INUITYVANS

(I only went to make a new pot of coffee and when I came back 'someone' had done 'something' to MY blog! I don't actually understand what kind of dancing monster it is. It must be some Mongolian devil-spirit ti-hi-hi! After too much araka! An over-spirited spirit!)

I (we) had to get used to being an Inuit here, in case you don't know, before that was called 'Eskimo'. Everyone who doesn't know us in Canada, when we meet the first time, they say 'Oh are you Inuit?', Eskimo is not the 'politically correct' name these days. Anyway I usually just say 'no, I'm a cousin' and then they look at me like I'm a crazy person who thinks Inuit is someone's name. 

I still have an accent, as many Inuits also have when they speak in English so they think I didn't understand, but it's just to tease them, which I enjoy! Then I explain that actually the Inuit were the last people to cross from Asia, even not all of them did, so some of them still are living in Chukhotka in Russia where Sarah Palin can see them (!). I mean it happened thousands of years ago of course. 

But why I say 'cousin' is that the clever scientists discovered that the Tyvan genes are the closest to the Inuit genes, so we are really cousins, relatives as you now see. And that's why people think we are Inuits. 

What a long way round in the circle. It must be the Arctic Circle.

By the way, we live very far away from the Inuits who are near the North Pole somewhere. And there are no Inuits who live here. Only us two. And Percy is not a husky-dog for a sled, she's almost a poodle. Now when I look up husky in Wikipedia I see there that Husky and Eski/mo are from the same origin. 

Just a little circle. 

I am going round in circles 

because it is snowing,  

and so I cannot see  

where I should be going.

That was a new poem by me just now.

I AM a crazy person. 

AND so is that one who puts his dancing devils here. Go AWAY. Shoo! Naughty man.

P.S.: The secret bad thing about being an INUITYVAN is that you got short legs usually.

YES,  I DISCOVERED  THE COLOUR BUTTON

Just about dogs

Percy, my darling, is lying correctly on my feet, as I have trained her. Yes, it's true, she's a little girl. But first things first: I sit here with my laptop at the table in front of the big window looking over our deck and yard. That's because I need daylight, I need inspiration, and I need to daydream while looking as if I am maybe busy. In case the male person is looking. But there is a draft of cold air falling from the window, under the table onto my feet. So I trained her as my feet-warmer. That's that matter.

Second, why is she a girl called Percy: that's my fault, I went to the pound to look at the dogs, in secret actually and with a girlfriend, I didn't even know if I wanted a dog. I know husband always had a dog when he was a kid. I was usually afraid of the dogs in Kyzyl and in the village, they are almost wild. Anyways, Cage 17 had a furry middle sized thing which looked at me real friendly. Wagged its tail, hung its tongue out a bit, a tiny bit dopey (I think that's a word) but cute.

Later, husband was brought in on the secret and dragged to see the prisoner in cage 17. He said he'd think about it, and I know that's because he thought that I would have all the fun and he'd have to go walks in the rain. (Only a little bit true, usually.) Then, when he said ok, we called the pound. Of course the soon-to-be-ex-prisoner had to have a name, and we chose Percy. Husband even created a 'Welcome Percy' sign for the basket on the computer and printed it out.

Then when we went to get the thing, we found out; well, she isn't exactly a 100% poodle, and she's not trimmed French-style or whatever it's called, so there is too much fur to see either this or that, you know what I mean? Anyway it doesn't matter, when I call out to her, nobody else knows the difference. Just about all the other dogs around here are neutered too, thank goodness, so it doesn't bother her any, either. That's all about Percy, she's only the dog. Good she can't read.

But I was forgetting about Polly. Actually Polly doesn't exist yet, or if he (!) does, we don't know it yet. On a personal note, we are not going to have our own kids, feel nervous so far about adopting, so we've been talking (mostly me) about a friend for Percy, from the pound again, we haven't asked them yet, but we'd want something around the same size, with long enough fur to conceal the evidence, and also quiet like her. Since, of course, it's cute to have a little boy and little girl, the next one's name would have to be female - yeah, it's dumb, but ...

