Lara: Embroidering in Tanzania

My friend Lara made this cool embroidered bag. She is living in Tanzania right now and working as the Field Coordinator for IRC in Kibondo. I sent her some embroidery supplies a while back, and voila! Globalized crafting once again...

Loving...

I am loving the idea of this book, The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life: How to Sew a Sampler Quilt and 49 Other Pioneer Projects for the Modern Girl by Jennifer Worick. Here's a short blurb:

Here's your chance to travel back in time, step into our remarkable foremothers' boots, and recreate wonderful homespun handicrafts and activities. Rich stories of frontier women weave their way through the guide coupling with a range of the projects that made up the daily life of these pioneers. Peek into the past, and bring a little bit back into your future.

I think it's the 3rd grade-Laura Ingalls Wilder-lover in me that finds the idea of Prairie-related crafting so appealing. I've always wanted to make a braided rug and/or embroider my pillowcases, after all. And making a batch of bread-and-butter pickles sounds awfully tasty. Let me know if you've read/crafted from this book.

Mongolian Crafts

Yesterday and today have been rather low-key days compared to what we’ve been experiencing thus far; we’re settling into Ulaanbaatar and exploring the neighborhood in which we’re living (the Sansar district, about a 10 minute walk from Narantuul, the black market). Yesterday we ate at “Khaan Buuz” (roughly translates as "King Dumpling"), the most famous of Mongolian fast food chains. As one might expect, Mongolian fast food joints serve Mongolian food. We ordered two staples of Mongolian cuisine, buuz (steamed mutton dumplings) and tsoivan (noodles with meat and a few vegetables- mostly carrots).

We also have already managed to accumulate a few cool gifts that I thought those who usually read this blog in its crafty incarnation might enjoy.

First, the photos above and just below are of a large model ger (also sometimes called a yurt, this is the traditional Mongolian nomadic home) that we received as a wedding present from Zorigo, Alta, Urna and Tuguldur. The first photo is of the outside, and the second is the inside. Note the attention to detail- the fire is burning and traditional Mongolian items are on the walls. They commissioned a friend of the family to make it for us.




Next, a felted calendar made by a fair trade shop in UB. I bought one of these when I was in Mongolia in 2005 and my mom really loved it, so I got another one for her. Note the felted camel on the bottom. The two bones hanging under the camel are shagai, or sheep ankle bones. Shagai are used to play a bunch of games that are roughly equivalent to marbles. The four sides of the bone each represent a different animal (sheep, horse, goat, and camel). It’s a lot of fun.



Finally, a beautiful embroidered Kazakh wall hanging from our friends Ally and Layton. They recently renewed their wedding vows- I wish we could have been there (though they live in Mongolia, the ceremony was in the US in August but it happened just before we left to come here). Anyway, this was a gift from the ceremony, along with two DVDs full of home movies, photos and songs. Kazakhs primarily live in the westernmost province of Mongolia (Olgii), and this form of embroidery is very traditional. I think it’s beautiful, and can’t wait to find the perfect place to hang it in our house when we get back!

Beijing: Curio City, Peking Duck, Massages... and Still No Luggage

Well, despite our lack of luggage (we've been assured that it's on its way from NY at the moment, please cross your fingers), we managed to make the most of this layover day in Beijing. This morning we traveled to Beijing Curio City so that we could check out an "ancient weapons shop". The authenticity of the antiques on offer is questionable, of course, but John managed to find some items that were interesting even if they're of the faux variety!

I found a really beautiful, hand-embroidered baby carrier. Since the price quoted for this item was approximately $600 US and because the quality of the embroidery was pretty amazing, I do believe it's the real deal. Much out of my price range, of course, but I thought that fellow crafters might like to see an antique Chinese Baby Bjorn:



From there we made our way to a well-known Peking duck restaurant for lunch, the Beijing DaDong Roast Duck Restaurant. In addition to the obvious choice of a whole crispy duck for lunch, we also got duck hearts with lily, dragon beans, and beef with chrysanthemums. Sandra, John and I all agreed that the duck hearts were the most delicious item, but the beef was quite pretty so it's featured below:



From DaDong we made our way down a bustling thoroughfare to a therapeutic retreat called Bodhi, where an 80 minute foot reflexology treatment included a basic shoulder and back massage, and was just what we needed after a long plane ride. The inevitable comparisons between John (who's 6'9" tall) and Yao Ming amused our three male massage therapists to no end.

All in all, it's been a fun day! It would have been a bit more fun in our own clothes, of course, but c'est la vie.

Birthday Report

Yesterday was my birthday. I mostly "celebrated" by working on my dissertation proposal. Sigh. But I did receive presents from my nearest and dearest, including Margaret Cho tickets, some much appreciated $$, a nice post on a friend's blog, Malcolm Gladwell's new book Blink, and the wonderful vintage (1970s, I think) framed embroidery shown above. Thanks, Sarah, for rescuing this little gem for me. It's found a new home in my kitchen.