Old/New Reads, Family Dinner, Mailing Our Food!!

I just finished 3 cups of tea!! I wanted to share my favorite qoutes from the book:

"Jahan took a breath and composed herself. 'When I was a little sort of girl I would see a gentlemen or a lady with good, clean clothes I would run away and hide my face. But after I graduated from the Korphe school, I felt a big change in my life. I felt I was clear and clean and could go before anybody and discuss anything. And now that I am already a Skardu, I feel that anything is possible. I dont want to be just a health worker. I want to be such a women that I can start a hospital and be an executive, and look over all the health problems of all the women in the Braldu. I want to be a superlady'. Mortenson didn't laugh after all. Instead he beamed at the bold granddaughter of Haji Ali....Five hundred and eighty letters, twelve rams, and ten years of work was a small price to pay, Mortenson thought, for such a moment".

This is my next read I just got at the store yesterday!!!

Returning to the U.S. after 20 years in England, Iowa native Bryson decided to reconnect with his mother country by hiking the length of the 2100-mile Appalachian Trail. Awed by merely the camping section of his local sporting goods store, he nevertheless plunges into the wilderness and emerges with a consistently comical account of a neophyte woodsman learning hard lessons about self-reliance. Bryson (The Lost Continent) carries himself in an irresistibly bewildered manner, accepting each new calamity with wonder and hilarity. He reviews the characters of the AT (as the trail is called), from a pack of incompetent Boy Scouts to a perpetually lost geezer named Chicken John. Most amusing is his cranky, crude and inestimable companion, Katz, a reformed substance abuser who once had single-handedly "become, in effect, Iowa's drug culture." The uneasy but always entertaining relationship between Bryson and Katz keeps their walk interesting, even during the flat stretches. Bryson completes the trail as planned, and he records the misadventure with insight and elegance. He is a popular author in Britain and his impeccably graceful and witty style deserves a large American audience as well.

Family dinner last wednesday. Mom, again has been blinded by the love of god shining upon her. I really enjoyed hearing lowell's impression of Obama's pastor.

And finally all the John Muir Trail Food has been mailed to our two resupply points in Tuolumne meadows and Vermillion Valley Resort.

PT or physical training, 1500 corp members in government center of downtown boston.

what a year

These are kids from our afterschool program at their graduation! Twenty parents came! Wow! Seriously wow!This is a mural i designed but did not paint (as you can tell!) haha I am just kidding, sorta!

after school kids

this is a big bleacher mural I had as my project last week. We had 1500 corp members from around the country and south africa come out for save the world conference (something like that) I led 25 volunteers in painting this mural!

Yay friendship garden, full of new summer flowers and perrenials

At the preforming arts night with salamata on the left and her little sister. I look a little tired.....

one of my "mentees" Beautiful girl, Isnino wonderful artist

some crazy hippie....

I gave my the kids in my mentor group my camera and they went around taking all these amazing photos, this is my favorite

Critical Creations art mentoring group! I took them on adventures to find the secret golden fish, they listened to old stories and quotes and responded to them through art, they stole my camera and sent flashes throughout the spheres! I have never taken a photo that captures a true childs smile. They look so happy!

My class!

Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks. We are wrapping up our service and saying good-bye. It is so crazy to imagine all of this. All of this around me. This computer screen. This music filling the room. My room behind me. Everything that exist here and now in this moment. It will all shatter to discretion of my memory. And I will be somewhere new. Something new blooms before my eyes. Crazy crazy.
Well today I just found out I got into the Chile program! Whaaa hooo! I am going to Chile! Well I think so. I am going to think it over a bit more. The program seems absolutely amazing and I am really looking forward to working with the community there. Sierra, have you heard of Pandora.com? It lets you listen to music for free! Say there is a band you really like. You type in the Irish jiggers and they will play a song by the irish jiggers, then they will play similar music to expose to other bands you might like. It is quality stuff!
I have honestly been going through a lot of ups and downs lately. Feeling a little polar, ya know! Little polar bear! hehe. Haha yesterday was great. I was out playing soccer with the usual mix of brazilians, ecuadorians, peruvians, spanish, italian, zambian, jamaican mobsters. This guy "Pele" runs the thing. Whatever Pele says, goes. It is really crazy. But if pele is in a bad mood, he is bazooka and he calls everyone else bazooka! "Hey Bazooka, what the hell are you doing!" They have been play for something like 20 years and I am pretty sure I am the first girl to kick their butts, steal the ball, nutmeg at any moment..."Hey Bazooka! What the hell are you doing, pass the ball!"
"She is so fast! " Haha it is so much fun....fun on my good days. Other days I let their comments get to my head and I play like shit. It is a wonderful daily practice of not letting shit get to your head. Let it flow through. Once I let it get to me I play like shit....just like in life, ya know?
So it has been fun. I have one last week of city year and I then I am off to blowing bubbles in Santa Cruz with friends, laughing it up with my family, attacking ghengis with my endless amount of love for him and hitting the John Muir Trail with MY BEST SISTER!
I love you guys and I can't wait to see you!

