Day 71 of Firsts: Climb Mayan Ruins / Repel into a Cenote

It is not down in any map; true places never are. ~Herman Melville

Hola amigos. What an adventure we had today. So many firsts, I don't know where to begin.
Let me start by saying the tour was so wild, we had to sign papers saying we wouldn't sue anyone if we died.

Check this out. The Rocky Steps times ten.  We climbed up the most ancient Mayan pyramid in Mexico in Coba. This is our Indiana Jones style tour guide, Roby.



Coming down was actually a little tougher than going up.



Next, we went into a Mayan Village, zip lined across a crocodile infested lake, participated in a Mayan ceremony with the village shaman, and THEN repelled 50 feet into a cenote. ( All I kept thinking was, "we're not in Disney World any more! Dude, this is real.") 

Cenote's are considered holy places by the Mayans.  They are actually holey places in the limestone earth, that are like sink holes or wells into water filled caves. Once we got down to the water, we floated on inner tubes.

So much of the day I thought, this is so crazy. No American tour company could ever risk letting tourists do this kind of stuff.  But hey, it's Mexico.  The rules are obviously different here.

Eventually, we went into the home of a Mayan family. The thatched house was one room and pigs and other farm animals roamed inside.  Outside, two of the kids played with their pet monkey.



The funny thing is, you're tramping through the jungle. You are being told not to touch the trees because they're poisonous. It's all very surreal and feels like you're walking in the footsteps of the ancient Mayans. But the modern day Mayans are smart. They took our pictures everywhere and then sold them to us.



You gotta love it.  I did.

Day 63 of Firsts: Try to Play a Song on the Piano

The pause is as important as the note. ~Truman Fisher

I haven't played the piano since 6th grade. My husband on the other hand plays almost every day.  I always thought I could just pick it back up if I wanted to.  I've just never wanted to.

I can still kind of read notes. That's it.

Phil picked out the easiest song he could find for me tonight. It just has three chords.   The fun part in this video is when I accidentally whack my head on the piano.



Please release me from this song!  I thought this would be easy.  Not so easy.   One more time with gusto!!

Day 58 of Firsts: Visit the Newseum

Being a reporter is as much a diagnosis as a job description. ~Anna Quindlen

I'm in Washington, D.C. tonight visiting a friend who is also in the tv news business. We decided to go to the relatively new Newseum. It's a museum dedicated to journalism, looking back on the biggest news events of our time and some of the people who brought that news into our homes.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I was moved in so many ways.

I was such a fan of Tim Russert who moderated NBC's Meet the Press. It was such a terrible loss when he died.  This is his office that's preserved at the Newseum.

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A large portion of the museum is dedicated to the news coverage of 911. I was filling in on our morning show at NBC 10 that day.  Katie Couric and I talked on the air about a silly underwear story coming up on the Today Show.  Minutes later I stood in the newsroom watching as the second plane went into the twin towers.  We all know where we were then.

In the Newseum there are remnants of the towers, images that are too powerful, bringing back memories of that day and the days following, covering ground zero.   I was drawn to the story of one photojournalist who took some of the most gut wrenching pictures of 911in the last minutes of his life.




 A montage of some of the world's biggest stories reminded me how much I've witnessed myself in my career. Two olympics including the Atlanta bombing, Hurricane Andrew, the Waco cult fire....there's a long list.  Those of us fortunate enough to be journalists get a front row seat to report on some incredible historic events.  I thought today how privileged we are to have that responsibility.
 

Day 57 of Firsts: Kitchen Dance by Myself

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. ~Dave Barry

When my daughter was growing up we used to kitchen dance. We'd dance 'til we were silly, laughing and exhausted.

This week has been long and cold. Winter feels like it will never end.  Something's gotta give.

My dancing partner has grown up and moved away. I've never kitchen danced without her. But tonight, a first.

Alexa...Tonight I'm thinking about all our kitchen dancing and smiling.  You dance too!

