Round the world in 28 days: knowing it by Heart

 Today rounds up exploring the world and our hearts for the month of February.  One thing I have learned is exploring a different culture every week is a  lot.  It's quite the push.  I won't do that again. This week was Djibouti.  My step-son was stationed in Djibouti in 2014-15.  At the time I had never heard of it and the research I did was military based.  Why were we there in the first place?

For February I decided to learn about the place where he was, not just the base.  Djibouti is on the horn of west Africa.  It is a tiny country with a large port city: Djibouti City.  It's a hot bed for pirates (one of the reasons the US is there).  Djibouti supposedly means 'the casserole'.  Which is what it is.  There are 9 different countries with bases there.  It is also a combination of locals and Somalians, the neighboring country.  You can't grow any food there, so it is all trucked in.  They tend to eat camel and goat along with drinking the milk.  Khat is a favorite herb there.  It is an herb that removes any anxiety.  Which may sound good, but it removes it to a dangerous level.  I can see why it may be so addictive.  The official language is French, due to the French controlling the country so long.  However, on the street the people speak Somali.  

I also learned about Congenital Heart Defects for medical education.  I watched "Building the Field" which is about mental health in adults with chronic heart defects.  It was truly fascinating.  I also read a book "Hearts of a Girl" which is about a girl who needs a heart and kidney transplant and what all that entails.  My daughter has hypoplastic left heart, so this information was all very important to me.  

Next month is Art and France.  My heritage has some French in it so I am exploring my French side.  In art I hope to go to the O'Keefe museum in New Mexico.  Fingers crossed.  

Miss Burma Review

 "Miss Burma" is a novel written by Charmaine Craig, that takes place in Burma (currently known as Myanmar) between pre-WWII and the 1960s.  It follows the Benison family:  the mother a Karen (a Burmese tribe) from Burma and the father an Anglo-Indian who has lived his life in Rangoon.  

Now most Americans probably know little about Burma other than it's in Asia.  My grandfather was stationed there so I have done some research and know probably more than most Americans, but that's not to say I know much.  I found this trip into the history and culture of Burma to be fascinating.  I loved this book.  The mixed race couple have four children that they raise in a society where they are not only mixed, but minorities and are considered "foreign" even though their father has lived his whole life in that country.  It follows the war with Japan, the British control, the Burman overtake, the constant fighting between the tribes and races.  Plus it has the universal human factor including love, betrayal, sex, parenting and plain old self esteem.  It is truly a wonderful book.

I received this book from www.netgalley.com in exchange for my honest opinion and review.  

Mysterious Myanmar

 My grandfather served in Burma during WWII.  He served with the 13th Mountain Medical as a vet assistant.  I have been researching and writing about his experience there.  I thought learning about the culture of Burma would be interesting during Culture month.  So, I started looking into more of the current culture rather 1940s jungle during war time.  Which is really nothing close to the same thing.

For my investigation into Burma, I read "Miss Burma" which is about the 1940s on, but more about the culture living during that time.  There is little military connection other than Burma is military ran, so of course, it would be connected in that way.  I also watched several You tube videos and Great Courses.  The CG was about the education system.  The American Quakers and the Burmese Budhist are united in the creating and continuing the education system in Myanmar (Burma's current name).  I watched Exploring Myanmar Culture in Yangon, and Timeline.  One was about the culture in the cities and the other was jungle tribes especially along the Burma Road.  The two cultures are very different.  I also watched one on street food in Burma.  

There wasn't much in podcasts that was related other than I found one of a guy traveling my motorcycle.  Probably wouldn't want to do that.  

Learning about Burmese culture has helped quite a bit with my book about my grandfather.  Many situations have come up that explains things.  Especially the jungle/city differences. 

I'm Probably not Delaware

 Family legend has it that we have a Delaware (Lin-Lenape) in my ancestory.  I have done quite a bit of genealogy and did not find a single American Indian anywhere.  That doesn't mean there isn't one, I just didn't find it.  Since it was a relation to Sacajawea, I would sincerely doubt it.  Usually once the word "princess" is involved, you can guarantee it is horse manure.  I'm not even sure Sacajawea is Delaware. (She wasn't.)

Anyway, since February is culture month, I thought the Lenape culture was as good as any to learn about.    To start with I read "The Turtle's Beating Heart" by Denise Low.  It is about the Lenape culture in the 20th century as it relates to her family.  I watched YouTube videos on Lenape dance and Pow Wows.  I listened to podcasts about Lenape land use, the Nanticoke Chief, and different leaders.  

So here's what I learned.  I learned that the being "Indian" and being "an Indian" are different.  One can be racially Indian but unable to join a tribe.  The ability to join a tribe is all rather confusing and I would need more that a week to sort that out.  I learned what the different styles of dancing look like and where they come from.  I learned that in order to save the humans they had to discard the Indian.  But to save the Indian they had to suffer as a human.  If you get my drift.  I learned that a turtle's heart continues to beat long after it has been removed from the body.  Which I found fascinating.  It was an interesting culture to look at.  

Now I move on to Djibouti.  My son was stationed there and I knew little about it.  This week I will dabble. 

