Pop culture and Peru

Have you ever wondered what an intellectual does to prepare for living 6 months in South America??? She turns to Youtube.

If you share my obsession with llamas. Here is the video for you... I have to confess that I have both seen a llama and eaten (part of) a llama.

Then, we have one of my favorite movies of all time the Walt Disney Studio's "The Emperor's New Groove," which you can watch because it is supposedly based on Incan culture, has the word Cuzco in it, celebrates llamas and alpacas, and in which a pinata makes a cameo appearance (which is a Mexican tradition, not Peruvian). As Izma would say, "My voice... Is that MY voice???? Oh well."

And then, we turn to Dreamworks motion picture "The Road to El Dorado, " which somehow manages to be slightly more culturally correct than the Emperor's New Groove because it combines Incan and Mayan culture, and depicts the invading Spanish as gold hungry war mongers. The Spaniards WERE obsessed with finding the lost city of the Incas because they believed that the Incas had been hiding all of their gold deep in the heart of the jungle. But, I'm not vouching for the rest of this film's cultural accuracy.

Still want to be a part of my trip to Peru? I promise that I really am "studying" Spanish and I do sometimes "read" books about Peru and watch real "factual" things (like documentaries). It's just that this is much more fun.

Cheerily yours!
Amanda

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Five Friday Feminist Finds and Fun

Hello,

I've been posting infrequently and erratically, it seems, probably due to the little person who has recently taken over most of our free time.

But, I thought this would be a fun way to get back into the swing of sharing a little bit more on the inter-webs. So here you go.

Whether you would unashamedly describe yourself as a "feminist," or no, whether male or female, East Coast, West Coast, or international community, I hope you enjoy this list of 5 things that have been making my female heart happy and my lady brain think new thoughts.

1. Soy Yo (Bomba Eséreo)

Keep Me Where the Light Is

It’s the Most Wonderful darkest time of the year over here in New England, and we have a new baby which means that when the sun goes down the dance of “will he or wont he sleep tonight?” begins.

The other day as I was walking in the evening (alone for a few precious moments!) the afterglow of the setting sun painted the sky behind dark tree branches with highlights of gold. The words from that John Mayer song filled my head “keep me where the light is” and I thought about how dark this time of year feels and how hard it is to stay in the moments of Light.

Having a new baby is amazing, but also completely disorienting. One moment you feel on the top of the world, like you have figured everything out, and the next moment you are wondering why babies don't come with owners manuals. He started smiling a few weeks ago, and now he smiles at us on purpose and makes cooing sounds when he is happy. I put him under the Christmas tree the other day and it felt like magic… for a moment. A f…

The Kind of Mom I Thought I Would Be

I’m not the kind of mom that I thought I would be.

Truth be told, I didn’t have very many conscious expectations about what kind of mom I would be. It was shockingly easy for us to have a baby. We didn’t have a long wait or struggle before we were pregnant, we just were. Four months after we were married I held a positive pregnancy test in my shaking hands.
Theoretically and practically, we were prepared to be parents. I had worked with children since I was 14. Both my husband and I had friends who with babies and toddlers, both of us wanted a family, and we both had jobs in our fields of study that allowed us the flexibility to change our “five year” plan. We quickly became excited that we were starting our family.
But, somewhere in the flurry of planning, my subterranean mind was working and carving out caves full of ideas. Different visions of myself as a mother had been formed without me thinking through my self-expectations. They came into my mind slowly, in the months followin…

Ale La (Go There)

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