not sure if anyone has been here in a good long while. just wanted to write a quick note in the rare event that someone is here.
i mentioned that i would be writing here about my year working in austin, tx. while i do fully intend on opening to anyone that wants to share with me, i have decided at the moment that an online blog is not the appropriate venue. this is because 1. i will not have access to a computer and/or the internet very much 2. i'm trying to unplug more 3. letters are really fun. feel free to contact me and i will love to be your penpal.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Thursday, June 10, 2010
galapawaaa??
i just HAVE to do a really quick blog update, been meaning to lately but ive been free-birdin and such. i gotta make this real quick, i need to sleep soooo badly.
so after the epic finishing of my monografia, my labor of love that i put more hours into than i ever imagined, we hit the beach to suck back some piña coladas and relax a lil. we decided on the lovely beach town of canoa, beautiful playa, and hammocks EVERYWHERE! our time was spent reading, sleeping, walking on the beach, and sleeping some more. most of our friends had to head back to quito pronto to catch flights back to the states, and MT and i had planned on going our seperate ways at that point, but the epic journey of las dos hermanitas couldnt end that abruptly could it! so i had my eyes on the northern coastal town of muisne, mostly because it is home to some of the only mangroves left in ecuador and an awesome organization that is trying to protect and reforest them. so we headed north, stopping at the quiet surfer town of mompiche, just enough time to eat fried fish for breakfast (only option), meet some random surfer dudes, and head to the most beautiful black sand beach ever. in the whole wide world. we talked to some people in town who informed us we could take a boat to muisne instead of the longer overland route, and we could also tour the mangroves! so wambam and we were on a lovely little boat with some new friends we picked up along the way, gliding through the gentle waterways of ecuadorian mangroves. the next few days we hung out in muisne, my favorite city in ecuador thus far, where everyone is overly nice and the ceviche de camaron is to die for. we showed up at FUNDECOL, the rad org, and got a more than generous tour and history of the organization. last night we hopped a night bus back to quito and THAT my friends brings me to today...
of course the bus roles into quito at the convenient time of 5am, typical, leaving you in the dark and cold with nowhere really to go and nothing to do. this has happened many times before, and usually we just go to this cafe thats supposed to be open 24hrs but never is, and then stand in the cold and bitch about how the sign lies. instead this time i asked the taxi driver to take us somewhere thats open and warm, and within 2 minutes we arrived at La Canoa, a 24h seafood buffet...? mm yummy right. but amazing news, there is a back room with really comfy chairs and nice people that work there that turned off the lights, YES turned OFF the lights so we could sleep amongst our bagpacks for a little while. and the bathroom, WOO, it was the nicest bathroom i have seen in 6 months. it was basically heaven, especially for a smelly backpacker like myself. and as i was lying there in the 24hr seafood buffett, i started dreaming again about the galapagos (a dream i didnt allow myself previously because i thought it was way too expensive...i didnt even read the galapagos section of my guidebook i thought it would be too painful). and i pondered how the universe had really been aligning things quite nicely for me lately, and how i basically could leave on any adventure at that very moment with everything i need on my back, and how i have the most charming, discount-inducing smile you could ever imagine. so i started to get reallly giddy, and decided then that i would give it a go. once quito came to life again, i walked over the city to inquire about the best last minute galapagos deals. to make a pretty long and tiring story short, I AM GOING TO THE GALAPAGOS TOMORROW MORNING! is that bragging? sorry i am just really excited and kind of surprised myself. bought 2 underwater cameras and a bag of quinoa...que significa que estoy lista.
presently at my friend carolinas house, a lovely lady i met through couchsurfing (have i repped cs enough yet), who shares my same love for jazz and cuabn music and who generously allowed me to stay at her place the night. its sooo nice to have friends to crash with, to cook a lovely dinner, etc. thats what i love about couchsurfing, its like instant awesome people all over the world.
anywho i neeeeeeed to sleep. see you SOON!
