Being yourself

war awareness campaign with a bent

as i walked down to the main floor of a our tudor home yesterday, i was stunned to see rows upon rows of white crosses and tombstone cut-outs lined up on the narrow meadow that runs around the lake. on each cross and tombstone was the name of a soldier killed in the iraq war. i instantly thought to myself that it was a war protest. i was corrected later in the day when i spoke to one of the volunteers and was told that it was NOT a protest. i gathered it to be an awareness campaign and it sure succeeded at being that. it was quiet and simple yet provoking. mainly because the little white cut-outs stretched well close to 1/2 mile around the lake. as i craned my neck, i could not see where they started and where they ended. that left a mark on me. i missed my chance to take a photo but the view is marked on my mind. i don't think i can ever look at the meadow around the lake the same way ever again.

mountains, river, forest and cooking

what do they all have in common? the fact that i enjoyed all of them last week. i co-facilitated a cooking cabin trip last week including 12 students, another staff member and a parent. we were lucky enough to have a homely-cozy cabin donated for our use, nestled in the forested cascade forests of central washington. in exchange, we worked on a section of a forest, limbing trees in preparation for fire season.

it was refreshing and eye-opening to spend 5 days and 4 nights with close to half the students of the school. we spent our meal-times cooking and eating healthy, diverse food from various regions of the world including america, the middle-east, indonesia, ghana, india, spain and italy. some of the dishes we cooked included Fufu (peanut soup from ghana), Sabudana Khichdi (savory tapioca breakfast), tandoori chicken, Randang jackfruit curry, paella, mousakka, lasagna, quesedillas and a variety of sandwiches. we also accomodated vegan and vegetarian needs in the dishes we made. ask me about vegan baking (no eggs or dairy) all you want now. the rest of the days were spent in fun conversations and hard work on the forest.

my most memorable time from working on the forest is when 14 of us were lined up from the top of a hill to the bottom passing long branches and tree limbs down to the fire that stood on a plained area. we did this for 4 hours. loud music blared from the cabin to keep us moving and dancing in the process. we played games of '20 questions' while sliding logs in the gulleys we carved in the hillside. it was teamwork at it's best.

the other moment that stands out is when we were all seated for dinner chowing down paella and the discovery channel song came on. we all spontaneously ran from the porch side dining to the open living room breaking in a dance. limbs flew in all directions, inhibitions fell as students and staff rocked away.

above all, i learnt a lot about my students. i saw them in their various moods, in how they dealt with being away from the city, away from technology, no cell phones, computers or internet. i saw them dealing with being with the same people day in and day out in sweltering 90F weather. i talked to them honestly and casually. we played, we laughed, we snored, we farted and sometimes, we even got pissed with each other. all in all, i got closer to them. that is invaluable.

i have now been away from them for 2 days. i cannot wait to see them again tomorrow. it will never be the same as it was before this trip.

still tri-ing

4 weeks and still going, probably only because last week was my week of rest from the triathlon training. though before i ended week 3, i had a breakthrough. i need to be able to swim 1/2 mile which equates to 16 full laps of the 25 yard pool i swim in. i am no continuous swimmer or so i thought until the friday of week 3 in my training. i jumped into the pool with a decision to focus on being relaxed in the water. i let my body loosen as i warmed up and kept up steady but not hastened breathing. i tend to get all tensed up about the breathing and gasp for breaths instead of taking the air in gradually. i watched that this time. at the end of 4 laps i felt like i could keep going and so i did. at 8 laps i still felt strong. so i kept going, finishing with 10 continuous laps and then a cool down lap, all in 40 minutes. i know that is no olympic record. i stepped out feeling very content. the monday before, i could do 2 laps back-to-back. who knew i would breakthrough so in the same week?

most folks that train for triathlons say that the swimming is the hardest part. i think it is so for me too except that i love swimming and i am really enjoying returning to the first athletic sport i ever did as a child.

onto week 5 ...