unexpected "holiday"

okay ... so you might think I have been on holidays since I left Canada three weeks ago; however ... this has not quite been the case.  My students, the program, the other volunteers ... I adore it all.  No complaints whatsoever.  Even the challenging aspects of being here and working with a foundation who has different ideas and ways of operating than mine have become a part of the entire experience and I accept it all wholeheartedly (is that all one word?). 

In true Carribbean/Colombian fashion - I discovered I had a week with no classes due to Carnival (Colombia's version of Mardis Gras) pretty much the day before it began.  Why does no one look ahead and warn others of changes of plans and massive annual events?  "No se?!"/I have no idea.  But it is the way it is here.  Great balancing therapy for someone who puts an extra "pre" in front of her prepare. 

(excuse the borrowed photos)

click here for wiki's description of Carnival

So ... I have just enjoyed nearly a week with absolute free time!  No schedule and nothing to keep me in one place.  A little "holiday".

What have I been up to?  ... Carnival??? 

Would you believe the answer is no?  This dancing queen who seeks music, culture, people, tradition, novelty and energy is also someone who avoids prolonged time among crowds and relishes in the balance of downtime and stillness.

Where to go for the balance of it all?

HERE ...

Introducing just one of the many amazing beaches that Colombia's national park, "Parque Tayrona" has to offer:  "Playa Brava" - a private beach and massive parcel of land resembling Jurassic Park purchased by a local friend's parents prior to the area deemed "national park".  It is a three hour trek through the jungle - home to lions, pumas, howing monkeys, unique birds, and many "interesting" insects.  A touch edgy and totally amazing. 



 

A current fad at home is drinking coconut water - It is said to have very high levels of potassium and minerals making it marketable as a "natural energy drink".  No news to the Caribbean, of course.  This past year I got on to it at home but I must say that it is not comparable to the real deal.

Another ever growing fad in North America is yoga.  Granted it does not have Caribbean roots .. but again, I must say that there is something about the practice that takes on a whole new level of enjoyment when you are in these surroundings.

Oh, to wake up to the sights and sounds of waves lapping against the sparkly sand and know that a morning practice of stretch and zen will warm you up quickly due to the hot sun and that the ocean is a welcome refreshment ... just cool enough to quench your body's thirst for equilibrium, but warm enough to be inviting any time of the day/night.  This is what I call HotYoga. 

Colombia ... I continue to fall for you.

And I continue to fall in love with my students.  Tomorrow, I become one.  My spanish classes finally commence in the morning (it takes a very long time to organize things here!)  By the afternoon I will be on my way to the girls after a week off and demo-ing a layered haircut.  Things are moving quickly but the girls are catching on so fast.  I've missed them despite being in paradise!  Updates about their progress to come.

 

adaptation?

tonight is the first night that i came home and did not immidiately turn on the AC.  as in ... it's been at least 30 mins. and I am still hanging out without the relief of cool air pumping into my room. 


i might add that i have been without clothing since entering my room; however, this is still a huge step for me!


could it be that i am adjusting to the heat?  is it possible??!!


might i eventually be able to live with the rest of my travelling amigos that i meet from various parts of the globe who manage to save money by staying at places with only a fan and no AC?!?!

is it possible??!!


hmmm ....


to be continued ...

a fresh start

Ahhhhh ... that's the exhale of letting go of last week and starting fresh with anew.

Thank the Colombian gawds (there's a few diff. concepts there) that we had access to our supplies and tools today.  Also, that after an unexpected few days of disconnection - my girls (well - most of them anyway) showed up today!  Seven out of ten is a REALLY great turn out for this community and culture, in general.  Yessss.  And the coaster continues to climb.  I like this direction a lot.

After establishing the incentive program (the top 3 attendees of the program get to keep their kits, while the other kits remain with the foundation for future classes and "sign out" option for the other original girls use) I am confident that attendance will soar and the girls will get the maximum possible out of our time together.

Today I demo'd the haircut the girls will do tomorrow on their live models (family, friends, other volunteers and travellers from the city's major hostel) and then they learned how to pamper the client. 

My favorite luxery of getting my hair done is the relaxing head massage at the sink.  Feet up, head back resting on a padded sink, warm water, beautiful products, and that ooohh so awesome zen moment when your scalp gets that attention you wish you could generate on your own each morning in the shower.  But, somehow - it just can't be done yourself.  Like being tickled ... you just need someone else to pull it off.

However, with just a bucket of water not fit for drinking (even for the locals) and a plastic container resembling a sand castle form ... the experience was just a little off of the whole North American salon full meal deal.  Regardless, with our adaptability and creativity we managed to design our own version of the ever-so-enjoyable shampoo/condition/scalp massage.

With a few unintentional facewashes, a lot of giggles and some pampering techniques ... it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed today's class.

In addition, I have now hooked a whole new demographic onto Bumble and Bumble products (ooops).  They loved the smell of the shampoo and when it came time to condition and massage they agreed they had never smelled something so amazing before and the feeling was unlike anything they've ever known.  It struck me at how fortunate I am to work with quality every single day and it is just like breathing ... I just do it. 


After today, I realized that there is still room to enjoy simple pleasures ... and sometimes that is even in your shampoo and conditioner.  *A special thanks to the fabulous owners of ShampooHairBar for donating a litre of each to the project.  It is VERY safe to say that the contribution is being enjoyed more than anyone could have anticipated.  Such a treat - for them, and for me to see.  xo.


In fact, the girls were so blown away by the conditioner that they all refused to rinse it out at the end.  Seriously.  When I said it was time to rinse the all looked up at me like, "woman! you're crazy!".  Oh no no no ... something this lovely was going to stay IN their hair.  And so it was.


