I went to the HBLL today and learned that there are 36 books on the Popol
Vuh--most of them being different translations and editions of the book. I
checked out one in English and one in Spanish from 1905 (the oldest edition I
could find) 1954, (bonus: I speak Spanish :) ) and have been studying them to
learn more about their oral tradition and preservation. Books can't be
translated perfectly from one language to another without losing some of the
savor of the original meaning of the text. For example, the Popol Vuh was
translated from Maya, to Spanish, to English, and other languages.
What originated from an oral, fluid tradition is
now locked into words on a page. Words can change from edition to edition, but
they don't have the same fluidity as speaking.
In my research I've learned that the Popol
Vuh originated as part of an ancient oral tradition and consists of a
collection of traditions that are based in a mix of historical fact and
mythical interpretation. It makes sense that the mythical interpretation came
about from passing the history down through stories. Eventually, these
stories were written down (in the 1500's) to be preserved. Maya
hieroglyphs could record any idea that could be spoken because it is a phonetic
language rather than a pictorial form of writing (Source).
The Mayas valued knowledge and the scribes--who
kept the records--were among the most valued people in their society.
Oral knowledge plays an important role in every culture. What made dealing with the Mesopotamians especially interesting for me is that, according to this researcher, it is believed that the early Mesopotamians literally invented oral knowledge and the concept of writing (which we’ll deal with in a future unit). “The words of proto-Sumerian are fundamentally different from those of proto-Indo-European. However, because the proto-Sumerians appear to be unique in having started with vowel-only words, they have a good claim not just to having invented a complete spoken symbol system, but to having originated the concept of such a system. Non-speaking populations could have invented their own systems once they had been exposed to the concept of speech (this is not to deny that multiple populations could have invented the concept of speech independently, cf., the use of clicks in Africa). A good parallel example is how the Sumerian invention of the concept of writing appears to have inspired the creation of very different forms of writing in Pre-Dynastic Egypt and the Indus civilization of Pakistan and India.” The newfound ability to verbally communicate a common language facilitated the expansion of shared knowledge.
Ancient Sumer was first settled in about 4500 to 4000 B.C. Widely considered to be the first real civilization, it’s what I learned about first in my World History course during high school (and thus saith Mr. Holmes).
Once they had developed the concept of speech, some of the very first orally transmitted subjects were creation and flood myths/legends. These stories were spread throughout the region, and many other similar stories proliferated. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a text comprised of seven cuneiform tablets, the writing system of the Sumerians. Each tablet deals with these various parts of the legend:
Latin is often seen as the epitome of language failing to endure through the ages. The phrase "dead language" in English refers primarily to Latin even though English isn't a Latinate language. Observing and analyzing the Roman Empire's preservation and acquisition of language is therefore very different from doing the same for some other languages which are still spoken today relatively similar to how they were spoken in the past, such as Hebrew or Chinese, because there is no general Latin speaking population anywhere in the world today and nobody on the entire planet will tell you that their first language is Latin. So because Latin is the poster child for "dead languages," I'm going to take a slightly different approach on my post...
I have been reading for hours and hours about Middle Egyptian, the language used by the Egyptians during the Middle Kingdom between 2055 1650 BC, and I feel like I have gotten nowhere. So many my searches seem to be contradicting each other:
Some say thatonly 700 of the 6000 hieroglyphs attest for Middle Egyptian (source).
"Although over 6000 hieroglyphs have been documented, only about 700 are attested for Middle Egyptian"
However, others say that Middle Egyptian was the most commonly used form
"[Middle Egyptian] is usually the first and most used form" (source).
While others say that The Middle Egyptian language wasn't hieroglyphics at all!!!
"it is frequently (incorrectly) referred to simply as 'Hieroglyphics'" (source).
What am I supposed to believe?! I am feeling frustrated that I am finding so little knowledge of the written and oral aspects of this specific language. I obviously need to give some people credit in the fact that this was thousands of years ago, and perhaps I am misunderstanding my research, but man I wish that the history of this language was a little more clear! Also, it doesn't help that so many of these articles and books that I am attempting to read are referring to terms that are going completely over my head! I've tried looking these terms up, but gave up after a two hour Wikipedia scavenger hunt. Anyways, basically all that I have found is that Middle Egyptian was the "classical form," and the third out of the six stages existent in Egyptian history.
