Amy Mfuni Art

Cabarete Part II

2011-08-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Our hostel was managed by a beautiful surfer from Germany named Sabrina. We got a shared room for $15 US a night, but no one else was in it so we got a fabulous deal on what turned out to be a private room. It became apparent by the decorations inside the hostel that it was a temporary home for the international surfing community. This was later confirmed by the occupants who spent most of their days riding the waves. It was gorgeous and it had a pool, by which we sat for the remainer of our first day in Cabarete.

Where's Charlie?

We spent our one and only full day in the town on the beach. The sun came and went, as did the rain. At one point I floated in the sea during a downpour, the warm water daring me to sleep while the cool raindrops cooled my skin from above. There was a crab a few feet from our chairs that spent the day cautiously digging a hole. Charlie guessed it was preparing to lay eggs.

I burnt myself pretty good that day despite applying a number of sunscreen coats - the Caribbean sun is strong and unforgiving. I took my burnt self out dancing with the rest of the hostel that night and I'm not going to lie, I danced on the bar with a number of other ladies for a shot of somthing sweet and smooth. I arrived back at 3am having danced to my heart's content.

Cabarete Part I

2011-07-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am back in Haiti and neglected my blogging duties while in the Domincan Republic so this may be a limited account of my travels, but I will do my best.

After my last post, I spent another day with Charlie in Moca. We went together to his aerobics class, which was a breath of fresh air after a week of almost full-time sitting. It was hot and humid so I sat down in the shade of the house to draw while Charlie worked on his project.

That evening his host family revealed to him their unhappiness with my presence in the home (due to miscommunication on the duration of my stay), so we departed the following morning. I felt bad creating discord, but the Patron (the head of the family and owner of the house) seemed in good spirits when he drove us to exchange money then to the Gua-gua station.

A Gua-gua is public transit in the form of a car or bus. Ours was a Suzuki sudan and we had about an hour of travel time ahead of us. We started out with 2 people in the passenger's seat in front and 4 of us in the back seat. Along the way we picked up 4 more people! I badly wanted to take a photo, but it probably would have offended some sensibilities so I refrained. Needless to say, itt was a sight to see. I am aware now that I have also neglected my photography obligations as I didn't even photograph the Gua-gua when we got out.

Our destination was the northern coastal town of Cabarete. We arrived in a downpour so we waited it over breakfast across the street from our turn-off to a hostel Charlie had found online the night before. I was reminded to specifically request no meat when ordering anything since my order of "solo juevos" or "just eggs" arrived mostly bacon with eggs scrambled in.

2011-07-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

It was a 10 hour bus ride from Port au Prince to Santo Domingo and I arrived to rain. Charlie had gotten an airconditioned room and we let the rain die down before venturing out for a delicious sushi dinner. We got a hold of a Facebook friend of mine, Juanjose Torres and he agreed to meet us for breakfast the following morning. As luck (or misfortune) would have it, McDonald's became our meeting spot and I was pleasantly surprised to finally make Juanjose's aquaintance after many muttled phone calls. He was extremely polite and somewhat reserved, obviously a gentleman. Charlie and I had a finite amount of time before we were due back in Moca, but Juanjose agreed to let me draw him before we departed.

That night I met Charlie's host family and was given a gigantic plate of food. I made a valient attempt to finish, but it was not within my capabilities. After dinner I drew a flower they had in a vase on the table. I had never seen one except for the fake variety, which I mistook it for since it looked plasitic in it's waxy perfection.

I left my running shoes in our room at the capital, so Charlie took me to downtown Moca the next morning for some used ones. I found an exact pair I had bought before for a fraction of the price and while we were there I also bought some hairspray to use as a fixitive for my drawings. We walked back through a beautiful, rich nieghborhood.

I've almost completed a second book, which says a lot for where my free time has gone. I am looking forward to more drawing today and for the next 4 days I'll be in the DR.

Reflections

2011-07-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

On my second day in Haiti, Martine pampered me with a mani-pedi (she refused to let me pay) after we went to get my dress altered. We decided not to shorten it, but took it in at the waist – it’s a beautiful dress and I’m anxious to meet the other bridesmaids.

The following day I spent at Duckens’ and Martine’s house. I finished my book and drew Able, Duckens’ father’s, portrait, whom I liked immediately. He speaks English so is one of the few people I am able to speak with and his sense of humor matches mine. He was a sport about staying still while I drew him.

I spent the 23rd on a bus from Haiti to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where my brother, Charlie was waiting for me. During the trip I reflected my surprising feeling of resignation. I had forgotten how much the social injustices present at every turn in the country had affected me before and that this trip brought a sense of hopelessness I have never felt before. As I relived the experiences that had once been novel and desparate, I felt as if I was watching myself as one would watch a basketball game who’s home team was being slaughtered by the opposing team. I am helpless in my current position in life and all I can do is play my role as indifferent tourist on this trip.

Back To Haiti

2011-07-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

My trip here was pleasant until I arrived at the airport. The band playing jovial, happy music lead me to believe the chaos around the corner would be a breeze. To the contrary, the crowd surrounding baggage claim was a throbbing, angry mass of frustration and confusion. Bags hanging off the edge of the conveyor belt clipped people at the ankles landing them on their behinds as they searched in the sea of bags that people had taken off in an effort to stop the very spillage that took them down. I was astonished when I spotted my bag on the belt after a half hour had passed, but my relief was short lived as all of the exits were blocked by people either coming in or just standing and waiting. It took me another 15 minutes to make it the 20 feet out the door.
With the help of a gentleman working for tips, I found Duckens. Traffic in vehicles was just as bad as traffic inside, but when we finally left the parking lot I was met by the aftermath of the earthquake. People are still living in tents.

And countless buildings lay crumbled and dejected.

I am grateful to have arrived safely and to open arms. My dear friend Duckens is engaged to be married to Louise Martine Desmareaux on August 6th and I've been asked to be a bridesmaid. I am honored to be a part of their union! The travel arrangement was similar to my last trip here; I have created 3 works in exchange for the airfare. When I arrived last night I presented the works and they seemed very happy.

After a deliciously cold shower, I tried on the bridesmaid dress and it fit save for being too long.

Today Martine and I will go to get the dress hemmed and later I will lay in the sun on their patio. I will attempt to get a photo to draw from so I can get to work.

Since November

2011-02-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

The end of the year flew by as usual, and in the midst of it all I decided it was time to re-vamp my website and do some serious marketing. My goal is to work full time as a commission artist within the year and find a way to maintain business. This is what has been consuming most of my time - putting together a marketing plan and finding ways to attract new customers.

Meanwhile, I've been writing about Truth or Dare and it has morphed into Truth or Truth. I am now aware that I'm not interested in the dare aspect of the game, I'm interested in learning about people and fostering an environment where truth can be freely told. "Truth or Truth" is what I'm seeking and my hope is that this title is reminiscent of the childhood game enough to summons the same feeling of giddiness associated with telling secrets to ones closest friends without fear of ridicule or punishment. I am aware that "Truth or Dare" was probably played more often among female friends at slumber parties and that in order to evoke the same sense of security "Truth or Truth" will also need to be self-sufficient rather than reliant on a borrowed theme.
I'm interested in truth because part of the reason I get out of bed in the morning is to see how many genuine connections I can make in a day. Truth isn't always easy to tell and when it is, goes unheard in most everyday interactions. I'm curious about how freely people will share their truth, but I am optimistic because as an individual with a dysfunctional filter on personal details, I know that truth feels good. I'm interested in helping people find their truth by asking questions that require more thought than a "would you rather" question or a statement of preference. The Ungame and The Book of Questions are amazing resources for these types of questions, but my hope is to begin with starter questions and let it naturally evolve into a conversation. I don't want it to turn into a confession; I want people to release the fear of judgment altogether.

I am meeting with my friend and collaborator Tori Abernathy to talk to her about launching the project at the final installation of her current space for Recess Gallery, but am also excited to see how I can still work on this with Brian Wilson as a more long-term project.

Winter Update

2010-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

In the grips of SAD, I was given a much-needed ray of light for which I am eternally grateful. Brian Wilson, of Tribute Gallery, whom I met as "Bookish Fellow" in Bus Stop Opera, sent me a message nudging me to call him regarding an idea I had spoke with him about. I had been playing with the idea of an interactive art piece called "Truth or Dare" in which I wear a sign or T-shirt that says "Truth or Dare" and give people roaming the streets downtown the opportunity to engage in a game with someone they don't know. I had abandoned the idea because I ran out of steam near the beginning of fall when I went from working part time to working full time, still teaching private drawing lessons and volunteering 7 hours a week. Since then I've widdled my volunteer time to 3.5 hours a week and totally abandoned anything resembling art, which is why I am more than excited to be thinking about this project again. Brian has offered to support me in any way he can, which includes the opportunity to "show" this piece as a part of his gallery. I am thrilled to do so.

I like the idea of "Truth or Dare" with strangers because I like that there will be the possibilty of genuine interaction should someone choose "Truth". In considering the "Dare" aspect, I am pretty willing to do what's asked of me, however unlike Marina Abramović, I'm not willing to put myself in danger. Honestly, I forsee showing my breasts as least once and kissing someone at least once. Someone gave me the idea of doing the piece as a group since there is safety in numbers. I like this idea.

There are a few logistical questions that come to mind with this as well. First, since I am already giving them the first round (by asking them "truth or dare" with a sign or T-shirt and ultimately I'll ask them out loud to get them to engage), do I ask them to return the favor before accepting the challenge or do I accept that I may be the only one giving free truths and dares? Second, do I always say truth since that's what I'm most interested in and what gave me the idea in the first place or do I decide based on who is accepting the challenge? And third, should I involve a photographer/videographer to document some or all of the interactions? Should I invest in a tape recorder? Ultimately I will answer all of these questions, but I would love feedback on this.

So what else have I been up to since July? I mentioned the volunteering; I've been helping out at the Children's Healing Art Project (CHAP) where I first worked in the Art Factory in the Pearl then transitioned into working at Doernbecher, which I am honored to be able to do since it's not an easy process. I've signed on for a year, which I am also thrilled about. I get to help the little ones and their parents/gaurdians make art projects with paint, beads, ornaments, clay and other supplies. I really enjoy the work as well as the FABULOUS people I work with.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before now - my good friend, Gary Waas, who is a talented painter, has been inviting me to share his studio space. We've worked together a number of times and may be able to do so again today. Thank you Gary!
I've also completed 3 portraits as gifts and am waiting on another photo so that I can do one more before Christmas.
I worked on a collaborative project with Dan Portis-Cathers, a gifted musician who came up with the idea to make music via my visual art and vise versa. We created two pieces and then Fall came. We're hoping to re-group sometime soon.
I drew 2 large female nudes, hoping to sell them; no such luck so far.
My website is back up and I'm in the midst of a re-vamp and re-name. I'll be trading a mural in the office of Brick House Project for their design of my site and new business cards and fliers.
Last but not least I cleared an entire wall in my apartment and will be putting up a sheet of PVC plasic for a smooth drawing surface. For now I'm using a closet door from the bedroom.

I was hoping to have photos when I posted, but I realized that was keeping me from posting since I've lost my camera cable so I'll post them when I can. Also, I've added a links section to the side of the blog where you'll find links to Brian, Dan, Gary, CHAP and many more. Once again, thank you for reading!

Website Down

2010-07-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hello My Dear Readers,

My website has been down for a few months and I am working on getting it back up. I will probably change the name of it but use the same URL to automatically redirect people to the new page.

Also, when I relaunch the site, I will have a better description on commission costs as well as a page designated for my drawing lessons. I now have several students willing to share their testimonies to my teaching abilities. Part if being an artist is shameless self-promotion and I intend to do just that!

Stay tuned for the the site and my apologies for its crash. Thank you for reading!

My Doernbecher proposal on Kickstarter

2010-06-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Dearest Readers,
I have decided to submit an idea to Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) since there was a lack of funding on the part of Doernbecher for the idea below. Kickstarter is a way for creative projects to raise funds by giving some fun incentives to people backing the project. It isn't officially a project yet, but as soon as it is I will post with further information. In the mean time I wanted to post the proposal I sent to Doernbecher to get any feedback you may have. (The photos at the end are of the actual wall in the lobby at the hospital with 16 past works of mine Photoshoped in). With no further ado:

Doernbecher Wall Project

Program Description: The lobby of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (DCH), with its animal sculptures greeting you at the entrance, the flock of birds leading you past the elevators and the metal mural spanning the windows that overlook the city, is an inviting and dynamic space. However it is missing something crucial: a physical representation of the children. I propose to create a “Collective Children’s Portrait” on the blank wall that faces the entrance in the back of the lobby. This project will feature a series of 16 portraits of children who have been treated or are currently being treated at Doernbecher. When the subjects have been chosen I would like to designate a portion of my website for this project and include profiles of each child. I will seek subjects who are willing to talk about their experience and who are willing to provide contact information. This way it becomes an interactive experience for those who wish to find a larger sense of community within the hospital. It will also serve as an authentic and inspiring collective voice that provides visitors and current patients the opportunity to make contact with someone who has undergone treatment. Included on the wall under the “collective portrait” I would like to include a plaque with a description of the project and the web address so people can easily access the experience.

Specifics:

Research
I will gather subjects for these portraits in 2 ways. First I will send an email requesting nominations from physicians in the Oncology department. Second, I would like to place framed inquiries at reception desks throughout the hospital. (Inquiries are yet to be designed and will be produced and placed when approved by Doernbecher staff).

In the event of a large surplus of responses, subjects will be selected based on willingness to participate in the website biography and potential interaction with future Doernbecher patients. In the event that portrait subjects and/or their parents do not wish to share their stories, contact information on the website can easily be excluded from the project.

The artwork
Each piece will be approx. 18 inches square. I will draw them in charcoal and pastel on canvas and stretch them on stretcher-boards. I will then spray them with poly-acrylic coating and UV fixative to ensure longevity. I will frame them without glass and install them at regular intervals on the wall to form a square grid. (See appendix C). I have chosen this formation as a way to represent each patient with equal importance. The square format of each individual piece when placed in a grid will form a larger square, representing the value of each patient in forming a cohesive yet dynamic treatment center.

I will draw these portraits from photos. Ideally, each child will choose his or her photo and can choose from the colors red, orange, yellow or brown. In order to convey energy, emotion and evolution, I will maintain a warm color palette with cool colors as background accents.

The website experience
When the subjects have been selected, I will meet with them in person and gather their story in the way the subject would like to tell it. This could mean through a direct interview, through an essay or painting or through a parent’s perspective. Each finished piece will be accompanied by this biography and the family’s contact information whenever possible.

Installation
The pieces will be nailed to the wall to ensure stability. They will be meticulously measured to maintain cohesiveness.

Duration:
Research and portrait subject gathering 2 months
Portrait Production 3 months
Portrait subject Interviews 3 months (may extend into after installation)
Installation 1-2 days
Plaque Creation 10-15 days
Total Approx 5-6 Months

Number of Participants:
1 artist/researcher
16 subjects (40-80 included for family willing to be contacted via website)
1 framing technician
5-10 potential volunteers for research, installation and production

Audio/Visual to review:
See Appendix C
For examples of my work, please view my website at www.prodigycharcoal.com

Production team:
Amy Mfuni, research and art
Colin Ahrens, installation
Unnamed potential volunteers

Estimated Expense:
100+ Research hours N/C
16 portraits N/C
Materials $200
Framing $1600
Website $1000
Installation N/C
Plaque Engraving $100
Total $2,900

Preferred start date: As soon as approved.

Contact: Amy Mfuni
971.222.6599
www.prodigycharcoal.com
1836 SE Tibbetts st
Portland, OR 97202

Appendix B

The following is a sample letter to be sent to physicians requesting nominations for subjects:

Subject: Request for Lobby Art Nomination

Dear Dr. Russell,

I will be creating a series of portraits in the Doernbecher lobby featuring children who have been treated by physicians like you. I have been given the opportunity to learn about 16 unique children, record their experiences and draw their portrait for this installation. More specifically, I am seeking children and their families who are interested in allowing certain contact information to be made public so that future patients are able to connect with them personally.

I am writing to ask if you would like to nominate a child for this project. As I am aware of patient confidentiality, all I ask is that you either forward this message or give my contact information to someone who is open to sharing their treatment experience. Additionally, if you have any questions or would like to have a full project description before making your nomination, don’t hesitate to ask. The following is my contact info and website:

Phone: (971) 222-6599
Email: amy.louise.pdx@gmail.com
Website: www.prodigycharcoal.com

Thank you so much for your time,
Amy Mfuni

Appendix C

May I Draw You?

2010-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Quite a lot has gone on since my last blog so here is a very abbreviated version:
One of my fabulous students has decided to take private lessons with me on a weekly basis. We meet for two hours and in one month she has already shown lots of improvement. I have decided to seek more students and have begun advertising with fliers and emails. I am offering lessons for $15 an hour or $10 for a group session with 2 or more people.
I had an opening at 77 Salon on First Thursday in May and it had a wonderful turnout. It featured framed pieces from the drawings I completed in Peru as well as some watercolor/charcoal portraits that I'll be producing more of in person throughout the summer at Last Thursdays.
I picked up my cello again after a 12 year hiatus and participated in a "Bus Stop Opera," which you can learn all about at www.busstopopera.com. I have also played in a recital with my cousin, Kylee Jacobsen, for her classmate Zachary Edwards. His piece is BEAUTIFUL and a version of it can be heard at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Store-Bought-Robot/30640830681. I believe we'll be recording a polished version sometime in the near future but haven't heard anything so I cannot be sure. Additionally, Kylee (guitar and vocals) and my friend Erin Kurtz (accordion) and I will begin meeting rather frequently this summer to put a set together where we'll perform throughout the city. I'll keep everyone posted on this.
3 months ago I submitted a proposal to Doernbecher Children's Hospital to gain permission to do a series of portraits on a blank wall in the lobby. I was turned down due to lack of funding (for framing). Recently, however, I spoke with one of the Oncology doctors about the idea and he seemed to like the idea. He said he would look into it further. I'll post a separate blog with the proposal - I would also like to submit it through Kickstarter and see if I can drum up some interest.
Lastly, I went out to waterfront today with paper, pencils, pastels and a sign that said "May I draw you?" and sat down in the middle of the huge festival crowd. I offered a free drawing in exchange for a photo of the subject and their final piece. I had 7 takers and here they are:

I love this exercise for a number of reasons: People receive an original portrait, it is great practice for me, I get to interact with people and it puts me in an artistic space mentally and emotionally. My favorite reason, however, is that people don't often get the opportunity to be drawn and they soon find out what an intimate experience it is. I am staring directly at them, for quite a time directly into their eyes. Most of my subjects today didn't want to talk for fear of moving around too much (except for the 2 really young ones, who moved around but were least inhibited about staring straight back at me) so we were left to look at each other and only each other. There were hundreds of people walking around in the periphery, yet our attention was focused on each other - and we were perfect strangers. It felt like genuine non-verbal connection and it was uniquely beautiful.

