Look cool - look cute - sleep bad 💫 amazing tour with @maddiejay opening for @maro.musica and @itsnasaya I will never forget it!! Shoutout to my boys @mwootenmusic and @nikolastajicmusic for preparing me to be a touring guitarist. And also our hosts along the way (Josh/will, Noah, Rachel/Albie ❤️❤️)
February to March, 2024
As they say one thing leads to another.
The matriarchs from the Kazakh association who I've met previously from the Tatar association were very fond of me and invited me to a beginner's Kazakh language class. Eventually, I ended up going to their celebration of Nauryz, their celebration of the New Year from the Zoroastrian calendar. The matriarchs were like, "Find a Kazakh girl!", but as tradition goes everyone ended up against the wall or walked in circles as they kept to themselves in typical Kazakh fashion. It was a fun event, with lots of food, and a yurt but that day, my bank called me and told me that they had locked my account so I was in a bad mood and social anxiety got the best and rest of me. Didn't take as many photos as I did and had to rely on the ones people sent me back but it'd be a short while again where I'd connect again with the same people.
February 2024 Burlington-Hamilton
Royal Botanical Gardens for an orchid festival and a short hike to Tiffany Falls. Hiking this type of terrain is somewhat familiar to me as an ecologist and I saw that everyone was mildly amused by my antics as I went through the hills. These photos were lost for a period of time because of a faulty memory card but only recently recovered in the past months.
February 2024 - Losar Year 2151 - Male Wood Dragon
Though it predates Buddhism, Losar is a winter solstice ritual celebrated to remove obstacles and welcome longer days. I started the day at my home temple of the Karma Kagyu tradition and visited the Gelugpa temple next door, stopped at High Park and looked at the yaks and ended up towards the final temple at the Taklung Kagyu temple. It's always a journey as it takes close to two hours to get to the first temple by transit and then I did an hour and a half walking to the final temple.
February 7, 2024
The first concert I've attended since 2019, thought Phoebe Go would break me out of the post-pandemic mould. Phoebe was very shy but very sweet and lovely to meet. I'm glad that she rekindled my love of live music although there was a bit of pacing around from nerves.
January 2024 - Berlek 20th anniversary dinner
I've become associated with the wider Tatar community after my friend Aidar had told me about the summer festival Sabantuy. Since the population in Toronto is quite small it's become an amalgamation of other Central Asians and as you can see the chapan I bought is a big hit there. Lots of tiny hats, pie and accordion music.
Fall 2023 - Sept. to December
I've put off posting photos because it's hard to generate a common theme but I thought I'd post them now before they get lost to time
1) Ethiopian man with his icons
2) Chuck e Cheese on a weekday
3) Centennial Park Greenhouse
4) John Brownlie's celebration of life
5) Elizabeth's farewell
6) Elizabeth taking a photo of me with a free plant
7) Dilyara Kaipova
8) Mineral Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
9) Bike Bike - Daria's band
10) Botanist Oron Peri
11) A chapan bought from a man who inherited it from an illegal immigrant from Tajikistan
12) Times Square Diner
13) Holiday party at a Russian-Jewish seniors' home
14) Tree at Pizza Hut
15) Eaton's Centre at 7 AM
16) My Serebro shirt
17) A tardigrade
18, 19) Bowling, I was watching a lot of <<слово пацана>> then
20) A long pineapple
NB: If you wish to contribute on our GoFundMe, please include "#" after your name so I can track the donations coming from social media.
Hello,
My name is Peter and I'm with the World Aral Region Charity, a completely volunteer-led organization. This year, we're looking to build a greenhouse and provide supplies to a high school in Keygeli, a remote part of Uzbekistan in the desiccated Aral Sea basin. In previous years, we've provided vitamins and had provided filtration for clean drinking water, low-budget solutions to the on-going water crises of the Aral Sea. The financial goals of this particular project are very modest, and I initially joined the group being impressed with the low investment, and high returns of the work. We hope to continue working with schoolchildren in the Aral Sea region, and if you would like to find more about our organization please click the link on my profile. If you're looking for something to give back to this year for Novruz or Zakat for Ramadan, here's a place you know where your money will be well spent. Don't be afraid of donating even just a few dollars, even $5 would be considered very generous, a little goes a long way here.
NB: If you wish to contribute on our GoFundMe, please include "#" after your name so I can track the donations coming from social media.
I'm going through photos I've never posted in the yesteryear still trying to figure out how I spent year 2023. I've always made a commitment to never get too comfortable and it seemingly has been a bit more challenging than it should have been that year. Despite personal hardship and friendships that have grown into passive antagonism, there was still a lot to be thankful for. I would like to start off by thanking Elizabeth for the museum, taxidermy, hardware store, random Soviet food and insect adventures; Brian, Jeremy, Nicholas and Mina for the botany society nonsense; Dasha for connecting over the "Russian soul" and last but not least Nastia for tapping into my creative side with her colorful artworks.
To friends old and new! We all had a lovely time at your show Elissa! You are so loved and it was great to hear your tremendous voice and witness your offbeat personality. Thanks for choosing such a lovely albeit hidden venue at Tibet Street Records. Great to see you @sarahruba_ after eleven odd years 😄
I walked the wrong direction trying to meet up with a friend and ended up here but it is always nice to reconnect with cultural traditions and visit a temple which is quite surprising to find on a side road in the middle of the city.
