Pictures from a really fun day....
These pictures are from Michoacan during the Day of the Dead celebrations back in November. I posted them today because the day we took these pictures I had so much fun and was so happy- in that light airy, kinda blissful way. We stayed in a small hotel in the old downtown area, and these displays were in walking distance of us. Actually that Sunday morning we set out walking and ended up renting bicycles on the wide main street and that's when we found this park lined with these Day of the Dead altars. We returned the bikes and then walked back down to take a look. (as it turns out they close the main street every Sunday and people jog, walk, and ride bikes in the street- really nice-so happy we were there on the weekend!)
The first photo; the one with me getting my face made up was actually in the nearby town of Patzcuaro- they were having a small festival and also had altars and food stalls, and as you can see- a\make up booth which I just couldn't pass by. Back in Michoacan there were lots of people with not only face make up, but wearing costumes, but I did get lots of thumbs ups and kids pointing at me ha ha.
The altars were beautiful, touching really. Some had themes, many were honoring family members, and all so detailed. We oohed and awed for a few hours, walking along visiting each one. Later we sat in a sidewalk cafe along the plaza and had coffee and snacks. It was a beautiful day and we were enjoying each other's company; Everardo was so happy to be seeing his family- we saw his brother and his sister and nephews and neices, we went out to the cemetary in the tiny village where his mother is buried, we brought flowers and I watched him so lovingly put the flowers around her grave. His brother and I stood arm in arm and Pablo talked to me about his son who passed away just about a year ago right now, and we took flowers to a beautiful little cemetary in the mountains the next day to honor him. It was a wonderful trip to see his family.
This morning I woke up feeling so happy! I was smiling when I woke up! I had just been dreaming that Everardo and I were camping, in our sleeping bags by the fire, laughing, and he had this really long curly gray hair! Ha ha he looked so cute with all that hair. I figured out later this morning that it must have been because of this silly show we watched last nite about these people in the Colorado mountains mining for aquamarine...some of them were these old gray haired geezers and we were cracking up. I mean they got reality shows for everything!
But I was also feeling good about my class. Last nite it was awesome! I had 4 students; 3 women and 1 man....they seem to be my regulars. There's actually one more woman and her 12 year old son who usually always come as well but they weren't there last nite. But class just seems to fly by! Everardo cut the remaining piece of whiteboard in half that we had in the shed so I could handle it more easily and it was perfect. I taped the photos I had from my old class of breakfast foods; steak and eggs, eggs and bacon, pancakes, waffles. french toast with strawberries...syrup, eggs cooked sunny side up, scrambled, over easy, etc. I made more copies of the little menu I made and was off to school. I meant for the entire evening to be about the restaurant, servers, cooking, ordering, etc., but we got off on talking about my/mine/me and you/your/yours for almost an hour! But that's what's so cool about the class. I start with something and then I let the students questions/interests guide the class. The last half hour we looked at the breakfast photos and talked about what the different things were. I wrote the names of things on the board, they were busy writing them in their notebooks- and then class was over- so I told them to take their menus home and notice the words they wrote down were on the menus, and that Wednesday we'd "play" restaurant. They all really enjoyed it! This group really wants to learn and I gotta think up some more situations, like grocery shopping or a day at the beach..or having each tell me what they do in a day...using Spanish where they need to, and then our work is to translate into English. Yeah if you can tell I am very enthusiastic about this! I am helping people who want to learn! I always feel good when I walk out the classroom door at the end of the nite! And you know what? It suddenly is not so important for me to be learning as much Spanish as they are English! They are there to learn- not to teach. I am there to teach, to help. Yes I will learn as I go, but I'm no longer obsessing over it. That's a relief.... and even another reason to be feeling good!
I saw this kid (about 30 yrs old) this morning on the news; he had been wrongly convicted of murder when he was 19, and spent 10 years in prison and on his last appeal was exonerated. He said he stayed mad for years in prison, and then started to take care of himself. He started working out and eating better. Yes some was for survival, but it was also because in some way he realized he needed to make the best of it for himself. He started writing and now it's a published book about his experience. The name is something like, Faster, Better, Smarter...not sure I need to google it. But he went thru a psychic change....and started taking care of himself. After that I went down to the beach for my workout- the tide was out so I could dance down there (lately it's been in during the morning so I've had to dance in front of the house). Anyway the sky was such a bright blue and the clouds a puffy white. Now the wind is blowing really hard, but this morning just a hint of a breeze. The dogs were with me and the 2 puppies next door came down to play as well. I thought about how lucky I am! How grateful I am for every bit of my life! I was full of energy and I danced my ass off ha ha! Then I went down to the free senior stretch class to finish it off and I bounced thru that as well.
I am just so lucky. I live on a beautiful beach with my wonderful husband and 2 crazy doggies. I exercise on that beach 5 days a week, and am eating smart. (as soon as I finish writing this I'm making my crab salad) I am talking to my amazing daughter Drew almost every day. I am SO proud of her and my soon to be son in law (now more than ever as they work thru some tough stuff). I am sober- hit 14 years last week, and get to help a woman navigate the 12 steps for herself. I'm in a meditation group for the first time and really learning to center myself...it helps alot! I get to teach English to some adults who want to learn- and got the classroom space, the tables and chairs all for free! Who's life is better than mine? Thank you universe for my life! Just wanted to share all this! :)
These pictures are from Michoacan during the Day of the Dead celebrations back in November. I posted them today because the day we took these pictures I had so much fun and was so happy- in that light airy, kinda blissful way. We stayed in a small hotel in the old downtown area, and these displays were in walking distance of us. Actually that Sunday morning we set out walking and ended up renting bicycles on the wide main street and that's when we found this park lined with these Day of the Dead altars. We returned the bikes and then walked back down to take a look. (as it turns out they close the main street every Sunday and people jog, walk, and ride bikes in the street- really nice-so happy we were there on the weekend!)
