Recommended Reading

The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Food for thought...

Así es la vida

I think I've hit a wall.

In the early afternoon I started getting so tired that I went home early. I had plans this morning of doing the dishes when I got home. They're still in the sink. (I did do two loads of laundry and hung them out...) I had grand plans of doing a powerpoint presentation for I training I'll be doing in about two weeks. Pero, nada. Estoy aquí en mi cama, descansándome. I thought I could stave it off until next month, when I'm planning to take a week off.

El único problemita es que tengo mucho para hacer en las próximas tres semanas. Hay una junta importante, una solicitud de una beca que tengo que cumplir, y un entrenamiento en Chicago en la semana que entra…¡No tengo tiempo para estar enferma!

Aaayy...así es la life, ¿no?

Remedios

The past two weeks have been busy with visitors and work on the house. First, we had Joe and Ruth, Servas travelers from Canada, stay with us for two days, and then my dad came from Tejass to get his New Mexico fix.

My dad spent most of the time making improvements on the house. The big project was working on the back room, which used to be dungeon-like with its dark walls and carpet. It was retiled in a lighter color this past summer, and this past weekend, we worked on painting the walls a lighter color, and he added track lighting and a bamboo curtain to cover the window. Here are some pictures of the final product...

Today my friend Kesi, her new dog, and I went hiking. It's our sort-of Easter tradition. I think we made it about a mile up some incline before I couldn't go any further. I've realized that I'm still trying to get over the exhaustion.

I've found some things that have helped. I noticed that I have more energy when I take a B-vitamin complex sublingually. (I just learned from a book I read that some vegetarians don't get enough of this vitamin....all the fuss is usually on protein.) I've been getting some reflexology done, which also makes me feel better. Another thing I've wanted to do is ear candling...I think I might have had an ear infection on top of everything else. It helped, too. And I'd recommend it. Most importanly, I find catching up with sleep on the weekend keeps me happy during the week.

insomnio..

Yo lo que quiero es un avioncito
Un avioncito que me vuele
Que me vuele lejos
Que me vuele que me vuele
-yerba buena

International Women's Day

This IWD coincides with my 20 year anniversary of considering myself a feminist. I guess I was one before then, but I didn't know of the term. I just knew that things weren't right. I had hopes of things changing in the future, but I don't think that's happened, at least to the extent I had wanted it to.

My middle school-self wanted equality in pay for women, access to reproductive health care services, and a future that included more than settling down with someone and getting married.

As I got older, I began to understand more deeply how the issues of social justice also tie into feminism. Accessing clean water, living in a safe home, having a reliable source of food, and being able to live without fear of violence are concerns that affect all women to differing degrees.

There hasn't been equality. Femicides continue to occur. The gender pay gap has not narrowed, and, in fact, has begun to widen in the past 10 years. Women are living and raising children in a world that's becoming increasingly more toxic.

There's a lot more work to be done.