Dear ECS: Happy birthday, sweet girl

Dear ECS,

Happy birthday sweet girl, it is wonderful to watch your excitement and joy about your upcoming birthday.  And now it is here.  You delighted in the plans for the party, in turning three (well sometimes you liked to stretch it to five, but who can blame you on that one?), and the pride you have expressed about being a big girl.

What a year you have had, with the highlight and challenge of moving across the world, into a new culture and country here in Addis and thriving all along the way.   It is not always easy, but you sure make it look easy.  Your mom and I really appreciate, and if we are being honest count on, your flexibility and happiness in being anywhere and everywhere.  I haven’t ever seen a kid so excited about airports, which makes me cringe inside about the carbon impact, but also makes me so proud.  Airports are great because they take us to places we have never been, and even at the tender age of just turned three, you and I are on the same page on that one.

The places we have been over the last year are a robust list of places for a lifetime -- the Seychelles, skiing in Europe and Park City, safari in Kenya, all over the US, Rwanda, London, life in Ethiopia and all the places we have been here.  And through all that, you are ever more happy and precocious.  

As your dad, all the adventure has been a highlight of our year together.  But the joy and delight we have together on a day-to-day basis eclipses all that adventure.  Putting you to bed and having long discussions about how much we love each other, and whether we love each other to the moon AND sun, and back, or to the moon OR sun and back, those are moments that I could never have anticipated before becoming a parent.  

This journey we are on as a family, that you are on as a human, that I am on as a dad, that your mom is on--it is more joyful and wonderful than any of us could have imagined.  Well maybe you had an inkling, you have been so perceptive even as a toddler.

Enjoy your day and  year, can’t wait to see where you go and where we go.

Love,

dad    

Dear ECS: Look how it is so pretty

Hey honey, it has been a bit too long since I last wrote.  My apologies, but at least the reason is a good one.  We have been too busy. The last six weeks has been such a whirlwind, and through it all you have been up for whatever comes your/our way, very resilient in a period of dynamism for the korol family. 

We just got back from a fun weekend trip to Lalibela with a college buddy of mine. Lalibela is one of the tourist gems in Ethiopia with rock churches carved a millennium ago in terrain that is akin to the southwest in the US.  Before that, you and I spent almost three weeks in the US, seeing family and friends. And before that your Babas (my parents) were visiting for another almost three weeks.  Add it all up and  we have been either on the go or hosting loved ones for over six weeks.

I was struck by a moment this weekend, as you took in the sweeping views from our hotel in Lalibela.  Mom and I were settling into the hotel room and you went out on the veranda to take in the view.  And what a site, with ridges extending for dozens of miles down a large river valley, raptors swooping around our room and a big chunk of this bountiful world in front of you.  Your response to this splendor was telling of your rapid emotional development over the last several months – as the response was the same as your nearly forty year old old dad – “Look how it is so pretty.”  This appreciation of beauty, which a few minutes later you correctly placed as in Africa, would not have happen when we arrived in Addis Ababa in 2017, probably not even as 2017 turned to 2018.  But your wonderful, agile and active mind now processes beauty.  Which is a good thing because you have sure been to a lot of beautiful places in the last almost year in Ethiopia and there are many more to come in our remaining year here.

I saw your joy and delight in life so many times over our trip to the US, which sadly left Muriel back in Addis while we gallivanted in Salt Lake, North Carolina and Frankfurt.  Mu couldn’t get the time off for this long trip, which is understandable.  So it was a daddy/daughter extravagance.  I loved everything about our trip together, even the epicly long travel.  Because it was with you.

So about our US time, which was split between Salt Lake and North Carolina.

Utah

We spent most of our time in Utah, with your dad catching the tail end of the ski season and us getting to spend a ton of time with friends and family.  Being able to double up like that is right in your dad’s wheelhouse.  We stayed with dear friends in Park City who have an adorable 4 months old.  This 'little sis' allowed you to really focus on your burgeoning nurturing instincts --between your ‘little sis’ or your stuffed animal babies and wanting to take care of them, I like your style.  We also got to see a ton of our family who live throughout Utah Valley.  Seeing grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins is very special for a kiddo living overseas.

For dad, the skiing was pretty good, mostly spring conditions with a little of the re-freeze action happening on most days.  So there was not a huge incentive to get to the hill earlier.  Once things softened up on the mountain, then it was fun corn skiing.  I was also able to get in some really nice trail runs in the Wasatch range--it is kind of surprising how much I have come to love that sport.  One fun run was when you strapped yourself in the jogging stroller and we hit the Round Valley trails.  

