snowboard I am a fish out of water . On our weekend off, a few of us went snowboarding in Boone. I've got a black, blue, purple, (and maybe a hint of green?) rear end to prove that I am not a snowbunny. But that won't keep me from posing with a snowboard like I own the place!


7. I learned that the people who would take this kind of job are some of the coolest, most interesting, and possibly insane people I've ever met.

To William, Nick, and Kyle Mantzel

Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.

a lotta NOT moving (or what it looks like when I get domestic)

Almost six months passed that I'd been home without a "real" job. I DJed a little on the weekends, went out with friends a handful of times, but other than that, what was I doing?

With all this free time, I had the luxury of being able to brush up on some old hobbies, and even take up some new ones. Old hobbies include:
Walking excessively around large bodies of water;
Daily dance party (of one);
Dabbling on any percussive instrument (timpani, marimba, you name it)

A new thing for me is that I've suddenly become super-domestic. Maybe I soaked that in from Samoa's "do-it-yourself"-friendly culture. I'm starting to get really into all things DIY. Anyhoo, I'd been baking something almost every day,


...and then I'd go work on some other project... like sewing a coverlet for my mom's bed, knitting a scarf, or making dresses and skirts...



But the true spawn of my creative energy has been...
MY QUILT!


I've been working hard on this for the past month and a half. I made it out of the lavalavas I wore when I was in Samoa. Each piece of fabric is loaded with memories of the people who gave them to me.

fale

The yellow fabric is from the very first lavalava I bought on my very first drop off. I was so nervous to ask the woman for directions that I bought the lavalava first to make small talk.
The red fabric was given to me AND my other palagi friend by our host mom in American Samoa. She was so cute... and was so excited to send Laura and I to school in matching lavalavas. I also soiled this when I fell into a pool of standing water and re-opened the wound of my infected hand.

Palm Tree

The army green fabric was given to me by the people at Safua
The blue fabric is a lavalava I made in American Samoa.

Fish

Recognize the purple fabric?
Or the fish?

Okay, and this one's a little tricky... but see if you can guess what it is before clicking the link afterwards...


If you've lived in Samoa, you should recognize this instantly. If not, click here. I included this patch because to me, this is the epitome of communalism in Samoan culture.


Even after washing all these, my quilt still smells like 100% DEET. And if there's one thing that can instantly trigger a vast array of emotions and memories I had when I was in Samoa, it's the smell of 100% DEET.

Ia lafoia i le alogalu
This is a Samoan proverb, which basically means may you overcome any challenges you face. But it literally translates to "may you be tossed into the lagoon-side of the wave". The saying refers to a boat trying to enter the lagoon through a narrow passage in the reef. It's a complicated thing to maneuver, but success through such a procedure makes it all worthwhile.

Anyway, I think living at home with nothing to do but make quilts and cupcakes was a difficult point in my life. I mean, I'm glad I have a really cool quilt now, but that's only because I was going insane before with nothing to do. So I'm writing this now so that when the going gets tough with this new job, this quilt can serve as a reminder to me that I could be staying at home with nothing to do but making quilts and playing copious amounts of spider solitaire.

Did you know that some sharks will die if they stop swimming? Just saying.

Emotionalism

For those who haven't been able to figure it out, the title of my blog "A Lotta Movin'" is the title of an Avett Brothers song

A Lot Of Moving- Avett Brothers

When I started this blog, I wanted to be able to write and think like they do- with a pair of fresh and honest eyes (that cuts through the BS of flowery language). At this point, Samoa was still a mystical, vast, unknown, and "perpetually far away" place to me, but I wanted to get away from that illusion and just get real with how I thought about it. So, I aim to write from an emotionalist approach...

Emotionalism is the title of one of their albums, and it almost seems like a response to the elitist "emo" music (you know... the absinthe-drinking, Strindberg-reading, people's music) Now, us country folk may not know how to say things real pretty and nice-like, but don't we know what hurtin' feels like too? For me, it's almost impossible to honestly express my deepest emotions while still sounding sophisticated and/ or intelligent. Example:

Tear Down The House

"I remember crying over you, and I don't mean like a couple of tears and I'm blue, I'm talkin' about collapsin' and screamin' at the moon"

These words seem so uncouth, and yet the depth of writing like this lies in its honesty. It exposes all the raw emotions that most people are only comfortable in expressing through lofty and flowery metaphors (which I'm guilty of using but trying to get over).

Most importantly, their music helped me remember where I came from. That's an invaluable thing to understand. There are probably a lot of people (both travelers and people who have never left their hometown) who don't really know what "home" means or what it is to them. I know for fact that the last song I played off of my iPod (R.I.P. 12.25.06-3.15.2008) was All My Mistakes. It was raining, and we were confined to our fales. I typically limited myself to 3 songs a day to save the battery, and this was the last one for that day. I had a lot of time that day to think about things-- about how I "mistakenly" ended up in Samoa (not going to China, not really knowing much at all about Samoa, and the list goes on...) This is a video clip I took on that day, during that moment when I was in my fale listening to the Avett Brothers.


During those 5 minutes, I reflected on my bittersweet relationship with Samoa. Watching the rain pour down while hearing "I can't go back... I don't want to... Cause all my mistakes brought me to you," ... well, that just turned me into an emotionalist.
_____________________________________________

The Weight of Lies- Avett Brothers
Lately, as I'm preparing for my next big adventure, this has been my favorite song. I know that I'm the kind of person who craves adventure, and sometimes this makes it difficult for me to create and maintain friendships. But it's also because of this that I value with my life the people who have seen me at my worst, know my flaws, and are still friends with me anyway.

I hope to be somebody who does a lotta movin', not just a lotta travelin'. I don't wanna be a tourist that just goes to a place to "love 'em then leave 'em". I want to stay somewhere long enough to see its flaws, and to expose my own ... I want to learn how to be an emotionalist.

Homecoming Weekend

How am I supposed to pretend I never want to see you again?