There is such a fine line differentiating between the oral and the written language. I mean, these languages were around thousands of years ago, so how are we supposed to know anything about the oral (which is completely abstract and theoretical) until we have the written--which came who knows how long afterwards?! I guess what I am trying to say is, we don't know when these oral languages began to take place. We have no idea what they sounded like. We have no idea if their intonations changed the meaning of their words. We have no idea how complex or simple it was. Even through the written language came about and evolved through a series of changes in their hieroglyphics, we STILL do not know what their oral language was like. We can assume, but we just don't know!!!
Phewf! That felt good. So, now that I have put in my ten cents about this, I will continue to elaborate on the transfer from the oral to the written language, which I feel is tightly knit, and here's why:
The Egyptian hieroglyphics is written in two different classes of signs:
Logograms - a symbol representing a word (not a letter)
Phonograms - Putting logograms together to phonetically sound out a word.
Example (for English): If you want to write the word "belief," then you would draw a picture of a bee and a leaf, and when you put together the sounds, it sounds like "belief."
(If I understand correctly, the Mayan did this as well)
Also, 3 main categories of phonograms are:
uniconsonantal hieroglyphs : 26 (including variants) - they represent a single consonant and are the most important group of phonograms ;
biconsonantal hieroglyphs : a pair of successive consonants (ca. 100) ;
triconsonantal hieroglyphs : three successive consonants (ca. 50)."
Biconsonantal and Triconsonantal hieroglyphs "are often accompanied by uniconsonantal hieroglyphs which...repeat their phonemic value...to make sure that the complemented hieroglyph was indeed a phonogram and not a logogram and/or to have some extra calligraphic freedom in case a gap needed to be filled.."
Interesting huh? In this way, the phonetic, thus the oral language greatly impacted the written language. If you knew what words these hieroglyphics represent sound like, perhaps you could uncover the mystery of what it sounded like orally--and maybe they already have. (I just haven't found any information on this yet). However, I just emailed an professor here at BYU who studies Egyptian, and am hoping he will be able to teach me more. (Because for me, oral teaching is usually MUCH more beneficial than trying to understand things when they are written).
The Rosetta Stone (something that I would like to
speak more about, once I learn a little more about
This is a bonus post that does not have to do with my ancient culture, but as we were talking in class today about history as it is experienced and history as it is written and interpreted, I thought about an experience I had yesterday relating to this. Thinking about the disconnect that happens between the reality of the past and interpretation of the past, much is lost. Regarding a religious, sacred experience, I believe the most important thing to preserve is not the finite details, but the feelings.
I had the opportunity to spend a day in Jerusalem in the days of Christ yesterday as an extra in the Church's new New Testament movie. I participated in the scene of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the task of embodying a young Jewish woman rejoicing to witness and worship her Savior.
In preparation for this experience, we were asked to read the passage depicting the account of this event in the 4 Gospels. Reading them in the King James version, I notice these are not identical accounts. I realize this consists of oral knowledge written down years later, so it makes sense that two people preserved the memory differently. In just expressing one sentence to describe what people said, you lose the finite details, especially individual experiences, but as long as you capture the actual feelings you want people to remember, does it matter? The biblical accounts are written in a formal language that reflects the sacredness of the experience in one concise sentence and fits into the institution of the bible for a medium of knowledge.
Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)
Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. (Luke 19:38)
I have been given the Maya civilization--specifically focusing on the Popol Vuh, regarding
language acquisition and preservation. I am familiar with the Yucatan
Maya, but not with the Quiche and thus did some background research to
learn some more about this specific people and the Maya in general.
The Popol Vuh falls under the Quichean Mamean subfamily.
It consists of oral knowledge--cosmogony, mythology, traditions, and history-- written down and preserved for generations and civilizations yet to come to learn. Even today, The stories from the Popol Vuh continue to be told by modern Maya as folk legends, passed down orally.
Also, I would imagine that only the most elite could read and write during this time.
Thus, I would imagine oral knowledge served as a way for the common
people to learn stories about their origins of life, beliefs, values,
etc.
In this brief research, I realize that oral
knowledge can’t just be spoken if you truly want to preserve it for a
thousand plus years to come. What happens if one's civilization is wiped out? Or even just those who know the stories die or flee? I guess it depends on one's purpose for preservation and the value in the stories.