Food Poisoning, Raggae Dance Club, Casanova Lounge and Oreilly's Irish Pub in SF, Listening to My Inner Child

I got a fabulous case of food poisoning Friday night. It started with an upset stomach. A few hours later I was moaning in my bed unable to deal with the pain in silence. Then I got a fever and decided I couldn't lay in bed anymore so I moved to the floor of our hallway. I thought it would be the best place for me to sleep. Mom found me almost dead laying in the middle of the hallway and asked me what was wrong. All I could say was, "ahhhhhh eeeeee eeeeeeerrrrrtttttssss. Caaaaan moooo". As mom looked over at the already half drunk pepto bismo bottle i bought an hour ago she said "did you drink all this" and i replied "ehhhhhhhh". Man, let me say if you feel like talking to death during a lunch break grab yourself some moldy cheese and get ready for an adventure!

Last Monday night I got to take a trip down memory lane. Some raleigh's folks and I headed to Kitty's in Oakland/emeryville for some seriously ghetto reggae dancing. The scene looked like an older version of my days back at the teen center!! Lots of great dancers and good hip hop music!

Andrew (from Raleigh's) and I took a trip to the city last week. Our first stop was Oreilly's Irish Pub in North Beach. A little disappointing b/c there wasn't any live music or much of a scene. We also went to Casanova lounge in the mission which can be a pretty cool spot to sit and lounge around on the sofas while listening to some live music. It was another "#1 best of the bay" according to the guardian.

While it was nice to get to explore somewhere new the best part of my night was getting to know a new friend. Andrew is a natural comedian who is also a twin, loves traveling (spent a semester in a little village in Italy!), likes surfing and the beach, majored in Italian and history at Cal, pursuing law, enjoys cooking things like cinnamon rolls, obsessed with the Celtics, played soccer when younger (decided basketball was more his sport when he punted the ball into his own goal as a goalie and held the record for the least amount of goals scored as a forward), enjoys fishing and crawdad hunts and camping....and best of all is down to do just about anything fun in SF with me!

In counseling I'm learning more about that inner child inside me. The one that is always trying to tell me things, but that I tend to ignore b/c like any crying child who wants attention sometimes you just want to walk away.My inner child comes out in the form of sweaty palms, a racing heartbeat, a headache, a turn in my stomach etc. I'm learning it's a good idea to be compassionate and loving and attentive to that inner child and see what it needs. Interesting stuff!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ndzuY2i_TQ0

Soccer Game, Saying Goodbye to Friends, Fun with Workmates, Irish music and Sushi in SF, Dinner with Cousins, Quality Time with Scot and Iris ;)

On Wednesday a packed Raleigh's Bar watched one of the best soccer games I've ever seen!!! And I actually got to take the afternoon off work to sit down and enjoy it. It was the 2008 finals of the European Champions League. Manchester United and Chelsea tied after a 1-1 game that included 2 incredible goals, some unbelievable moves by Renaldo, a fight that included a bitch slap, a missed penalty kick by the best player in the world (Renaldo), and another missed penalty kick by the captain of the Chelsea team!! For game highlights check out the link below...

http://blog.soccerslave.com/2008/05/21/manchester-united-vs-chelsea-champions-league-final-highlights-2008/

I also got to play soccer this week for the first time in a few months. I have to admit the guy I played with said I was a girl version of Renaldo. It was his way of telling me that I dribble way to much and never pass ... haha.