I was not the only one to strap on skis--we were able to borrow some gear for you and hit the slopes together.  This is the combination of two of my all time favorite activities, and it is very cool how your ski skills have progressed ski trip by ski trip.  Sometimes I worry that our life in places not at all like Utah, where skiing is impossible, will make it hard for me to share the love your mom and I feel for the sport.  But based on this trip, you are trending in the right direction, as the idea of skiing appealing to you this trip.  It helps to take cool bubble gondolas and the amazing spring weather for scooting around on the snow.   The last ski day you had was at the Olympic Park, which celebrates skiing and the 2002 Olympics: https://utaholympiclegacy.org/activity/museums-at-utah-olympic-park/.  

Photo credit - Elle

North Carolina

After almost two weeks in Park City we decamped for the Triangle region of North Carolina where mom and dad met at Duke.  We stayed with my buddy Kris and saw a ton of Duke friends who were in town for their ten-year reunion.  Another function of living overseas is that you try to maximize seeing loved ones and we certainly achieved a very high rate for our long weekend.  The Triangle is doing so well, with great food and drink options proliferating everywhere, with some beloved standbys that have made it through the intervening decade and in some cases improved. 

On the way to the airport, we stopped in at the North Carolina Art Museum for this amazing installation called “You Are Here” - http://ncartmuseum.org/exhibition/you_are_here_light_color_and_sound_experiences.  This exhibit has a ton of immersive art installations that break down the fourth wall and either explicitly includes the viewer or engages the viewer in immersive environments.  The one that has stuck in your dad’s mind the longest is an infinity mirror rooms with a light show by Yayo Kusama called Light of Life.  This is a box hat has intricate mirrors that create infinite iterations of the light show, the viewer and whatever is inside the box.   The infinity ‘room’ is super cool for me as an adult and watching your amazement at this magical art creation, replicated to infinity within the box, was incredible.  I love travel for these kinds of discoveries, and it was a great idea of Kris’ to check out this exhibit on the way to the airport and the red eye to Germany.

Now we are back home and will be here for several weeks.  Your precociousness gets more delightful everyday and I am so looking forward to being together as a family for the next several weeks.

Love you honey,

dad

Dear ECS: wonderful days in the Seychelles

Dear ECS, 

Hey sweetie, we have had a wonderful day.  In fact more like several wonderful days in the paradise of the Seychelles.  Yep, at the tender age of two you have already been to one of the most paradisiacal and idyllic spots in the world.  Of course, you lived your first year+ in the idyllic Bahamas; so being in the Seychelles came very naturally.

We snuck away to the Seychelles for a long weekend with our friends.  Our ocean side villa had in essence its own beach, which you put to frequent and adorable use.  Having the beach right out of the back patio made being at the beach so easy and enjoyable. Seeing you running around so so so happily on the beach, running from the water in delight and doing a fair bit of digging hit all the highlights for a two year old reveling in the beach.   Watching you run with all of your being showcased how much you have grown in the months we have been in Addis.  Your physical movement and mental/verbal connections make me as a dad so happy to be part of as you growth and evolution.

That was right out our front door – and it would have been a sublime vacation if we had never left our little compound.  Friends, good food, the beach, what more do you need?  Of course, this being--your ever in movement--parents and family, the chilling did not come naturally and we also drove around the island to enjoy several stunning beaches, which were especially photogenic with the white sand contrasted by the green rainforest, the azure ocean and these huge rocks scattered seemingly everywhere along the coast.

One thing that happens on a good vacation is that time slows down.  Our Seychelles trip had that slowing down in spades, which was welcome from a very hectic February for the Korol family.  We were gone for just a few days, but it felt like two or three times that, in the very best way.  I had been apart from you and your mom for basically two+ weeks straight, so the immersive time we got to spend together on our trip felt extra special.

Victoria, Seychelles and Nassau, Bahamas are separated by 9017.76 miles.  Not much at all!  From the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, including the entire, massive African continent, that is a long trip.  I was not sure what to expect on the culture side of Seychelles, having spent exactly zero minutes reading up on the culture of the island chains.  So it warmed my heart to see so many similarities to our beloved Bahamas.  Your mom made the point that both places seemed to have cultures that centered around the ocean, which is surprisingly not the case for so many coastal locales.  Both are also heavily tourist dependent.  Both have some of the prettiest waters you will see in this big, bountiful world.  Probably my favorite similarity was how both places have parties, with a tent and BBQ set up on the beach and a soundtrack via a stereo for some serious chilling.

The last cherry on top for our trip was the stunning nature and topography of the islands.  The Seychelles are 360 degrees dramatic, with the most pleasant competition going on for our attention between the stunning waters and the dramatic hills and cliffs.  I had expected islands that were flat, kind if in the vein of what I imagine the Maldives look like.  Nope!  The islands are steep, with thousand foot ridges right off the ocean, and granite cliffs sprinkled throughout the verdant tropical rainforest.  Rather than flat islands poking just above the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles have mountains up to almost 3,000 feet from the ocean a few miles away.  Stunning.

