water aerobics

I am in the process of reassimilation.  

The East Park Community Center has helped immensely.  The beautifully maintained facility has quite an impressive offering of activities that fit within my [currently-job-hunting] budget.  It is near enough to my house that I can ride my bike and so I get to count that as a warm up when I arrive to take water aerobics in the indoor pool.  There is a walking track, a gym with exercise equipment, a kids summer program and group classes like yoga, boot camp and Zumba. 

Emily and the ladies that come to her water aerobics class have welcomed me warmly and have already been a great inspiration to me. If it weren't for them I would never keep up an exercise routine that requires an every-other day bathing schedule.  Their personalities and enthusiasm have also offered me a grand source of motivation for my paintings.  

El Buen Pastor

El Buen Pastor is an orphanage at the top of the Calzada de Guadalupe in Guanajuato Capital, Mexico.  The girls and the madres live in a beautiful haven with flowers, a fountain and one of the best views around.  Last summer, Katie Clancy organized a week of camping and converted their home into Plasticolandia!  We played with the girls and organized various activities that focusing on the large island of trash that is forming in the Pacific ocean as well as the importance of recycling. During the week the story of Plasticolandia was developed and we worked on a presentation to be performed in the Plaza Cantarranas at the end of the week.  Using plastic bags, styrofoam, two liter bottles and other materials, we made sea animals to hang from the tree and costumes to transform the girls into different characters such as sea turtles, squids and birds. The camp was a huge success; not only were the girls delighted to sleep in tents under the stars but the occupation of the plaza drew a large crowd.  The message of the play, to be aware of our use, reuse and recycling, of plastic and other trash, was entertaining and effective.

El Buen Pastor es un internado arriba de la Calzada de Guadalupe en Guanajuato Capital.  Las nenas y las madres viven en un paraíso hermoso con flores, una fuente y una vista incomparable.  En el verano de 2011, Katie Clancy organizó un campamento para las nenas y durante una semana su hogar se convirtió en Plasticolandia! Jugando y participando en varias actividades, nos enfocamos en la importancia del reciclaje.  Les platicamos de la isla de basura que se accumula en el Pacifico que es resultado de la basura a causa de los seres humanos.  A lo largo de la semana, la historia de Plasticolandia se fue formando y nosotros con las nenas preparamos una obra para presentar al publico en la Plazuela Cantarranas al cierre del campamento.  Utilizamos bolsas de plastico, tetra pak y botellas de refrescos para hacer disfraces como pulpos, pájaros, estrellas de mar y tortugas según los personajes en la obra. También usamos los materiales para hacer animalitos a colgar del árbol para crear el escenario para el performance.  El campamento fue un éxito total. Las nenas disfrutaron mucho de poder dormir bajo las estrellas y un gran numero de personas se paró en la plaza para disfrutar de la ocupación.  El mensaje de la obra, estar consciente del uso, reutilizo y reciclaje de plastico o otros tipos de basura, fue efectivo y a la vez entretenido.

So I was going to go to Guatemala

I didn't realize how excited I was about the trip until it was cancelled.  I suppose I have been willing hopes not to get too lofty while trying to get a plan in order for my life.

Our destination was Patzún.  

Because the women generally use wood to heat their homes and to prepare their meals, they spend much time searching for wood.  The land is described as barren.  Clean water is scarce and we had hoped to construct a purification system as well as educate the people how to best utilize and conserve their liquid gold.  The women and children were going to be the primary ones learning about their new technology and I was very much looking forward to being around the kids. 

The maternal language in Patzún is not Spanish, but Kaqchikel.  There are 53 living languages within Guatemala and where we were going Spanish is usually the second language of the people. 

There are many different organizations whose primary goal is to aid promote clean water and education. As one of the members of our derailed group pointed out You can't board an airplane heading to Guatemala without seeing those intrusive, matching neon shirts up and down the isles.  I don't know if they have a dress code, but Living Waters for the World is an organization that works world wide to provide clean water to those without.  

I find that, aside from the original objective of each individual group, the interaction between people during the project is as important as the purified water or new building.  Despite language differences, a connection can be made and friendships can be forged.  Through mutual second languages and impromptu games of charades more can be understood than just the words that tumble off of foreign tongues.  For what is the point of speaking if the words fall upon restrictive ears? By living for a time in the same circumstances as the people receiving the aid, it is possible to learn from them.  Their fears, their humor, their desires; just because they don't speak our language doesn't make them uncouth.  We appear just as unlearned as they do when trying to mime Where is the bathroom?

Unfortunately, this trip didn't work out.  The poor economy affects us all but the opportunities are endless and help is never misplaced when well planned.  If you are interested in volunteering, which many are thinking about now due to the earthquake in Haiti, reflect on that which matters most to you.  Then research the aid group that most achieves your goal.  They have said over and over on the news not to go alone, without being part of an organization that is well learned in their aid and rescue missions.  Despite the best of intentions, someone without a defined purpose in a state of emergency can be in the way and do more harm than good.

The evil that is in the world almost always comes 

of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much 

harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

- Albert Camus

H2O

Did you know that it costs less to give a person water for twenty years than to buy a soccer ball?

The airlines are strict these days and due to baggage restrictions my brothers and I decided to give donations in my grandparents' names for Christmas. Not wanting to be gender-partial, it being the holidays and all, I chose something for a boy, a girl and one that could be for either... though I suppose the soccer ball could be for a girl as well. Water and a year's worth of education for a girl seemed fitting; there was something for diversion, for education and for health. I was inspired by a fireside chat that Mama, Papa and I had recently had about the Wonders of the World: Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Brian Williams...

I don't mean to go around and toot my own horn or anything... I just want to call attention to this fascinating detail: 20 dollars buys an individual enough water for 20 years.  Twenty years...

I know it must mean it purchases the necessary equipment to purify and prepare the water... but that is a long time.  The kid's soccer ball was thirty...

Really it just seemed like such an insignificant sum... it won't even fill my gas tank... that I was taken aback.

I know what twenty bucks can do for my life... if you have some to spare, won't you help to change someone else's?