Coincidences

2010-03-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have noticed two coincidences recently, both were a result of my own doing without involving any conscious thought. I found them interesting (they don't have much more significance than that) so have decided to post them.

#1
I drew a practice piece while in Haiti that I drew a much larger and complex version of when I returned. Both pieces have an unintentional scrape-like mark with the same diagonal slant that goes from about the middle and top of the pieces to the bottom, right third of the pieces. They aren't visible unless you see them from the correct angle - they have to be in the right light.

#2
When I went to Haiti one of the few souvenirs I took home for myself was a paper mache rooster. I ended up with a paper mache rooster mask from Peru...

Drawing Class

2010-03-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ten wonderful people came to my free drawing class tonight! I am overjoyed at the opportunity to teach the skill that has brought me so much joy for so many years. It seemed like people enjoyed themselves and I hope they feel at least a little more empowered. I have always felt a little like a fake because I was taught very specific skills and have just repeated them with my own style. My hope over the course of the next two months is to share some of those skills and dispel the myth that drawing is a magical ability the some people have and others don't. I truly believe that anyone can learn to draw. If you are one of the 10 that came tonight, I just want to thank you again for coming!

Haiti Tent Search

2010-02-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hello All! I am blogging today to tell you about a meeting I've planned and have been doing some canvassing for. I spoke with my friend in Haiti, Duckens, and he has informed me that what people will be needing most urgently in the the near future are temporary living spaces - aka tents - in order to stay dry during the upcoming rainy season. The meeting I am holding will be a planning/brainstorming session on the best way to gather and send as many tents as possible as soon as possible. Please come be a part of the solution:

What: Tent's for Haiti Planning meeting - refreshments included!
Where: People's Co-op on SE 21st and Tibbetts st
When: Monday Feb 15th at 5:30pm
Questions?: Contact me at 971.222.6599 or email amy.louise.pdx@gmail.com

Thank you!

MFA Videos

2010-01-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

I have begun asking people about the significance of what they are wearing. I was hesitant to start this process because I thought that, with the saturation of canvassers around Portland, I would be faced with immediate rejection. So instead of going onto the streets I began asking while working at my job at Clackamas Town Center. My job (www.gliffik.com) involves a process of exploration on computers in order for people to create their own personalized product. In the past week, traffic through the store and even the mall during my shifts has been minimal, so people who frequent the mall have come to know the store as a place where they can come in to check their email while been chatted up with a sales pitch.

I didn't even expect to start the process but then two teenagers came in. One of them, Ellie (I don't know how she spells her name) was gregarious and obviously passionate about interacting with people. She asked me many questions and told me about herself. I welcomed her positive spirit. It dawned on me after she and her friend had been in the store for about 10 minutes that they were in no hurry and that I had to ask them if I could include them in my project. They happily agreed! I was immediately nervous at having to put myself and my voice on tape (performance anxiety) and I was even able to discuss my fear with Ellie. She was encouraging and sweet. I may see her again as I gave her the information on drawing class.

The next person to enter the store was a man wearing what most people would stereotype as cowboy wear. He had been in before and had come in to check his email. I made the false assumption after a quick sales pitch that since he wasn't interested in the store, he wouldn't necessarily be interested in interacting. I was proved wrong when he began asking me questions. I have no problem with offering up personal information when asked for it so we soon entered into an exchange about who we are and I was eventually able to request his participation in my video. I also told him about my interest in focusing on community development through art and we ended up exchanging information with the possibility of future collaboration.

I am liking how this is going. Although I don't expect nor can commitment to future involvement with everyone I meet, I suspect that I am not alone in my longing for genuine interaction and that I'm happy to see were these interactions will take me.

Art Class

2010-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

All of this introspection and recent interpersonal communication between myself and people I do not know (in preparation for my MFA application) has lead me to an all-new conclusion: The older I get, the more shy I become. While it may not appear this way to people who are close to me, there is a marked difference between the way I am able to relate to people now and the way I did even 5 years ago. While performance anxiety has always been a factor, it has crept into my daily interpersonal interactions and this is deeply disturbing for me.

It was brought to my attention about a month ago by a co-worker who noticed my discomfort in role-playing a routine customer interaction. Upon hearing this I began to reflect. While I am confident in my ability to relate and in my knowledge-base in an honest and genuine fashion, I become practically paralyzed when faced with providing information in an organized and coherent way, i.e. giving a sales pitch or leading a group.

I am determined to conquer this, which is why I have signed up to teach a drawing class at People's Co-op on 21st and Tibbetts on these dates: Feb 1, 8, 15, Mar 1, 8, 15 and Apr 12, 19 and 26. It starts at 5pm and goes for an hour.

Meanwhile, I am gratefully hurled into the task of getting video of complete strangers explaining to me the significance of what they are wearing. This is one of the three videos I will be taping to submit for my MFA application. Stay tuned for Youtube URLs of these videos.

MFA thoughts

2010-01-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

I've been writing my MFA application for the Social Practice program at PSU and would love feedback if anyone has any. The following are my initial thoughts.

As a Social Practice artist, my goal is to create an art community that incorporates service. This could mean forming a group of some sort or newly defining an existing community. In defining community I would like to play sociologist by interviewing people to make a basic analysis about how people view themselves within their existing community and what they feel works and/or fails.

I am interested in how people feel connected to, rejected by or unaffected by their community for 2 reasons. First, because I have an unexamined belief that as an artist I am destined to be separate from “my community” and worse, be unable to provide service through art. Because of this I have not previously pursued art as a career. Second, I have a basic belief that when people feel a sense of community they are more likely to take responsibility for their role within it and are more likely to contribute in a positive way.

To my pre-project eye, many people appear to fall into community unexpectedly and participate in it as an individual who has been caught in the midst of it, e.i. as a student or employee. They are part of a community but don’t necessarily feel a sense of community. In my experience, a sense of community is elusive unless sought after and when found is volatile.

Additionally, I have found “service” to be elusive as well. What’s actually involved in providing a service is sometimes far less time-consuming or responsibility-laden than what the term implies. For instance, the very act of interviewing people and beginning a dialog that prompts critical thinking can be considered a service. In gaining my MFA, I would like to define service in a way that is more easily accessible to the public and find ways for my art community to communicate this through art.

I've also been thinking about how I can make the concept of community-building an art form in itself so the general public can get involved because Art with a capital "A" can be intimidating to many people...

Back Home

2009-11-29T22:05:00.000-08:00

I was going to write a detailed description of our adventure into the jungle and our 4-day trip home, but suddenly an entire month has passed. The details have all but slipped away. The entire trip has turned into a feeling more than a memory so I'll start with how I felt during my 3-day jungle stint.
The first feeling associated with it was excitement. I had been turned down for the coordinator job and getting away was a welcome reprieve for two reasons. I was ready for a get-away after being in Cusco for a month a half and I discovered that I was utterly homesick and the jungle trip was for the express reason to see a coffee farm. I missed "real" coffee terribly after all the Nescafe and syrupy coffee substitutes and I felt that seeing where coffee comes from would bring me home a touch sooner - a stretch, but still an incentive.
The second feeling was total disappointment as getting on the bus I realized I had left my camera at the room. I swallowed my tears and decided it was okay. Going without a camera was still better than not going.
The third feeling was nausea - the windy road was long and uncomfortable - then terrifying. The second leg of our trip was on a tiny road on the face of a cliff where cars flew by leaving visibility around 20% with how much dust was kicked up. The climate had changed from cold in the morning and pleasantly temperate during the day to muggy all the time and swarming with mosquitoes. Our car broke down half way to our destination and we had the choice between walking the rest of the way at the risk of being run over or squeezed into a subaru wagon with 7 other people. We chose to be squeezed.
We felt warmly welcomed by Norma's family as soon as we reached the small town and after a nap we were escorted to her uncle Siro's coffee farm. We found out soon that Siro grew most of his vegetables and all of his fruits on the farm as well and had a few chickens running around. He gave us a little tour of the farm and showed me the process he went through harvesting, shelling and drying the coffee. I picked up a little disposable camera and got a lovely photo of him with a freshly roasted batch of coffee that I will post as soon as a can. On the whole it was a wonderful experience save for the mosquitoes eating Colin alive.
On the way back down the dusty, death road there was more barfing in the seat ahead of me. I cannot escape it...
It was a mad dash home after our excursion even though it took many legs. I cried like a baby saying goodbye to Daisy and said my goodbyes to the wonderful people I saw on a regular basis. The trip back to Lima took 24 hours this time but we stopped 3 times during all of which we were allowed to exit the bus. We spent the night in Lima and from there flew to Columbia where we had an 8 hour layover. From there we flew to Vancouver BC. We stayed the night in BC and had a tasty Chinese food dinner then hopped on the train down to Lacey where Colin's mom lives. The next morning my friend Marianne drove up with her fiance to drive us the rest of the way home to Portland.
After so much travel, the following two weeks left me with an overall sense of stress surround the whole trip. Now that we're back, have moved into our own little apartment together and acquired jobs, looking back is a more pleasant experience. I'm surprisingly happy to be back despite the trip's abrupt end. I'm filled with gratitude for little things like toilet seats and salads as well as the not-so-little things like infrastructure and heat. I'm also surprised at how much a appreciate coffee shops, especially Stumptown Coffee and the Ugly Mug. Wow their lattes are amazing.
I hope to complete the remaining Peru series by the end of this year and begin sending my work off to various shows. Like my trip to Haiti, I have returned with renewed inspiration to go back to school, however unlike my last return, I have already begun writing my entrance essays. I hope you will all stay tuned for upcoming posts on my new project idea. I'll have an outline by the end of this week!

Not To Stay

2009-10-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

It wasn't meant to be. I didn't get the job. We'll be home in November.

To Stay Or Not To Stay

2009-10-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

I must begin with apologies for taking so long in between blogs (sorry Aunt Jean). I have been preoccupied with making yet another difficult decision. A couple weeks ago, my teacher took me to an art museum that shows art done by Andina children. It belongs to a non-profit organization that goes deep into the Andes where there are extremely poor towns. There they teach the children a few basic art techniques and organize many different types of projects. These projects teach the children about art, but also about different subjects. Most importantly it serves as an esteem booster. I fell in love with the program and its mission and realized that this is ultimately the type of organization I would like to work for (you can find out more on their website: www.aylluyupaychay.org). At about the same time I happened upon a job opportunity at Maximo Nivel, Cusco's largest language school. The school also has an international program that certifies teachers in TEFL and places visitors in volunteer projects. The job I found is a field manager position for the international program. In short, I would be providing information about the program via email inquiries, giving orientations to incoming volunteers/teachers and doing site visits to all the volunteer projects. Sounds like an easy choice, right? It's the perfect job for me. The hard part is in the fact that it requires an 18 month commitment. I have applied, had 3 interviews and have been told that I am one of the strongest candidates. After a good amount of soul-searching, I feel like the experience the job would provide is priceless and that I would sincerely enjoy the work. What sealed the deal though, is the fact that by living here for a year and a half and receiving free daily Spanish lessons I will become fluent. That, coupled with the coordination and time-management experience, I will no doubt find a job in the non-profit sector when I return home. It is the perfect time for me to fulfill my life-long dream of residing in a country outside the US for an extended period of time. Add to this that I've made some wonderful friends and I have an incredibly supportive and understanding boyfriend; I'm sure I want to stay. I will know by the beginning of next week whether or not I have the job.
So what have I been doing besides pondering? Quite a lot. I have become really close to a delightful young woman named Daysi. She turned 27 on Thursday and, being me, I forgot. To make it up to her I gifted her with the flower triptych and took her out dancing last night. Daysi is beautiful, intelligent and always smiling. She is studying English at Maximo Nivel and works in the customer relations sector of the Peruvian government. Our communication is mostly in Spanish, which is encouraging for me. She is interested in finding an apartment with Colin and I so she can keep me company when Colin is gone. Colin is still planning on working in Alaska for 3 months at a time, his commute will just be a little longer than before.

I have another friend whom I met through my Spanish teacher. Her name is Ruth and we get together at least 3 times a week for a language exchange. She's studying to work in the tourist industry and knows a lot of English, she just needs some practice.

Meanwhile, my teacher Norma and I have become close as well. Last week she invited us to her house to cook. Colin jumped at the opportunity to use a real kitchen and made a delicious feast of pork, squash and mixed vegetables.
Due to my full social calendar, I haven't been walking with Colin as much as I'd like, but I've gotten a few walks in and saw many more gorgeous sights.

The cacti are now in bloom in the mountains. Wow.

I have done 3 drawings in the past two weeks. Not as much as I would like, but I plan on drawing Daysi tomorrow. The following drawing is of a lovely young lady whom I met with a group of her friends. I was sitting on a park bench, drawing, when their interest was sparked. They were giggly and complimentary of my work, exclaiming how my drawing looked like a real person. They all wanted me to draw them so I let them choose who got the honors. Bereshith (pronounced Bear-eh-sheet) was it. She later explained to me that her name means Genesis in Hebrew. She sat very still and look at me intently while I drew her. There was much chatter going on in the background.

Bereshith is second from the right in the pink sweatshirt:

After some group photos they wanted me to take a photo of Anali alone because she was wearing their school uniform. They are proud of their school and made sure I knew the name of it. It's called Virgin de Fatima San Sebastian.

No matter what I'm doing, whether I'm alone or I'm deep in conversation, people come talk to me, usually to sell me something. Tourism is down by a lot right now and the vendors get pretty aggressive, maddeningly so sometimes. I welcome the company when I'm alone though because it gives me an opportunity to practice my Spanish. On one such occasion, I met a boy named Espencer. I bought a card from him and he agreed to meet me the following day so I could draw him. Unfortunately we didn't meet again, but I managed to take his photo.

I've been attempting to draw from my head. With practice I will improve.

Why did I choose green and blue?! The black and white version is decent I suppose...

There was a little dance festival in the plaza closest to my house where I saw 3 traditional dances.

That night the sunset was incredible.

I also found a small job painting ceramics. The final products are gorgeous and the artists working there are all very talented. One of them is a professor at Cusco's art college, Bellas Artes and the owner is in his first year of art classes there. He's a kind man with a great sense of humor and he values the individual styles of his employees. I have only worked there twice. The last time I was there, there was a mini-twister strong enough that it blew the entire tin roof off the studio. The roof was not small either. We were all pretty shaken. I finished a vase and started another. I plan to return on Monday to complete my work but will only continue going back if I don't get the job with Maximo Nivel.

Long story short, I want to stay.

Lessons

2009-09-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

I met Luis on Saturday and we drew each other again. I like this drawing better than the rest and I am going to attempt all of my future drawings in the same style.

Luis gifted me with the oil painting he completed of me.

While I was nearing completion of Luis' portrait, a woman came by and asked if I could draw her son and how much it would cost. I had no idea what to charge, especially since I'd never drawn a squirmy one-year-old from life before. Luis said 20 soles (about US $6.50) would be reasonable and she said she had only brought 10. Truth be told, I was just happy to have a willing model – getting paid was a bonus. I agreed to the price and got started. The boy's mother's name was Rosaria, but I can't remember the young man's name for the life of me. Rosaria danced around behind me for the 20 minutes it took me to get close to a resemblance and her son seemed thoroughly amused. As soon as 20 minutes was up, however, he was ready to go.

A funny thing happened. Rosaria asked me if I could baptize her son, thereby becoming his Godmother. I thought it strange that she would ask such an important role of a stranger, but I was flattered and caught off guard so I agreed. Later, (and luckily) my Spanish teacher told me that this is a common occurrence. Peruvians will ask tourists if they will be Godparents to their children then politely reminding them on the day of of their obligation: to buy a nice outfit and an expensive gift. Often times, afterwards, the said tourists would then receive numerous emails of phone calls throughout the years requesting money for their Godchild. Clever, no?

I can't say for sure if this was Rosaria's intention, however the odds are not in her favor. She was polite and ind and gushed over her new drawing, with which she paid a $50 bill, 40 more than she had said she brought with her. I gave her $40 in change and agreed to go to church with her the following Sunday. I will politely decline her offer when she contacts me through Luis.
That day we went for another gorgeous walk and we encountered a graveyard. It was heartrending for me to find out that they decorated the gavemarker’s with plastic bags.

On Sunday, while I knew I should go for a walk, I had promised myself to get more drawing in. So Colin begrudgingly set out on a solo hike and I stayed in the room and completed 2 of 3 pieces (the 3rd I finished later that night). I had picked a bouquet of dried flowers on our walk the day before. I am happy with the individual pieces by I love the way they look as a triptych.

Monday Colin took me to where he had gone by himself and on the way back I met Brigit, a chatty, beautiful, nine-year-old. She asked for candy but settled for a few centimos and happily agreed to a photo with me. Today I completed a portrait from the photo.

She accompanied us for a bit of our hike asking me questions about myself and Colin. I'm getting to the point in my Spanish where I can understand about 75% of what is said at any given time and I can respond with about 75% coherency. This simply means that I grasp the theories and many of the tenses, but in practice I have troubles. What I do use however, seems to come out pretty clear and I usually receive positive feedback.
Meanwhile, since we don’t have use of the family’s kitchen, we’ve built one of our own and have found that it works quite nicely. Lucky for me, Colin enjoys the challenge of producing good food with very little equipment. Often times it’s cheaper to by dinner than to buy the ingredients to make it, but breakfast is cheaper to make.

I have more to write, but this a getting a bit long-winded. I'll leave you with some mini-lessons we have learned the hard way:
1. Refuse any offers for God-parenthood.
2. Watch for poop, it's everywhere.
3. Bring toilet paper where ever you go, there will be none unless you´re in someone's house.
4. Patita is not a type of vegetable or fruit, it is cow's feet (yes, I ate cow's feet for lunch one day, it was prepared with peanut butter and it was delicious).
5. Don't listen to the cab drivers, they'll over-charge and misinform.
6. Don't touch the top of an electric shower head.
7. “Artists” selling their work downtown probably aren´t selling their own work unless you can verify it by seeing them working.
8. Be wary of the dogs.
9. Wash anything and everything you put in your mouth.
10. “No, gracias” are magic words when you are met with offers for expensive massages every 5 feet.