Day 49 of Firsts: Be Star Struck by a Big Time Best Selling Author

Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

I'm very fortunate in my 30 something year career as a reporter I've met so many famous people: Presidents, athletes, actors, even former co workers who are now well known.  I suppose it's one of the perks of the job.

The truth is I've rarely been star struck.  But tonight I was beside myself. I got to meet Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the best selling book Eat, Pray, Love.   

This is my friend Loraine Ballard Morrill and then me with Elizabeth babbling  about this blog as she signs her new book Committed.  I'm such a big fan, I don't even know what I'm saying ...probably, "I'm such a big fan."



So nice, down to earth. And it gets better because her sister Catherine is also a well known author of a series of books for young adults. The two of them talked about each other, writing, their lives.  Ahh...they speak like they write...beautifully. I was entranced.



The conversation between the two sisters was a fundraiser for the Spells Writing Lab in Philadelphia.  The money we each  paid for a ticket will go toward teaching city kids about the love of words and storytelling. 

While there I didn't ask any pithy reporter questions. I didn't take notes. I was too gaga to do anything but pinch myself.

I love gorgeous writing.  I'm in awe of those who can create it and it was just pure joy  to be in fan land tonight.    
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Day 47 of Firsts: Try a Wireless Reading Device

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.

I love books. I have so many,  my bed side table and house in general are over run with them. Under my bed? books.   I ridiculously spend money on  hardbacks because I like the feel of them and want my own copy. But I really have no where to put them any more. These day  I actually try to pass on good books to good friends.

Meanwhile, I've learned one of my co-workers Kathy Gerrow is having the same issue. But lately she's been carrying around a Kindle. She swears she's okay with the feel of this wireless reader , pressing a button instead of turning a page.  She loaned me hers for a few days to give it a go.  Here's a little tour.



I don't know why, it will be hard for me to give up physical books. I just like to look at them in book stores and wonder what's in them.  As a  practical matter,  something like a Kindle makes sense. ( I don't have to worry about what I'll do with the next 50 books.) I guess I could go to the library but I hate carting books back and forth.  I know. I'm a book snob.

There's something romantic and mystical about opening a fresh book. Where's the romance in opening a Kindle?  Eh, i don't know.  Maybe I'm just not ready for  this new kind of reading.

Everything else is changing so fast. I guess very soon it will be old fashioned. But I still want to hold on to a few things that make me feel secure in the world like a solid, hardback book. 

Day 46 of Firsts: Learn to Juggle. Not!

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. ~Cynthia Heimel, "Lower Manhattan Survival Tactics"

It was a stressful day in the NBC 10 Investigative Office for reasons I won't elaborate on. (Lets just say we were trying to juggle too many things.) Emma Margolin ,one of the interns, has actually been offering to teach me to juggle as a First.

We all took a little breather this afternoon for a quick lesson.

 

You don't start with three balls, just two.



I am so fantastically uncoordinated and bad at this and easily encouraged by any bit of success. I have to say, it was a good stress reliever.



Anyway, as you see I'm a long way off from real juggling. Emma insists if I practice I will get it. If I show any signs of improvement I will immediately document it and let you know.

Meanwhile, i will have to be contet to just juggle my life.

Day 45 of Firsts: Kept Out of the Israeli Film Festival

To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions. ~William James

Who would think you need to reserve tickets to the Israeli Film Festival?? Not I and not my friend Karen Araiza.  This is us, thinking we still might get into the showing of Eyes Wide Open at the Bryn Mawr Theater tonight.




I've never been to any film festival. It sounded like a good first with little risk. Ha.  Look at this crowd. Apparently they ALL bought their tickets in advance! All I knew was it was some kind of love story in Hebrew with English subtitles. Sold out?? Really?? There are that many Israeli Film Festival fans???



We actually thought about crashing a film discussion group going on after we were told there were no more tickets.