I think all oral knowledge that one wants to preserve must be written down, to prevent outside influences or even memory loss, from tampering with the pure knowledge passed down from one generation to the next. Also, in extreme circumstances, keeping a written record of oral knowledge increases the likelihood that at least some material will survive if one's civilization is wiped out.
I can check out the Popol Vuh at the BYU library today, and read from a manuscript derived from a translation of the original manuscript itself, which I plan to do so I can learn from the original source itself.
In class we talked about receiving an email every time someone comments and/or posts on the blog, so we can have more active discussions without having to check the blog every few hours. As an admin, I can add email addresses if you want to be emailed every time someone comments. Just let me know.
This week is, as previously mentioned in this blog, a transition week from folk knowledge to oral knowledge. As I started contemplating what I wanted my post to focus on, I stumbled upon a subject that blurs the lines and incorporates some of both. Urban legends are fascinating in how they get started, why they are accepted, and how they maintain relevance.
An urban legend is a term I use broadly. It can apply to many specific groups such as a culture, religion (Mormon myths), a region and even an individual family. Myths and legends have been an important part of history for as long as we have had oral or written history. The most commonly known are those from Greek mythology. Native Americans told many legends as well, such as how Gluskabe changes maple syrup. Some are more universal, such as that of the lost city of Atlantis (has it been found?).
In modern times, usually the legend is founded in some truth, and then stretched to conform to a more exciting version of reality for somebody. I can just see it now…a young man trying to impress a pretty girl…a father trying to spice up the story he’s telling to his kids…a sly prankster hoping for a good laugh to himself…there are an infinite amount of ways and reasons these things get started.
In thinking of a topic for a transitory post between folk knowledge and oral knowledge, I couldn't find something I liked to write about. So I went (instantly hears Harry and Ron say "to the library" in my head) to the instructor blog where there was a list of ideas for folk knowledge. I ended up deciding that first aid was a good topic. Let me explain why.
When you were a little kid, you probably went to your mom whenever you got hurt. If you just got a little cut, your mom probably put on some neosporin and a band-aid; if you got a bad scrape, she probably put on hydrogen peroxide and a band-aid. Basically, if you got hurt, your mom would put something on followed by a band-aid.
As we get older, we begin to learn to treat ourselves. Seeing someone else treat me when I got hurt was a big part of learning how, but it wasn't enough. I knew that scrapes called for hydrogen peroxide and cuts called for neosporin, but I didn't know why simply from watching. I also never saw my mom call the poison control center, but I knew that I needed to if I saw someone get bit by a poisonous snake. For that matter, even, I hadn't ever seen anyone get bit by a poisonous snake, so I had no actual folk knowledge derived from experience of how to tell if a snake was poisonous or not. First aid was therefore a form of folk knowledge and also a form of oral knowledge.
This morning, as I was putting on my eyeliner (like any other morning), I was startled by a spider scurrying up the wall! My hand jolted--dragging the eyeliner across my face. Needless to say I made a mighty fine Egyptian. It got me thinking about how makeup has existed for thousands of years, which got me thinking about how makeup has been a form of folk knowledge passed on from woman to girl and so on. It made me think of my first time putting on makeup and how I got started wearing it....
R-E-W-I-N-D! -- I was about 10 years old, and living a double life. At school, I was a "wanna be" tomboy with my hand-me-down Adidas and over-sized T-shirts. I would play soccer and football at recess and pretended to hate the color pink. However, when I was at home, I would play with my Barbies (daily) when I thought no one was watching. One time my friends came over and saw them all strewn about, I tried blaming it on my 6-month sister, and well--that's another story. Anyways, one day my mom gave me a bag of old makeup that she didn't want anymore. I pretended to not care, and tossed it in the corner of my closet. I was "reeeeeeallly bored one night," and started inspecting the eyeshadows and blushes. It didn't take me long to notice that they were all in colors that I never learned in kindergarten, such as "Tickle-Me-Pink" or "Mysterious Mist" or "True Romance." These captivated me, I mean, who wouldn't be curious about "Mysterious Mist?" For my entire life, I watched my grandmother and my mother intently putting on their makeup, and now, after ten long years, it was finally my turn! I cautiously started applying these strange powders and creams, not quite sure where to put them, but giving it my best try. All of a sudden, without warning, my mother came in unannounced and told me to wash it all off! I was so embarrassed that she caught me in a moment of "girlishness!" I probably looked like I was wearing more makeup than I really was, because my cheeks were burning bright red! Humpf, why did she give it to me in the first place??? I guess its one of those parent-child things you will never understand. Needless to say, I didn't attempt wearing makeup for a long time after that.
