Giving back, Part Deux

It's that time of year again where I attempt to not let the commercialism crush me. This year's opportunity involves some of my dearest friends and one of our longest standing traditions.

I think this is the 13th year of our Christmas tradition, and we are trying something new ('changing it up'). Instead of buying a gift for our secret santa, we have all decided to make a donation in honor of them. One of the organizations that we will be using is kiva.org, where you can give a micro-loan to an individual or group in a developing country to help support their small business. They eventually pay you back, and you get to reinvest the money. It is the gift that keeps on giving. If you are interested in learning more or 'changing things up' this year, you can find more information on their website kiva.org

For more ideas, I also compiled a more extensive list last year. Some of the organization I purchased from and would recommend included Nighlight, Women's Bean Project, Raven and Lily, and Punjammies.

Merry Christmas!

we love LB

Yesterday was my "give a day, get a free disneyland ticket" volunteering day. We chose to help clean up our city, and boy was it a dirty little thing. We focused our efforts on storm drains because of the recent rains, so not only did we clean up a part of LB, but also saved a few oceans and whales while we were at it.

Cleaning up LB is entertaining in and of itself. The best piece of 'trash' we found all day was no contest: a dime bag of coke outside of an unnamed donut shop. Other honorable mentions included a dirty diaper (Ronnie found this one and will have nightmares for a few weeks about it), woman's underwear, a handle of a toy gun, and alot of qtips (are people really walking down the street cleaning their ears?)

The real question of the day we were all left with was this: After giving back to your community, what is the most valuable reward? A ticket to Disneyland or the chance to help out your neighborhood?

We all voted for the bag of coke.

Christmas Update

a tad bit late....

So I was alittle cryptic in sharing what Ronnie and I were doing for our Christmas gift, and for good reason- I was concerned that it may not turn out as I had envisioned. Which was true. So true that even in person, no one was able to accurately describe our creation. But it has grown on me over time, and maybe I can use that reason for the delay. But without further ado, behold- our Christmas sandman:otherwise known as the Christmas volcano. Ronnie had a bit of a different vision. Some may say it is cheating, but I'll let you be the judge:
What else did we get each other for Christmas? Why what I always wanted- a Honduran toilet!

All kidding aside, thank you Parkcrest for a great idea. This was a very special and meaningful Christmas for me.

Advent Conspiracy

I was inspired by my church and advent conspiracy to do something different this year.

I am trying to buy gift for others that give alittle back. For example, gifts/companies that are supporting/employing women in disadvantaged positions both here in the states and abroad. I didn't want to share all of the info, in case any of my gift recipients are reading this blog. But I also wanted to share some of the sites that I really like, because let me tell you once I started on this quest it was like falling down the rabbit hole. The possibilities are endless.

So maybe consider buying one gift this year that gives back.

Or maybe no gift at all and instead donate the money you would spend on a gift, and give a special memory or your time instead (a la Advent Conspiracy). That is what Ronnie and I decided to do for each other, and I can't wait until our gift day, where we donate our money and go do something fun (I'll wait to tell you what it is, in case it doesn't work because our idea of what to do may not work out like we are hoping...)

But I digress, on to the websites:

World of Good a good (haha) place to start for lots of options, sponsored by ebay

Trade as one many different vendors and options to choose from, they have stories of the artisans for each item available

Night Light girls who were being exploited in the sex industry in Bangkok, given job skills and support, they make jewelry

Suubi women of rural poor neighborhoods in Uganda given job training and education, they make jewelry and bags (the bags are really cool bc they have the artisan's story sewn in the inner pocket of the bag)

Raven and Lily I love all of their products, very anthropologie style, but with each purchase you know that you are supporting a fair living wage for women in India or Africa

Punjammies Each pajama pants is created in an after-care facility for women who have been rescued, released or escaped from a life of forced prostitution.

Kauzbots I wish I had kids to shop for, the purchaser can choose a kause with it's representative kauzbot and 10% will be donated to that charity, a good way to teach kids about giving back. Also kauzbots works closely with their manufacturers in China to provide a good wage and positive work environment, they even document their most recent trip out there on their website.

Women's Bean Project this one is in the states, I think Denver, helping women break the cycle of poverty and unemployment, teaching job readiness and life skills for entry-level jobs through employment in their gourmet food production business.

Samaritan's Purse several organizations do this, where you can buy a dozen chickens or part of a cow for a family in need in honor of that person on your list who has everything

fruit fly problem

The new apartment is working out marvelously, except for the damn fruit flies! Two of them even started drinking my wine last night when I wasn't looking- Gross!