The first photo; the one with me getting my face made up was actually in the nearby town of Patzcuaro- they were having a small festival and also had altars and food stalls, and as you can see- a\make up booth which I just couldn't pass by. Back in Michoacan there were lots of people with not only face make up, but wearing costumes, but I did get lots of thumbs ups and kids pointing at me ha ha.
The altars were beautiful, touching really. Some had themes, many were honoring family members, and all so detailed. We oohed and awed for a few hours, walking along visiting each one. Later we sat in a sidewalk cafe along the plaza and had coffee and snacks. It was a beautiful day and we were enjoying each other's company; Everardo was so happy to be seeing his family- we saw his brother and his sister and nephews and neices, we went out to the cemetary in the tiny village where his mother is buried, we brought flowers and I watched him so lovingly put the flowers around her grave. His brother and I stood arm in arm and Pablo talked to me about his son who passed away just about a year ago right now, and we took flowers to a beautiful little cemetary in the mountains the next day to honor him. It was a wonderful trip to see his family.
This morning I woke up feeling so happy! I was smiling when I woke up! I had just been dreaming that Everardo and I were camping, in our sleeping bags by the fire, laughing, and he had this really long curly gray hair! Ha ha he looked so cute with all that hair. I figured out later this morning that it must have been because of this silly show we watched last nite about these people in the Colorado mountains mining for aquamarine...some of them were these old gray haired geezers and we were cracking up. I mean they got reality shows for everything!
But I was also feeling good about my class. Last nite it was awesome! I had 4 students; 3 women and 1 man....they seem to be my regulars. There's actually one more woman and her 12 year old son who usually always come as well but they weren't there last nite. But class just seems to fly by! Everardo cut the remaining piece of whiteboard in half that we had in the shed so I could handle it more easily and it was perfect. I taped the photos I had from my old class of breakfast foods; steak and eggs, eggs and bacon, pancakes, waffles. french toast with strawberries...syrup, eggs cooked sunny side up, scrambled, over easy, etc. I made more copies of the little menu I made and was off to school. I meant for the entire evening to be about the restaurant, servers, cooking, ordering, etc., but we got off on talking about my/mine/me and you/your/yours for almost an hour! But that's what's so cool about the class. I start with something and then I let the students questions/interests guide the class. The last half hour we looked at the breakfast photos and talked about what the different things were. I wrote the names of things on the board, they were busy writing them in their notebooks- and then class was over- so I told them to take their menus home and notice the words they wrote down were on the menus, and that Wednesday we'd "play" restaurant. They all really enjoyed it! This group really wants to learn and I gotta think up some more situations, like grocery shopping or a day at the beach..or having each tell me what they do in a day...using Spanish where they need to, and then our work is to translate into English. Yeah if you can tell I am very enthusiastic about this! I am helping people who want to learn! I always feel good when I walk out the classroom door at the end of the nite! And you know what? It suddenly is not so important for me to be learning as much Spanish as they are English! They are there to learn- not to teach. I am there to teach, to help. Yes I will learn as I go, but I'm no longer obsessing over it. That's a relief.... and even another reason to be feeling good!
I saw this kid (about 30 yrs old) this morning on the news; he had been wrongly convicted of murder when he was 19, and spent 10 years in prison and on his last appeal was exonerated. He said he stayed mad for years in prison, and then started to take care of himself. He started working out and eating better. Yes some was for survival, but it was also because in some way he realized he needed to make the best of it for himself. He started writing and now it's a published book about his experience. The name is something like, Faster, Better, Smarter...not sure I need to google it. But he went thru a psychic change....and started taking care of himself. After that I went down to the beach for my workout- the tide was out so I could dance down there (lately it's been in during the morning so I've had to dance in front of the house). Anyway the sky was such a bright blue and the clouds a puffy white. Now the wind is blowing really hard, but this morning just a hint of a breeze. The dogs were with me and the 2 puppies next door came down to play as well. I thought about how lucky I am! How grateful I am for every bit of my life! I was full of energy and I danced my ass off ha ha! Then I went down to the free senior stretch class to finish it off and I bounced thru that as well.
I am just so lucky. I live on a beautiful beach with my wonderful husband and 2 crazy doggies. I exercise on that beach 5 days a week, and am eating smart. (as soon as I finish writing this I'm making my crab salad) I am talking to my amazing daughter Drew almost every day. I am SO proud of her and my soon to be son in law (now more than ever as they work thru some tough stuff). I am sober- hit 14 years last week, and get to help a woman navigate the 12 steps for herself. I'm in a meditation group for the first time and really learning to center myself...it helps alot! I get to teach English to some adults who want to learn- and got the classroom space, the tables and chairs all for free! Who's life is better than mine? Thank you universe for my life! Just wanted to share all this! :)
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