puro love,
laurita
so after the epic finishing of my monografia, my labor of love that i put more hours into than i ever imagined, we hit the beach to suck back some piña coladas and relax a lil. we decided on the lovely beach town of canoa, beautiful playa, and hammocks EVERYWHERE! our time was spent reading, sleeping, walking on the beach, and sleeping some more. most of our friends had to head back to quito pronto to catch flights back to the states, and MT and i had planned on going our seperate ways at that point, but the epic journey of las dos hermanitas couldnt end that abruptly could it! so i had my eyes on the northern coastal town of muisne, mostly because it is home to some of the only mangroves left in ecuador and an awesome organization that is trying to protect and reforest them. so we headed north, stopping at the quiet surfer town of mompiche, just enough time to eat fried fish for breakfast (only option), meet some random surfer dudes, and head to the most beautiful black sand beach ever. in the whole wide world. we talked to some people in town who informed us we could take a boat to muisne instead of the longer overland route, and we could also tour the mangroves! so wambam and we were on a lovely little boat with some new friends we picked up along the way, gliding through the gentle waterways of ecuadorian mangroves. the next few days we hung out in muisne, my favorite city in ecuador thus far, where everyone is overly nice and the ceviche de camaron is to die for. we showed up at FUNDECOL, the rad org, and got a more than generous tour and history of the organization. last night we hopped a night bus back to quito and THAT my friends brings me to today...
of course the bus roles into quito at the convenient time of 5am, typical, leaving you in the dark and cold with nowhere really to go and nothing to do. this has happened many times before, and usually we just go to this cafe thats supposed to be open 24hrs but never is, and then stand in the cold and bitch about how the sign lies. instead this time i asked the taxi driver to take us somewhere thats open and warm, and within 2 minutes we arrived at La Canoa, a 24h seafood buffet...? mm yummy right. but amazing news, there is a back room with really comfy chairs and nice people that work there that turned off the lights, YES turned OFF the lights so we could sleep amongst our bagpacks for a little while. and the bathroom, WOO, it was the nicest bathroom i have seen in 6 months. it was basically heaven, especially for a smelly backpacker like myself. and as i was lying there in the 24hr seafood buffett, i started dreaming again about the galapagos (a dream i didnt allow myself previously because i thought it was way too expensive...i didnt even read the galapagos section of my guidebook i thought it would be too painful). and i pondered how the universe had really been aligning things quite nicely for me lately, and how i basically could leave on any adventure at that very moment with everything i need on my back, and how i have the most charming, discount-inducing smile you could ever imagine. so i started to get reallly giddy, and decided then that i would give it a go. once quito came to life again, i walked over the city to inquire about the best last minute galapagos deals. to make a pretty long and tiring story short, I AM GOING TO THE GALAPAGOS TOMORROW MORNING! is that bragging? sorry i am just really excited and kind of surprised myself. bought 2 underwater cameras and a bag of quinoa...que significa que estoy lista.
presently at my friend carolinas house, a lovely lady i met through couchsurfing (have i repped cs enough yet), who shares my same love for jazz and cuabn music and who generously allowed me to stay at her place the night. its sooo nice to have friends to crash with, to cook a lovely dinner, etc. thats what i love about couchsurfing, its like instant awesome people all over the world.
anywho i neeeeeeed to sleep. see you SOON!
puro love,
laurita
Thursday, May 27, 2010
te regalo amores :)
before we get started with the latest news from la mitad del mundo, go ahead and put these sweet tunes on. feel free to ignore the video, or not if you want read the lyrics. this song you might hear when you are about anywhere in ecuador. its on the radio, its blasting from a cd stand, its mixin at a club. its kinda aweful and also soooooo wonderful. LOVE IT, lets dance :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri8v4csOl40
what a whirlwind these past few weeks have been. one of the highlights of my time in ecuador thus far was when mt and a few friends and i took a trip to lago agrio, an oil town that dips its feet into the amazonian mystique, to go on a tour of the oil pools and pollution that were left behind from texaco, which is now chevron. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duFXuRnd2CU
here is the trailer of a documentary that i saw in the states titled crude. it is about the case a highly contaminated community near lago agrio filed against the corporation. our guide was working on the case, taking the environmental scientists of the case to visit the sites that were polluted the most. an interesting debate in the whole case was whether the pollution in question was by texaco or by petroecuador, who took over the sites when texaco left around 91. some of the worst pollution are the pools of oil waste that texaco literally covered over with dirt, pools that petroecuador never used in the production process. it was pretty amazing to go to these areas, some that seem totally normal, and see that as our guide walked on them the ground would shake because underneath was all oil, or we would dig and 4 feet under the dirt was pure oil, and then see it run into a river where children are bathing and drinking literally 100 feet away. the reality of oil extraction is absolutely disgusting, even when the waste is disposed of 'properly'. one community in particular was effected drastically, with cancer rates through the roof and no clean water. this community filed the case against chevron, but it surely will not end for another 10 years. on the one hand, its incredibly discouraging to see how people are living and dying like this while lawyers jump hoops and tie knots. at the end of the day i asked our guide if he was friends with pablo fajardo, the now famous ecuadorian lawyer on the case, and he said 'yeah, i work with him!' (duh). he gave him a ring and we met him at his office, at 6pm on a saturday night mind you. it was soooo inspiring to talk to pablo! he destroyed my discouraging thoughts when he explainged to us that he realized he will probably die long before some visible change happens, but thats completely beside the point. our job is only to do what we can--we cannot throw our hands up and do nothing. its kinda like this quote i love, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."