Adventures

2009-09-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

I could sense the intruders approaching but I can't take all the credit. Sra. Betsy gave the first warning call and it was moments later that I saw the crowns of their strangely colored heads. There were 2 of them. I tried to stay calm but Sra. Betsy was terrified and her fear was too contagious to resist. The senora shouted over and over through her white hair, “Get out!” I think it was all she could muster
The intruders continued their approach. Slowly they took step after step up toward my precious haven, my family's house. I decided it was time to make my voice heard.

“You should leave,” I said gruffly, “you're not wanted here.”

The intruders averted their eyes and kept walking. One of them said, “it's okay,” and like a stupid, mindless robot the other one chimed in, “it's okay, okay.”
“If you don't leave something back will happen!” I was yelling now and the intruders, recklessly bold, continued their ascent. They were passing me now and I was becoming livid. I couldn't even speak. I was in disbelief. I was, however, glad to see the shorter one step away from my dwelling. She told me they were just passing. If that's the case, I thought, then what is that strange smell emanating from you? I didn't recognize their emotion and once again I was frightened. I knew I couldn't trust them.

I began yelling again, directly behind them, “Just get out of here! You're not welcome! Hurry up and leave!” I didn't want to hurt them but I knew I could if I had to.

They jumped but then they just ignored me. They didn't look my way and kept climbing the stairs at the same pace, passed my dwelling.

Meanwhile, Sra. Betsy, too frightened to do anything, had slinked off to her abode, cowardly as always. I could have used the back-up, but I have always been able to take care of myself.

As the intruders climbed, slowly and insultingly, away from my house, I could feel my heart rate returning to normal. The burn of such blatant disrespect continued, however and I couldn't help myself.

“You ugly monsters! Why don't you just leave us alone? If you ever come back you'll regret it!”

I followed them to the top, muttering profanities and warning them of what would happen if they did come back. They walked quickly to the left and didn't look back. I was satisfied with my work. They would not return.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I knew after we had passed the enormous Black Lab with the deep threatening bark and his white, small-but-viciuos companion doggy, that we should have taken a different route up the stairs, but by then it was too late and turning back was probably more dangerous than continuing on. After so much stress, the walk up to the ruin, Rumiwasi on the windy dirt road was unnerving. I felt unwelcome, like a trespasser. We passed three groups of students in a surveying class and instead of making eye contact and saying “hi” like usual, I kept my eyes on the ground. Colin, who'd been equally nervous, tried to make me feel more comfortable by chattering a little, but I was still a grump. I just wanted to be somewhere I knew we belonged and when we reached Rumiwasi I knew we were there. The sky had been threatening rain during our much-too-expensive taxi ride across town as well as on our ascent up to the ruins, but when we arrived the sun peeked through the clouds, shooting rays across the sky. It was too beautiful for words.

The stress of the walk was worth it and we returned to our room feeling as though we had conquered Cerebus.

Yesterday was a different and much shorter adventure. I met with my new friend, Luis. We had met once before and I learned that he is from Lima and he left his family there to travel Peru so he could paint and draw. He is 26, has been studying art for 4 years and is learning English in conjunction with his art classes. He is a kind soul, eager to learn and to share his work. He is very talented. He draws with pencil, charcoal and pastel and paints with watercolor and oil. His subjects are people and landscapes.
On our first meeting, despite having brought my supplies, I was more interested in the language exchange (okay, and too lazy to draw). We exchanged questions and learned some new rules in our second languages.
Yesterday, however, we buckled down and drew each other at the same time. I am happy with the result.

Luis said he wanted to give me the drawing he did of me, but I was late for class when we finished and he said he'd keep it for me until we meet again tomorrow. We'll be doing more drawing and chatting.

Art...Finally

2009-09-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was very productive. I woke up cold and after studying a few irregular past tense verbs under the covers, I decided it was time to go to the park and get some drawing done. I needed to finish the second cemetery piece that I was previously unable to finish because I had misplaced my fine-tipped eraser (it had been hiding in the underside of the plastic of my charcoal container), and spray all my completed pieces.

The day before yesterday we had gone downtown and found a willing subject that sat for 30 minutes for 15 soles (US $5). She spoke Chichwa with her comrades and daughter so I couldn't understand how she felt about her drawing. I've found that it is quite convenient to sit directly in front of the subject so they stay entertained by watching me draw.

So I sat down at the park touching up my cemetery piece and a boy came along pushing his sister on a mini-car and plopped down in front of me to watching me draw. I was finished with the old piece and promptly asked him if I could draw his face. He excitedly agreed and picked the color he wanted to be drawn in. Once again it came in handy that he was able to watch. His name was Julio and he was 10. I could hardly believe the patience of those two children! His 1-year-old sister sat contentedly on her mini-car, looking around and giving me a sweet smile every now and then. Julio sat still and watched me draw. After about 15 minutes I could tell he was getting a bit antsy so I asked him questions in my broken Spanish to pass the remaining 5 minutes. I learned that his favorite subject in school is math and that he would be helping cook a birthday dinner for his aunt.

After drawing Julio I took out a photo I had printed and began drawing a new piece. A family came and asked me questions and told me how talented I am – I'm beginning to have a big ego.

As I was drawing my last piece of the day, a young man approached me as well. His name is Luis and he is a student of art and English. He asked if I was interested in being his conversation partner and I happily agreed. I asked if I could draw his portrait as well and he asked if he could draw mine. We are meeting in the park today to chat in our respective languages and to do some drawing. I made a friend!

Yesterday afternoon Colin and I went on a hike to a part of the city we’d never seen before. We followed some train tracks to a dead end and saw yet another stunning view of Cusco.

Irresponsibly, I got a nasty sunburn as well but it could be worse. We went to bed at 8pm last night. We’ve been in bed and asleep by 9:30 or earlier every night and we get up around 6:30. I can’t remember the last time I got this much sleep – or for that matter was even able to sleep this much. I will not question it.

Let me add here that we don´t have internet at the house so I can only use the internet at school, which has a limited number of computers. It has been quite an experience having such limited use of the internet and having no cell phone. I can´t say that I like it yet, but I´m getting there.

Friday

2009-09-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

On our second day in Cusco, we decided we liked it so much we wanted to stay for a month. The town is beautiful, the people are exceedingly friendly, the weather is nice, and the selection of outdoor activities just outside town is practically endless. So we walked, breathlessly from the altitude, around town looking for a safe hostel with reasonable monthly rates. We found one, paid a refundable reservation deposit to William, the clerk and returned to our room feeling like we somehow made a mistake. The room we had found was big enough and had its own bathroom, hot water and all, but the hostel itself seemed run-down and we had been rushed into giving a deposit. We made a quick internet search and confirmed our gut feeling. The first ad I found offered the same amenities for half the price, but was located a little farther from downtown. We called on it and were pleasantly surprised to be able to see it that evening. We met a very nice couple, Janet and Carlos, 4 blocks from our hostel and accompanied them 4 blocks further to their house with a huge room with a private bath for $100 a month. We slept on it, but knew we'd be staying with the family. The following morning we checked out of our hostel and moved into our new room.

On the way to the room I saw one of the many signs advertising Spanish lessons and decided to check it out. It's a small school run by a couple, Norma is the teacher and her husband, Rik (from Holland) runs the administrative side of the business. Norma has 12 years of Spanish teaching experience and takes her job very seriously. The said I could return that evening for a free sample lesson. Before the sample lesson, I wanted to check another school out to compare and ended up being completely ignored by the school just down the road. I signed up with Norma immediately after the sample and having been thorough impressed and pleased with the 4 classes I've taken. The attractive price of $6 per private lesson is just an added bonus.
Since we decided to stay somewhere aside from the hostel, we made our way back downtown to retrieve our deposit. To make a long story short, William kept telling us to come back on different days at different times. He even told us to come back twice in one day and wasn't even there when we returned in the evening. We returned 5 times before he actually paid us and he only paid us because Janet came with us and threatened to tell the ministry of tourism. The amount was relatively small, but it came down to the principal of it and we wanted to prevent it from happening to anyone else.
With the exception of yesterday, we've been going on a daily hike (or constitutional, as Colin calls it) up to the mountains. From basically any point in the city you can find a set of steep stairs that will eventually take you into the wilderness. The city is surrounded by mountains.

About 15 minutes away by a route we discovered a couple days ago, there's an Incan ruin that overlooks the city. The views from the mountains are incredible.
We walked passed the ruins into the mountains and it was as if we had totally escaped civilization. The faint sound of the road can be heard from time to time, but during the majority of the hike we were serenaded by birds and insects. We couldn't identify the smell in the air, but it was sweet and rich, a far cry from the city streets, which constantly stink of llama and dog poop.

There are dogs everywhere, stray and domestic. The are often seen engaged in high-anxiety turf wars – it seems that each stoop has its own self-appointed guard dog. You'll find mixes of all varieties also, my favorite being the normal sized body guys with short, stumpy legs.
Food is delicious and cheap outside the tourist center. If you go to a market where the locals shop and eat or venture outside city center as few as 3 blocks you can find hole-in-the-wall restaurants serving large meals for as little as US .66. We've become huge fans of the Peruvian empanada, a meat or sweet-filled pastry with either pie-like or flaky dough.

So what happened to the art? Between getting situated, hiking, studying and wasting time trying to retrieve funds, it has somehow gotten pushed aside. I have, however, managed to sneak one drawing in. On our third day here we ventured into town to find a subject. I had no idea how to go about asking someone if I could draw them, but them I met Chanty. He was a musician from Arequipa, sitting in the plaza with flutes and music for sale. He was extremely friendly and personable and he eventually made the offer to allow me to draw him if I bought a CD. (Sadly, I haven't been able to listen to his CD yet as I have no access to a CD player). I jumped at the opportunity and told him to make himself comfortable and to not worry about holding still. That's exactly what he did and it was just the challenge I was looking for. Numerous people came up to talk to him and a few crowds formed to watch me draw during the 30-45 minutes in too me to create a resemblance. I was happy with my product and thanked my subject, who also seemed satisfied with the result.
Unfortunately, as I was walking back to the room, I smudged the piece before I sprayed it. I'm not nearly as satisfied with the final product but I touched up as best I could and it's all I have...

I'm sure that most, if not all of my subjects will expect payment, which I'm perfectly happy to give, but the task of seeking more subjects and putting a price on their graciousness and patience is extremely daunting. I don't feel right about drawing the without their knowledge – I'd feel like a kid trying to steal candy from the neighborhood store. After a morning of studying and blogging, I am about to set out to tackle another drawing.

Cusco

2009-08-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while I packed and waited for Colin to find a hostel, I did a quick practice piece on the correct side of the canvas and sprayed it. It worked even better than what I had been using at home! It’s a water-based polyurethane.

We said goodbye to our host, Super Randy, at the Magdelen House and set out for Cusco.

We were somehow led to the executive waiting area at the bus stop, which unfortunately was not a foreshadowing of the trip to come. The bus itself wasn’t so bad (we took a bus line called Civa), the seats were comfortable to sit in and we were close to a TV, which strangely enough, was playing Jewish music subtitled in what we guessed to be Yiddish as we waited for the bus to leave the station. We were happy to find that the movies they showed were subtitled in English. The seats didn’t fold back very far and I didn’t sleep much at all through the night because the roads were extremely windy, but I got a few hours in. As soon as morning came, however, the woman across from us began throwing up and didn’t stop for the entire remaining 7 hours to Cusco. Her young daughter joined in soon after. Needless to say, with my phobia of vomiting along with a splitting headache I woke up with from the change in altitude, I was completely stressed and miserable. We spent 23 hours on that bus with only one opportunity to get off about 2 hours before arriving at our destination. I did get some beautiful photos though.

Once again, Colin did a great job finding a hostel. It’s called Samay Wasi. It’s close to the main plaza and the view from our quaint little room is gorgeous. The staff here is friendly as well, but we’ve only had one encounter with them.

We had pizza for dinner and walked around Cusco. The town is so beautiful!

I’m beyond glad we came here instead of staying in Lima. I'm surprised at how affected I am at the altitude though. We have a series of steep stairs to climb to get to our hostel and I had to stop at about every 6 to 10 steps. I'll get used to it I'm sure. We’re still deciding on whether or not to find me some Spanish lessons and stay in town for a while or to go straight to the farm. We have all day tomorrow to make our decision. For now I’m just grateful to have a stationary bed to sleep in.

No Bolivia

2009-08-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

After finding out that it costs US$180 for a 90 day Bolivian visa, our main destination has been taken off the list. We´ve also decided to go to Cusco rather than stay in Lima. I got a hold of our Peruvian farming contact and we will be farming in a matter of days. We don´t know what to expect of the farm, but having a place to stay in the wilderness for an extended period of time with physical activity involved sounds extremely appealing. From what the locals and the trusty Lonely Planet guide says, Cusco has more to offer tourists like ourselves. In an hour we will board a bus scheduled to arrive in Cusco in 23 hours. We´ll stay for at least 2 nights in Cusco and probably head to the farm after that. We can´t wait to see what the city has in store for us!

Wednesday

2009-08-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

It is our second day in Peru and we are considering looking into spending a month in our fabulous hostel and finding a Spanish class. We found out today that the price of the hostel includes breakfast and with free wifi and the low cost of food we feel it would be an economical and informative choice. Without studying, I will learn Spanish at a snail’s pace since it’s so easy to simply stay in my own little world with Colin. We haven’t yet looked into Spanish classes so it’s not set in stone, but it would also be a great way to form more relationships and gain models for my portraits. I’m finding it extremely difficult to jump straight from drawing from photos to drawing living, moving scenes. In the mean time I finally finished my first drawing at the cemetery.

Foolishly, we went to the US Embassy today. We could have gotten all the information we received online and were told to go to the Bolivian Embassy, but it wasn’t a total bust because on the way back we stopped at an ACE Hardware and found spray fixative and tape. On our way back to our hostel we stopped for some fruit and were introduced to granadillas. They’re like pomagranates in that they consist of juicy seeds but the juice is similar to an unsweetened melon and the seeds are easier to eat. They are delicious.

Later we went to a market where I got some little gifts for my girlfriends and fried plantains and Colin got some more of the thumb-sized bananas that we’ve been munching on for the last week. I tested out the fixative I got and only learned that it soaks into the canvas if I use the wrong side so I’ll do another test piece on the correct side tomorrow. Conveniently, I can spray my pieces on the roof without bothering anyone and there’s a covered area I can store them until they dry so I don’t have to stink up the room.

We’re going to spend the rest of our evening researching the Bolivian Visa situation and finding out if we can get a hold of the Pervian farm we’ve been fruitlessly attempting to contact.

Written Yesterday, August 25th

2009-08-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Lima at 5:30 am after a sleepless redeye flight. Colin booked a Hostel in a part of town called Magdelena and had received an email asking when we would like to be picked up from the airport. He told them to be there at 7. At 7:45 with no sign-weilding taxi driver in sight we decided to take up one of the pushy drivers begging to drive us where ever we wanted. We bargained for a price that was still higher than we wanted and I chatted with the driver in my broken Spanish until the taxi arrived. About 3 minutes down the road our driver asked us for the number to our hostel. He asked them if they had reservations but didn’t ask our names and told us they didn’t have any rooms or reservations. He also mentioned that the hostel location wasn’t exactly safe and that we should go to a part of town called Miraflores. I asked why he hadn’t asked for our names and he promptly called the hostel back, this time showing us the number he dialed and they confirmed our reservations. We arrived safely at our hostel and paid the kind man with a sneeking suspicion that had I not spoken the Spanish that I do, albeit a small amount, we might have had a fast one pulled on us.

Our taxi driver wasn’t exactly lying when he said it’s not the safest part of town, but we’re certainly not in a bad part of town. Miraflores is in a tourist part of town and Sr. driver probably gets some kind of commission for bringing people in to certain places. The personnel at our hostel, the Magdelena House, is extremely friendly and helpful and informed us that it’s perfectly safe to walk around the neighborhood but that it’s safest to stay inside past dark. This is our hostel.

Our two objectives for the day were to get some money and to go to the US Embassy to register and find out about getting a visa to Bolivia. After a shower and a nap we asked for locations of a bank and the Embassy. The woman operating the front desk offered to drive us the the Embassy an hour and a half later since she lives nearby, which was the exact amount of time it took us to find the bank and eat lunch. Our first meal in Peru turned out to be fantastic. For US $1.50 we each received a gigantic bowl of soup, a quarter of a chicken with spinach sauce, rice, beans and a delicious spice-mulled red drink. I was only able to eat the soup but now I have breakfast for tomorrow.

The Embassy, it turns out, is only open for walk-ins to Americans from 8:00am to 11:30am and able to handle visa inquiries from 10:00am to 11:30am. At least we know the way for tomorrow morning. We bussed our way back and got off a few blocks before our street and walked about a mile to see the ocean. Pedestrians aren’t allowed on the beach so we admired it from afar.

I played the perfect tourist role, taking as many photos as I could as well as helped Colin spot 3 redheads. Our hostel is very close to a large church, which makes it easy to spot if we get turned around. We stopped at a street vendor for something called Yuka, which sounded to me like the plant Yucca but turned out to be a local donut that tastes like fried waffles. We also stopped for some sweets to accompany our stay indoors from 6pm to at the earliest 6am.

We learned that it is winter here at a chilly 70 degrees in the middle of the day. The air was much more crisp near the sea and it was overcast save for about 4 hours when the sun peaked through. Once again, we’re greatful to be out of the heat and I was happy to get some wear out of my jacket. Currently, Colin and I are sitting on our twin beds watching sub-titled Die Hard movies eating our sweets and preparing to go to sleep. I shall write more when I can.

Mexico City

2009-08-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in Fernando's bedroom feeling like a million bucks after having woken up just this morning still feeling terrible. Not 3 hours after I woke up and took 3 Ibuprofen had I begun to feel normal again and have since been able to go for a walk and finish up my blogging. I didn't even need to go to the doctor. We took our clothes to a laundromat of sorts to have our clothes washed. Instead of staying and doing our own laundry, someone else will do it for us for about 6 bucks. Not a bad deal. We walked around and found a church we spotted a couple days ago and learned that it's name is Santa Rosa de Lima.

When we got in on Thursday, Fernando took time off work to pick us up from the airport and he took us to his office to wait out the remainder of his shift after treating us to lunch. We went to his home after work where he lives with his brother, his brother's two adorable children and his mother for 3 months out of the year. The 3-story duplex he lives in is an old Spanish-style complex that is bathed in greenery and style. I love the place.

That night Fernando's girlfriend, Giselle, lovingly called Tutu, came over and we all went out for a drink.

On Friday we stayed at Fernando's house while he was at work and walked around the neighborhood a bit. Every Friday there is a little market that sets up directly across the street from his place. I bought some used Levis there for 100 pesos that fit like a glove.