At the end of the day I had seven ladies with (not meant to be) left-in conditioner walking down the street.  I don't know what was shiny'er ... the sunshine bouncing off of their over-producted greasy hair or their beaming grins. 

Nahhh ... it was their smiles, for sure.

 

chumbawamba

I couldn't help but have the lingering lyrics of chumbawamba's "I get knocked down, but I get up again" song looping through my head today... (sorry for me and now sorry for you because I know if you just read that, the curse is passed on).  muaahh haa haahh


After two days, I am now well enough to get back out to my girls for belated classes.  I had a fantastic lesson planned and a bag of goodies to bring to them for a collage project as homework.  I'm thinking ... "back on track - today is going to be fun and productive!"

Checkout these scissors I found for today... I was so excited to find scissors with butterflies as handles since the foundation's symbol and name is "yellow butterfly". Too perfect, right? 

Carla and I take the hot taxi ride out to the barrio and making our way to the house we are using for the classes ... we discover the doors and windows are locked up and no one is around at all.  All equipment and class supplies (apart from the new items I had purchased this morning and were in my hands) are inside that house and we can not get to them!  Regardless, no one showed up for class anyway so I guess it didn't matter. 

Like a punch to a recovering gut ... I felt useless and deflated.  OMG - this is flopping!  Nooooo!




And then - as the adaptable individual I am learning to be ... Carla suggests we go join the young kids class because today is sports day and they are just playing around the field down the street.  And so, as in the second part of Chumbawamba's lyrical chorus ... "I get up again."

Although my preference is to not lose any more precious time than we already have for Cutting Borders, I have to say that watching the young group and feeling their energy, love, excitement, giggles, curiosity and even their rebellion was awesome.  What a great pick-me-up. 

I'd love to know how they can run around for two hours in the baking sun and heavy humidity here.  But then again, it is like this all year around - only deviating about 5 or 6 degrees throughout the year.  Basically, this means it's freakin' hot all the time.

So - week one only ended up being two days of class for us; however, I continue to learn and grow and can only hope that the people I am fortunate enough to share time with are doing the same.

Here's to hoping that week two for CB is jam packed with both energetic people AND shared knowledge and skills. 

Have a great weekend everyone.  xo

temporary interruption out of the way

After spending the last two days recovering from a nasty bout of food poisoning (wish I could say it was from street food at least and appear as brave as other travellers here - but it was from a really nice, "safe" restaraunt!) I am finally back to classes with my girls. 


A very special shout out to 2 amigos, Oscar and Raquele, who both visited me in a time of desperation with gifts of water and other items that proved to be essential!

Most valuable ingredient in recovery, though, was most definitely knowing I had someone here.  Muchas gracias mi amigos nuevos.  xox.

dear danielle ...

this is with me everyday and i can not tell you how much i love it.  it is perfect.  xo

And it all begins...

An official "hola!" from Santa Marta. 

I arrived to Santa Marta 2 days after leaving Canada, which was an even longer than anticipated trip here (I was stuck temporarily in a city called Barranquilla - incedentally, where the beautiful Colombian trophy wife on Modern Family is from).

I didn't run into her, nor anyone that looked quite like her though.

Needless to say, it took me a few days to get adjusted to: lack of sleep, the heat (omg - the heat), and of course the usual "get your bearings" stuff that happens at the beginning of any brand new location.

For this type A person (as an aside, an old friend used to say I was so type A that I deserved a new category he called Type A.M.Y.), entering a culture with a big "dis" in front of their "organization" and a beyond relaxed approach to both time and cleanliness ... it is fair to say that my usual conveniences and comforts are so far out the window that I can not even see them anymore.  All for the best.  However, as a confession, I still treat my little bottle of hand sanitizer as my best friend.  We are pretty tight :)

On the upside, I have to say that being so close to the ocean and feeling the sun everyday (even with at least a 30 SPF at all times) is just awesome.  Here are a couple photos of sunset "a la playa" just three blocks from where I am living:

And onto what this blog is all about ... the program!  Today marked "Dia Uno" of Cutting Borders.

After a 15 minute taxi ride out to Barrio Fundadores ... one of two neighbourhoods that the foundation serves ... I arrive with the foundation's director, Oscar and another volunteer, Carla. Carla is from Bogata orignially and will be my assistant/translator for the next two weeks. She is as cute as a button with the most amazing energy. Without her help I simply could not teach. Period. It would have been an absolutely different day without her and we are a dynamic duo. Thank gawd :)

Since the school house in this barrio is under construction, Cutting Borders will be operating out of a veranda of one of the mother's houses just down the street.  In fact, the mother is one of our students as well!

We are greeted straight out of the cab by some kids with big smiles and hugs.  One cutie insisted on being my bellboy for my heavy load of all supplies and toolkits:





We have enough plastic chairs (and a few rocking chairs ... this could be interesting!) to accomodate 10 students at this location.  We had an overwhelming attendance and it broke my heart to send some of the young girls (under 13 years old) home because we didn't have enough space and their little hands couldn't even accomodate the scissors.  Oh, the puppy dog eyes. :(

However, all the girls were very eager and when we conversed about expectations and goals I was more than pleased to hear that every single person wanted to share their knowledge and make a few pesos by the end of "basic training". 

I believe that today was a success in that everyone had a chance to hold their tools and learn how to handle everything, the ground rules of the course and what to expect from the weeks to come.  I can see the excitement in their eyes and it makes everything worthwhile.  Everything. 

Day one ... Success.