This is pretty close to the way I felt...
...Or maybe this...
Hahaha, I just had to.
R.E.W.I.N.D Again! -- In Ancient Egypt, 10,000 BC, they used to dye their eyebrows and eyelids with a mixture called Kohl, "a dark-colored powder made of crushed antimony, burnt almonds, lead, oxidized copper, ochre, ash, malachite, chrysocolla (a blue-green copper ore) or any combination thereof." (Source). They did this to reduce reflection from the bright Egyptian sun, and believed that it cured poor eyesight and reduced eye infection! Cosmetics were very important to the Egyptians, and very much like today, women would carry their make up around with them everywhere and kept it under their chairs! They would stain their lips and cheeks with a red clay mixed with water, and die their finger nails with henna. (Below are pictures of my friends and I playing with henna).
The Egyptians also concocted a variety of oils and perfumes which helped protect their skin from drying out, and "at parties, servants would place a cone of perfumed grease on the head of each guests. The grease had a cooling effect as it melted and ran down [their] faces" (Same source as before). These oils also played a very sacred role in the embalming of the dead, and then...dun dun dun...
Along came the Greeks, ruining everything. They tried using the Egyptian oils for medicinal reasons, but the Egyptian priests refused to divulge any information. Finally after a lot of oppression, they caved and gave them half-truths about the oils. Both the Greeks and Romans used these oils for sensual reasons, which really offended the Egyptians.
In China, they believed that lips portrayed a person's temperament and social status. They made lipstick out of a "raw material was vermilion, whose chemical composition is mercuric sulfide (HgS)" (Source). Throughout history, the pattern painted on their lips changed:
Between Pre-Qin ( The 21st Century BC—221 BC) and Han (202BC－220AD) Dynasties, women put a big red dot on the lower lip and painted the upper lip in a pointed shape, leaving the rest of parts to be covered with powder.
In Wei, Jin, and North and South Dynasties (AD220—AD589), fan-shaped lips were advocated. Women made an obvious depression on the upper lip and lip contour in the corners of the mouth clear.
In Sui and Tang Dynasties, a florid style of lip makeup gained popularity. Women first put powder onto the lips, and then they drew any pattern they liked. During that period, cherry lips (lips with the shape and color of a cherry) were very popular. Two dots were usually painted outside the corner of the lips to strengthen the image of dimples. Another famous pattern took the shape of a little flower. To make it, women first made an obvious depression in the middle of the upper lip. Then the upper lip contour took the shape of two petals, and the lower lip another petal.
In the late Tang Dynasty, other patterns for lip makeup were also invented. According to the book Records of the Unworldly and the Strange, there were 17 patterns in the last 30 years of Tang. The color of red for lips included red, light red, red with golden powder, pink and so on.
In the Song (AD960—AD1279) and Ming (AD1368—AD1644) Dynasties, lip makeup was practiced to make women look more internalized and gentle. Cherry lips were also highly welcomed.
In the Qing Dynasty (AD1644—AD1911), women normally applied rouge to the whole or nearly whole upper lip, while they painted a cherry-like dot in the middle of the lower lip. Some women dotted in the middle of the two lips respectively.
Anyways, I could go on and on, because makeup has been around in almost every society and civilization for tens of thousands of years. (I also really wanted to include the Bushman Africans, how Indians got their red dot, and war paint, but this post is getting too long and my husband is pulling on my sleeve to go to bed, so look them up!!!). But I really want to stress that make up has been a form of folk knowledge passed down because we have watched our mothers and followed trends. But my questions is: WHY??? Why has it been so important? It obviously has had its purposes, like to help protect from sun, but the beauty component is not vital for survival...or is it? Has is it played a role in mating? And why is it that women generally feel more beautiful with makeup on? Who started it? Is it the psychological dilemma that many people face with not feeling happy with who they are? Do they like the disguise? The attention? Intimidation? Attraction?
Last night I found myself making chocolate chip cookie dough. It's something I do regularly, and have memorized the ingredient list and order in which I add the ingredients. I've done it enough to justify purchasing a KitchenAid mixer to help me do the job.