That night we went to a Lucha Libre match. It is the Mexican version of WWE. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside the ring but I found a clip from a match a couple nights before.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! It was so much fun! It was like a choreographed dance of overweight men in too-tight leotards. Fabulous. Colin made a fast friend of one of Fernando's best friends who works for the police. They talked politics and societal situations while waiting to watch the fat men in tights. Fernando's best friend, Luis, got a photo of me with a vendor outside.

We slept in on Saturday since we went to a bar after the Lucha. Fernando's mom made some delicious eggs with tortillas for breakfast and the agenda for the day was to go to Hooters to watch in important soccer game. Yes Hooters. Fernando likes their wings... We got there an hour early and sipped on beverages. The game was between the two major teams in Mexico, one is who Giselle roots for the other is who Fernando roots for. Fernando's team won and a short time after the game ended, about 6 Hooters girls appeared at my side with a large slice of chocolate cake, telling me to stand on my chair so they could sing to me. It was quite exciting and unexpected. By this time I wasn't feeling very well, but it woke me up for a good 10 minutes.

That night we stayed in and I went to bed early then woke up feeling like dirt. I believe the rest in history. Fernando's mom is cooking lunch and it smells amazing. Colin just arrived from going out to find a pocket Spanish-English dictionary. We are leaving tonight for Peru at 11:55pm.

Sick

2009-08-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Mexico City 4 days ago, took one day to get acquainted,I began a full re-accounting of our time in Monterrey and then got sick. I'm pretty sure it's just traveler's diarrhea - I've got a slight fever and feel like I've been punched in the gut - but I'm going to the doctor today to make sure I'm okay to fly to Peru. Our flight is for midnight tonight and if I keep progressing as I have today I should be all healed by then. I feel much better than yesterday. Just being able to sit up and type is a vast improvement, which I intend to take full advantage of now by finishing my Monterrey portion of the blog. Many many thanks to Fernando, his mother and Colin for taking such good care of me! They have been beyond kind and hospitable.

Monterrey in fast forward

2009-08-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back on the blog and since 2 weeks have passed I will be making a more shortened account than I would like. I'm not really even sure of the sequence of events since my memory is less than stellar but I'll do my best.

I left off at the fancy restaurant on Tuesday night. It was a tasty, swanky Buddha Bar knockoff at a venue where Eric and Carlos throw parties and weddings. We ate sushi and chicken kabobs and I drank the best strawberry margarita I think I've ever had.

On Wednesday morning Eric dropped us off at his parent's photo studio where I worked when I was here in '01. It was nice to see his parents again. His father dropped us down the street near the route I used to walk to work every day and we walked to my aunt Lorena's parents house for a quick visit and some tostadas. I remembered the way after 8 years! From there Eric picked us up to help set up a fancy shmancy wedding shower then took us to a waterfall called Cola de Cabello.

From there Eric took us up the mountain to see the view of the city and to see the forest. Despite a recent forest fire it was gorgeous and green. It was also a nice break from the extreme heat of the city. I've never really experienced so much heat without the luxury of air conditioning so it was trying to say the least. I did my best to stay cheerful.

Thursday we saw more of the city at a viewpoint where there is usually a giant flag (approx. 100 meters x 50 meters). The flag, however, was in the process of being cleaned so we didn't see it up close. The viewpoint was beautiful though and the city looked huge. There are about 3.8 million people in the Monterrey metropolitan area. From there we went to a plaza, Plaza Purisma, where there is a 40's style church with 12 thin disciples lining the entrance that Eric accurately described as looking as if they came straight from a horror movie. The pigeons and poop that topped there heads and shoulders made them a bit less ominous. Plaza Purisma is also known for having the best elotes (corn from the cob or on the cob) in town. Eric got us a cup with everything, which included mayonnaise, chile, crema and salt - a bit rich for our taste.

On Friday morning I drew my first drawing of the trip - a version of Colin drawn on the wrong side of the canvas that gave him an all-too-caveman appearance. The eyes are accurate I think. After finishing that Colin and I walked to the city's cemetery so I could get some more practice drawing from life. I don't yet know how I'll be able to draw people unless I ask them to sit for me, but I'll work on it - and soon. The goal of two drawings per week suddenly seems a bit steep...

That night Eric's brother Eduardo picked us up and took us to his home where he and his wife Marta fed us a delicious meal and gave us their air-conditioned bedroom - it was like heaven after having not slept for 4 nights.

The next morning we woke up at 5:15 so we could leave the house early in an attempt to beat the heat on an adventure hiking up a mountain called Cerro Las Mitras. It felt so good to be using my whole body in such a worthwhile activity - it had been much to long. The hike up as not easy because the loose rocks had us slipping and sliding with each step.

At about 3/4 of the way up were some caves that we used headlamps to navigate and once again we reveled in the cool air, untouched by the sun.

I thought the we had reached the peak of our trip at the caves and was surprised to find we had a lot farther to climb. I've done some searching for an approximation of the height we climbed and have found nothing. In any case, it was a gorgeous view from the top.

I cannot say the descent was as easy as the climb - or even very enjoyable because the loose rocks had us flailing and falling the whole way down. Colin took a spill that had us worried we wouldn't make it down but it turned out to be just a nasty bruising of his knee. We spent most of our descent waiting for a young woman whose feet were hurting so bad she had to move at a snail's pace. We actually were able to nap at one point while we waited for about an hour.

The following day, despite having a very difficult time walking (me, not Colin), Eric took us to see Las Grutas de Garcia, or the Garcia caves. I had been there on my previous trip to Monterrey but they had used an old rail-car type elevator to transport people to the top of the mountain where the caves are. There is currently a ski lift type transportation system that appears to be much sturdier than the alternative. We squished into the lift like sardines and made our way up. The air inside the caves is always 60 degrees. We had a tour guide that promptly started his tour so we lagged behind the large crowd following him - we couldn't understand him anyway and it would have been tedious for Eric to translate everything anyway. The cave are awe-inspiring.

In the same breath, however, the wear and tear on the caves from having some many people come through and tough everything was very apparent. I noticed a difference just in the 8 years since I had been there last.

After the caves we went to Eric's friend Elysa's party that she'd thrown for her best friend. It was a Disney party and she was dressed as the gypsy from the Hunchback of Notre Dam. The three of us were under-dressed and stayed for a short time - long enough for Eric to give a little lap dance to the birthday girl though.

That night Carlos as back in his bed and Eric's parents came home so we pitched our tent on Carlos's backyard. We were happy to get to use our tent and sleeping pads. We didn't even unstuff our sleeping bags since it was so hot but there was a nice breeze that hit us from time to time.

Monday was a day of rest since I still couldn't walk from being so sore from the hike. We walked/hobbled the cemetery but we got there too late so we walked/hobbled back to Carlos's house. Eric took us to Macroplaza where I would supposedly draw but didn't end up doing that either. That night we saw the latest Terminator movie. I wouldn't recommend it.

Tuesday Colin and I spent the day walking. My legs were almost back to normal and I wanted to get some photos taken. We walked to the cemetery for the third time and I finally got some more drawing in. I have yet to finish the pieces, which is why I have not yet posted them.

From the cemetery we walked the full length of paseo Santa Lucia to Parque Fundidora and back to Carlos's before going to see a friend of Eric's, Gerardo whom I had met in '01. He and his partner, Gilberto invited us over for an exquisite dinner that Gilberto prepared. They house was beautiful as well.

On Wednesday my aunt's brother, Lauro invited us to his house for dinner at his new house in Santiago. The house was recently finished and it is very big and gorgeous. Lauro made Carne Asada and quesadillas and his wife Diana made pasta, beans, guacamole and salsa. We over-stuffed ourselves. It was delicious.

After dinner Lauro and his daughter Dianita took us to see the town of Santiago which has been dubbed a historic town and as a result has been given money for restorations. It's an adorable, quaint little place with a small plaza where all the regulars hang out and Monterrey's mountains in the background give everything a majestic touch.

That night we stayed at my aunt's parent's house (with air conditioning - yay!) and they made a delicious fruit breakfast for us in the morning.

From there we were whisked away by Eric to the airport on our way to Mexico City.

Arrival

2009-08-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

We've arrived in Monterrey safe and sound. After 2 sleepless flights, my friend Eric picked us up at the Laredo airport with his friend Elisa. We found internet, a printer and a fax machine to fax a confirmation of payment to our flight to Peru on August 24th and got stuck in a traffic jam minutes away from downtown Monterrey. We had dinner at Enchilada Susy's and went for a walk before turning in to bed. It's really hot, above 100 degrees, and there's no air conditioning where we're staying, however I cannot complain. Eric's boyfriend, Carlos, has very graciously given us his apartment where he works (he owns a wedding coordinating business) for the duration of our stay.

I'm so happy to see Eric again and to meet Carlos. Colin is handling his first time outside the country like a pro, writing down pertinent information and paying attention to how we get back to home base if we get lost. Right now he is helping to organize one of Carlos's storage rooms, which I'll be helping with momentarily. We're sucking down lots of water and we bought fruit from the market to snack on. Tonight Eric and Carlos have invited us to a fancy dinner at a hotel where they host many weddings. We've made plans to go on a hike this weekend with Eric's brother and we'll be searching for more excursions outside the city. It feels so good to be back on the road!

Leaving Tomorrow

2009-08-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

This trip has taken so many different forms I feel it might be impossible to predict exactly where it will lead. I can definitively say, however, that we're leaving tomorrow at midnight and arriving in Laredo, TX Monday morning at 10am where my good friend Eric will pick us up and drive us down to Monterrey, Mexico. Colin's passport was approved and it will arrive today thanks to Colin's mom having sent it next-day-air from her home in Lacey, WA. We made it by the skin of our teeth. We've bought traveler's insurance and 2 WWOOF lists, one for Mexico and one for "WWOOF Independents" which includes Bolivia and Peru. We plan to find a farm in Mexico where we can work while applying for the Bolivian visa required to enter the country, which we couldn't previously apply for without passports or vaccinations. From Mexico the plan is to fly into Peru, which is much cheaper than flying into Bolivia, WWOOF in Peru for a time then make our way to Bolivia by bus.

As well as making preparations for the trip, Christopher and I spent some time revising my artist statement. Let me say I could not have done it without him and I am exceedingly grateful. Thank you Christopher! I bought canvas and cut it into 40 12"x12" pieces and my goal is to complete them before returning home. So without further adieu, my artist statement:

In American culture we are often accustomed to sneak peeks at people rather than really look at them. If a person is looking away, I will often take a longer glance at them. Only when I know someone intimately will I drink in their appearance with a long, forward gaze. I draw much creative inspiration from these types of social interactions. However when interacting with someone, one loses details in the environment because they are in the moment.

My early charcoal work focused on large-scale reproductions of photos of people. While capturing every environmental detail, the photos also created a distance between the subject and myself. This allowed me to fully scrutinize someone’s features without subjecting them to an awkward stare. The large scale of these drawings forced the viewer to more intimately address the subject matter in the small photos. More recently I have sought to create this confrontation within a smaller canvas.

For future work I intend to develop my technique for drawing candid moments from life, while maintaining the qualities I enjoy about drawing from photos. By drawing from life I plan to mimic the unobtrusive nature of a photograph snapped from afar. The final work will capture the details in the environment as a photo would, while drawing attention to my personal interpretation of the experience.

Difficult Decision

2009-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

I awoke in my silent, nearly empty bedroom with a statement resounding in my ears as if I had spoken the words out loud. The statement was, "I don't want to teach, my heart is in my artwork." It was an epiphany that has recurred many times during my life, varying only in the proclamation of what I don't want. My heart has always been in art, yet I stray from the art path on a yearly basis to pursue a job with guaranteed income and then get swallowed up in it. Most recently, I have been consumed by my work as a Starbucks barista, a job I originally sought for the flexibility of having the part time work to supplement an art income. The elusive dollar bill tempted me with a promotion 8 months ago and I found myself working yet another full time job. Although I love my work at Starbucks, it does not fulfill the art itch and neither will a job as an ESL teacher.

So I've quite my job at Starbucks, declined the teaching position in Chiapas (with help from my brother and guidance from my mother), cleared my schedule for a year and bought a ticket to Mexico. What now? Colin and I will spend a week in Monterrey seeing my old friends and introducing Colin to the most hospitable culture I've ever encountered and then we'll make our way Southward (probably to Bolivia) where we'll meet a culture new to the both of us. As far as living arrangements, the plan I last spoke with Colin about (he is still currently in Alaska unable to plan with me right now) was to find a WWOOF farm (http://www.wwoof.org/howworks.asp). WWOOFing will not fulfill the art itch, however it will not consume my free time like teaching would and the thought of physical labor at this point in my life is an appealing one. I will spend as much of my free time with charcoal in hand as possible.

I have set a preliminary goal for myself to complete 2 final drawings per week for the duration of the trip, which will give me approximately 40 pieces if we are able to stay the initially planned 5 months. Logistically I have not yet accounted for how to maintain the amount of art materials I will need for this plan, but maybe I can send things back and forth without too much hassle. As far as subject matter, it's fairly obvious that I'm partial to portraiture, however in order to organize my thoughts and provide a sound framework for my goals I've written a preliminary artist statement. My good friend Christopher Huizar has generously agreed to help me revise it into a final product and only then will I make it public. The gist of it outlines my love for the unique spirit each face embodies and how I seek to portray this as honestly as I can. I've also included my strong desire to draw from life and my commitment to do this when the opportunity arises.

Although I no longer have long-term plans and my near future is largely undefined, I feel as though I can breath freely for the first time in a years. I am about to leave the country to begin pursuing a life-long dream with the love of my life, how could I ask for anything more? This is happiness.

Mexico!

2009-07-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, almost a full year after my last post, I am ready to begin my blogging escapades once again. There are two exciting tidbits of news to share, one is a new direction I am taking my art in and two is my next travel venture.

I have recently begun drawing on a much smaller scale than my usual format. I have always drawn very large scale pieces, starting around 24''x36". My most recent series features images from my trip to Haiti ranging in size from 6"x6" to 12"x12". Although I would like to do more, the 9 that I completed will probably be it for a while since I have been displaying them at my Starbucks and have acquired 3 commissions. This leaves no time for my own work, but of course, I couldn't be happier with getting paid for doing what I love. Who knew that all I needed to do was change my format to a smaller one? The following photo is my favorite and the whole series can be found on my website. They are the only square pieces on the "Fine Art" page.

The second bit of news is that I will be leaving for the town of Chiapa de Corzo in Chiapas, Mexico on August 10th! Since my last blog I have gotten my TESOL certification and will be teaching English at a place called the Dunham Institute. I respectfully harassed the recruiter, Joanna, for a good 3 month before being accepted and have since corresponded with one of the other teachers, Jenn, whom I'll be working along side during my time there. Joanna and Jenn seem very friendly and I'm excited to meet them both. I'll be participating in a language exchange program so instead of monetary compensation for my teaching I'll receive Spanish lessons and a home-stay. From what I understand the town is relatively small and very little English is spoken there so I have high hopes for learning as much Spanish as possible. I can't wait to experience teaching, however I have to admit to feeling a bit scared.

I will be traveling with my boyfriend, Colin, (I also underwent a divorce since my last post if that wasn't already apparent), and after completing 5 months at the Dunham Institute, he and I plan to travel southward to find a WWOOF farm to work on for an extended period of time, the length of which will depend entirely on how far we can stretch our money.

Exciting times are afoot! I will continue to post my adventures, however not as frequently as my last trip since a daily post for even just the 5 months in Mexico would be much to lengthy.

Cheers!

First Piece

2008-03-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

So I couldn't stop working yesterday. I started around 10am and finished at 10 pm with about four one-hour breaks in between. I will begin a new one tomorrow. I'd love to hear your comments!

Dimensions: 52.5" x 37.5" (Click on image to see full size view)

As Promised

2008-03-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take this opportunity to post a couple pieces that I didn't post while gone. The first is the collaboration with Jackie Dodard. We did not get a chance to revisit the piece so I believe she will be revising it herself. I have yet to speak with her since leaving but I hope to remain in contact with her. She was so helpful, knowledgable and so very kind. I will be updating this blog with a close-up version of the poem for those of you that speak French, but I don't currently have photoshop on the computer I'm blogging from.

The second is a study I did from the kids from Gallet. It is what I will be basing the first piece I will begin as soon as I post this.

I have to admit, I have felt completely out of sorts since returning home. The glimpse into a world completely different from my own with some many people living in extreme poverty has given me a new clarity about my own life. The contrast between Haiti and the US is stark and terrifying in that the US had a hand in creating some of Haiti's struggle, but no one knows this. I have so much and I take it for granted with every minute that I waste sitting in front of the TV or reading the stupid Yahoo! gossip articles. I went back to work yesterday and couldn't help but note that I was making $4 coffee drinks and that I still buy them. I will be changing some things in my life, but I am using this early time in my return for observation before I go making temporary, fleeting decisions that won't last. It's still hard being home, but as each day passes I feel more and more confident about my new goals to return to college for my Master's degree and building a strong show about Haiti. I'm also ecstatic to report that my friend and business associate Brian Geraths has offered me training in on site studio photography, so I hope to get more involved with that as well. Check out his website, www.yourprints.com and be sure to check back because it's under construction.
Until next time.

Easter

2008-03-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up before most of the group once again and went downstairs for coffee and bread in the dining structure. Francky, who wanted me to draw him from life, asked me where my drawing supplies were so I settled in at the breakfast table to draw him as people slowly trickled in. It has been a long time since I've drawn from life and Francky, with a perpetual smile on his face, moved and joked with people as I did the best I could. One of Duckens' cousins opened a soda next to me that happened to be shaken up and my drawing and I got a mini Coca-Cola shower. I think it turned out pretty well for having been my first in more than 5 years.

After finishing the drawing and having a lovely breakfast, it was beach time. We went back to the family beach with a covered area for the majority of the day. We lounged in the sun until it was overcast and it actually sprinkled a bit. I sat under the covered area feeling the warm, breezy sea air on my skin I decided I should take a video.

