It all started when my mom met my dad, and they fell in love and had me. Hi, my name is Alayna, and my life is kind of crazy.
Some would say Arkansas is still a part of the Wild West.
The part of Arkansas boarding Texas is kind of the few places that still have the Wild West runs free. Guns flying, horses running loose …no wait… that would be hogs. WOOO PIG SUIY (look it up) is a thing.
Ye Gotta watch out for the tumbling tumbleweeds too. Them things are not soft and floffy like the movies. They probably could take a grown man out. . . If it tried hard enough. Once I fosterd my eyes on one rolling in the wind with such velocity it grew wings to fly, didn’t get too far when it burst through somebody’s window and stole all the shotguns from the back of the truck, it never even stopped rolling or slowed down.
Now that you have a good picture of rootin tooten, can spittin’ Arkansas. I can tell you what I did.
Livin’ away from all the crime and hustle and bustle was really the best choice for the family. Kinda like the town of Wazuka but nothing at all. The closest neighbor was here to Lawsons and the only way you could get to their house was literally over the river and through the woods, all the while watching out for the big red wolf (mountain lions), waiting in the trees to snatch you up. Around these parts things to do for entertainment would be, waiting till nightfall n go cow tipping, tractor pulling, or cliff jumping not always with water underneath you. Here is to say I don’t live in a blue-zone, centurion town.
SSOOO naturally I moved away for a higher ed-u-ma- cation because Dr. Dulitttle was a good movie but Animals Don’t Talk to You like that. I just don’t think they will help you get a degree above being a soul-sucking farmer, maybe you’ll get a good home-cooked meal from your momma if you’re lucky enough to have a momma past the age of 16. Normally they kick you out of the house and tell you to go live in an old tree house you and your cousins built with some rusty nails and 2x4s.
Anyway, my cousin and I decided to put in our teeth, wear our shoes, and get ourselves a higher ed-ja-ma-cation. After we got our shinny degrees I went into working with the elderly. Only people who didn’t sound like they were quoting a meme from Tiktook or have one of those fake Barbie doll voices. Someone who was grounded. While also having the mind of someone who did every drug known to man legally in the 60s. They had great stories. Truly knew what living meant.
I was a hospice caretaker. There is no funny way to say it. I was there being a part of the end of someone’s life, in many ways, they will convert into their younger childhood self in those final days. Seeking friendship and comfort. I would sit and stay up all night and day listening to stories of long-lost lovers, should haves, and lessons for my own future. You see once you know you have no time left to live with the living you realize the struggle is gone and you can let go of the hold that life has you under. I was there helping them find peace and comfort in this world before they left it. It is a rewarding job but also a heavy one. Mentally you find struggles from not only constantly building a forever bond with this person but seeing them at the last part of them ever being on this earth. You create bonds and love for each person to let them live in memory in your own life. You hear that people need to experience life, they never talk about the experience of death. With great loss grows great beauty.
My last patient told me that the one thing she wanted me to do was to be able to leave the town we were in and go travel, and experience the things and ways of the world that aren’t the same here. So I decided to take her dying wish for me and do it. I have a huge appreciation for her, she was truly a lady that changed my entire life.
After her passing, I sold everything that I had and decided to leave. Booked a one-way ticket to anywhere and was going to go.
I ended up spending a year traveling through most of the United States and dipping my toe into the borders of Canada and Mexico.
Coming home to my family feeling like my journey was not complete I then ventured into 22 other European countries over the course of 6 months before I started the journey into Asia.
I ended up coming home early due to an illness in my family.
Traveling was put on a small hold but gave me time to work on my future after Obubu. I had built a studio for my pottery, equipped with a wheel and kiln, Just finished the final pieces when I had a letter from Obubu that they wanted me to come to join them for a work education exchange.
I was spending my free time perfecting the process of making vessels for tea and now I had the opportunity to learn what goes into the cups and bowls I was creating. A true hand-in-hand experience.
The next week I booked a flight, said goodbye to friends and family, and went back into the ever-growing and changing world alone, yet again. So you ask why Obubu? But I ask you why not Obubu?
I grew up in a household that experimented with tea, I had my herb garden to make different kinds of teas and seasonings. I wanted to learn more about the history of pottery and tea and the relationship they have together.
At Obubu
My first few steps walking onto the property of Obubu started the chaos as I was walking a little brown snake swam across my unexpected foot, causing me to uproot half my high off the ground. In the days following, I found not one but two monster, man eating centipedes!! laying about once on the stove, BAM spatula of death helped me out there, the second was under the chagama VOOOOM! vacuum of suffication for the win. Then the CHESTNUTS, frickin flying from the sky like the monkeys themselves were playing baseball. It was a minefield. Them things are spiky.. take it from me.
That was when I knew Obubu could throw me anything and I could still smile and talk through a tea tour at least, even the ones full of curious-minded questions that leave you with no time to present. It is all okay. You find the joy all around you here.
When I first made it to Obubu my first week I felt that I was at a summer camp then the weeks following were like “Where are the cameras? This place is too amazing to not be a movie.”
The real show began when grandmas were trying to take after the cranes in the rivers and flying off ladders, a wasps army ready for a fight anytime you picked a flower, and the weather was in every possible mood you could imagine. There was something new and exciting happening at Obubu every day. “many things happen”
Once you take off the tea color glasses of living in Japan you can see the truth of what is around you. There will be bad parts and sad days but to truly enjoy the story you must see those times through so you can appreciate the good times and happy days.
Honestly, some of the best times in my life happened here. Obubu has a magical effect on the people, you can’t find a more real place in such a story-like setting.
Living at Obubu is something you truly have to experience yourself. You leave with a little of the magic with you as well. . . Depending on how many “illegal gifts home(tea seeds)” Hiro gives you.
Here I discovered how to create bonds with many people from completely different walks of life, different viewpoints, mindsets, goals, and cultures. We all live in this jelly-filled harmony together when we keep the mind of seeing all our differences and similarities and choosing to work as a whole unit. Each person plays a different part at Obubu bringing change with every new intern. We have to realize we will never be under the same roof again with everyone here. Obubu Truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I have never laughed harder, smiled more, and created stronger friendships. It is truly a part of your life you will never regret. It is the feeling you hope stays with you your whole life.
After Obubu
I will be going back to my job, and in my free time working on my pottery. To be an ambassador would allow me to host Obubu Tea parties and workshops. I am excited about what comes with the future. The lessons learned at Obubu have helped me mold into a better tea lover and share in today’s world.
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