The solution: a mixture of balsamic vinegar (because they think it is rotting fruit) and liquid dish soap (because it traps them in its slimy layer). Leave it out in a glass over night. It actually looks alittle like red wine so I recommend a third step of labeling the glass "Fruit fly trap- Do not drink".
I'll let you know how successful it is. But this concoction has tough competition- after the 2 flies got in my wine yesterday (don't worry, I saw them before I took a sip), I decided to leave out the glass (with the above mentioned label of course) overnight to see how many I could get....

Red Wine: 4.......Balsamic Vinegar+Soap: ??

moving day

I have successfully moved out of the storage unit/psychiatric ward and into the new apartment. No matter how many times I move and how much stuff I accumulate, why is it that I always find something else that I need to buy at the new place?
On the list this time is curtains, stylish boxes to make use of the new trend of open shelving in every piece of furniture they now sell, and a bath mat that doesn't clash horribly with the new bathroom. Is it ridiculous that I am buying a new bath mat because the other one doesn't match the colors of the new bathroom? I thought that Europe had changed me, and that I wasn't going to be a wasteful American any more.....that lasted 3 weeks.
I do have to say though, as I unpacked and moved, I was happy to see how much of my furniture was inherited (read: stolen.... no-just joking mom) from friends. On that list is my bed, desk, bookcase, and dresser. Maybe I was secretly European all along.....

2 more weeks...

...until I start working again. It has been 3 years since I last had a full time job. It is weird to think that there aren't any more breaks (besides those that come with working in a school district) ahead. Come to think of it, with my job, I guess there are alot of breaks coming up! I am looking forward to meeting everyone at my site, and starting this new job that I spent 3 years prepping for!

a new continent

in my heart...

Trier

Yesterday i went out on my own in the city of Trier. I was a bit nervous since I don't speak a word of German. We worked it out so I didn't have to take the bus, it was quite a concern at the time :)
I think the day went pretty well considering I don't speak a word of German (well technically I guess I speak about 10 german words, but Shisser and Hallo will only get you so far) and I do not have an internal map.
The biggest incident of the day was when I bought a cup of coffee at the McDonalds. I got to the city at 9, but most everything didn't open till 10 so I thought I would get a cup of coffee while I waited. I ordered a coffee with milk and went over to the area at the counter with sugar and stir sticks. There were 3 choices: a brown package which I thought was sugar on the raw, a pack with little tablets of nutrasweet which I had seen at my friends house, and a white packet with regular sugar. I grabbed a packet of the regular sugar, or so I thought. Because after mixing it into my coffee (but before drinking it), the lady at the counter came over and told me I had just put salt in my coffee, oops!
The rest of the day was nice, exploring all of the Roman ruins of Trier (the city is I think the second oldest city in Europe, next to Rome), then going to an authentic Fribad (public swimming pool) in the afternoon.

deutshland culture

It was quite a shift from Spain to Germany. Especially the weather-- all last month it was over 100 F every day. The highest temp I saw was 109 F (43C), and it was typically 96-98 at night. Here in Germany it is around 75F, but it feels much colder to me. Some other tidbits I have picked up in my first three days in Germany...

• a closed bathroom door does not indicate that someone is in the bathroom, it is important to remember to lock the door
• you can ask for money on the street simple if you are young and alternative looking... and people will give it to you!
• dessert is eaten in the afternoon, before dinner, so when you arrive late to a party and thez offer zou dessert, don't worry- you didn't miss the meal
• the y and z are switched on the computer keyboard
• don't arrive late to a party, germans are punctual
• just outside almost every town or city is a forrest, but there are no dangerous animals in these forrests (mountain lion and bears don't live in germany)
• there is a special holiday in may where you hike through the forrest with a wagon full of beer, the fast you drink your beer the easier it is to hike
• it may rain at a moments notice, but don't worrz the rain doesn't stay for long
• you eat salad with your meal, yay!
  

alemania-germany-deutschland

I am now in Deutschland with 2 great friends. A beautiful day spent in Tubingen, which I will hopefully have time to write about soon. Just had to say though, what a difference in 1 day of travel going from Spain to Germany. I find all of the cultures I have experienced in the past 4 weeks infinately facinating! (Maybe I should have been a cultural anthropologist :) )