a powerful day, one that will stay with me and remind me that the greater the injustices are in the world, the harder people are fighting against them.
and now i would like to share with you about my day today, which has been a mix of a thousands winds. so there is this young boy mt and i have known since we first came to mindo, always showing up wherever we are, begging for an ice cream, joking around with us. as i started to get to know him better i realized that he doesnt really have a family at all here in mindo, rather 'lives' with relatives that seem to care very little about him. this is actually a big problem in mindo, so many children with young parents, there arent sufficient resources to support them, and many kids wander around, start drinking at a young age, and have a really rough time in general. two days ago our friend broke his arm, his relatives wouldnt take him to the hospital, and he came to mt and i to take him. we were so concerned and confused why no one had done anything. he had been walking around two days with a curtain wrapped around his broken arm and no one, not even the school, did anything about it. so mt and i went searching for a friend that would care enough to come with us to make sure we understood everything the doctors said, so could ensure the best for him. juancho, one of our dearest friends who we work with every day on the farm said he would come with us. we all bought some ice cream for the journey and our spirits, and hitch-hiked to the hospital. the ride there was beaaautiful (everything is more beautiful when riding in the back of a pickup, ive come to believe), and we all had such a great time--the happiest i have seen this boy, even with a broken arm--joking and laughing with the wind in our hair. we made it to the hospital, got some xrays, and were eventually told that he had waited too long and the bones were 'cold'--he had to go to quito. luckily there was an ambulance headed right then to quito, and he apparently had parents there that could meet him, or at least pay the bill if there was one. it was so hard to watch him go through that much pain, and put him in an ambulance alone to quito. i cant even imagine having my own kids. of course his arm will be ok, i only worry what having no one even care enough to take you to the fucking hospital would do to your feelings of self-worth. these are the stories of the 'bad kids' that are never heard.
so tonight we are having a going away party, of which we invited basically all of mindo. at 7 is the soncubano dance class and at 9 starts the other festivities. tomorrow its back to quito to writewritewrite and then who knows where! im really really really going to miss mindo, chilling in town eating ice cream and encountering everyone just walkin down the one street, our lazy breakfasts on the farm, and the BEAUTIFUL people i have met. my heart is warmed. i am grateful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri8v4csOl40
what a whirlwind these past few weeks have been. one of the highlights of my time in ecuador thus far was when mt and a few friends and i took a trip to lago agrio, an oil town that dips its feet into the amazonian mystique, to go on a tour of the oil pools and pollution that were left behind from texaco, which is now chevron. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duFXuRnd2CU
here is the trailer of a documentary that i saw in the states titled crude. it is about the case a highly contaminated community near lago agrio filed against the corporation. our guide was working on the case, taking the environmental scientists of the case to visit the sites that were polluted the most. an interesting debate in the whole case was whether the pollution in question was by texaco or by petroecuador, who took over the sites when texaco left around 91. some of the worst pollution are the pools of oil waste that texaco literally covered over with dirt, pools that petroecuador never used in the production process. it was pretty amazing to go to these areas, some that seem totally normal, and see that as our guide walked on them the ground would shake because underneath was all oil, or we would dig and 4 feet under the dirt was pure oil, and then see it run into a river where children are bathing and drinking literally 100 feet away. the reality of oil extraction is absolutely disgusting, even when the waste is disposed of 'properly'. one community in particular was effected drastically, with cancer rates through the roof and no clean water. this community filed the case against chevron, but it surely will not end for another 10 years. on the one hand, its incredibly discouraging to see how people are living and dying like this while lawyers jump hoops and tie knots. at the end of the day i asked our guide if he was friends with pablo fajardo, the now famous ecuadorian lawyer on the case, and he said 'yeah, i work with him!' (duh). he gave him a ring and we met him at his office, at 6pm on a saturday night mind you. it was soooo inspiring to talk to pablo! he destroyed my discouraging thoughts when he explainged to us that he realized he will probably die long before some visible change happens, but thats completely beside the point. our job is only to do what we can--we cannot throw our hands up and do nothing. its kinda like this quote i love, "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."