As I was absentmindedly pouring, measuring, and waiting for the mixer, my mind reached back to how I learned to make cookies. I've done it with my Mom, I've worked at a bakery, I've continued because I was a single guy at BYU for a couple of years, and girls like it when guys make them cookies. I've done it by hand, I've seen hand mixers go up in smoke trying to do it, I've purchased the above mixer to do it for me. All of my own history sorted through my mind, showing how I came to be a master at the art of making chocolate chip cookies. Then, I had to ask myself, why do I do it?
Because it's late and I'm half asleep and it's been a long day because of the funeral of my great uncle, I am writing a brief teaching update. After recent cooking experiences with my boyfriend, I realized his cooking skills are not on par with mine, so I wanted to teach him how to make something new. We were going to make special chocolate chip cookies, but upon arriving home my family told me that they wanted muffins instead so they could eat them for breakfast the next day. So I taught him how to make banana chocolate chip oatmeal muffins (click for my Basic muffin recipe).
I taught him some of my improv skills. The original recipe doesn't include chocolate chips, but I added those myself.
Some of the things he learned:
How to crack an egg with one hand
Spoon flour rather than scoop it
when a timer beeps it means something! ie time to take the muffins out of the oven not just passively turn it off without telling someone.
that you can substitute applesauce for oil
Our muffins turned out delicious and we ate them. And he gained the status of the mufin man.
My husband and I coach a 5 year-old soccer team. Okay let me take that back. We are supposed to be coaching 5 year-olds, but ended up with their 3 year-old siblings who threw tantrums until we obliged to let them play too. Brian and I have been trying to figure out how to teach them despite this large developmental gap. You might think "Oh its just two years," but let me tell ya, it is amazing what a couple of years can do.
On our first practice, we tried to teach them some simple rules of soccer, but within the first 40 seconds realized that wasn't going to happen. Imagine trying to get ten 3-5 year olds to all look at you at the same time, let alone, listen. Well, its pretty much impossible. On our first practice, Brian (my husband) and I, tried everything we could do to get the kids' attention. We tried the "take a knee" and "put both eyes on me" approach, we told them that we would get them candy bars, we coaxed them, we threatened them, but nothing worked. Then, as if the heavens opened, we miraculously got everyone's attention. But just for a second--until a seagull flew by and literally every child jumped 5 feet in the air and dove for it. If any of you have seen the Pixar movie "Up," the clip shown below is the closest thing I can relate to this experience:
After getting their heart rates back down, we asked them what they wanted their team name to be. Eric wanted to be "The Jaguars," Jaime wanted to be "The Mexicans," Ernesto ate grass, Leonardo wanted to be "The Soccer Players," Nathalie wandered off into the other field again, and then somebody yelled "Lets be Team Yellow!" And as if that was the most brilliant idea ever--completely disregarding our blue jersies--everyone agreed, well except for Jaime who still wanted to be "The Mexicans." Brian and I tried to explain that it might be confusing to the other teams because we had blue jersies. But apparently that didn't matter, Team Yellow it was, blue shirts and all.
The rest of practice, we were overwhelmed with Ernesto pulling on our arms asking us to "Hold [him] like a baby;" Luis crying because Eric kicked the ball away from him (he hasn't quite figured out that that's the point of soccer); Leonardo climbing up the fence to see how high he could get before we would pull him down; Daniel and Eric were really well behaved; and Jaime...well he was another story.
Jaime is the little trouble maker who likes to get everyone distracted with inappropriate secrets, or wrestling...or constantly making reference to his private parts...Anyways, we were grateful that the first day of practice was over and done with, but--with no successful drills or scrimmages, we were quite hesitant for our first game! Saturday finally arrived, and although the younger ones got distracted a little...
...we were surprised to find out that they knew more than we thought they did! We asked their parents if they had ever played before; they just shrugged and said no, and told us that their kids would always watch their fathers play with each other, and maybe kick the ball around here and there. But they were never formally taught. This testified to me that no matter the developmental level of the child, the power of the teaching by example far out reaches the power of trying to teach them technical skills in a formalized fashion.
After several practices, Brian and I realized that it was most effective to teach them one skill per practice with a short little drill, and spend the rest of the time scrimmaging so they can how Brian and I do it, and so they can practice it for themselves. This week, we stressed the importance of staying in the boundaries. We gathered together in the circle that is spray painted in the middle of the field, split the kids into two teams, and had them kick the ball around. If one team member kicked it out of the circle, the ball was given to the other team. This helped them visualize the painted boundaries and feel the importance of keeping it within the lines. It really seemed to improve their understanding of boundaries.