Last day at the Beach from Amy Mfuni on Vimeo.
After a bit, part of the group went to the next beach over, which is where Francky and I went swimming on Friday. It was packed with people, all looking their best, there to socialize not swim or sunbathe. Everyone was seated and sipping a beverage of some sort or roaming and mingling. Francky got the group some ice cream - a pretty rare commodity in Haiti.
Back with the rest of the group we got some Haitian potato chips (banan pese or fried plantains) and headed back to the house for dinner. Dinner was delicious. There was goat (I had small piece), an eggplant casserole and seasoned cornmeal. I would say it was in the top 3 of my favorite meals of the trip.
When it was time to go I took my seat in the passenger seat of Francky's pick-up for the trip through the mountain. We chatted on the way back as Marcello slep in the back seat (I don't know how he does it). The biggest Easter celebration in Southern Haiti happens in a town on our way back called Leogane and we stopped to see the sights. We piled out of the cars and made a train through the humongous crowd. Rara in Leogane was about 20 times the size of the one in Jacmel. Francky was our fearless leader as he comes here every year. He had a destination and was trying to get there as quickly as he could. We litterally had to push our way through at times and I was sorry for the people in the back of our train having to endure the inevitable diry looks from the people we were cutting off. This was Duckens first Leogane Rara. He has done many things for the first time since my arrival including the cememtary, the artist studio and staying the Dodo in her beach house. I had made yet another poor footwear choice and struggled to stay on my feet, but I was in good hands. Our destination was a scafolding balcony in the center of the hubub filled with people wearing bright yellow shirts that said Ti Malice. It was like a stationary float sponsored by Ti Malice, a butter company, whose logo is a fictional character from a Haitian fable. People lined the front where you could see the crowd and we were in the back - it was hot. We were given our very own Ti Malice t-shirts and hats. I took a photo of some kids outside and gave them my hat in exchange. Francky introduced me to his friends, who were friendly and intersted in what I was doing in Haiti. We hung out up there for a while just taking in the sights. Duckens, Francky and I went into the crowd after a bit, I think to take photos, but we ended upturning around soon after to retrieve the rest of the group to head back home.

On our way back to the car we walked by people passed out in a field - this was the napping area apparently. My feet were filthy, but I had become acclimated and barely noticed until we got home. Thankfully, Duckens was able to sleep while Bruno drove, otherwise he would have been hurting the following morning.
In the morning we looked up my flight info to see if we could change the flight. At this point I was still sure I'd be staying. When Duckens called with news that I'd be leaving in less than 24 hours I was heartbroken, however nothing can describe the gratitude I feel for everything Duckens and all his friends have done for me. He told me he was trying to make it a half day so we could tie up lose ends so I didn't think I'd have time for blogging and decided to make CDs for people who requested photos from me. I got carried away in reminiscing and found myself waking up after drifting off into a delicious nap. I packed and showered and got ready to go to dinner when Duckens returned. Just before he got home Duckens' cousin Mona gave me two beautiful, classicaly Haitian, wooden figurines as a parting gift.
We called Francky who we met at yet another new place for Duckens (and me of course). It was a very fancy place, all wooden interior and we were seated next to a waterfall above which it was open to the outside. I had buttered shrimp with rice and string beans. Here are my two handsome dates at my last meal in Haiti.

Poor Duckens was beat, he had had a bad day and still needed to run an errand. Francky invited me to go wtih him to his apartment where he introduced me to a wide range of Compa and other traditional Haitian music. He translated songs for me and made me a CD of my favorite music. On the way home we tried calling the airline one last time to no avail, I was to return in the morning.
Morning came too quickly. I framed the piece I drew of Duckens for him to keep and gave him a copy I brought of the book The Secret. I want to give him more, but that will come later. I'm curious to see what he will do - if he will have me to do something specific for him or if he will choose from what I create on my own. In addition I will be drawing a photo of a couple that is engaged; the couple is two of Didi's best friends.
Duckens had to quickly drop me off at the airport early and rush to work. It occured to me that if there was a problem of some sort I would have no way to contact him - I had not written his number down anywhere. It was a chaotic maze of 4 security checkpoints and I realized when I got to the gate that my one opportunity for purchasing breakfast was long passed. I began writing on my blog and looked up at one point to see people arriving and was overcome with sadness. I could not stop my tears. They dried up only to return as the plane took off, carrying me away from the most memorable experience of my life.
At one point on my flight I was dreaming that I was in the car with Duckens and something bumped the window. I woke up with a start and looked to my left in time to see a stewardness passing in the aisle.
In Fort Lauderdale I paid close attention to the people in the line for customs and found myself looking at fellow Americans in a negative light. I can't even describe exactly what form this took, but I know I missed the accent when hearing them speak. I called Mark and caught myself speaking slowly, as if he wouldn't understand unless I slowed my speech like I had been doing for the past 3 weeks.
Later as I waited for my flight to Dallas I met a film maker named Clay and talked about the artist lifestyle until it was time to board. He also informed me of how to post videos here.
I will miss Haiti, being spoiled rotten and experiencing new things each day, but I feel comfort in the fact that I can emerse myself in memory and music in my studio. I can't wait to get started.
As a side note, I will revising the blog by adding more photos so if you want, keep checking back to see what's new. I'll also be update with each new piece I complete and blogging how I am acclimating back in the states...

Rara

2008-03-27T16:59:00.001-07:00

I've been hesitant about writing this blog because it means the trip is really, completely, all the way over - being back wasn't even enough proof, but posting this will be. So here goes...
It was yet another early morning on Friday. We packed the car and left the house at the time we should have been at the AS house. When we arrived at the house, we found 7 people still awake from the night before, a few of them drunk and none of them ready to leave despite the late hour. It was a chore finding room for everyone and their bags, but somehow we managed and luckily we met up with Francky before leaving town. I, of course, was not interested in sharing a car with anyone who was ready to puke even before the curviest road in the world, so I hopped into Francky's pickup with Rodrigo. The ride over was good since it was during the day and we only had to stop once for someone to get sick.
Jacmel was once again buzzing with taxi motos and the sun was shining.

We went straigt to Duckens' uncle's house, which was even more large and beautiful in the daylight.

Our group walked around in a daze until it made it's way to the bedrooms for a nap, including myself and woke up to find Duckens and Franky returning with food for me. They had gone to a place on the beach that cooks seafood and had brought me back some conch. I had never had it before and it was amazing. They used the perfect seasoning with the perfect spiciness and it was accompanied by banan pese. The rest of the group had a meal prepared by Ton Saj's cook after which I believe they went back to sleep some more. Francky invited me to go with him to see if we could catch a Rara or two and we did.

Rara comes in all sizes and we saw small ones speckling the road to Jacmel. As we drove past we saw people in the band and next to the band dancing, drumming and playing cylindrical horns that ranged in size from a foot to over 4 feet. People smiled and sang or just walked in the beat of the music.

People were beginning to gather in town for the night's festivities and many of the Rara's would end up converging to one big party. We drove a little into town and saw a small one then we parked and watched the crowd sitting on top of the cab of Francky's Toyota. After a bit we left town and drove in the direction of the house, stopping at two more to take photos and do some bouncing to the beat. In the midst of the people in the crowds, the feeling is upbeat and joyful, there's no holding back - not a self-conscious look to be seen, just plain fun. Francky explained that the atmosphere in large Rara's are similar to Carnaval, but the main difference besides size is that Rara is about spiritual belief and Carnaval is just a party (not to minimize Carnaval - it's a HUGE party).
Instead of going back to the house, we went to the beach - it was the most popular beach in Jacmel, but because the sun was already setting and Rara was happening that night, there were not many people. We parked next to a woman selling beverages from a cooler and asked her to watch the car. Now, I have a hard time being at any location where there's warm water without jumping in, but I didn't have a suit. Francky gave me a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to change into and we were off. The water was perfect - a little colder than the air but warm as any heated pool once I was acclimated. We swam in the choppy sea for a good 20 minutes then headed back, quite drenched. I changed back into my clothes but had no underwear so I figured I could change out of my wet clothes when we got back. At the end of the driveway we encountered an irritated Duckens with a full car (he spoke in Creole so I don't know what he was irritated). I had no time to change as we turned right around and headed back downtown.
Downtown the crowd had grown exponentially, the street was packed with people.

We stood at the edge of the crowd for a moment but I had to pee. Once again, this was a problem, there are practically no public bathrooms. I was led through a doorway into an ally and showed a dark cement room with what appeared to be a shower where I was to squat. I'm sure it was meant for stand-up use only and I don't want to think about what my thin sandals were slowly slipping on underneath me. We went up to a balcony but I wanted to be part of the crowd and I could not get a good shot with my camera from up high.
A side note on my camera; it is inadequate.
We made a train in the crowd so as not to lose each other. It was Francky, me, Duckens and Erika. We couldn't help but move with crowd, as if floating on a musical, happy sea. The energy was high and joyful and the music was beautiful. The horns kept the beat as much as the drums and their tone was full and rich. Duckens had given me a little lesson on how to dance in Rara. He said it's a like a chicken scratching the ground only more to the side and of course to the beat. You move the top half of your body two beats at a time or just remain bent over as you scratch the ground. It's very fun. Francky took my camera when we ended up in front of the band to get some shots from higher up. The Rara's were coming from the opposite end of town and ended up in front of the balcony we were at. There is a leader of each Rara that directs with whistle and a man with a whip that beats the air and ground in front of the band to keep it cleared so they have room to move and play. When they get to the center of town, the band stops playing and a circle forms with two rows - one inside and one outside and everyone making up the circle is holding a wooden baton about 2-3 feet long and 2 inches in circumference. The two circles face each other and hit each other’s batons like a drummer does to set the pace before a song. They hit the sticks twice in both directions, crossing each other on both sides, then moves on to the next person. The people on the outside move to the left to meet their next opponent.

Most people are non-chalant about it, giving a friendly tap-tap but some of the men on the outside almost appeared angry, using their entire body to excert a forcable slam of their sticks. I did not ask the significance or history of this ritual, but it's never too late. Bruno and Carmen had joined us at this point and Bruno wanted to join in the stick dance so Duckens made it happen. After that it was time to go home and go to bed.
I was awakened Saturday morning to the sound of Kompa and children playing. Duckens' uncle, Ton Saj, has many children who have families as well so there is usually an endless supply of family coming to his chateau every week. This weekend it was us and the family of another one of Duckens' uncles Fanfan. Both Fanfan and Ton Saj are extremely friendly and appeared genuinely happy to see, and in Ton Saj's case entertain, the group. The whole family is very kind and open and most of them speak English. There was no way I could remember everyone's name and some of their names I didn't even learn. Next to the house is a large circular building where people dine - all the meals are served there. Buildings in Haiti are constructed of concrete unless they are constructed of scrap metal or mud and sticks in the very poor areas. Wood was forbidden as a construction material due to a number of fires that happened sometime back and wood is now used mainly as charcoal for fuel for cooking since such a small population of the country has electricity and because gasoline is so expensive.
I woke up before many and was in time for coffee and bread, a very welcome sight to my eyes. Breakfast came later but my appetite was satisfied with coffee. The group ate and we piled into the cars to head to Basin Bleu. The road to Basin Bleu was short but bumpy and we had to cross a small river in the trucks where people from town were doing their laundry. We parked the cars and were off on our way with a number of guides. Little did I know, there was a hike ahead of us and I was wearing $5 flip-flops. We hiked downhill first, then crossed a large stream and a pool of sky blue water where more people were laundering and children were playing and swimming.

A little deeper in we reached an area that appeared to be a popular hangout spot for the younger crowd. Looking back I wish I had taken a photo but I struggled with the fact that snapping photos set me even farther apart. My taking photos announced to anyone looking that I was an outsider, not someone looking to assimilate or join in, just a pure observer. I felt as though I was objectifying those I captured on camera. I chose not to do this often for the sake of preserving the dignity of people whose eyes told me my very presence was an intrusion (i.e. when driving by an extremely impoverished neighborhood in the $50,000 car provided by Duckens' work).
We rounded the corner and found an even larger pool of deep blue water and another stream to cross. A path set in the middle of a cliff was where our line of hikers was stopped and waiting. The area was crowded and as I reached the stairs in the path up the cliff I realized how thick and muggy the air had gotten. Although the sun was behind overcast clouds, I and everyone around me were dripping with sweat. At the top of the steps one of our guides was helping people climb down a large boulder with the aid of a rope. He stood behind each person guiding their feet to exactly where they needed to go to get them down safely. His feet were a step behind those he was helping and he held onto the rope with one hand. At the bottom of the boulder I could see the head of the fast running stream under my feet. It was a 20 foot waterfall plunging into a pool that was 50 feet deep and crystal clear; Basin Bleu.

The water was a refreshing 65 degrees and it was a beautiful relief to dive into after the short, hot trek. One had to swim to get to a boulder from were you could see all of the basin so I left my camera, not trusting myself to swim with it for the time and figured I'd come back for it. The sense I got from people around me speaking Creole in a heated tone was that there was an order that was not being followed. I stood on the boluder overlooking the basin, wondering if I should get in or not and finally decided I wanted to follow a few of my comrades to the waterfall. There were three levels where one could jump off into the water and it looked fun. I swam over and dove off the first level and realized Duckens had retrieved my camera and was taking photos. Francky had been taking photos for me on the hike in; it appeared as though I had aquired 2 souix photographers. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I continue to struggle being capable of receiving so much pampering and care. Duckens continued to photograph while I swam (Duckens does not swim)and I decided to jump from the second level. I was guided up the waterfall to the jump-off point and let me tell you, it looked farther when looking down and the only way down was to jump. After about 15 minutes of himming and hawing, trying to get acclimated and wondering how my bikini would stay on, I made the exhilerating jump. I felt pretty accomplished being the only girl to do the deed. After more photo-taking it was time to head back.

As we neared the area where we were parked I could hear Rara music in the distance and was delighted to find one headed in our direction. I began taking photos and before I knew it the Rara was headed straight for me. I stood in front of Francky's truck and found myself the center of it's attention. Bruno snatched my camera up and snapped a great photo:

The leader was blowing his whistle, the band was playing and the woman dressed in bright red dresses danced and smiled. I danced and blushed and gave them cigarettes that Francky had brought for just such an occasion. The leader thanked me with whistles and gestures then guided the group away.
It had been a long time since we'd eaten so we decided to stay for what Francky called Haitian McDonalds. They were deep fried dough stuffed with either bell peppers or a smoked fish with the hottest pepper I've ever eaten. My eyes watered for 10 minutes and my mouth burned for 30. There was also a little shop we visited that consisted of one small, dark room with no door or windows, just openings where they were supposed to go. I purchased a colorful paper mache rooster. Jacmel is known for its paper mache artistry; especially for its masks during Carnaval.
Back at the house we exchanged belongings and headed for the beach where we spent an hour lounging in the overcast heat of late afternoon. I went for a quick swim of course. The sea is shallow and the sea floor is covered with rocks, but that couldn't stop me.
After our quick trip to the beach, it was time to shower to get ready for a taste of Haitian nightlife. Jacmel is a small town and I imagine its quite different than Port-au-Prince night-life, but the music is the same. We arrived at the club during a time when salsa music was playing. I never inquired about the name of the place, it was fairly large and the whole left half was open air; one of the perks of a place with very little rain. The night was clear and we sat at a table just outside, facing the dance floor and as soon as I caught a glimpse of the dancers I could not take my eyes away. They moved with such grace I swear there were invisible strings pulled by the musicians themselves, guiding the dancers to form elegant, perfectly timed movement. The women were spun in tight circles by their enchantingly sexy partners, ending in a precise wave of the arm that extended through their fingertips into the air. They moved with confidence and rhythm, twisting and turning amongst themselves in a wave of harmonious eloquence. I could have watched for hours. They were pure perfection.
When the music changed to hip hop, the dance floor darkened and emptied. A few dancers moved to the hip hop for a couple songs and the music changed to Compa. Oh do I love Compa! Most of the couples danced the traditional Compa steps - I do not have the technical dance vocabulary to adequately describe it. I think it is similar to a 2-step, it is a simple dance that can be embellished with turns and such, making it a very user-friendly dance. Some of the couples held each other tightly, making small movements with their hips. I danced all night. Delightfully. Blissfully.

Goodbye Haiti

2008-03-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

I am very sad to say that I cannot stay longer as I had planned. I will not get to see a Vodou ceremony, but that just means I'll have to come back. Unfortunately I will not have time to blog before it's time for me to go because I have to pack and do my last drawing here. I will be writing about my weekend on the plane coming home so my final post will come from the US. Until then, so long Sweet Ayiti.

First Contact with Vodou

2008-03-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I completed two drawings before Duckens returned home early from work.

I have never drawn with only the sepia color - I've only ever combined it with black. I will be doing more of the monochromatic work, I love the way it turned out.
Duckens and I went to run some errands and met up with 4 friends for dinner. Everyone kindly spoke English for the majority of the dinner and we stayed for around an hour and a half. After dinner Duckens and I went to meet another group of his friends at a very high-end hotel bar where we chatted some more, then we went to a nice pizza restaurant for more chatting. It was around midnight by then, but I wanted to dance and there wasn't much choice about where to go on a Wednesday night, so Duckens took me to the place we ate on my second night here. We were the only customers when we arrived and they opened the kitchen back up for us to have some fried plantains. The dance floor was still dark, but once my eyes acclimated I could see just fine. I really love Compa. I will have to throw a party when I get home so I can introduce people to Haitian music and I will definitely play it during the show I will be having (which is yet to be arranged). It was a lovely evening.
This morning Didi woke me up at 6:30 am, it was errand time. We went to a business located in the middle of a neighborhood, a bamboo furniture showroom, his office (where I got to take an hour nap), then downtown for lunch. I have been getting anxious about the fact that I have not been introduced to many aspects of Vodou, in fact the only glimpses I've had have been in the galleries and snippets of information from Jackie. Duckens grew up in a Christian household and has not had direct contact with aspects of the Vodou culture. So I wrote an email yesterday contacting a friend of a friend of a friend (long story) and I asked him about Vodou. There is a small artist collective that my source told me about also and I had planned to write to one of the artists but instead decided to write to a man named George Rene instead. George promptly called me this morning and I confused him with one of the artists I had researched so after a little confusion we got situated. We, meaning Duckens really, invited him to have lunch with us.
On a side note, Didi continues to amaze me with how he'll go out of his way for me. I am so very grateful.
George came in to the restaurant with a sense of purpose. He was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and a smile. He is middle-aged and he speaks very loudly in a think accent. It wasn't long before he overheard a conversation on the other side of the small restaurant and involved himself in a rather heated debate. He is the type with disregard for social graces, which is, at the same time, refreshing and disconcerting.
George knows the artists I thought I had contacted and after lunch he took us through downtown to an opening in what looked to be just a break between buildings. There are usually no markings telling people where businesses and such are situated and I am amazed that anyone can find anything. We walked between the two buildings and in front of us stood a tall, metal sculpture depicting a man smoking a pipe. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo because the sun was directly behind it, but I will be returning on Monday. It stood about 9 or 10 feet high and it was constructed of found objects, a few of which I identified as bed springs, piping, a car frame and an oil barrel. It was completely rusted with character.
Passed the large sculpture we entered an enclosed area about 12ftx12ft with the walls covered in sculpture. It was hard to tell when one sculpture ended and another began because they were constructed out of what appeared to be junkyard materials. They were metal and wood, most of them rusted in places and most of them figurative. There were faces that popped out of the twisted, nailed metal and the artist, I soon learned, uses the penis as an important component to his work. The artist's name is Andre Eugene Jean Robert. He goes by Andre Eugene, but I'm not sure if people call him Andre or Eugene (I have been confused about this from day one, people here don't consistently tell you their first name first, or even the name they go by most often. Add to that a difficulty deciphering words in a foreign language and you have a confused young woman. I think he goes by Andre.