I said goodbye to Laura and Ariane on Sunday. These are my roomies from my last semester at Cal who I lived with at the white house. Laura is heading home to San Diego for a week before venturing off to do Teach For America for 2 years in New Orleans! Ariane is working for Greenlining in the Bay Area over the summer. It will be nice to have a friend nearby :)

Lately I've been getting to know my workmates outside our little work home which has been really interesting. I think having good friends at work makes a job feel like more of a warm home than a 12-5 in n'out burger joint.

I also made dinner with the cousins and some of their friends.

In our quest to discover SF Geoffrey and I tried a sushi restaurant rated as the best sushi in the Bay Area by the Guardian. The place was called Ryoko's Japanese restaurant and bar in the downtown area. I have to say this roll, the "jumping Unagi" (eel and avocado fried), was one of the best things I have ever tasted!! Next week we want to try the best Italian restaurant....I can't wait!

We also saw a good band called third date at Ireland32. It's part of my quest to find an Irish bar that plays amazing live Irish music. This music wasn't Irish but I thought they were really good live. Their influences are Dave Matthews, Green Day, The Beatles, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, and all that is good.Here's a link: http://www.myspace.com/thirddate

Scot and I laughed the afternoon away last Monday over some yummy Roundtable pizza which is an all you can eat joint from 11-2!

Ah, and I had a wonderful morning phone conversation with beautiful Iris. We solidified plans for our John Muir Trail hike in July. We also talked about balancing our yin and yang, genuine connections we've experienced over the week, new poems we've discovered, Unitarian Universalism universal peace dance services, her city year gala, and the way hot tea and mantra meditation caress our soul. I feel so lucky to have a sister who brings so much laughter, insight, inspiration, and love into my life!!!

I love you guys and am so happy that Lowell is home :)!!

Grace Woods Trio, Caitlin and Sabine, New Book, JMT itinerary done!

It was an exciting week! This is a picture taken at a Grace Woods Trio show on Tuesday in SF at the Hotel Utah Saloon. She came out with a CD that includes many new songs! She also has a music video on her website where all of us are blowing bubbles. I love seeing Ellen and getting to know Megan on the far left who are both into hiking, volunteering, surfing, adventuring...they are doing the Trail Challenge in which you are given a list of the best trails in Northern California and have to complete them by a certain day to get a shirt!! I wish I was staying!

This week I also enjoyed an amazing spin class which I found really uplifts my spirits. I'm hoping to play some soccer this week and go to another dance class Wednesday and yoga class Monday night. Also, I finally returned Caitlin Justice's call. Caitlin from back in the day! She is engaged and living in Concord and is going to come visit soon! I also hung out with sabine who wants to go on a spiritual journey with me in India, backpack S America with me, and hike with me around Kuai, Hawaii next summer!! She got into a PhD program at UCLA and will be studying philosophy there starting in June! I also went on an adventure into the city and found a cool Irish bar. Next week Geoffrey and I are going to Ireland32 which is a great Irish bar with Irish music!!!...I can't wait! I just finished another book The Other Side of You by Salley Vickers which is about a therapist and his patient. I got 2 amazing gifts from reading this book. The first is that it really reminded me that true connections are formed when two people fully share everything about themselves without hiding anything. The second is that it supported the view which I have that people can really be healed by hearing someone else's story. In my view therapists shouldn't only be listeners they should also share a bit of themselves. I think this gives patients the courage to open up.I also finished the John Muir Trail Itinerary. It was tough coming up with 21 breakfast lunch and dinners! But it's done and I'm happy we'll be eating some yummy grub and also have a game plan for where to camp along the way and all that! We'll hike about 10 miles a day for 20 days and resupply once!

Hello Family! Here is a picture of the Dever Friendship Garden! It is blomming! Yay!