In a couple years, I am sure that they will be able to have the attention span to learn more drills. But one thing that will always remain the same, is the power of learning by watching. This requires little words, but quite a bit of demonstration. Then comes practicing what they have been taught. This is folk knowledge: watching to learn and practicing to master. Keeping this cycle alive for the next generation to proliferate is what makes it history.
I would go into the history of soccer, but this YouTube video sums it up much better than I could. You should really take a look, there are some really cool facts here!
I wouldn’t consider myself to be a basketball expert, but I’ve spent many hours developing a very respectable jump shot. I had previously played a casual game of H.O.R.S.E. with my friend Jenna, and decided I could help her learn a little bit more about shooting some hoop.
The jump shot is critical to a basketball player’s skillset. Much argument can be had about what is a “proper” jump shot. Practically since Dr. Naismith invented the game in 1891 there have emerged instructional videos, camps run by people like Jimmer, and even instructional books dedicated to teaching this art. I learned in a way more consistent with folk knowledge. My dad taught me as I shot baskets in the driveway nearly every evening before dinner.
For those of you who don't know, the first part of my title is the expression from which we've derived the English "Let them eat cake." Brioche, however, is not the typical "cake" that we think of: sufficeth to say it's more kind of like sweet bread. "Gateaux" is the cake we would think about. If you're interested in the origin of the expression (it wasn't said by Marie Antoinette!) you can look here or here.
So when deciding what skill I want to teach someone (the learning portion of the project can be found here), the cake idea stuck the moment I thought of it for two reasons. Monday night, my FHE family came over to our apartment. As each group of roommates arrived, they all asked if something was burning. Why did my apartment smell this way? One of my roommates, Daniel, had tried to bake cookies- you know, those ones you literally place on the pan and put in the oven- and the apartment smelt like ashes once he was done. The other reason, of course, is that I would get to eat cake. An afterthought was that I could add in some cake-humor into my blog, cake humor having become popular in nerdy video games, so hopefully someone will get the references.
My family is full of Mexican Love even though most of us are technically "white European mutts" by race. We are a tight knit family. My grandma, along with her 9 siblings, was born and raised in the Mormon Colonies. (As I side note: I actually went to the funeral of one of my great uncles today and was proud to be present to honor his remarkable life. I love my extended family.) My dad has over 50 first cousins on her side of the family. I have hundreds of 2nd cousins and have met most of them. Every 4 years, we usually have a reunion in Mexico. (although the last one was moved to Provo due to excessive drug cartel violence.) Because of these connections I felt drawn to learn Spanish.
I wish speaking Spanish had come with my folk knowledge inherited from my parents, but I only got the desire to learn–a desire to connect with my roots in Mexico–which I had to pursue on my own.
I recently had the pleasure of spending an evening with a friend of mine. We both are in a class together, and were assigned to teach a skill and learn a skill that required the transfer of folk knowledge (insider know-how). I publicly offered to share my understanding of a bugle, and how to play it. At his first opportunity, Andrew approached me to take me up on my offer. Please take a moment to read his blog about our evening together.
I feel that our evening was was quite well described by Andrew, and simply want to reaffirm to all readers that sharing hard-earned knowledge and skill is highly rewarding. Also, look forward to my next post, about how Andrew taught my to play Tennis!
Football season is back at BYU, and that means it's time for the annual "Wait, how come our players have tattoos...?" conversation. This got me thinking about tattoos, and in particular, tattoos that seem to have cultural and significant meaning.
Tribal tattoos have been an important part of Hawaiian culture in the past, and have recently made a significant comeback. In many places in Hawaii, the traditional methods for tattooing are still used. There was a period of time after Christianity was introduced that the frequency and meaning of these tattoos was greatly reduced. Tattooing was associated with non-English, and thus primitive culture. It was also contrary to the Christian doctrines, and thus discouraged.
Eventually Hawaiians resented the attempted assimilation into traditional American culture. When I was in Hawaii, it was made clear to me by many of the locals that they were Hawaiians first, Americans second. Now these tattoos have enjoyed renewed significance and popularity as Hawaiians try to preserve this unique characteristic of their culture.