This one is George:

You can see the work behind him. This is one of the pieces that stood out to me:

I am fascinated by the way Christianity has been assimilated into Vodou. Vodou was brought here by the slaves from all over Africa. The slaves were forbidden to practice their religion so in order to continue following their faith, they used Catholic rituals, calling their own Gods by the names of Catholic saints. Today hail Mary's and prayers are part of Vodou ceremonies.
One piece in particular just grabbed me and when he named the price I could not say no. This is my first fine art purchase:

This piece was not one of Andre Eugene's but an artist who's studio I will visit on Monday. The piece represents Baron Samedi Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Samedi for a detailed description of this Loa (The Loa [also Lwa or L'wha] are the spirits of the Vodou religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world). My piece is represents a Loa that is unique to Haiti. For more information on these artists visit their website, I highly recommend you do: http://www.atis-rezistans.com/
I couldn't have stayed much longer but the sun was beginning to set and our next destination was the cemetery. The cemetery has been on my agenda since the beginning of my trip, but as it turned out, our trip to the studio was a perfect segue.

George knew exactly where to take me (now that I think of it, this day has been very synchronous; finding George, going to the studio, purchasing the perfect piece then having the perfect guide for our trip to the cemetery). He walked quickly through the entry and on a direct path to our destination. People are not buried in Haiti. Above ground miniature tombs are constructed, usually with enough space for entire families and they are all uniquely decorated.

Our destination was the Baron's (the Bawo's) grave site. He was supposedly the first man buried in Haiti.

There was an offering and a lit candle burning on the cross, but you could only see the flame of the candle. The offering was a photo of a man nailed to a white candle with and yellow something attached with string. George explained that the Baron is a judge who decides what to do with souls of the deceased and the man in the photo probably did something wrong. He said a woman maybe put it here so that the man's soul would be properly directed to where it deserved to go.

The next site directly behind the Baron's grave is his wife grave, who you have to ask for anything you want to happen that is good. The man in the photo, according to George, was probably asking for forgiveness from the Baron and his wife for something he did wrong.

George then led us out of the cemetery and it was time to go home. I noticed that I was being followed, yet again, by two curious young boys eyeing my camera.

We thanked George, who told us he usually gets paid for this and we made plans to pay him next time we see him, which will most likely be Monday. He will be the one to arrange for me to attend a Vodou ceremony as well. I hope Duckens will let me pay him instead of paying him himself. The ceremony will most likely be later next week so I believe I will be staying an extra three days.
On our way home from our journey through Vodou, we stopped for some pastries and I got to call Mark. Man, was it good to hear his voice! I am tearing up now just thinking about him (ah, sweet homesickness - and it hasn't even been a month).
We were supposed to go out tonight, but we decided against it since we have to wake up early again tomorrow. Unfortunately we decided this after a nap that lasted until 9pm so I am still up at 1:00. I will not have time to proofread, however so I apologize in advance for any typos. I must now pack my bags for another weekend in Jacmel. Once again, I will probably not have access to the internet (or rather, I probably won't have time while I'm down there to blog), so don't be alarmed if I don't write for a few days.
Good night!

Another Morning with my favorite kids

2008-03-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday morning I will try to recall yesterday's events as best I can. This blogging business is rather involved!
So reluctantly I woke up after a long night of light-as-a-feather sleep. I ate breakfast with Erika and took a shower. We left fairly early and I remembered to put on sunscreen. This was Pierre's first trip by tap-tap and probably by foot. On our walk to the tap-tap we stopped for a line of bah-ing sheep to cross our path. Too my delight I've been seeing lizards lately too, Skinks to be exact. Bruno and Rodrigo left before us to meet up with UN representatives so Erika was our trusted guide. AS was going to meet with MINUSTAH (which I just looked up and had no clue stood for United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti until now - go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINUSTAH for more info) to show them what AS needs in terms of equipment in order to do their job. They would be introducing MINUSTAH reps to members of the community and showing them the conditions of the roads.

On our way to the second tap-tap, after passing on enormous tank spattered with armored men, Erika realized we were going in the wrong directions so we hopped off. We meandered through a couple streets and soon Erika recognized our location and directed us to the tap-tap that would take us to Gallet. The road was as bumpy and dusty as I remember, but despite the heat and the cramped quarters, I was still happy to be on my way to the countryside. When we got to the town Bruno and Rodrigo had just arrived with the MINUSTAH troops and were about meet the town. I am frustrated with myself for failing to continue learning Spanish (I've learned my lesson and I am already enrolled at PCC for a class beginning April 1st) and I did not understand most of what was said. Since conversation was in a foreign language, I spent most of my time in Gallet playing with the children, who appeared happy to see me again.

When the meetings were over it was only around 10am and the next meeting they were due to attend was at 5. We sat at a small spot by the road where I few women were selling fried food and other snacks and discussed our options. We decided to head in the direction of home and stop in a town along the way called Lafleronay. Bruno and Rodrigo decided to stay while Erika, Pierre and I headed back to the house. I wanted to try finding some of the charcoal I've seen sold for cooking. It's vine charcoal that works the same as any you'd buy for drawing. How cool would it be to draw with vine charcoal from Haiti?! (Although at the same time I'm all too aware of the fact that wood is a precious commodity, so I am conflicted). We walked around looking for a market the was nowhere to be seen. We saw a Vodou church on our walk:

On our walk back the house we picked up some seed pods that I am interested in turning into jewelry when I return. Erika bought some eggs to make sandwiches for Rodrigo and Bruno that she'll bring when she returns for the meeting. After a nap and yet another delicious meal the doctors returned from the clinic and a friend of the house came to visit. His name is St. Fleur and he is studying to become a doctor. He speaks great English and I could tell right away that this young man is extremely intelligent. It was a pleasure talking to him and I hope to stay in contact with him as, like myself, he appears interested in learning from every possible source, especially fellow beings.
I then helped Carmen and Coty do their laundry

By that time Duckens came to whisk me back to his house. Just as we entered the main road we saw a crowd of people and Erika was in the middle of it. Bruno, Rodrigo and Phillip were there as well. The minister driving the car that brought them home hand run into a taxi moto after it dropped them off. There was an injured young woman and lots of commotion. This was all I gleaned of what happened and waited while everyone got situated and asked for our help then decided it would take too long since Duckens needed to get back to do some more work. He was driving his Range Rover, which is very expensive to drive so he dropped me off at home and traded cars before taking Pierre back to Julie's. He didn't arrive home until a couple hours later and quickly retreated to his room to do his work.
He rushed through this morning and apologized for not making arrangements to have me attended to. Of course I am fine with staying and doing some long overdue drawing and finishing up on my blog. I'm not sure what this evening holds, but I do hope I find the inspiration to complete two drawings today.

St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

I spent most of Monday morning sleeping. I had barely been awake an hour when Duckens called to tell me he was picking me up in 15 minutes to view a house for rent. Since Duckens has been living at his cousin's house, he has not had consistent power, which means no reliable fridge and no stove. He can't shop for food that's perishable and there's no way to cook for himself. The maid cooks the food and is the only source of meals. (Maid/cook service is common among people with a house and it costs about $60 a month for someone to cook and clean 3 days a week). Duckens is rarely home so rarely eats with the family, meaning he has to eat out for the majority of his meals. Although he does not pay rent, the situation is obviously not ideal so he has been looking for an alternative.
The house was adorable! It has 3 bedrooms, 4 porches and a tile spiral staircase. With some paint and the construction of second bathroom, it's a perfect fit. This is a view of the steps that lead to the back yard area:

The only downfall is the distance from work, but it doesn't seem to phase Duckens a bit. He has been choosing furniture online and has recently commissioned a couch that can double as a day bed. I told me this morning that he has already said the okay so I will get to help him pick out the paint colors.
It occurs to me that I have failed to mention the obvious class system here. The social divide is apparent as soon as you set foot in the country and it all stems from money. The less money you have the less important you are considered. Likewise, the less money you have, the less access you have to gain an education, which makes moving up a next-to-impossible feat. It is hard to watch, especially as someone that was born into so much privilege. I have so much and I take it for granted so easily. This voyage has lit a considerable flame in me to use the privileges I have enjoyed to do everything I can to help others enjoy the same.
So, after viewing the house, Duckens and I went out to lunch. We entered a doorway that was small and nondescript but I was surprised to find a nice, good-sized restaurant-bar inside. Duckens rushed me back home (he seems always to be in a rush, it must be exhausting for him to have me here) and I blogged until he was back from work and ready to take me to the AS house. We picked up Pierre so he could spend the night as well and spend Tuesday going to Gallet me and with the crew. When we arrived at the house a dinner was prepared for the large crowd. They also had two other guests that I did not enjoy the pleasure of meeting, Pierre (the Spanish teacher) and a Spanish student name Ronald. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Ah yes, St. Patrick's Day. It wasn't until I remembered to tell Marcelo that it was a holiday in America that I realized I was not wearing a lick of green...

Return to the City

2008-03-18T18:56:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning is Pumpkin Soup Morning. Can-can makes the most delicious soup every Sunday that is said to have enough nutrients and enzymes to sustain human life indefinately. I had eaten too much the day before so I didn't have much, otherwise I probably could have eaten the entire pot. Dodo and I went to the beach after breakfast for another hard morning of work - I was her temp worker for the day. As I lay in the sun I noticed some girls eyeing me and my camera so I happily took their photos and let them have a go.

I wrote on my blog and was interrupted by a puppy that felt the need to roll around on the paper I was writing on.

A woman came by with some straw hats and bags for sale. I tried to see how much they were, but didn't have the vocabulary for bargaining so Dodo came out of the water to my rescue. She got me a bag for roughly $3 USC.
Soon it was time to shower and pack up to go back to the city. We ate yet another amazing meal and it was time to pick up our 5th passenger, the 4th being Can-Can. Can-Can owns a school. She was an accountant for most of her professional life but I think about 10 years ago she started a school that kids don't have to pay to attend. In Haiti, children's parents pay for them to go to school through high school and if their marks are high enough, they get to attend college and college is free. This makes it very hard for the majority of the population to receive a basic education. Can-Can's school started with 7 kids and 1 teacher and now there are about 250 kids, all of whom receive a meal and an education 5 days a week. Can-Can is more outspoken and opinionated than her daughter. She speaks with her whole body and her eyes, behind large-framed glass, say a thousand words on their own.

Our 5th passenger is a student of Can-Can's. She was orphaned at a young age and is now living with one of the school's teachers. She is afflicted by spells of hiccups lasting weeks that are so strong she can't function and that cause her a lot of pain. Can-Can believes this a psychological condition because she has been examined physically and nothing appears wrong. She will be examined under the care of a psychologist for 15 days in Port-au-Prince to see if they can gain an understanding of what is happening. This was her second car ride in her life. I gave her some of my motion-sickness meds, but unfortunately the windy road was too much for her. The poor girl politely threw up out the window behind me a couple of times. She was a trooper though, it wasn't a big to-do and not even a whimper escaped her lips (she was much more grow-up about it than I would have been!)
When we got back to town we stopped for ice cream and went our separate ways. Duckens and I stopped by Jackie's house since we were already in the town of Petionville and chatted for a bit. By the time we left Jackie's we were due at a birthday party in an hour. I changed into a dress and we were off to pick up Duckens friend Julie and her friend, Pierre, who is visiting from France. It was Frankie's birthday party and it was complete with a dance floor, Compa, the official music of Haiti, delicious food and a server. People were seated at tables so there wasn't a lot of mingling going on. Duckens introduced me to two people who work for the US government, at what capacity I do not remember. The lovely New Yorker made a statement that stayed with me; "I feel that the best way to affect change in a government is to do it from the inside." Duckens taught me to dance to Compa. He is a very fine dancer.
(P.S. I have finished the blog I was interrupted writing yesterday...)

A day of work at the Beach

2008-03-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I awoke at 5:30 am as Duckens prepared to get ready for a trip he would have to make back to Port-au-Prince. I was too excited to see my surroundings in the daylight so got up with my camera and walked into the fresh morning air. It was overcast and dawn had broken very recently. The yard was full of lush green flora and Dodo's mom was already preparing breakfast. The houses were made of stucco with thick palm roofing and they were tastefully decorated with local art and furniture. This is the bungalow that Duckens and I stayed in.
They have an amazing view of the ocean directly across the road from their property.

I ate breakfast with Duckens and Dodo's mom, who is affectionately called Can-Can. Duckens had already left but had to return because there were blockades in the road. Apparently someone from Jacmel had been killed in Port-au-Prince and the blockade was the towns form of protest. Duckens would have to stay for the day.
There was coffee!!! I've been missing coffee quite a lot. The coffee here is very thick and you drink very small amounts at a time. We had bread with peanut butter and AK-100 which is a runny hot cereal with a unique taste, most closely resembling a combination of grits and oatmeal. It was bland and I opted not to put any sugar in it because I had already had a good dose for my coffee.
Then it hit me how early it was and I went back to sleep and was awakened by Duckens letting me know that the maid/cook was going to the market. I had mentioned that I wanted to go to take photos. The market is a mass of chaos that, from an outsider's perspective appears to have no order. I am sure that to the native eye it is easily navigated, but to me it looked as if the stations that people had set up were completely random. Announcements of products and their costs could be heard near and far, but I could no easier tell you what they were saying than climb Mt. Everest. Everyone knew where they were going and what they were looking for, including our guides. There were many people selling the same things, but our guides bought from specific people.

For the most part, people eyed me suspiciously and tried to stay as far away from my camera as possible. Many people actually looked angry that I had brought it there and I was even yelled at a couple times (luckily this time, I still couldn't understand what they were saying). I paid for a photo, tried unsuccessfully to pay for some more and encountered one gentleman who gladly smiled for a shot. The sun was very hot by then and I had neglected to put sunscreen on in my hurry to get out the door. I could feel my toes burning (my injured toe is doing okay, by the way, it still has needles in it but doesn't hurt unless I step on it funny). In the end though, my neck got the brunt of the sun and is now a nice shade of Burnt Sienna.
Duckens and I made three purchases. Duckens got some sugar that tastes like molasses for me that is made in Jacmel. He said it is good for sweetening tea and I can't wait to try. It came in a big mass: this is the woman cutting off a piece for us.

Our second purchase was fingernail polish. Dodo said that it's very cheap to have someone come to your house to give you a mani-pedi and Duckens doesn't stock up on polish. Our third purchase was soda and cold soda at the end of our trip tasted heavenly.
We returned to the house and it was time to go to the beach. We laid in the sun and swam for about and hour and it was time for lunch so I reluctantly made my way back to eat one of the most delectable lunch table I have ever savored. We had fresh grilled fish, eggplant and cornmeal. I am not a cook, so I can't tell you what they were spiced with, but they complimented each other so well I swear they were dancing in my mouth.
After lunch it was nap time (poor me) so I willingly obliged. After our nap Duckens and I went on a tour of Jacmel.

We parked in the middle of town and went by foot. The town is not so clean in the daylight, but it was still quaint. There were as many people walking with outstretched hands asking for money as in Port-au-Prince and there was a fair amount of garbage.
From Jacmel, Duckens took a cousin of his to his uncle's house, which has 16 rooms, it looks like a big white hotel. The plan was to go back to our bungalow for a light dinner, go back to town to go to a little disco and then come home in time to witness the Ra-ra that would be going through town. When we got back to the house, we were so tired (from all the work mind you), we couldn't stay awake so we decided to nap until we hear the Ra-Ra. Dodo said that her and her mother are sponsors. Being a sponsor means paying an Ogu (a Voudou priest) to perform a ceremony and providing alcohol and food for the followers. Ra-Ra is a raucous group of parading, drum playing dancing people, celebrating the time between Good Friday and Easter. They happen every week during this time. I witnessed one when I was on my way to the AS house, but didn't have time to take any photos.
Ra-Ra never stopped at our place that night. Two passed us by and each time I woke up in a daze, unsure of whether or not I was supposed to go down to see them. I have yet to fully experience Ra-Ra.

Angry Stomach

2008-03-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

I wrote this while laying on the beach:
I spent Friday at home during work hours, feeling utterly uninspired. My stomach hurt, my body felt weak and my energy level was close to zilch. Before I knew it, it was 3:00 and I had spent the whole day online researching grad schools. I want to do the work that America Solidaria does, I want a degree in Community Development (CD). A week before coming here I took a class on whether or not grad school was right for me, but the unknown was what to study. I had been thinking that a degree in African/Caribbean Studies would be my path and that I would spend my time in an academic atmosphere teaching because I feel most alive when I am studying (or traveling). I've known that I want to help people and teaching is helping. But then I experienced first hand a form of helping that directly affects a community in need and I am hooked. I've never seen this first hand and let me tell you, the feeling of knowing you can be a catalyst for change in priceless - even as a witness as I'm not even involved yet. I would like to spend more time in the field with Erika, Bruno and Rodrigo to get a better idea of what the day-to-day experience is, but I believe I've found the perfect program. There is a Community Development Certificate that you get online through Penn State where you learn to begin applying what you're learning wherever you are and then there's a program that takes you to Indea, Peru and Tibet for a master's degree in CD. The degree program requires a proven commitment to CD and a written confirmation from a community you're already working with, which is why I'll take the certificate first.
So, I guess uninspired was not the right description, but I did not have the energy to do anything but sit and research.
As soon as Duckens came home, once again, it was time to leave. We were leaving for a costal town call Jacmel. He was with a co-worker, Dominique. She is beautiful, outspoken and energetic who lived in New York for almost 20 years and has a Haitian/Booklyn accent. She gave me the front seat and said, "I hope you don't get carsick."
I did. Duckens drives a diesel and the fumes alone are enough to ignite a low-grade nausea every time we go anywhere. We usually drive with the windows up and the AC on either for safety reasons or because the smell outside is markedly worse than the smell of the diesel (which Duckens claims he can't even smell). Add to that the windiest road I've ever encountered, going up a mountain, at night, with the jerks of shifting from 1st to 2nd to 3rd gear and you have one angry stomach. I am, and always have been, against the principal of throwing up, so I resisted the urge. I took rolling down the windows and slowing to probably less than 25 mph to coax the feeling to pass.
When the road had finally flattened (after an hour of nothing but turns) and the diesel cleared from the interior of the truck, I discovered that there is something mystical about encountering a new place without light. The outline of the landscape, full of palms, can be seen only in a vague vein, subtly popping out from behind the deep blue of the sky. The headlights momentarily reveal snippets of the activity of night, like moving photo stills, as if they only exist during the time they are illuminated. People turn blind eyes to the bright foreign flash of our headlights, most likely gland when we are past. The city of Jacmel looks quaint and clean in shadow, its people in the streets as apparently oblivious to traffic as Port-au-Prince. The main form of transportation in this town is taxi moto and they buzz around like bess around a honeycomb. And the air is sweet like honey in comparison to the capital.
We stopped for dinner before going to our weekend home, which is Dodo's (Dominique's nickname) mother's house where Dodo has added 2 detached bungalows. I ate a delicious plate of spaghetti with lobster at a restaurant smaller than my bedroom at home, we picked up Dodo's mom and went home. Duckens and I will be bunking together for the weekend. I was too tired to do anything but plop into a comfortable sleep.