a powerful day, one that will stay with me and remind me that the greater the injustices are in the world, the harder people are fighting against them.
and now i would like to share with you about my day today, which has been a mix of a thousands winds. so there is this young boy mt and i have known since we first came to mindo, always showing up wherever we are, begging for an ice cream, joking around with us. as i started to get to know him better i realized that he doesnt really have a family at all here in mindo, rather 'lives' with relatives that seem to care very little about him. this is actually a big problem in mindo, so many children with young parents, there arent sufficient resources to support them, and many kids wander around, start drinking at a young age, and have a really rough time in general. two days ago our friend broke his arm, his relatives wouldnt take him to the hospital, and he came to mt and i to take him. we were so concerned and confused why no one had done anything. he had been walking around two days with a curtain wrapped around his broken arm and no one, not even the school, did anything about it. so mt and i went searching for a friend that would care enough to come with us to make sure we understood everything the doctors said, so could ensure the best for him. juancho, one of our dearest friends who we work with every day on the farm said he would come with us. we all bought some ice cream for the journey and our spirits, and hitch-hiked to the hospital. the ride there was beaaautiful (everything is more beautiful when riding in the back of a pickup, ive come to believe), and we all had such a great time--the happiest i have seen this boy, even with a broken arm--joking and laughing with the wind in our hair. we made it to the hospital, got some xrays, and were eventually told that he had waited too long and the bones were 'cold'--he had to go to quito. luckily there was an ambulance headed right then to quito, and he apparently had parents there that could meet him, or at least pay the bill if there was one. it was so hard to watch him go through that much pain, and put him in an ambulance alone to quito. i cant even imagine having my own kids. of course his arm will be ok, i only worry what having no one even care enough to take you to the fucking hospital would do to your feelings of self-worth. these are the stories of the 'bad kids' that are never heard.
so tonight we are having a going away party, of which we invited basically all of mindo. at 7 is the soncubano dance class and at 9 starts the other festivities. tomorrow its back to quito to writewritewrite and then who knows where! im really really really going to miss mindo, chilling in town eating ice cream and encountering everyone just walkin down the one street, our lazy breakfasts on the farm, and the BEAUTIFUL people i have met. my heart is warmed. i am grateful.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
living of earth, of love
the past few days on the farm have been some of my favorite thus far. the magic began when we had finished all we could do preparing the beds thus far (were still waiting on the precious caca de vaca). cris looked at us and said, well we can just gather fruit and make things! and such began our most beautiful day on the farm, gathering limes from the many trees on the property, hunting down the ripest papaya, picking aji (hot peppers) to make delicious hot sauce, etc. the feeling of walking outside to pick food that will soon be used to sustain our bodies is really an amazing feeling. i suppose thats the idea of it all; to live and closely with the earth, to put your sweat into the ground and let the ground sustain you, to see the cause and affect of the things we do to the earth. this might explain why i cant stop thinking about the chemicals from our shampoo, detergent, and soap that are all going directly into the ground--where we are sowing our food, the river that we bath in after our hard work, and la pachamama in all her diverse species of flora and fauna.
today as we were gathering the caca from our neighbors cows, i couldnt stop thinking about ways that i can personally live more closely and respectfully with the earth. over the past few years ive tried to consume less, be a little nicer, use less chemicals, things like that. but i still wasnt really ready to let go of my luscious lather of herbal essences shampoo. even after i visited the duwamish river and heard the protests of the people suffering from all the pollution, high rates of chemicals from ´fragrances´ in the items we use daily that are dumped into the river.
