Friday, Feb. 27 TRANSATLANTIC SECURITY The current U.S. presidential administration keeps questioning and reshaping NATO, the post-WWII American-European alliance that guarantees peace in Europe. President Donald Trump has pressured the NATO countries to pay a bigger percentage of their respective GDPs to support the alliance, which translates, according to some, into more security in Europe, but also antagonizes relations with Russia. At the same time, a desire by the administration to annex Greenland, a territory of Denmark (a NATO member), makes Europeans rethink the very sense of NATO. Learn about the future of the alliance from Professor Anna Grzymala-Busse of Stanford University, courtesy of the local chapter of the World Affairs Council. Tickets come with lunch. [AP] 11:30am Friday, Feb. 27. Hilton Garden Inn Monterey, 1000 Aguajito Road, Monterey. $55; $45/members. Registration required. (831) 643-1855, wacmb.org/event-6552147. CHAI HIGH Chai tea is one of those teas served in all kinds of ways. You can order a chai latte, perhaps with a shot of espresso and a milk of your choosing. You can have it like regular tea, steeped in water. In India, where chai tea originates, masala chai (mixed-spice tea) is traditionally served with milk and sugar. But did you know that you can actually make your own chai tea, from scratch? Chai typically consists of a type of black tea mixed with a blend of spices, like cardamom, cloves and black pepper. You can learn all about this history, the many brewing techniques and flavor profiles at the chai-making workshop at Haifa Coffeehouse with the certified tea specialist Kashka Singh. [KR] 5-7pm Friday, Feb. 27. Haifa Coffeehouse, Dolores between 5th and 6th, Carmel. $45. aslichai@protonmail.com, tinyurl. com/yj22ysws. DYNAMIC DUO Some things just work great together: Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Chris Webster and Nina Gerber. The duo has been performing together for more than a quarter of a century, so you know they’ve got this music thing down pat. Harmony? Check. Powerful guitar playing complemented by soulful lyr22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com MEGAN KOTH The Hartnell College Art Gallery presents Skin Deep, a solo exhibition of recent paintings and works by Megan Koth. Koth is a Ventura-based painter who looks at the world through a queer, feminist lens. “My work explores the often fraught relationship that women have to beauty rituals,” she wrote on her website, “and how they navigate the contradictory spaces of self-care, grooming and consumption.” Drawing from her own experiences with chronic illness and medical trauma, Koth explores how personal grooming in the form of skincare and beauty rituals can be “a crucial exterior reaction to interior anxieties towards exerting, and sometimes losing, control over one’s body and health.” An opening reception takes place 4-6pm Thursday, Feb. 26. The gallery is located at the Visual Arts Building (Building J) at Hartnell College, 411 Central Ave., Salinas. Open by appointment until Thursday, March 5. [AP] HOT PICKS FEBRUARY 26–MARCH 04 To see more local events, and add your own, visit montereycountynow.com/events MEGAN KOTH BOB SELIN VISUALS BOB SELIN Bob Selin is the artist of the month (March) at Salinas Valley Art Gallery. Selin was introduced to painting at an early age, growing up with an artist mother. He experimented with various media such as charcoal drawing, block print, wood carving, watercolor and more, but painting is his main interest. While at UC Davis, he took several studio art courses, including an introductory course from Wayne Thiebaud, who had a big influence on Selin’s work. Now Selin paints full time, after retiring from the tech industry. He will be in the gallery from 5-8pm Friday, March 6 and will share his journey back to art. The gallery is located at 218 Main St. in Salinas. Regular hours are 10am-6pm Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. [AP] Dandha da Hora, the lead singer of SambaDá, shown at the center, dances with the audience, turning them into active participants in the show. (See details, p. 24.) YOEL SANCHEZ Chai is a spiced black tea that originates in India and is made with aromatic spices, often blended with milk. Learn to make your own at Haifa Coffeehouse on Feb. 27. ASLI CHAI
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