A Whole Day at the House

2008-03-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day I spent the whole day at the house.

It was good because I got a couple drawings finished and I finally drew a proposal for a bouldering gym that I want to have a membership at. I did some writing too - I feel so inspired to make some changes for the better in my life. This trip is exactly what I needed to jump-start my life and get me motivated. It's a good reminder not to waste any time. Life is too short for that.
My stomach continues to give me grief at least one a day and I was feasted on my mosquitos. I can't feel them biting so it's only after they're done that I feel anything, but luckily they only itch for a moment.
Tomorrow Duckens is going to drop me off at the AS house before work and will pick me up afterwards and we'll head straight to a town on the beach called Jackmel (sp?). We'll be there all weekend so don't be alarmed when I don't write for 2 or 3 days.
It is now my bedtime. Good night!

The Clinic

2008-03-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

Once again I woke up at the AS house. I spent a peaceful Tuesday drawing in the natural light of the front porch and completed two pieces. Bruno's birthday party was a success. Erika made hamburgers and there were chips, fried Plantains and crackers being passed around. They didn't have balloons so they improvised by drawing them on pieces of notebook paper - very sweet. Bruno, as I said before, is a creative soul and along with drawing and painting loves music. He loved the drawing I did for him. After dinner he played the guitar and sang his own songs about mangos and tap-taps. We all went to bed late.
It was no surprise when Duckens and I were the first to wake up. Where ever we go, Duckens brings everything he needs just in case it won't be provided and when he introduced the breakfast table with milk, it was received with gusto. Apparently Erika has been missing milk as if it were a long lost lover.
I stayed when Duckens left for work and decided to go with Coty, Macarena (Maca for short), Marcello and Carmen, who is the last arrival for this round of volunteers, to the clinic. We went by bicycle, which wasn't unpleasant, but was a very bumpy ride. Carmen had a hard time because the bike she had was too big - I hope they can adjust it for her because she will be going that way every day.
In front of the clinic there was a large crowd gathered, waiting to see if they would get an appointment today. There were people with toothaches, people with unknown maladies and Mothers's who brought their sick children. Some had a slip of paper for a rendez-vous, meaning they had been seen already and were there for a check-up, but most were new patients. I think only about half were able to get an appointment.
Inside I tagged along on the tour being giving to Carmen (in Spanish) and learned that the clinic is new, large and owned by a convent.

There were two Haitian nurse nuns and a Haitian young man studying to become a doctor who volunteers at the pharmacy. The clinic is funded by a man named Gordon who is from the states and comes here about twice a year. As per usual, everyone was very friendly and I was met with curious eyes by the waiting patients. I followed my companions where ever they went and ended up in a dark blue scrub top. I was to spend most of my day with Coty, who had a long line of patients. She graciously translated everything she could.
I sat next to Coty as she attended to one patient after another. She asked them the same questions and more often than not, the response to the question "Cote mal senti?", "where does it hurt?", was one of two: "my stomach hurts; I don't want to eat," and "I have a rash." Many people have parasites due to bad water and even more have Scabies because they have nowhere to bathe. The rashes were either scabies or fungi. These poor people are incapable of staying healthy simply because they have no clean water. It was heartbreaking.

One of the boys from Gallet (the town that AS is doing community-building work in) was there with a very bad infection on his leg. I think Rodrigo and Bruno had encouraged him to come in when I was there with them. He was in a lot of pain because he didn't know how to take care of it after receiving the injury and when it became infected did not know where to go.
There were also a lot of cases of probable STDs, but it's usually hard to know unless Coty were to examine the area and she's not set up for that. For these cases she prescribed a medicine that covers both an infection and an STD, then gave them a rendez-vous slip.
I sat in on an appointment with Maca, who is a midwife. She is only able to attend to patients that are 1 to 5 months pregnant, after that she sends them to a hospital where Doctors Without Borders work. I didn't glean much from this appt. because it was a long conversation in Creole without translation.
At the end of the day I sat in with Marcello for the remainder of his patients. He is a dentist and what he does every day is extract teeth. He sees each patient to give them a shot of anesthesia then sends them to wait while the rest get their shot and to let the anesthetic take effect. Then after all the shots have been given, he works in what closely resembles an assembly line of tooth extraction. One patient after another came in, sat down, had their tooth pulled, received some instruction and were sent on their way.

It was a very interesting day, but tiring. I didn't much sleep on the air mattress last night and was yawning (or attempting to stifle them) all day. We arrived at the clinic around 8 or 9 (I wasn't paying attention to the time) and returned to the house at 3:15. Amazingly I was not very hungry. I'll take this opportunity to say a word about my appetite. It was left me! I had 8 Saltine-like crackers with a wedge of laughing cow cheese and a small crepe with orange marmalade for breakfast. At 3:30 lunch was ready, but I almost declined to eat because I didn't feel hungry. For lunch I ate a hamburger patty the size of a deck of cards, two pieces of fried Plantain the size of poker chips and about a cup of rice with a quarter cup of black bean soup. When my plate was half empty I was full but I was not about to waste what I had taken. It was a valuable lesson on paying attention to my body instead of eating an amount I'm used to out of habit.
I took an hour nap and Duckens picked me up. We stopped by a friend's house and chatted about the American elections for a bit then went to the grocery store before returning home. On the way home I realized I left my camera so I will have to post yesterday, today and tomorrow's photos another time. I had a half cup of plain (fat free) yogurt and a glass of water for dinner and will be graciously able to turn in early for bed. It is raining right now. It was rained 5 times since I've been here, each time has been at night for about 5-15 minutes at a time. It sounds like tonight it might rain longer, which is essential to sustaining life on this Island, people and plants alike.

A good road

2008-03-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Monday morning was a lazy one. I spent much of it writing saturday and sunday's blog on two sheets of printing paper. I studied a little Creole with a book that Bruno is lending me. I could draw his birthday gift with him sitting in the same room, so I took the opportunity to relax. Natela, the a lovely Haitian girl who is the cook/maid for the AS house prepared a delicious lunch and afterward Coty, Erika and I went for an outing to the dentist because Coty had a toothache. We walked the maze to the main road and along the way two adorable young girls sprinted toward us with big smiles and gave us hugs. Erika said they do that every day. I stopped a while later to take a photo of a door and noticed I had a visitor behind me. A boy was watching my camera with fascination.

The road to where we catch the tap-tap is beautiful and you can usually see some interesting sights. I learned about Bolivia and Argentina on our walk. I learned that Bolivia is the 4th poorest country in the world and that, like Mexico, it has many separate cultures that prevent the country from uniting and strengthening.

We went to the hospital in front of the UN compound where an Argentinian doctor attended to Coty. Erika and I went to a little market along the road and were practically accosted by a man who was desperately seeking "a reference." We told him we didn't have any but he continued to ask over and over, becoming frustrated and acted insulted. He said we were beating around the bush after we directly stated, "we are volunteers here and have no contacts." He was very rude. I understand that he is in a bad place in life, but if he continues to operate that way he will get nowhere.
On our way back we took a tap-tap then I took my first ride by "taxi moto."

I noticed as soon as we returned to the house that Duckens had been trying to call and he was at the door a few minutes later. We were going to a birthday party of one of his friends. Duckens was going to take me home to freshen up but found out that the party was starting so we had to go straight there. One thing, I'm embarrassed to say, that I am hyper aware of here is my appearance. Of course I am stared at because there are few white people (or Blan! Blan! Blan! as the children say) and NO tourists, but because I see so many gorgeous people, I am always looking at my own appearance with a critical eye in spite of myself. The worst part about it is that appearance is so unimportant and miniscule. I feel ashamed to even have these thoughts and feelings, but they are there. So I was to attend a this party in a ratty, thin tank top (ugh, I sound so vain).
It was in Duckens' friend's neighborhood that I saw my first good road. It was cobblestone and trash-free. The houses were all walled-in but they towered over the walls by the story. This was the Dunthorpe of Haiti. The house where the party was held was a large, beautiful stuccoed house with manicured landscaping. Inside there were many beautiful paintings and polished maroon tiled floors. These people had money and the gap between the way they live and the average Haitian was nothing short of astonishing. It's one thing to know about the gap, but to see it first hand is another.
Everyone at the party spoke English and they were all very nice. I did not feel judged one bit. Although most of them were well-dressed, my ensemble did not matter. It was catered with delicious middle-eastern food and I chatted with whoever sat next to me - we were arranged in one big circle so there wasn't much mingling going on. Duckens and I passed around my drawing pad and they gushed over my work (I will never tire of gushing :). It was a good experience.
So today I will be drawing. I'll finish two drawings I've started and draw Bruno's birthday present - today is his birthday and we'll got to his party tonight. I will post the drawings when they are finished.

Two Days Worth

2008-03-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday began at the house of the America Solidarias (I will call them AS from now on). We went there to attend Yesna's going-away part. Yesna has been here volunteering as a doctor for 8 months and has left to go for an interview in Chile for Doctors without Borders.
The day before yesterday, Duckens and I spent the day running errands. I got my first glimpse at downtown Port-au-Prince.
We went to visit a friend in the business district then had a tour of the monuments. I saw the White House, a famous sculpture and the Haitian Eiffel Tower.

We went to a museum of historical artifacts and art. We then went to Petionville, which is where I have been spending much of my time (where Jackie lives and where Anite took me) and we got canvas, tried to find a repair shop for Duckens' watch (to no avail) and bought a wedding gift and a gift for Yesna. Her party had no end so I turned in at 3:30 then was awakened by Duckens at 6:00 yesterday morning. The plan was for Duckens and I to go to a wedding, but after the drive back to our house, Duckens had changed his mind, it was to be a day at the beach! Actually, originally, Jackie's friend was going to take me to a Voudou ceremony but he never contacted us so that will have to wait. I couldn't stay awake, so Duckens let me sleep while he ran some errands. I woke up at hour before he came back and began a drawing that was intended as a birthday gift for Bruno that Erika requested I draw. As soon as Duckens came back we left. We went to the airport where the AS crew was dropping Yesna off. The six of them piled into the car to join us on our journey. We stopped at the grocery store and then we were on our way.
As we are driving at any given time, I find myself waiting for a good road, but there is no such thing here that I have encountered. It's as if I feel I'm on a never-ending back-road. The road to the beach got progressively worse. There wasn't much traffic but the norm is to drive on the side of the road with the least amount of pot-holes, be it the left or the right, and to dodge each one, usually at the last minute. About 20 minutes out of town you can see the beach to the left and the mountains to the right.
The mountains are a very sad sight because they are completely brown. They've been clear-cut and dry shrubbery has taken the place of the rain forest. I had asked Jackie if the road she grew up on looked the same as when she was young and she said it did not. The roads have not always been horrible, only in the last 20-30 years have they started erroding. Since the trees surrounding the city have all been eliminated, the water from the mountains is no longer been absorbed and has nowhere to go but in the roads. The water carries the roads to the sea.
We drove on the main road for an hour. The farther from the city we got, the greener the scenery became. We drove through little villages and a banana orchard. We turned off the main road behind a pick-up that belonged to Christian - he was to be our guide for the day. This road was not paved and I can only compare it to the tiny roads you take to get to a trailhead deep in the mountains, but the scenery soon became more like a desert, with cacti and all. I squeezed into the back between Bruno and Phillip. Phillip is Haitian and working with AS. He is in a school of ministry studying to become a youth minister. He doesn't speak English, but is fluent in Spanish and when everyone at the party was speaking Spanish really fast, in their Chilean accents, Phillip was the one who took the time to speak slowly so I could understand. I really didn't anticipate communicating with any Haitians in Spanish... :)
We were on the pot-hole of a road for hour and when the car stopped my body continued to vibrate for a good half hour. We walked a short way down a steep pathway through sharp, loose rocks that threatened to roll under my feet and send me to my butt. It's hard to believe that paradise was hiding just beyond the ledge. And paradise it was! It was a small beach and it was completely secluded. The air was warm and fresh with a soft breeze. We couldn't get our clothes off fast enough to plunge into the warm see water. It was true luxury, and so sweet after such an insulting car ride.

There were 10 of us and soon we were all in the water. Erika (the one from Bolivia) left with Christian to find some cave almost immediately after we arrived.
I spent most of my time in the water except to eat and to inspect a sting on my toe that felt like a bee sting. We attempted to body-surf but there was a send ledge that the sea sent us crashing into like throw pillows on a couch. It was paradise.
As the sun began to set we realized that Erika and Christian had never returned. We needed to head out and they weren't coming back so Coty, a beautiful girl from Argentina, and I volunteered to swim in the direction we'd seen them go. We didn't have far to swim to get the next beach, but the choppy sea water slowed our pace to a crawl. For most of our swim we couldn't see anyone and we were beginning to get scared that we wouldn't find them but we rounded a cove and found them sitting together in a little cave. They were fine (very fine if you know what I mean);they just didn't know that we had been looking for them. Before we started our way back I stopped to rest but, unaware that the water was really shallow, I slammed my toe into what felt like a bed of needles. That's exactly what it turned out to be, a bed of see urchins of some sort and I had 5 needles embedded in my toe. One of them was close enough to the surface on the side of my toe that you could see it's full length, which was about half an inch. Another you could see each end, one end at the top of my toe and the other end in the middle of my toe nail. It hurt quite a lot. Luckily, AS is full of volunteer doctors: Coty is a doctor, Macarena is a midwife and Marcelo is a dentist - they know the language of helping. They attempted to remove them on the beach but the needles wouldn't budge. Erika got them too, but in her heel - she was worse off. (From left to right: Bruno, Duckens, Erika, Christian, Marcelo, Macarena, Rodrigo, me, Philip and Coty.)

We had to wait to get back to house where all the supplies were to remove the new little friends in my toe. I sat in the back of car on the way back and I have never been more uncomfortable - not because of my foot, but because I was too tired to keep my eyes open, too cramped to lay down and too jostled for any sleep. Amazingly, the rest of the car was able to nod off - maybe they're used to it after a month of being here.
It was operation time when we got back. (Left to right: Coty, Duckens, Macarena, Christian, Marcello and Bruno)

By that time I had almost forgotten about my toe - until I tried to walk. Christian said that anything acid would coax the needles out so we doused, then soaked, my toe in vinegar. It didn't work. Macarena and Marcelo were my attending physicians. They had to cut out the shallow one with a needle and cut back the tops of the others, but they were to fragile - if you pulled on them, the top just broke off. With a lot of pain, a little anesthetic and 3 different pairs of tweezers, Marcelo managed to extract most of 3. Two of them were too deep to reach. Unfortunately, most of Erika's were too deep. The ones that were left in will just have to come out naturally.
When the operation was over, I offered to give Bruno the drawing lesson he requested and Rodrigo joined us. They turned out to be fast learners and both have obvious artistic talent.

I think I could really enjoy teaching. Being around all of these ambitious, intelligent, adventurous people is so inspiring. There's no time to wast in this life - this is the lesson I am learning so far.
All Haitians, it turns out, are entreprenuers. Most don't have official jobs, but they're always doing something to make money, be it selling produce, buying things to resell at a higher price, providing some kind of service or providing transportation by tap-tap or motorcycle. Another observation I have made is that Haitins are not in a hurry unless they are driving. When you see Haitians walking on the street (not on the sidewalk mind you, sidewalks are for selling things) they are never walk fast, not even to move out of the way of a car.
It still amazes me how dirty the streets are. They are filled with garbage - there is no public sanitation or trash management in place. Aside from the smell of sewage and urine, there are random piles of trash everywhere. It feels as though entire populated areas - all cities no matter if it's the "rich" area or the poor - are slums. I'm sure in time my eye will be more discerning, but it all looks to be about the same degree of filth. There is no way to dispose of trash and it has to go somewhere. It has been left to the people to manage and they do nothing. The government does nothing with the tax money it receives (which isn't as much as the states, but is still collected).
I spent the night with the AS crew because Duckens couldn't wait for my foot to be dealt with (I found myself saying we when talking to Duckens about the AS house not having internet). THis morning I woke up to Duckens' phone call to take my clothes order. He needed to come back to get some pictures I took for him from my camera. He called at 6:45am and didn't get there until 9:30. He had to take his car to be fixed because the gas we stopped for on way to the beach had been cut with water.
It is now Monday at 1:30am my time and I am too tired to write about today, I'll leave that for tomorrow.
Bonsoir!