 But Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges was playing at the same theater. We already bought our popcorn. We were committed to seeing something.

Great movie, by the way.  Of course both movies let out at exactly the same time, so I just had to ask someone who did get into the festival, "What did we miss?"
 

 
All I can say is Oy vey!

Day 41 of Firsts: Sled down the Rocky Steps

There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's. ~Clyde Moore

It was a long, long day in the NBC 10 Live Truck known as Mini 5. Greg Durgin and I spent the day doing live shots on the historic snowfall in Philadelphia. I was so busy with the storm I  hadn't figured out what my First would be today. This is us at the end of the day, tired and beat.



And then I saw it. So many people having a great time sledding down the Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum. We stopped to watch for a minute.



Of course, I've never done it before. Someone loaned me a little plastic sheet. A perfect first.



I know. I chickened out and didn't go to the top. (I could just imagine breaking my back on the rocky steps.)

Anyway, it was nice to laugh and play for a moment after a stressful day. 


Send me your First suggestions at luann.cahn@nbcuni.com
You can also follow oneyearoffirsts on Twitter

Day 38 of Firsts: Make Chicken Wings

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. ~Fran Lebowitz

I can cook but Chicken Wings have never been part of my repertoire. Still it's  the SUPER BOWL.   In the spirit of my year of Firsts and the game I decided to join the rest of America and eat some chicken wings. Don't ask me why I decided to make them.
 
I want to say thanks to  some very nice people offered their help on Facebook. I have to admit that the guy who said "if you don't have a deep fryer, give up", was probably right.
 
I started by selecting a high calorie cheesey chicken wing recipe. Then  I went out to  find some wings.  This was not as easy as I thought it would be. 
 
The first grocery store I went to did not have one fresh or frozen wing left by the time I went shopping today.  The guy behind the meat counter scoffed at me for even asking if there might be some wings in the back.  "Kinda late aren't you??" he smirked. 
 
Hey! I don't know anything about wings. I'm a wing virgin!  
 
I ran into the next grocery store now desperate and determined to find MY WINGS. There it was. One last package of fresh wings.   I grabbed it like it was gold and got home just as the game was starting.
 
My husband looked doubtful. No barbecue sauce, no blue cheese, no hot sauce..."cheesey wings??" he questioned.
 
   "Hey  it's my first time"  I said...
 
He went back to the game.
 
An hour later, something that looked like chicken wings emerged from my oven.  It was then I realized I left out a major ingredient.   The cayenne pepper!!!  I quickly just threw some on top.
 

 
I served my wings with trepidation and watched as Phil took a few bites.
 

 
They really didn't taste like any chicken wings i've ever had. Also my stomach is kind of hurting. 
 
I should have known when I got the last package of chicken wings, I had no idea what I was doing.  I'm just wondering if I should bring the left overs to work.
 

Day 34 of Firsts: Learn to Knit

Knitting is a boon for those of us who are easily bored. I take my knitting everywhere to take the edge off of moments that would otherwise drive me stark raving mad. ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

I always looked at Marsha Dickstein's beautiful knitted scarves with envy. I can't remember how many times I've said "Wow you made that? I want to learn to knit. Teach me." Tonight we began.

You know what's interesting.  I was just knitting for maybe 45 minutes, but I swear I felt my whole body relax while we sat and talked in Marsha's kitchen. 



 
My mother used to knit and I have some faint memory of knitting myself when I was about 10. I don't think I ever made anything. I don't think I had the patience. Tonight  the needles clicking seemed soothing somehow after a long day. 
 

 
I got about a dozen perfect rows done tonight.
 
I did a story once with a doctor who told me the part of the brain that lights up when you pray or meditate is the same part of the brain that is engaged when you knit.  There really is something prayerful about it.  Some wonder if that's where the soul lives. 
 
Hmmm.  I just know I may start taking my little knitting project around with me for awhile and see what happens.  What am I knitting?  Who knows.  Maybe a new chapter in my life.