My boyfriend’s roommate Tommy has a way with the sword and saber. He has a collection of different sabers and swords garnishing their apartment wall. During the evening he’s often seen in the courtyard swooning girls with his swift moves (see video). I decided I wanted to learn the ways of the saber. However, when it comes to learning knowledge skill sets you have to start at the basic fundamentals. Thus, we started with nerf swords so I could learn the basic principles of dueling. Although we began with light weight, relatively harmless nerf swords, I still felt intimidated. Hitting people with a sword and being swung at is far from my comfort zone.
Some pointers I remember:
-Sword dueling is an art that comes in many forms.
-Control ie being at one with the core of my body and balanced is more important than power.
-When blocking, lock your wrists and use straight arms to create more resistance against your opponent’s sword.
how to block a shoulder attack
I learned there are 5 critical areas to hit and protect:
Who wants to save some serious cash? (Okay, maybe just a little bit of cash, but still).
I know as a married college student, whose husband is very adamant about staying out of debt, I find any method of saving cash to be quite appealing. (Because even if I am just browsing the IKEA website, my husband's palms get sweaty and he gets antsy in his pantsies).
One easy way to save, is to learn how to change your oil...by yourself. (Okay, okay I know changing your oil won't save you that much money, like this picture falsely suggests, but looking back on past bank statements, its easy to see how $5s, $10s, and $20s quickly add up and can leave you in the red if you aren't careful).
Luckily, I ran into my friend who mentioned that his old jeep was in need of an oil change. So I asked him if he could teach me this little bit of folk knowledge (that has obviously only existed since cars have been around). He raised an eyebrow and accepted.
Before we got started, he lent me some clothes and said that we were going to get dirty. (Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrow). At first I just watched while he slid under the car with his gizmos and gadgets and loosened the bottom of the container that holds the oil. All of a sudden a splurge of black gooey looking stuff came pouring out! (And yes, we had a container to catch it).
Then he told me to get under the car, handed me the a socket wrench, and told me to tighten the drain plug. I ran into some minor difficulties, but he was able to talk me through them. Here's a little video of my experience...
The three most important things I learned about this were:
What a socket wrench is, and that it only twists one direction
That I didn't learn the "righty-tighty" rule for nothing.
And that I have really, and I mean really, poor upper body strength. Haha.
After getting the drain plug on there nice and tight, it was time to replace the oil filter. He told me where to put it and all I did was twist.
Now was the time to refill the oil with fresh "clean" oil. (Yeah, definitely NOT clean). And then BAM! The job was done. Oh wait, we had to dump the "dirty" oil into a container and he said he was going to throw it away at some special garbage dump. And then we were officially done.
After learning the very basics of how to change your oil, I realized how important repetition is when learning something new. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be very confident doing this on my own if I were to do it a second time, and would need someone there to guide me through it again. Then it dawned how folk knowledge becomes folk knowledge. It is repeated and repeated over and over again by those around you, whether it is a part of your home, your culture, your religion, daily living, or a specialized skill. It has to be repeated in order to first remember it, and second, to teach it. Then you can claim this bit of knowledge as your own.
I hope to be able to practice this again on my own car to save a little bit of extra cash. Unfortunately, my husband thinks it is more worth it to pay someone else to get it done. Well--I plan on quickly reminding him the importance of working his way out of debt from the furniture I just bought, by changing his own oil. Haha just kidding. Kind of... :)
Everyone played games when they were little where they pretended to be a superhero. Over the past week, however, one of my roommates taught me how to actually be a superhero, specifically Gambit (for those of you not familiar with the X-men, Gambit charges cards with kinetic energy and causes them to explode). Well- he taught me half of it. My roommate Connor couldn't help much with the explosions part, but he did teach me something much less useful (and much less likely to cause something to blow up in his room): how to fling cards.
Now, I'd tried card flinging before and simply could not wrap my head- or my fingers- around it properly. This inability to do something aggravated me to the point where I'd get a little annoyed any time I saw someone try to fling a card (especially when they succeeded). So when my roommate asked me if I knew how to fling cards, I was a little irritated. So of course he kept pressing the topic. Finally, I took the cards and tried to throw them.
What originated from an oral, fluid tradition is
now locked into words on a page. Words can change from edition to edition, but
they don't have the same fluidity as speaking.
