this was a beautiful way to begin a four hour long bus ride - a visit to a Buddhist temple. The only beautiful building we’ve seen here. I am now in Seongnam - one performance left. I’m having a blast, working hard, laughing lots, drinking soju, eating bibimbop & fried chicken…
After the scorching week and monsoon it turned out to be a glorious weekend. Our tomato and basil plants are flourishing and the rest of our garden is as well.
I met up with some capoeira friends from the neighborhood last night for salsa dancing at 739 Lounge on Franklin. Mendel showed up a little later with his bongos (there were other guys there with drums). It was great - live percussion to go along with the songs!
As I sit and type this post, our neighbors are having a little fiesta on their deck. There is at least one percussionist, 2 guitars, an egg shaker, and many singers, all of whom are really quite good. We cooked up some burgers after a busy day and now are enjoying a free (and very fun) concert. I’m feeling very fortunate right now for the awesome neighbors we have on both sides.
Our backyard is looking quite green:
Kyla returns home this coming week! Finally!!
- molly
It has been a scorcher the past couple of days here in NYC. We had torrential downpours today, however, which meant that I didn’t have to water the plants! I can’t wait for us to get a hose outside so that watering becomes a much easier task.
We miss Kyla. She is the photo taker, story writer, all around observer, and glue that keeps all those around her together. I promise I will update the blog this weekend/week with pictures and stories.
- molly
Kyla arrived in Seoul! (she is greatly missed here at Witkem)
Last night we ate chicken from a Caribbean joint in the hood and cooked up some farmer’s market veggies. It was a cool but gorgeous night out - breezy enough so there were no mosquito problems. Mel has two new hoops - with LED lights. It is mesmerizing to watch her do her thing. Our neighbors had shabbat dinner outside on their deck. Motorcyclists were gunning their engines. It was a night to enjoy the out doors. 
- molly
I’m off to Korea. I hope that when I’m back I’ll be able to eat some of my tomatoes!
-ky
Backyard update:
Some of the ivy died, but most survived! The tomatoes are growing rapidly and I’ve already had freshly picked basil in two meals! Flowers are all blooming beautifully. Cherries dropping from the tree next door are delicious. The orange cat that was hanging out has moved on (for now - as long as it doesn’t come inside we’re happy to have it visit occasionally and keep away smaller four-legged critters). Flagstone and fence are coming soon!
-ky
Mendel is home from China! This was his last email:
the benefits of pollution
Dear All,
Just in case you haven’t heard, there is mad pollution in Beijing and yes, at times, my eyes watered and my throat felt a bit scratchy, but yesterday I witnessed the majesty of the dense haze that seems to cover the city every morning. As I walked down HuGoSi st. at around 6am to go have my standard breakfast of Boazi and Dan Shi, I stared directly at the sun with my eyes wide open for about 3 minutes straight. I don’t know about you, but in the past I’ve only been able to stare at the sun for a split second and then have to look away. The ability to stare at the sun was truly a singular experience. It’s almost as if the city itself is wearing a gigantic pair of sunglasses with super UV protection. Ahhhh, pollution.On Wednesday of last week I began training with Master Gao Ji Wu. He is 70 years old and is the president of the Beijing Ba Gua association. He is short and pleasant and one of those old chinese guys that generally looks sweet and docile. Most of that is true, however, when he wants to put the hurt’n on you, he is more than capable. He used me for application demonstrations every day of training and he is extremely fast and powerful. I was taken out many times. I think he liked knocking me around because he called upon me quite a bit during class.Each day we would meet up in a park not too far from our hotel in the Hutong and train in the shade of the trees amongst all of the other people in the park. In the earlier part of the day almost every section of the park was filled and active with people practicing a variety of martial arts, mostly of the internal variety like Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Straight Sword and more. In the afternoon people usually played cards, sang traditional songs and played this game that’s like hackie sack, although, instead of a bean bag the object passed around was a stack of metal washers with four bird feathers coming out of the hole in the middle. Imagine a shuttle cock from Badminton. The funny thing was that they were, in general, all old and awesome. As far as longevity goes, I think we certainly have a thing or two to learn from Chinese culture.The training has been really valuable and more than that, the generosity of the teachers, the group of people traveling together and the setting have combined to create an unforgettable cache of memories.Below are some pics of strange debris piles in the Hutong, hand painted signs from various businesses and master Gao Ji Wu and yours truly.Enjoy,M.
*SPLASHMIXXX*
new mix from Austin!
Just found out that I’ll be performing a contortion duet with Javier Dzul at El Museo on Sunday around 2pm
-ky
deadheading makes all the difference!