So glad to have spent the time in that stunning landscape with you.

love,

dad

Dear ECS – Daddy, where are you?

Dear ECS,

Good question honey.  Where am I? 

I had only been gone a day or so, and we are chanting on FaceTime with you back in Addis and me at the Dubai airport.  You asked me – “Daddy, where are you?”  This was a question I thought about a lot over the next 10 or so days, for a backcountry ski trip to Kyrgyzstan.  I was disconnected from the online world, most importantly by far disconnected from you and your mom for a week or so, which felt like forever to me and forever squared to your mom as she was solo parenting and a worried about injury and avalanche.

Kyrgy is a country that I knew little about before the trip came together via 40 Tribes (http://40tribesbackcountry.com/kyrgyzstan-yurt-based-ski-and-splitboard-tours/).  Overall, the country was more different and exotic than I anticipated – there was a refreshing lack of English and transliteration in the shops and billboards, for example.  Why in this place of relative poverty are there dozens of jewelry stores in the market, yet the same market that has just a couple of fresh food stands.  That ratio doesn’t fit in my travel experiences, but I am sure that there is a good reason.  Just one that eluded me.

Why Kyrgyzstan?   Well, it is a burgeoning spot for powder skiing, aka the best skiing.  One illustrative example of the excellent skiing in the 7 days was when a weather system moved in for a couple of days of “ lightly dumping.”   This is the kind of snow that comes most often in the Karakol valley, near the borders of Kazakhstan and China.  The lightly dumping is a function of the frigid climate of the central Asia steppe, with very cold temps and a persistent dryness. It doesn’t snow a lot but the snow that does fall remains powder for the most part from the surface to the ground, in stark difference to fresh snow in Colorado, Utah and Tahoe.  20 cms go a long way in the Karakol valley.

The skiing was glorious, mostly wide-open alpine faces, sometimes steep and sometimes more mellow.  The powder lived up to everything I had hoped for, deep, floating and very memorable.  Getting to spend time with Uncle James and some new friends was great, we lived in a yurt for the week, with a wood stove for heat and the coziness of shared experiences.  Krgy food was better than I had thought, great flavors prepared really well by the 40 Tribes head chef, Norbek.  It was also fun to earn those turns, as this was a backcountry trip that had us putting in effect rugs on our skis/snowboards to go up, sometimes for hours, before switching over to downhill mode and zipping down snow.  There is a satisfaction that comes from putting in the time, work, and slower pace to take in the beauty of the mountains. 

Being in these mountains many thousands of miles and hours of flying from our home in Addis, and even farther from America, required quite a journey.  There is the literal journey of Addis -> Dubai -> Bishkek (on airplanes) -> Karakol (6 hour drive) -> staging village (hour drive in a Soviet era 4x4 van) -> the ski zone yurts (6 mile skin to the yurts). Where am i?  How did I get here? 

I found myself thinking more about the journey your mom and I started to build the skills for skiing in the backcountry about ten years ago.  Starting with classes about safe backcountry travel, and trips to the top of mountains, to huts in the backcountry, to talking with experts.  Trying to pick up tips and best practices.  This trip was a nice validation for your dad on that front, I felt comfortable in a part of the world I had never really even contemplated traveling to, because I had my gear and my knowledge and my friends.

But that deep knowledge is not enough, it is never enough.  You see honey, while I was happy to be comfy far from my prior areas of familiarity, I was also trying to learn and soak up as much as I could from the guides, true professionals, and the other skiers.   Their expertise and experience can be, and was, a fount of new knowledge.  The tweaks could be simple, such as a little adjustment to make the transition from skinning uphill to skiing downhill faster.  But it was also about more important and consequential things, observing group dynamics and snow pack.   What I hope is that you embrace this kind of lifelong learning.  I grant that lifelong learning is much easier when it is in your passions, like skiing is for me.  But we should try to bring that curiosity to everything we do, as best we can.

One last thought that kept coming into my mind up there in the mountains was embracing the moment.   With the skinning:skiing, ratio of roughly every minute of skinning earning a second of skiing on the downhill, those skiing moments were precious.  This scarcity makes me want to ski each turn, each run the best I can.  But that is not always the case, sadly.   From last week, I have a couple of ski runs I would like to have back, but that leaves me with more than a dozen with flow.  Skiing, like so many of the best things in life, happens best in a flow state.  I have found that holding on too tight doesn’t lead to my best flow, and consequently my best turns.   You flow more than I could ever hope for, being 2 years old seems to be great for flow, especially when combined with your preciousness and curiosity.  Keep it up sweetie – embrace that flow.  I travel thousands of miles to get to the flow state that you seemingly inhabit at all times.  

Good stuff, keep it up sweetie.   

love,

dad