but living here with the dirt under my nails and in my hair daily, just thinking about where this is going physically pains me. in an ideal world we would all be aware of these things, but ´sometimes it takes a journey to come home.´ just so happens that this past weekend i went to visit a friend in a town outside of quito. we went to a sort of hippy event (i felt very at home, i am not ashamed to say)--hosted at a cafe with everything inside of it made out recycled material. there was a man there selling dish washing detergent made out of lime, vinegar, and salt...perfect! we have a ridiculous abundance of limes on the farm, not to mention we are currently using potent agent that hurts my hands and the land. so i got the recipe and bought detergent to give us a start! im looking into making natural shampoo, conditioner, and whatever else i can fix up around these parts--the idea being to use what we have on the farm to minimize plastic waste, chemical output, improve overall bodily health, and spend less money! should be an interesting challenge when im back in the states, but that is just more motivation to grow things and explore how to use plants from the pacific northwest.
as for my independent project, things are rolling along. this wednesday i am hosting a dialogue with women in the community about gender and identity. i am sooo excited. im still planning what i will facilitate, but i think we will be using different artistic expression to warm things up (dance, drawing) and then move into the whole talking part. the whole thing depends on who comes and what the want to share, and i cant wait to see where the night leads us.
i know you are all just dyyyying to see me! and if you didnt already know i will be returning a little earlier than expected, june 24th. how could i possibly miss a doble lado family reunion extravaganza!?!?
well i have a million things to do tonight so i will say my goodbyes.
en paz y amor,
laurita
today as we were gathering the caca from our neighbors cows, i couldnt stop thinking about ways that i can personally live more closely and respectfully with the earth. over the past few years ive tried to consume less, be a little nicer, use less chemicals, things like that. but i still wasnt really ready to let go of my luscious lather of herbal essences shampoo. even after i visited the duwamish river and heard the protests of the people suffering from all the pollution, high rates of chemicals from ´fragrances´ in the items we use daily that are dumped into the river.
but living here with the dirt under my nails and in my hair daily, just thinking about where this is going physically pains me. in an ideal world we would all be aware of these things, but ´sometimes it takes a journey to come home.´ just so happens that this past weekend i went to visit a friend in a town outside of quito. we went to a sort of hippy event (i felt very at home, i am not ashamed to say)--hosted at a cafe with everything inside of it made out recycled material. there was a man there selling dish washing detergent made out of lime, vinegar, and salt...perfect! we have a ridiculous abundance of limes on the farm, not to mention we are currently using potent agent that hurts my hands and the land. so i got the recipe and bought detergent to give us a start! im looking into making natural shampoo, conditioner, and whatever else i can fix up around these parts--the idea being to use what we have on the farm to minimize plastic waste, chemical output, improve overall bodily health, and spend less money! should be an interesting challenge when im back in the states, but that is just more motivation to grow things and explore how to use plants from the pacific northwest.
as for my independent project, things are rolling along. this wednesday i am hosting a dialogue with women in the community about gender and identity. i am sooo excited. im still planning what i will facilitate, but i think we will be using different artistic expression to warm things up (dance, drawing) and then move into the whole talking part. the whole thing depends on who comes and what the want to share, and i cant wait to see where the night leads us.
i know you are all just dyyyying to see me! and if you didnt already know i will be returning a little earlier than expected, june 24th. how could i possibly miss a doble lado family reunion extravaganza!?!?
well i have a million things to do tonight so i will say my goodbyes.
en paz y amor,
laurita
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
been trying to blog for awhile now but every time i sit down to write i have absolutely no idea where to begin. this afternoon i arrived back in quito for a few days to check in with the my school about my project and my internship and its late and i should be working on my paper but here i am. strange coming back to the big city after spending nearly 2 months without leaving the tiny cloud forest town of mindo. all the concrete is almost an assault on my soul. i found myself wondering where the earth was underneath all that weight and whether or not people thought about her or missed her. at the same time im trying to see the beauty in this chaos, the traffic and pollution, the frenzy of people rushing somewhere here and there.
i had to run a bunch of errands around quito, flight bs, renewing my insurance, and i must admit it felt really good to know my way around this massive city.
let me tell you one of the most endearing things about the folks who live in mindo...when engaging in casual conversation any one of the following topics might arise and nearly everyone (my ignorant self excluded) will participate: the different ant species that live in mindo, bird calls, medicinal plants, any rare bird species that someone recently spotted, and a host of other topics of la madre tierra. it comes up so naturally in conversation. often i find myself thinking "wow did we really just spend the last 30 minutes talking about how to differentiate various species of hummingbirds?" i love that all of this is common knowledge in town, and i am learning so much for it.