German Culture

 February is Culture.  I decided to split it into 4 cultures and learn a bit about each.  I'm going to report on each culture after a week to keep it less confusing.  At the end of the month I will do Medicine, specifically cardiology.  

The first week was Germany which I chose because my husband is of German decent and my uncle was there in the 40s.  Most of what you look up has to do with Nazis or beer.  So, number 1 rule: no Nazis or beer.  Since most of the pod casts and books have to do with Nazis, I decided to focus on activities that are a part of German culture.  

Exercise if very important in Germany as is cake.  In Germany they have Cake.  Like in England they have Tea.  So I exercised every day except 2 and ate cake at 3.  One of the days I missed exercising I went to a high school basketball game.  What I discovered there was that if you know you get cake at 3, it's not a big deal and since you are exercising everyday.  You don't have to feel guilty.  

Being on time is a big one.  I did that.  I'm pretty punctual anyway, so that wasn't a big deal.  Poetry is big, or so I read.  I found a book at my library, Contemporary German Poetry.  It's been translated, so I think it may be missing some flow and rhythm.  But it was nice.

I watched a lecture on Great Courses:  Tastes of Germany.  It's all about German wine.  Which I could care less about, but it talked about the regions and climates in Germany and how they affect the wine, and that was actually pretty interesting.  I also watched a couple docs on Curiosity Streams:  Wolves & Tanks, and Rescuing Bird Life. In one case, poachers took out the wolves until the two Germanys combined and set up regulations.  Now the wolves like to live on army bases where they train the tanks.  The birds are leaving Germany due to over farming the land and covering the greenery.  They are working on changing things so that the habitat the birds need will be available. 

So, now I have moved on to the Lenape or Delaware Indians. 

Confucius say, do the math.

 January was the month of Math and Philosophy.  I work as an office administrator so I do math all day.  I do data, data analysis, your basic accounting, etc.  So math was pretty much as boring as I expected it to be.  Philosophy I knew almost nothing about.  I thought it was something people said to sound smart, cultured. I found it a lot more compelling than that. Though still true.  

I read books, listened to podcasts, watched videos, did crash courses that are available online through my library, and did some activities like I  played some Yahtzee, because math or philosophy field trips are hard to come by.  I read Danica McKellar's "Kiss my Math" and brushed up on my algebra.  It came back to me pretty quick.  I also read "Hidden Figures" which talked a lot about math and the value of it in technology and science.  I know more about airplane wings than I ever thought I would.  I read a couple of books not so much on philosophy but about philosophers.  Steve Martin's "I was Born Standing Up"(he studied philosophy for several years in college) and "Gandhi and the Unspeakable" which is about the movement of Gandhi leading to his death.  All were educational.

Podcasts were a bit short in supply on both subjects.  Danica McKellar (she's about the only entertainment mathematician I could find) was a guest on several.  I listened to her talk about stereotypes, women and their education pertaining to money, and math anxiety.  Deepak, the granddaddy of modern spiritualism, has a podcast on Amazon, "Infinite Potential" which I listened to regularly.

Videos were mostly on Crash Courses which I borrowed from my local library through Hoopla.  Crash Courses has dozens of topics with college instructors teaching in university style classes.  I watched "Math & Magic" (not so fun) and "Mind, Body, & Consciousness" and "Confucius."  Most stuff available is modern pop education.  I wanted some classical so I went with Confucius.  Even though I have a bachelor's degree, I knew little about him.  I mean I knew 'Man who goes to bed with itchy butt, wakes up with smelly fingers'.  But that usually doesn't leave the cultured impressed.  

In an attempt to discover myself, I am taking a study on Marianne Williamson's "Course in Weight loss."  I am doing monthly servitude to give to my community.  This month I bought chili at the local animal shelters fundraiser and I donated to the same shelter on Betty White's birthday.  I donated to a woman who died from Covid's funeral costs.  She had been my friend at one time.  I also babysat my son's dog for the weekend.

Once a month I will eat some exotic type food.  This month I had some Japanese egg dish.  It was fine, but it is hard to find Japanese ingredients in this neck of the woods.  I took some time for self-care.  A storm and a covid exposure quarintine helped with that.  

Anyway....I found the month an educational and interesting experience.  Hopefully February will be as fascinating. 

2021-2022

 Each year for the last few years I pick a word of the year and focus on that.  In 2018 it was health.  I lost almost 40 pounds (have since gained back almost 30)  I also connected with mental, spiritual, energy, and anykind of health you can think of.  2019 was adventure.  What I learned there was that adventure takes many forms and vacationing is only a tiny part.  The universe had many different ideas than I.  In 2020 it was peace.  And you know what happened there.  Forced peace throughout the world followed by chaos of all kinds.  I both had no choice and had to work very hard for that Peace of which I seeked.  In 2021 I was searching for balance.  I am a daughter of a free spirit and a OCD master.  I tend to naturally swing from one to the other.  Balance was not fun; it was hard.  And I will never shoot for it again.  

2022 will be discovery, both of myself and the world around me.  I have a plan where each month I discover a different topic as well as myself.  There will be learning, writing, meditating, and cooking.  Field trips, reading, and reports.  I want to discover and expand.