This winter seems long, and it isn't halfway yet. It's always like that after New Years, I guess. At least here there is a real long spring to look forward to, at home it all happens so fast, one week it's freezing, then after a week of mud and slush, and a flash of green it's becoming a baking desert again - and time to find my namesakes. Yum yum.

Have to remember to call home to say Happy Shagaa. It won't make me happy, buhuhu. Happy earth cow, ox, yak, bull, whatever, to you too! 

Maybe I found too many gadgets now.

So I live in a village, eh?

The Obamarama has finally landed, to our south. We have Queen Elizabeth, it's so much easier and cheaper, eh?* To judge by what Madame President was wearing, she and Dizzy Lizzy share their dress sense. Miaou miaouw miaow goodness which one is correct?

So, otherwise, the war stopped and everyone says that nothing will change, what a waste of life. I don't like looking at bombs, that's why I spent my spare time 'fussing' with these blogs as husband said. Still I haven't found out about 'comments', but I think nobody visited here yet. I have managed to find the spellchecker and even put it here, to help if the visitors think there is a mistake, you can check up on me!

I imported a picture for my last post all by myself (I'm learning the blocabulary as you see) which I searched for on Google Images, and cropped in some other program I forget. I also found, (look at the left here) from one of the Google Alerts last week, a blogger who had central Asian costume sketches, so I cut and pasted the Tyvan one, made it a better size, and put yellow around it. (Then it got our flag colours!) I hope she doesn't mind. She also had a collection of videos (inc. in Tyvan) showing and speaking many different turkic language colours. A little bit weird.

Hello, why is the i not before the e, that's the rule, isn't it? THERE IS NO C IN WEIRD. Bl**dy language. Excusez mon Francais, as they say in Quebec. I'll never finish learning it, (English, not French - nospiki) but thank you to clever Ms Spell-Checker for your assistance. Even if you don't explain it for me. To me. Whatever.

Still obamamania on TV. Get over it. Why is he black, he's just as much white, exactly half each. And I'm yellow? Not the last time I looked in a mirror. Anyway, whites are pink-orange. Now I can say all that in seven different turkic languages!

* In Canada everyone ends the sentences with 'eh?'. The Canadian language is a bit more like British English in some ways, spelling is mostly not like American, for example: Br E 'colour, defence, centre', not Am E 'color, defense, center'. But it's a bit mixed so I did buy the Canadian Oxford Dictionary to help me adapt. Some pronuciation is different: when a Canadian says 'oat in a boat' s/he is not talking about horse food in a small ship. It is our way to say 'out and about'. Besides that about 25% speak French, of course. All of Canada is officially bilingual, like Tyva.

When I checked that % just now on Wikipedia, I was reminded of something I always think is very funny: why Canada is called that? Well, the truth is that the first Frenchman was in an Indian village just after he arrived and he asked what was this place where he was. They told him 'Kanata' which he carefully wrote down, so now the second biggest country in the world is called 'village'. Doh. (Actually the same thing happened with the Russian colonisers in Siberia, there are some places like - the river River, and Mt Mountain!).

Sorry if I seem preoccupied with language etc it's because I spent most of my life and energy studying it. Ooof. Gottagivitup. But it was my ticket out, as they say. It still takes me ages to revise for example my punctuation here and then dear husband checks it for me afterwards. Even gives me marks (kisses!) to make me try harder! I think it's too easy to write nonsense here. Stop.

Gadgets are cool!

It was great!

Oh, it was so great, because I got a Google Alert*. And that is why I just saw a video which is about ten couples from ten different countries. (If you click your curser over the title of this post you'll go there, my kind and clever big guy just made that for me!) One American man organised a kind of travel quiz competition for them all to drive across the US, and they had to go to special places and do many different things, keeping a logbook and taking pictures. They stayed together every night to have a party where they told their adventures of the day. 