as for progress on the farm, because its almost full moon (or was? still not clear) we must sew the seeds soon! we've been busting our butts preparing the beds, going into the forest to collect nutrient rich decaying leaves, removing the sand from the beds, and my new favorite activity hacking sticks with machetes! its basically always just 4 of us working, cooking, eating, cleaning, and laughing a lot together. the mornings are spent on the farm and in the forest. the almost certain afternoon rain means we are forced to relax in the house, read, converse, or make the damp trek into town. of course its not always paradise in paradise, and there has been a lot of awkward drama that MT and i somehow fell in the middle of. but all in all things are going really well. im learning more and more about mindo, particularly about the alarmingly high rates of domestic violence. i have become good friends with the political tenant, clever, because he is an amazing wealth of knowledge and he has the weightless smile of a child. women of the community go to him to make denunciations if they experience any kind of abuse. he records their story and explains their legal rights. it just so happens that the government of ecuador is now requiring every parrochia to collect information regarding intrafamiliar violencia contra la mujer. this is just the beginning of a new effort to assess domestic violence and then to seek solutions. this says a few things about the government: one, that they realize the problem. two, that they care enough to seek solutions. three, that they believe the government has a role in this whole equation. this is great news for me because this will provide me with information that i could never have obtained, and was never going to try to get on my own.
MT started a project with kids at the local school to educate them about environmental conservation through various artistic expression. yesterday we made puppets and it was great fun, but i must admit i might still be recovering. i have so much respect for teachers that can do that all day every day, i was exhausted just from 2 hours.
so thats whats going on in my world these days :) :) now your turn!
lala
i had to run a bunch of errands around quito, flight bs, renewing my insurance, and i must admit it felt really good to know my way around this massive city.
let me tell you one of the most endearing things about the folks who live in mindo...when engaging in casual conversation any one of the following topics might arise and nearly everyone (my ignorant self excluded) will participate: the different ant species that live in mindo, bird calls, medicinal plants, any rare bird species that someone recently spotted, and a host of other topics of la madre tierra. it comes up so naturally in conversation. often i find myself thinking "wow did we really just spend the last 30 minutes talking about how to differentiate various species of hummingbirds?" i love that all of this is common knowledge in town, and i am learning so much for it.
as for progress on the farm, because its almost full moon (or was? still not clear) we must sew the seeds soon! we've been busting our butts preparing the beds, going into the forest to collect nutrient rich decaying leaves, removing the sand from the beds, and my new favorite activity hacking sticks with machetes! its basically always just 4 of us working, cooking, eating, cleaning, and laughing a lot together. the mornings are spent on the farm and in the forest. the almost certain afternoon rain means we are forced to relax in the house, read, converse, or make the damp trek into town. of course its not always paradise in paradise, and there has been a lot of awkward drama that MT and i somehow fell in the middle of. but all in all things are going really well. im learning more and more about mindo, particularly about the alarmingly high rates of domestic violence. i have become good friends with the political tenant, clever, because he is an amazing wealth of knowledge and he has the weightless smile of a child. women of the community go to him to make denunciations if they experience any kind of abuse. he records their story and explains their legal rights. it just so happens that the government of ecuador is now requiring every parrochia to collect information regarding intrafamiliar violencia contra la mujer. this is just the beginning of a new effort to assess domestic violence and then to seek solutions. this says a few things about the government: one, that they realize the problem. two, that they care enough to seek solutions. three, that they believe the government has a role in this whole equation. this is great news for me because this will provide me with information that i could never have obtained, and was never going to try to get on my own.
MT started a project with kids at the local school to educate them about environmental conservation through various artistic expression. yesterday we made puppets and it was great fun, but i must admit i might still be recovering. i have so much respect for teachers that can do that all day every day, i was exhausted just from 2 hours.
so thats whats going on in my world these days :) :) now your turn!
lala
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
and where is your mind today? honesty and love are all i got
the great irony, the pain, the privilege, the beauty of being able to travel the globe is that intense feeling in the pit of your stomach. the tiny pebbles from tierra across the world, swallowed willingly, lovingly, they begin to weigh heavily. late in the night, deep in the jungle, they whisper things like 'why are you not with your family? (but the whole earth is your family).' and, 'you love everyone so much that its almost as if you love no one at all.' being here in this space means not being there and how could it not be painful at times. such is life i suppose, making choices of our space and time and accepting their implications. so i am not physically with you, but feel the love i have for you breaking the distance into meaninglessness.