flamenco

Two nights of flamenco in Spain....
I waited until just before I left, but I am really glad that I got the chance to see some flamenco while in Sevilla. The first night we went to a bar that has free flamenco performance each night. The interesting thing about this bar was that they had 2 different prices for drinks, 1€ for the spanish and 1.50€ for forgeiners. Not that it was advertised as such or anything. I went to the bar with my best accent, hoping to get the locals fee, but sadly I did not pass. One of our Sevillan friends explained later that it wasnt so much the accent as it was what you said and the attitude that you said it in. Supposedly, if I wanted to be charged 1€ I needed to yell across the bar 'Nino! dame un copa!' or something to that effect. Since that was definately not happening, I had to settle for my 1.50€ tinto de verano for the rest of the night. It was worth it though for the free flamenco show. The same Sevillan friend said that the singer was not that good, but it all sounded great to me. The sound of flamenco is very unique, I would describe it as nasaly, emotional, and loud, in a chanting kind of style.
The second night we went to a small theater called Casa de La Memoria. The show was in a small outdoor terrace area, with tiled walls and ivy growing down one of the walls. There were candles and flowers decorating the grounds as well. The group consisted of one guitarist, one singer, and 2 dancers (one female and one male). I didn't realize that there were male flamenco dancers, but man was this guy talented! Both dancers were so amazing, with such control and emotion in their dance. It was a beautiful show that went by so fast.

Portugal

This weekend I went with a friend from CLIC to the city of Lagos in Portugal. We took a bus there, the bus ride was 5 and a half hours! We met up with 2 of her friends that are vacationing and traveling in Portugal and Spain. They had a rental car, and I have to say that it was quite strange to sit in a car again after 3 weeks of not being in a car. We spent our days and the beach and nights in the city of Lagos. It is a quaint antigua pueblo cerca del mar. One of the sad points in Lagos´ history was that it was the first site for selling of slaves to the new world. The beach that we went to was absolutely beautiful, it was called Dona Ana beach (a picture of the beach is above) and it was right outside our hotel (Carvi). I was told that it is one of the top ten beaches in Portugal. The strange thing was though despite the heat of the day, the water temperature was freezing. A few friends back here in CLIC have told me that this is so in all of Portugal. It was the kind of tempertature that makes you legs feel numb. So the whole day consisted of me running in and out of the water to cool down, but I couldn´t stay in for longer than 30 seconds. I also attempted to scale a wall to get to another beach (I was the only girl attempting to do it, and I don´t know if it was my ineptness or the fact that girls dont do these things in Portugal, but ever guy was offering to help me). I successfully reached the top, but didn´t go down the other side because it looked even more difficult than the first.
Dinners were a nice treat during the weekend too. Usually here in Sevilla, we go to cheaper restaurants and have little bocadillos or tapas. But during this weekend, we went to some nicer restaurantes (it was a vacation for the other people in the group), and I had barbequed fish (it was either sea bass or swordfish, I can´t remember) the first night, and cod with rice dish the second night which is a traditional Portuguese dish similar to paella. The thing that we had to watch out for though was the bill at the end of the meal. The waiter brings bread, butter, pate, and olives to your table in the beginning of the meal but you have to pay for them if you eat them. We were warned that sometimes they will charge you for it even if you don´t eat it because they know that tourists may not understand the bill. Our first meal was fine, but after our second meal we had to send the bill back 3 times because there were charges on it for things we didn´t eat.
Sunday was another day spent at the beach, and thn my new travel friends were kind enough to offer to drop me off in Sevilla on their way to Cadiz. That meant that I didn´t have to ride the bus home alone and the trip back only took 3 hours, rather than 5 and a half :)

Fiesta de Clic

This weeks posts were also sparse or absent because it was a week spent dining and going out, with little cultural experiences. Thursay night was CLIC´s summer party, which was great that it happenned to fall on a day when I was here. The party took place at a discoteca-bar called Buddha Bar in Sevilla. All of the professors, teachers in training, and students came and we had the rooftop bar to ourselves for the first 2 hours. CLIC hosted an open bar for the first 2 hours, and it was a great time to chat with the teachers in training and friends. The rooftop bar was really nice, with a lounge type atmosphere. Rooftop bars are always my favorite, whether they be in LA, Long Beach, San Diego, or Sevilla. :) Before the party, 2 of the teachers in training came with us to dinner, which was great because they recommended 2 new dishes that we hadn´t tried that were tasty. One of the dishes was similar to fried calamari, but the waiter said that it was a different type of squid. They were describing the shape of the animal, but I didn´t quite get it completely, maybe just a bigger squid? Regardless, it was delicious! :)