But what was special was that one of the couples was from TYVA!! I didn't believe it, it was our most famous man Kongar-ool Ondar, and his wife! Here is his photograph with his cool traditional ponytail hairstyle! He is not only a politician but mainly the best older throat-singer in Tyva, he was the first to come to the West to show that style of singing which is typical of our culture. It was so funny to see him react to seeing the horses on TV in the motel  (we have a lot of horses in Tyva, and the throat-singing began with the lonely herders on horseback, entertaining themselves being inspired by nature). They were also barn-dancing, visiting some hippies living in yurts and singing with some native tribesmen and so on. It was one hour long, so interesting and entertaining. 

I forgot to say - he met a young Tyvan girl working in the motel, I think, who got such a big shock to see him in America, it was funny - she couldn't believe it! 

(Later) Now I found some links for throat-singing which I put here at the bottom of the blog. The first four are famous ensembles and last five just some demonstrations of the different styles. See I made the list look like a lady dancing!

* If you want to find out what new things are on the Web about Tyva then you can ask that kind man Mr Google to send you an Alert each time to your e-mail, it's very simple - just remember to make two alerts, one with Tyva and another with Tuva. Of course you can make an alert about anything, like poodles or flying-saucers, that fascinates you! You should also subscribe to TyvaOnline from Dina Oyun, who is the next most famous person. (look on the left side). It's also in English. Actually I forgot, really THE - anyway in Russia - most famous Tyvan (half) is the Russian Minister for Crisis, Disasters and Catastrophes - there really is such a person, Sergey Kuzhugetovich Shoygu! And by the way, he is surviving from the early days of Yeltsin, so he must be very good at whatever he does, anyway he gets lots of practice in Russia!!! He also discovered an old Uyghur fort 'Por Bazhyn' on an island in a lake in the 'taiga' (n. 'A subarctic, evergreen coniferous forest of northern Eurasia located just south of the tundra and dominated by firs and spruces.'). Why is there not a word for that? I think this * is now too long, I must shut up.

P.S. 'Men Tyva men' does not mean I'm obsessed with the males from my homeland!

Here I go. Umm .... where? Mmmm.

Well, here I am at last, I joined the Blogosphere, so now I have to think what to write. And be careful that my English is perfect, of course. It will be the best practice for me, and if anyone sees a mistake, I hope I get a 'Comment'! (Kindly, please.) I don't know yet how often I will think of something to write, or maybe I'll just forget to do it. Let's see how it goes. 

Now the steppe must be freezing, like what they call the prairie here. So the little shonchelai bulbs are dormant, a bit like me, waiting to bloom when it gets warmer! Perhaps that is the thought that was behind my choice of 'nom de plume' ('nom de fleur' I guess they may say in Quebec!). My toes got very cold when I took Percy (poodle) for a walk, my boots are too thin - but pretty! The ice-water can get inside, so next time it will be galoshes. Sigh. Ugly. 

It would be better if it was really cold, dry cold. Then we could also drive normally. Then I could ask (....... ) to send me some felt boots by post and everyone would look at me: 'Has she broken both her legs?'. Hahaha! I should try that, they've never seen such things. Already my lovely warm fur hat is so remarkable for them, they look at me when I put the straps around my arms by habit. So I tell them about the naughty boys at home, and they are surprised, of course. Nobody steals hats here.

I must write about more serious things. Of course, I'm all on my own here so far, talking to myself as usual - it will be interesting to see when someone arrives to visit my blogger-blog. My secret idea is to find out if someone from Tyva will discover me - I don't even know how they could do that, actually. Then I can have some fun with them and anyone else who likes Tyva - and Tyvans, and Tyvan things and  ... whatever. Some good gossip, I suppose. And if they like me live far away from home they can go to 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyDSlOcoP8Y&feature=related 

and cry. Then call your mom in Tyva. 

(Some days later: I found a 'gadget' that puts Tyvan things from YouTube at the bottom below here. Now we can cry every day!)

Is there spell-checker here? Hm, have to look for it, getting lazy already, see a lot of mistakes when I look again. Where is husband when he is needed?

Now I want to see what it looks like. 'Bye.