Hector’s Room (class in session)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

My hubby, Hector, began a new teaching job this year.  It’s at a bi-lingual school, by the name of Liceo Pino Verde, and so far it is a very good thing.  The school is rather forward thinking, with a healthy emphasis on the arts and philosophy.  Hec likes it and they like him.  He’s a really good teacher, I’m proud of him.

With the onset of a new school year (in Colombia, the school year starts in January, after a very long Christmas break), Hec had to decorate his classroom.  He called on me to see what I could do with the white walls, and after tossing a few ideas around I decided to play with my new favorite font, Sick Capitol Vice (and a couple of others), and the school’s ‘Characteristics of an International Bi-lingual Student,’ along with a couple choice quotations…

I’d never done something like this… it was a little slow-going at first and I wasn’t sure if I was pleased with the results.  By the third day working (spread over a couple of weeks so as not to interfere with classes) I was getting the hang of it – the letters were smoother and easier to lay out…

I had this other idea floating around in my head.  The last day of work and with only an hour left, I decided to go for it.  The dimensions weren’t perfect upon completion, but I like it anyway and was happy that I got her down on the wall in a relatively short amount of time.  I wanted the kids to have something a little more tangible and spirited than just floating words… according to me, of course.  Why wouldn’t an angel sport a hoody?  They are so comfy…

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Last one… New Eyes on Colombia Pt 4

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

I had intended just three posts celebrating mi hermano’s (everybody here thought he was my brother) photos of the Eje Cafetero district of Colombia.  ’Eje Cafetero‘ is where Colombia’s coffee is grown, also called the ‘Coffee Triangle.’

This is the last of my cached images from Mr. Daniel Addy.  As I said before, having him visit helped give me a lighter perspective on living here in Colombia.  It has been quite a transition for me, and it isn’t over since I still have the rest of the Spanish language to learn and driving is a stressful affair (my intention behind each honk of the horn is to teach these people to stay in their lane… me against 48 million, no prob).  Things are better than ever, tho… I have a great dog, cat, husband, health care, time and space.  And… the guayacan trees are blooming again.

 

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Pt. 3… New Eyes on Colombia

Posted on March 2, 2012 by


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New Eyes on Colombia… Pt. 2

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

I’m just gonna let D’s fotos do the talking… he captured a rash (the good kind) of excellent candids.

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New Eyes on Colombia… Pt. 1

Posted on February 27, 2012 by

So, I’ve had a few visitors down this way in the past couple of years.  I’ve come to welcome familiar faces not only because it means I get to easily communicate with someone else besides my husband and the few gringos in the area, but with each visitor I get to see Colombia in a whole new light.

My friend Daniel came for two weeks.  Everyone here thought he was my brother, and truth be told I tend to think of him that way.  A kind soul, an articulate manner and healing hands.  Daniel is embarking on new directions in life.  Colombia was the first stop on a four-month world tour that will include Costa Rica, NE U.S.A., Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.  When he returns to Portland, Oregon, he is setting up shop as a massage therapist.  I was lucky enough to receive a couple of sessions while he was here, and let me tell you, HE IS GOOD.  Some of the best body work I have ever experienced.  I’ve heard and read, but never knew first-hand just how powerful massage therapy can be.  Mind blown, body feelin’ good.  If ever you find yourself in good ol’ PDX and are feeling in the mood for such excellent body work, contact him.  Seriously, the guy is masterful.

PSA’s aside, it was good having him here.  It gave me a fresh perspective and somehow a little room to tap into the positives of being here.  I won’t lie… my first year here was hard and left a bad taste in my mouth that is only recently abating (the motorcycle accident didn’t really help, either).  I was not prepared to come and make a life here.  Totally different scenario than traveling, where you know there is an end-date and a return to what is known; I felt like I was drowning for quite awhile, I suppose now.  However, once I managed to begin treading water, and even navigate successfully through day-to-day life, I’ve begun to see that it is beautiful here.  The land, the mountains.  The craziness of life here is eye-popping.  The opportunity to really experience through the people here that come into my life what real poverty is like, and therefore experience new levels of gratitude.  Crowded, foreign streets.  A whole nation dreaming of a better future.  The good cheer that is fairly easy to find in the people, unless you are driving (omg).  All this came to the fore in experiencing what Daniel was diving into.

So, I present to you some of his photos that he was kind enough to leave me with.  Daniel is talented with a camera, too; one of these days I will fully talk him into exhibiting his work.  For now, we’ll have to settle for what I’ve got for you here at PGE.  The posts this week will be what his eye did see, catching Colombia.  It’s a good way for me to get back into posting regularly (it’s been two weeks!) and an excellent reminder of how nice life is here.  I say that last part ‘how nice life is here’ with a winch, as I am prepping myself for a grand piano or another motorcycle to hit me in the head.  I wonder if that cynicism is an American thing, or what… ?  And I wonder what it would be like, to just let it go.

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bouncy dress; right off the page

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

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The Help parody poster, parried.

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

It’s been floating around… the mock poster for The Help.  It started at The Shiznit with their annual ‘shopping (photoshopping) of “the posters for this awards season’s biggest movies so they’re a little more honest about their content.”  I’ll hand it to them, some are pretty funny.

… and I get where the artist was going, more or less, with the tagline ‘White people solve racism.’  Ha ha, white people figure it out and save everyone and everyone changes.  Yay.

But I don’t totally buy it.  As a white person myself, I’ve run into a fair share of racism because of my skin color… from Oakland to Alaska to the islands of Hawai’i.  Even down here in Colombia I am treated differently because I am white; granted, in Colombia it is openly considered a ‘cool’ thing that I am a white guy from the USA (it’s an odd experience)… yet it also makes me more of a target on city streets to aspiring thieves.  I am glad that I’ve been able to directly experience both sides of the spectrum in my time, the positive and negative prejudices people have towards my skin color.

And then, of course, there is the gay thing, and I’ve dealt with plenty of prejudice on that end, from strangers to family.

I think we all deal with prejudice on a regular basis; all of us in one way or another, giving and receiving.  One way or another, it’s in our face, it gets lodged in the back of our minds thanks to cultural norms, group thinking, media and it takes some work bringing these misinformed ideas to light in order to really manifest change.  As a white guy, I’ve found it difficult to talk freely about racism/prejudice to other brothers and sisters of color(s).  Some have reacted with such a fuming indignation that a white guy would have anything to say that I have built up a tendency to avoid the subject (but not that much, as I’m still talking).  There are times I wonder how we, as a world, are going to get over that shit.  I have hope though – deep strong hope that we can. Maybe we need some better messages along the way.  This is one of mine:

I know it isn’t easy.  There’s millennia of hurt on all sides of the equation.  I think that forgiveness is the best way to begin to break the cycles.  I know it isn’t easy to forgive (trust me, I know); some pains have incredibly deep roots.  Doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though… and waiting for the right apology can be a very, very long wait indeed; forgiveness forestalls the need to wait around for the other to mature.  I realize, too, that forgiving injustices doesn’t mean letting the same dynamics repeat themselves.  It’s a cool dance to learn if you’re game.  We might as well, the old moves aren’t working.

That’s my two bits.

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