Collaboration

2008-03-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up at 7, which is 4 Portland time. I went to bed late last night because I took a nap so today I avoided doing the same. I spent the morning organizing my room and started a new drawing. (Mama and Brie, tell me if you recognize anything in this photo:)
The drawing I started is in color with pastels - quite new as you all know, and very fun! I didn't get to finish because Duckens came to take me with him to a meeting to pick out a door (for what I don't know, I didn't ask, but I think for work).
He dropped me off at Jackie and Maxime's office, which I finally learned is called Pressmax. When I got there Jackie was intently focused on an idea that she said she had to get out of her head. She needed my help and thus started our day-long collaboration. She wanted me to create an idea she could see in her head, but couldn't quite do herself and didn't have time for. She needed an image of a pregnant woman; a shadow of one. She wanted to collage inside the pregnant belly images of happiness, sadness, war, famine, etc. I didn't know at first but it was to accompany a poem she had written. I searched the net for an image of a shadow and didn't find one, but felt that for the purposes of our project, an actual pregnant woman would be a better representation. I drew, with pencil, a photo that I found and scanned it then, with help, turned it sepia-toned. I found images of the other feelings Jackie wanted to represent and collaged it digitally. She popped in every now and then to steer me in the right direction. When I was about half way through, Jackie read me her poem. It is about how beautiful and clean Haiti used to be and how "her heart beat to the same drum as the goddess of love." The imagery, even in her rough translation was beautiful. It goes on to say that things have changed and Haiti's people have ripped "her" insides out and violently abused her and that now her heart beats to the same drum as the god of war. In spite of myself and I found myself in tears. To hear the emotion in her voice and in her Haitian accent was deeply moving. It was beautiful and powerful and so sad. When I finished the visual portion, Jackie put it on a tabloid-sized (11x17) page with the poem and added our names together at the bottom. It is quite lovely and I am proud to have a hand in her creation. Duckens came to pick me up but before we were going to leave, Jackie was headed to her friend Mirlenne's house to see what she thought of our work and invited me along. We went Mirlenne's and found three of her friends there as well. I watched as an animated conversation in French carried on with minimal translation. Her friends spoke with their hands. I wanted to take their photo but felt it would be rude to ask in the middle of their conversation (although they probably would have been fine with it). The consensus on our work was that we should include a landscape of how Haiti used to look as well as some Voudou symbolism since these were mention in the poem but not represented in the collage. We will get together another day to add these and I will post our finished product on that day. I did not expect to have the privilege of collaboration while I was here! This is a photo of Jackie, Maxime and their rooster Figero. I have never met a rooster with more personality. The day before yesterday a caught him chasing their dog.
By the time we were finished with the meeting, it was too late for the plans Duckens had made. This turned out to be a good thing because Duckens had to be pealed off the chair and coaxed into bed he was so tired (although I don't think he got the hint because I can hear him talking on the phone - reminds me of someone I know by the name of Mark). I, on the other hand, am still on Portland time and it is only 6:30 in my head so I will attempt to sleep and if it doesn't come I will finish my color drawing.
Voila.

Another day of rest

2008-03-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today I stayed home and did two drawings. This one is Duckens: This was one of the young ladies at the village that America Solidarias is working in:When Duckens came home we went to buy groceries then to Julie's house for a little dinner party. I didn't understand most of what was said, but I met two guys from New Jersey who are now living here. We ate Chinese take-out. We've had more power problems today, but it looks like we're in luck for the night. Duckens ordered water that arrived today. There's no public water system, it's all rain water and when you're out you're out unless it rains or you have the money to buy more. The way I'm living here is not exactly typical.
I don't think I have anything else to say right now. :) Oh about the requests for photos of the metal art, I'm afraid they are tightly wrapped but here is a photo of the artist and an example of the art.
Mine are long and thin. Also, I've just learned how to resize images so that they fit on the blog better. Look back a few and there's one where I was cut off, I'm back in there now.
I have to say, I am so grateful for everything that Duckens is doing for me. I am forever indebted. Thank you Duckens!

A morning of light conversation and an afternoon of art

2008-03-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

I must have been running on steam until today because I feel completely drained of energy. Yesterday involved a lot of walking, which I can feel in my calves today. I'm glad for the exercise, although I made a poor footwear choice and this is what I'm paying for. It also gave me a good idea of what most Haitians do on a daily basis. The most common form of transportation is by foot and in this heat it is not an easy feat. To compound the difficulty the air in the city is thick with unpleasant smells including garbage, sewage and mass amounts of exhaust fumes. Haitians live a hard life.
Duckens' cousin and assistant, Anite, was my tour guide for the first half of the day. She speaks very little English and all of my attempts at communication were met with a genuine effort to understand. We walked from Duckens' house to a main road where we caught a tap tap to Petionville where I purchased a can of spray fixative and 14 post cards (they'll be on their way to the states shortly). This is Anite:
Anite took me to two art galleries. The ceilings are typically very high and the walls are covered with the work of many different Haitian artists. Haitian art is very colorful and mostly figurative. The style ranges from realism to abstract and subject matter usually depicts daily Haitian life. Voudou art is also colorful and full of symbolism. I have a lot to learn about Haitian art, which will be easy to do - I am in good hands. From the galleries we met Anite's mother in law to help her with a problem with her papers (this is the extent of my knowledge on the subject) and then we ate lunch at a small restaurant with outdoor seating. While we were waiting for our food a gentleman requested that I come speak to him. His name is Dudley and he speaks very good English. He is a high school social studies teacher and was interested in my opinions on the US elections. I'm afraid I'm not a good person to ask because I'm not very aggressive about where I gather my information. To date, my knowledge of the elections is mainly from snippets of CNN coverage during breakfast and dinner. It was a good reminder to stay well-informed on the important things going on on a national level. We exchanged email, he will be another great resource for information and I will reciprocate the best I can.
From the center of Petionville we took a tap-tap to Duckens' friends' office. A couple, Maxime and Jackie, run the business together. It is a print shop. Maxime and Jackie are so hospitable and generous that I almost feel guilty for taking their time. Like Duckens, they will bend over backwards for anyone they call a friend and I am lucky enough to fall into that category by default because I'm a foreigner that is a friend of a friend. Duckens explained to me that the friend-by-default concept is not one that occurs here unless you're a foreigner. Jackie left the office when I arrived to show me around. She speaks perfect English and one would not guess that she is Haitian by her appearance. She has light skin, beautiful Hazel eyes and long wavy brown hair that she pulled back into a pong tail. (I took her photo but didn't ask if it was alright to post it.) First she gave me a tour of the print shop. It is smallish, but they have several presses, a binding machine, a laminator, a large paper cutting machine and a dark room. She then took me to her home (it's actually her family's house, they are waiting to build on a property they own) which was next door to the office, to show me her eldest daughter's paintings and her personal art collection. She is an avid art lover and owns some gorgeous work. Maxime's brother is a world-renowned haitian artist. She had his work along with the work of other famous and not-so-famous artists hanging in her living room and bedroom. Her brother-in-law's office is attached to the house, which she took me to see, but he was not in. From there she drove me to two galleries, for whom she prints the invitation cards. Her company has printed several books for one (I did not inquire about the names of the galleries or her business! What was I thinking?!). The galleries she took me to were different from the ones I had seen before in that they were not as packed with work. At the first I was adopted by an older gentleman who spoke great English and for whom speech did not come easily. He showed me a collection of stone carvings from 600 BC (I believe that's the correct number), crafted by natives of the Island. He showed me the pieces he found most note-worthy. After seeing the gallery we went downstairs to a shop where I purchased some native Haitian jewelry (yes Duckens, it does exist! :) I got some earrings and bracelets that are made of bull horns. In the shop there were also some wall hangings that were on average about 22"x12" that depicted Voudou deities and symbols in intricate beadwork.
The second gallery we visited was two stories, the first floor opened to an American-style gallery - 4 walls with art placed in the middle in a neat row. The work there was more contemporary, with abstract work, mixed media and work painted on metal. Upstairs was a second gallery space that was less formal. There was a big black dog laying in the middle of the room whose name I soon learned was Lola and a table where two people sat sorting and probably pricing thick, sequined bracelets. One of the two women who run the gallery was there, her name is Gael. Her sister, Pascale is the one who Jackie works more closely with. Gael is young and beautiful and spoke perfect English. She is very friendly and was complimentary of my work. Jackie told her that I am interested in showing here in Haiti and she said that the gallery has never shown anyone who is not Haitian but that she would look into it anyway. She also told me that she has contacts in other places, like Berlin and that I should send her my finished work so she can pass it along. I, of course, was happy to hear that.
Duckens picked me up about an hour later and we went to eat at what I gather is one of his favorite spots (we have to eat out every night because there is no stove or consistently working fridge at the house). It's a small night club/restaurant with loud music and low lighting. Most places here are open-air, including this place. We ate fried yucca, chicken, plantains and potatoes. Very tasty. The power went out for a moment during our meal and it was pitch black during that moment. One of Duckens' friends showed up and sat with us to have a beer. When we were finished eating Duckens showed me the dance floor. It has no light in it whatsoever. I couldn't even see how big it was. Duckens asked if it was too scary and I answered with a yes that echoed above the loud music. I wonder how many people were wondering what was up with the screaming foreigner...
I think Duckens might be my most avid reader of this blog. I hope I'm not stepping on any toes in my frank recollection of experiences here.
On a completely random note, I love the way Haitians say oui. They pronounce it "weh". I wonder if that is unique to Haiti.
Last night I had a touch of traveler's sickness and had to pop some Imodium. Duckens' bed set arrived yesterday, it is a replicate of the set he sold us, but it is darker wood and much more sturdy. He has given me his room so I was privileged to be the first to sleep on it. It's very luxurious! I actually got a whole conversation in with Mark - it was great to hear his voice!!! I woke up in the middle of the night to mosquitos in my ear and learned in my disoriented stupor that the power had gone out again. I guess they've been turning it off more frequently lately. I'm afraid I've been too greedy with power. I am spending today at the house again. I should have gotten some canvas so I can start a big piece, but I didn't so I'll whip out some more small pieces. I need to get caught up on those anyway, I've only drawn two. Duckens is sure he can sell any large piece that I draw so I better take him up on that!
Until next time...

Spanish Lessons

2008-03-04T19:23:00.001-08:00

Bonsoir!

Today was very eventful. It began with a breakfast of instant oatmeal and surprisingly palatable Haitian (mixed with instant) coffee. My Chilean friends and Erica from Bolivia are so hospitable, offering the first shower and "anything you want is yours." Erica stayed in the house while Bruno, Rodrigo (I don't know how to spell his name - sorry Rodrigo) and I headed on foot to the main road. Let me say that I have never been so directionally-challenged in my entire life. The unmarked road turns so often and at corners you don't even know there are roads behind, I have no idea how people find their way. Bruno said it involves getting lost numerous times. It is the same situation getting to Duckens' house.
When we got the main road we caught a tap-tap, which is definately something you need to do if you're going to get the full Haitian experience - seeing them is not enough. We squeezed in (literally squeezed) and we were on our bumpy way to the next tap-tap. Riders, I soon found out, are not fond of having their photo taken, but they're all very friendly (Bruno is the one in the photo). I got lots of stares that looked away if I attempted to make eye contact. Along the way Rodrigo and Bruno explained various goings on and misc. fact about Haiti. I learned that 85% of the ecological land mass has been clear-cut for making charcoal to cook with. We arrived at our road and walked about a half mile to the village that America Solidarias is planning/building. It is very poor. I do not remember the name and I won't remember names unless I write them down (I've put a note-pad in my outting bag).
I took my camera out and as soon as I took my first photo, the entire child population of the village became my best friends. They were delighted when I took their photo and fell into fits of loud, joyous laughter when I showed them the photos I took. They quickly became comfortable enough with me to snatch the camera from my hands to take their own. They are so happy!
After about a half hour of picture taking, they decided to pay a little closer attention to me and the ways I am different from them. They played with my hair, stroked my white arms and poked at me. Although they knew I could not understand them they continuously asked me questions in Creole. Inevitably they peeked at my belly and were delighted to find my belly button piercing. They were also delighted that I agreed to ride in a circle on their pink bicycle. It was wonderful.
During my playtime, Bruno and Rodrigo were making plans for the community center they are going to build. Today they had the important task of measuring it out in the spot it is to be built. When we were done at the village we went back to the main road and found a tiny little store where I got some water in what resembled the inflated plastic you get in newly packaged electronics. I'd never drank water from a plastic bag...
We headed back to town and stop at a pounded iron wall-hanging compound. There were around 5 artists who made beautiful pounded metal sculptures from recycled metal. I think most of it comes from old hub caps. They were gorgeous and I couldn't resist buying three of them. And at a very good price I might add. Bruno bought some mangos along the street when we were finished at the compound and we went back home.
As soon as we returned to the house Bruno made the most delicious fresh mango juice I've ever tasted. We ate a late lunch when everyone came home - potatoes, chicken, a carrot salad and an onion and tomato salad. As soon as lunch was over Rodrigo invited me to go with him to a Spanish class that he is helping out with. Rodrigo has a hard time with English at times and my Spanish is horrible so we made due with a mix of both. He is a kind person, easy to be with. At the class (which consisted of 5 young men and 2 young women around the age of 20) Rodrigo split us into two groups, one with me and one with him. My group ended up reverting to a lot of English out of curiosity about me and my art. One of the group members, Dudley is also an artist and was the only one who spoke English. I didn't notice until half way through the class that he had his son draped across his lap!
Needless to say, by the time Duckens came by to pick me up soon after I returned from Spanish class, I was pretty tired. I was surprised by my lack of appetite, but soon realized I was just too busy to notice my hunger. We stopped for my first Creole meal of the trip on the way home. Delicious! I ate goat for the first time, probably the last, not because I didn't like it, but because I don't like the idea of eating goat. It's a Haitian delicacy according to Duckens, I needed to try it. We also had juice made from a fruit I've never had. I don't remember the name (no notebook yet), but it had a mild taste that reminded me of vanilla and a thick consistency. We stopped at the grocery store to find aloe vera for my sunburn and on the way out there was a goat on the sidewalk in front of the store. Only in Haiti...
It is now past my bedtime.

Buenas Noche! (Spanish in Haiti...ha ha ha!)

Day 2

2008-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

Bonjour! I am so happy to be here! I love the people here, the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. Today I woke up in a new house. I spent most of yesterday resting in Duckens house. I did my first drawing, took a nap and studied a little French. The more I think about it, the more I think I should be studying Creole instead. I'll be learning Creole from Duckens in little snippets I'm sure. Duckens is such a wonderful host! I'm so fortunate to know him. When he got home from work last night we went out to dinner - we had chinese food. The restaurant was almost empty and one of the three other guests Duckens informed me, was a movie star. After dinner we went to pick up two of Duckens friends who are leaving today who are from Chile. I found myself practicing a little Spanish, but I'm afraid my Spanish if very rusty and our Chilean friends speak very good English. We drove far to pick them up and by the time we got back to their house Duckens was too tired to drive home. We decided to spend the night with them. One of the housemates needed a printer for today and Duckens offered to let him drive us to his house to pick up his printer and for me to get my things. The people in this house all work for an organization called Americas Solidarias and they're here doing humanitarian work. I volunteered to spend today with them and travel by tap-tap to the site where they're building a house. These people are so warm and kind! I am sometimes amazed at the generosity that people are capable of.
I must cut this short today, it's time for me to shower before we leave...

Day 1 in Haiti

2008-03-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

I made it! I hopped on the plane last night at 6pm and after two connections arrived today at 1:30. It was a pretty uneventful trip, save for some unsolicited advice about the dangers of Haiti from a complete stranger. I sat next to a young lady name Greta on the flight from NY to Haiti and she delivered me safely into the care of my host, Duckens Orphee, when we finally set foot on Haitian ground. It's hot, around 80 degrees! Duckens brought two lovely ladies with him to pick me up at the airport (which is about the size of a Fred Meyer only longer and with windows floor to ceiling). One of the ladies, whose name escapes me right now, is here from France adopting a beautiful 14 month old girl Phalaica (fall.ah.y.ka). Julie is the was the other woman, also from France who works at the French Embassy.

We went from the airport to Julie's condo, a gated community with stucco siding and a pool under construction. We ate a pasta lunch and rested a bit then headed in the direction of Duckens' house. Duckens realized we were close to his friend Frankie's house and stopped there for some soda (fruit champagne), which is orange in color but not taste. I'm too tired to for much more description than that right now...

The roads in most places are pretty bad at best and horrendous in others. I spent most of my time in the car with my hands clutched to my seat, praying not to hit any of the MANY pedestrians who have complete faith that they'll make it across the street whether or not a car is coming. The taxis are called Tap-taps and are trucks with a wooden canopy and are usually full to the brim and apparently oblivious to other traffic. It is customary to honk as a form of communication when driving, and it took Duckens telling me this before I understood that not all Haitian drivers are angry, they're just vocal.

From Frankie's house we drove up a steep, windy road to a look-out point where you could see all of Port-au-Prince. The sun was really low in the sky and I got some beautiful photos. I can already see that I'm gonna have to get a lot more friendly with my camera if I'm going to be any good at this photography stuff. It certainly doesn't help that I don't speak French or Creole, but tomorrow I'll learn the phrase "May I take your photo?"

I bought my first souvenir from a nice merchant at the look-out point and on the way down from the lookout point we stopped at a small grocery store. It was there that Duckens explained to me that prices are pretty comparable here for most merchandise and groceries if not more expensive. The store was more of a convenience store; we did the math on what we bought and I'd say the prices would be the same in a 7-11. Not what I expected! I will not be stretching my money that way I thought.

At this point in the day it was 6 and we were due at a Jazz Festival at 7. There was no bathroom and I need to go so the plan would be to wait 'till we got home. Well, Duckens remembered he had promised to the ink cartridges I had brought so there would be no time to go home. I'm thinking I'm fine and I can hold it for the hour, but as we're speeding through traffic and jostling my bladder every which way, I realize that I just gotta go. We delivered the cartridges and pulled over on an unlit street so I could pop a squat. For those of you who know me, I'm no stranger to peeing in the woods. But there are trees in the woods. I don't want to walk off into the darkness without Duckens (who kindly accompanies me and demonstrates how it's done) so I have to do it where we are. We're about 15 feet from a road with lots of foot traffic and about 10 feet from a random guy wandering around the on other side of an abandoned station wagon. After I finally relieve m shy bladder I feel a million times better and yes, proud of myself for conquering my first uncomfortable situation.

We went to the jazz festival, which was frankly the same as any jazz festival you'd see in Oregon with rows of folding chairs in front of the stage and behind those the wedding-reception-style seating at tables where we sat. I'm not a jazz fan but I discovered that I am a fan of sugar cane juice.

We left the festival early and headed home which is at the end of one of those horrendous roads I mentioned. One cannot drive on this road in anything but an SUV.

My computer is running out of power and there is no electricity in my bedroom so I have to cut this short.

I'm here and I'm safe!

Website Update

2008-02-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I'm writing to let you know that I have made some updates on my website. Most importantly I've included all the names, sizes and pricing on all my pieces. I received some helpful feedback requesting sizes because it is very hard to get the full effect online. I've also put up two new works and a mural that I completed this summer. All new work will be placed at the end of the line on each page to give the impression of chronological order.

On a personal note, I got my travel vaccinations today and feel as though I've been punched in the left arm. Hard. Poor me. :)

Until next time.

Introduction

2008-02-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings! I would like to introduce to you my art blog! I have started this blog for two reasons, the first being an addition to my website (www.prodigycharcoal.com). I will update this blog to give you (the audience) a place to go when looking for upcoming events and shows. I will be posting events, which are currently sparce, as soon as they are scheduled, but I'll also give updates on works in progress here.

The second reason I am starting this blog, is because I plan to do a large amount of traveling during my career as an artist and this will be an organized and public way to catalog my travels. I will be leaving for Haiti on March 1st and I'll be blogging the trip with writing, photos and drawings.

During my travels, I'll give an overview of the blog in the first paragraph and for those of you who want more details there will be plenty as I tend to get long-winded when given the time. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

I'll keep you posted.