something i have really been enjoying are all the awkward situations gets in while learning a new language. take the other day for example, i had just met some bird guides in town and as i was saying goodbye i said, 'necesitamos hablar luego sobre avas'. what i was trying to say was, 'we need to chat more later about birds (aves)' but instead of saying birds i said grapes. good one laura, real suave. hey lets talk sometime about grapes! he responded by laughing and asking me if i was still hungry. jajajajaaa.
this past weekend i went to the coast to a town called esmeraldas to visit my friend juan carlos. his cousin was having a baby shower and i was cordially invited to ALL of the festivities :) we spent all morning/afternoon saturday making little finger foods, using waaaay too many toothpicks, running errands around the city, etc. his family was soooo nice, housing me, feeding me, making sure i participated in all the festivites. the party was good fun, a lil awkward at first until....jc's mom busted out the baby bottles filled with beer. so the game is 2 people chugging sweet cerveza as fast as posible, which is actually pretty hard as you might imagine. can we take a moment to laugh out loud together? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ok, so this game pretty much shattered the ice and the rest of the night was spent dancing and eating and dancing some more.
as for the farm/internship update. been working 3 hours on the farm in the morning and spending the afternoons working on my research. i have been really grateful for the people i am living with here. lately its been just us mujeres, that being MT, sandra, y cristina.
my favorite part of the day is our leisurely morning breakfasts, eating and talking about everything and anything. its especially nice to have their supportive energy as i begin my research/project regarding women in mindo. its looking like i will focus on domestic violence, as this seems to be one of the most pressing concerns as well as the most invisible. the marriage of alcoholism and sexism (both prevalent here) is the absolute worst combination, and women suffer immensely for it. been really struggling lately with all the limitations of my situation here. i have barely any time to scratch the surface, to build relationships, to learn something about the community, and i am supposed to do this giant research project. there is also the fact that i am a foreigner which will necessarily affect all of my interactions and the way i am perceived and perceive this reality. i know though that if i factor all of this into the equation that is my project i cant go too wrong.
ramble ramble ramble. my hands hurt from typing. loooove you.
l
p.s. ok seriously, pics soon
something i have really been enjoying are all the awkward situations gets in while learning a new language. take the other day for example, i had just met some bird guides in town and as i was saying goodbye i said, 'necesitamos hablar luego sobre avas'. what i was trying to say was, 'we need to chat more later about birds (aves)' but instead of saying birds i said grapes. good one laura, real suave. hey lets talk sometime about grapes! he responded by laughing and asking me if i was still hungry. jajajajaaa.
this past weekend i went to the coast to a town called esmeraldas to visit my friend juan carlos. his cousin was having a baby shower and i was cordially invited to ALL of the festivities :) we spent all morning/afternoon saturday making little finger foods, using waaaay too many toothpicks, running errands around the city, etc. his family was soooo nice, housing me, feeding me, making sure i participated in all the festivites. the party was good fun, a lil awkward at first until....jc's mom busted out the baby bottles filled with beer. so the game is 2 people chugging sweet cerveza as fast as posible, which is actually pretty hard as you might imagine. can we take a moment to laugh out loud together? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ok, so this game pretty much shattered the ice and the rest of the night was spent dancing and eating and dancing some more.
as for the farm/internship update. been working 3 hours on the farm in the morning and spending the afternoons working on my research. i have been really grateful for the people i am living with here. lately its been just us mujeres, that being MT, sandra, y cristina.
my favorite part of the day is our leisurely morning breakfasts, eating and talking about everything and anything. its especially nice to have their supportive energy as i begin my research/project regarding women in mindo. its looking like i will focus on domestic violence, as this seems to be one of the most pressing concerns as well as the most invisible. the marriage of alcoholism and sexism (both prevalent here) is the absolute worst combination, and women suffer immensely for it. been really struggling lately with all the limitations of my situation here. i have barely any time to scratch the surface, to build relationships, to learn something about the community, and i am supposed to do this giant research project. there is also the fact that i am a foreigner which will necessarily affect all of my interactions and the way i am perceived and perceive this reality. i know though that if i factor all of this into the equation that is my project i cant go too wrong.
ramble ramble ramble. my hands hurt from typing. loooove you.
l
p.s. ok seriously, pics soon
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