Tears for Flowers

Hey Everyone! Here is a picture of the Dever Friendship Garden! Finally! The signs should go up soon, bulbs are blooming everyday! Yay! The work of our after-school kids.
So interesting story, everymorning the kids work on or write a new story to practice their writing. After about 40 minutes or so, they "come to the rug and share." The first to share was Tyrece. "Davon" he says. "Davon was my brother. He woke up everyday with a smile on his face. He is dead now. Someone shot him. Everyday he would play with me and my brothers. He was always nice to all of us. I went to his funeral. Everyone was crying. I saw my aunt, her nose was bleeding. I asked her why. She said because she was crying so much....."
There was a sub in today, who had no idea if this story was real or made up or when it happend. A couple of weeks ago, this kid came in upset. I asked him what was wrong. Tyrece started crying saying his brother had been shot. The next day his mother tried to commit suicide.
The sub today, went into how his sister had died. He also mentioned some strange details about his prostate cancer, something about a metal implant and walking through metal detectors...don't ask. He reassured me he went to Georgetown and he was at Regans innauguration. Anyways, by the end of the day the entire class was in tears. "My grandma died, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin, my god brother, my bird, my cat, a worm....I heard all of their death stories and by then end of the day I was the "death doctor" as little Jaylis liked to call me. It was a ripple effect like I have never seen! Later though, I was called the heaven doctor...
I love you all, these kids need our help and our support. I am glad there are wonderful people in the world like you to guide them.

Brunch, Cooking, Mantras, and Psychological Tests

So Scot has decided that we are going out to eat every Sunday. After a very long drive through the Concord Shop N' Park parking lot we made it to this weekends spot: a chinese buffet place. Evidently, even the Buddha gets hungry sometimes...As you can tell from his two full plates of food! Mom, Scot and I both agree Scot's pictures are getting better with time...haha. I'd say he sort of looks like he's in a meditative trance wouldn't you? Kind of like Gandhi after a hot bath...very soothed.

Okay so I wouldn't say I have achieved Martha Stewart status yet...but I am getting there. Haha... that is my goal. This weeks meal was veggie lasagna. It was delicious! There is actually a very funny story that goes along with it. Do you see how it is missing some structure. Yes, that's because I realized, after 3 hours of baking from 9-12pm, I forgot to put in 4 eggs! Eggs apparently are what give lasagna it's structure. Nevertheless it is some damn good vegetarian lasagna with carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, onions and lots of cheese! Here is the recipe if you wanna give it a try: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Convenient-Vegetarian-Lasagna/Detail.aspx
This Sunday I discovered something incredible. I was given an amazing gift that I want to share with you guys. I went to the Nyigma Buddhist Institute on Sunday and sang a beautiful mantra for 45 minutes. It filled my soul with so much peace and since it is so short it is something you can keep in your heart throughout the day to maintain a sense of serenity and warmth no matter what the difficult situation. I couldn't find my mantra on the internet but Scot and I both agree this mantra is beautiful. Check it out on youtube! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=158AWXhDdZI

Iris has been doing this program with kids where she shows them pictures and has the kids talk about what they see. We were both amazed at the variety of things kids said about the picture! I was telling Iris that psychologists use to discover a lot about a persons personality based on the story they told about a given picture. It was called the thematic apperception test.

Wiki says " Historically, the Thematic Apperception Test or TAT has been amongst the most widely used, researched, and taught projective psychological tests. Its adherents claim that it taps a subject's unconscious to reveal repressed aspects of personality, motives and needs for achievement, power and intimacy, and problem-solving abilities.


This is one of the pictures psychologists used. If your interested try telling a 1 page story about it and see what comes out of yourself. I found it to be very telling of desires in me I didn't even know existed!

My new found Joy in Life!

I got this book about 2 days ago and am already on page 70! Reading really gives me so much happiness and strength these days. Here's a decription of the book from the back cover:

By the time she turned thirty, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern, educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want— a husband, a house in the country, a successful career. But in-stead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love and the complete eradication of every-thing she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all of this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, left her loved ones behind and undertook a year-long journey around the world, all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Gilbert's aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature, set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Italy, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, where, with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise Texan, she embarked on four months of austere spiritual exploration. Finally, in Indonesia, she sought her ultimate goal: balance-namely, how to somehow build a life of equilibrium between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Looking for these answers on the island of Bali, she became the pupil of an elderly, ninth-generation medicine man and also fell in love in the very best way—unexpectedly. An intensely articulate, sensible, moving and funny memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment It is also about the adventures that can transpire when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society's ideals This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change