I´m back

Sorry for the week of no posts. There has been an influx of jovenes (teens) at the school, and they monopolize the computers. So it is hard to get a minute to check my email, I actually told one of them that he should get off the computer for another student because he was playing internet games while this girl was waiting to use the computer to check her email. Oh, the jovenes!
The other change is that I started going to afternoon classes taught by the teachers in training here at CLIC. The classes are really good, and often better than the ones that we go to in the mornings with the real professors. The best part is that these classes are free. It reminds me alot of the experience I had in grad school in the clinic. It seemed that the therapy that a client would recieve at our clinic (with clinicians in training) was better than some of the therapy given by professionals in the real world. Not to speak badly about my profession, I don´t think this is true in all cases. But when you are a student, and you have a supervisor watching you through a one way mirror (in my case in the clinic, not in the class here :) ) and disecting your lesson plans and goal, you know you better have your stuff in order. And you plan alot as a student, as I have seen in my afternoon class. All of the lessons are original plans, not from a textbook. They are creative too: to practice future tense, we did palm reading of each other. And another day we had mini clothing stores where we bought and sold clothes. Maybe I can get some ideas to use in therapy :) I am looking forward to what today will bring in the afternoon class...

Pics of Sevilla

I have been having a bit of difficulty with my pics so here are just a few I could get onto the computer.
This is the plaza area of my school , where we pass a few hours of the afternoon frequently, catching up on emails and things .

The beautiful beach! This was on the walk down to get to the beach, obviously. It was quite a walk, maybe about half a mile or mile from the parking lot. Which was nice because the beach was more secluded that way.
Here is a pic of Plaza de Espana. It is pretty close to where I am living. It was constructed in the 1920s for a festival for all spanish countries. The group from my school in Morrocco with our guide for the day, Abdul (he also liked to be called Michael Douglas because his friends say that he looks like the actor).

Morrocco

What can I say..... I went to Morrocco. I learned what it is like to be on a tourist bus. I learned that I do not like to go on tourist bus trips. I really enjoyed our short trip to the city of Chefchauan. The people of the city of Chefchauan are friendly, peaceful and kind. The city is of Chefchauan is absolutely beautiful (the picture is a small example of the whole city), the whole city is painted with white and blue and the feeling of life there is relax and simple. Our local guides for the 2 days were very interesting, one went with us to Tetouan and Tangier; and the other to Chefchauan. They were both interesting in their own way, and were pretty opposite of each other. The first guy had kind of a flirtatous personality-- he said that he has 3 wives, and that the rule in morrocco is that 4 is the max and he wanted to find his 4th on our bus. He also liked to talk about ´making babies´ and the virility of muslim men. The second guide on sunday was the opposite-- very serious, very loud, and very proud of his coutry and city. I liked him better. :) I think it also helped that the second city was a bit more modern in its customs-- the men only married one woman, the women didnt marry until 18 (instead of 14), and the way that the guide explained life it seem that women were more valued and equal to men. I have to say that though the people and city of Chefchauan were beautiful, I left on Sunday happy to have the freedoms that I as a woman, and looking forward to a beer and coffee in Spain.

another day...

another beach...
I can´t seem to get away I guess, and yesterday I returned to the playa for a little swim and time in the sun. This time we went to a beach that is a national park, again it was beautiful. There were the most incredible irradescent shells along the shore line. I also found oyster shells and calamari bodies-shells (I don´t know, are they bodies or shells?). I looked and looked for a whole oyster, to see if I could open it and eat it but never found one. Probably better though, because if one was laying on the beach it may have spoiled. I am getting more use to the toplessness, but was not expecting the full male nudity that I found! No tan lines I guess...
Today I leave for Morrocco. Many new cutural experiences in the course of 5 weeks, I love it!

La Catedral

I went with a group from the school to see the cathedral today. It was absolutely beautiful. We unfortunately only had a little over an hour there because it closes early. So it was a rushed trip, but a good one. There is a guy, Juan Mal that organizes most (if not all) of the cutural-social things for us. He is a great guy with lots of info, and he doesn´t really know much english so it it requires me to practice my spanish. Some points of interest (based on what I understood from Juan Mal, so there may be some accuracy lost in the translation): This cathedral is the 3rd biggest cathedral in the world. It was built over maybe about 3 decades by different groups, so there are different types of architecture and styles. The cathedral had many different functions, as a relgious center and poltical center of Spain. Christopher Columbus is burried here, though several places claimed to have the grave of Columbus. National Geographic tested the bones of all of the claimed graves, and declared the grave in the Sevilla Cathedral the real one. Score one for Sevilla!
There is a group of protestors that are staying in the cathedral. I need to look up more information because I don´t really understand the situation, but they are a group of miners that are on a hunger strike against the Spanish government and are supported by the cathedral. So part of the cathedral is blocked off as a residence for the miner, with cots and bedding. That was also very interesting to see, how the church is involved in the politics here.