My Kind of Feminism

I know a lot of people get turned off by the “f” word, I have to admit, I was skeptical during my high school years. Even at Oberlin, it took some self-educating to discover what it really meant. For me, it was women like Cherie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Audre Lorde that got to me. They spoke about their sexuality, passions, struggles, and hope that connected with my experience. I wasn’t into burning my bras or not shaving my legs (although I have nothing against either of those forms of expression, just not my thing), but I am from a generation of women who grew up with Title IX, the right to vote, and with more access to power than my parents’ or grandparents’ generation. It is so easy to forget where we come from, to forget that the most privileged are still white, male, and heteronormative.

I sort of “grew into my shell”, if you will, during high school. I was part of the Varsity Cross Country team and found myself making new friends (I was a bit of a hermit before then), gaining self confidence, and trying new things. Athletics was always a part of my life, but cross country was something I felt a strong passion for. It wasn’t easy running and training 6 days a week, but I loved it. It helped me focus, gave me motivation to do well in school, and I had a group of pretty awesome girls to support me through it all. I think about where I would have been without that experience and I cringe. I remember participating at an alumni event at Oberlin College only for cross country folks and being shocked at the 95% male representation. One guy said he was equally as surprised to see so many young women since, in his day, women weren’t allowed to run. Gave me a reality check.

The majority of my experience has been in nonprofit work and teaching, both female dominated fields. I sometimes lose sight of what that implicates, and what it is like to be a woman in a male dominated field. My mother and aunt (a doctor and an engineer respectively) know all too well what that entails, and hearing their stories reminds me how much they went, and still go, through.

A few months ago the infamous Katy Perry gave a speech accepting a Woman of the Year Award (the implication of what that means for American society will not be discussed, but, umm, REALLY?! WOMAN OF THE YEAR?! What did she do to deserve this?? Phew, rant done) and made it very clear that she is NOT a feminist. Mish wrote a solid piece discussing the implications of women dissing feminism. I would like to modify her argument a bit and say that feminism is not just about strong women, but gender equality. Not just strong men or strong women, but strong people. It is about creating a space where people do not have to worry about their gender or gender expression deciding their job, partners, or anything else.

I get that feminism has gotten a bad rap as a man-hating ideology, but read deeper people! While some people may have twisted it to be about hate, it is really about acceptance. But there is anger there, don’t get me wrong. You start to educate yourself about how long this whole disenfranchisement of women has been going on and it’s hard not to get angry. I am angry. But I don’t hate. There is a meaningful difference. I am angry that all across the world women are more heavily critiqued for their image and not their ideas, they are not respected, they are treated as objects, they are raped, they are killed (many before they are born), and all because of their gender. If that doesn’t piss you off a little bit, maybe you are a sociopath and you should see a doctor. Just kidding, but really, if men and women aren’t sympathetic to this anger, and expect change to come peacefully then think again. That’s just more submissive and passive, umm, crap, that is part of the problem.

A somewhat masochistic activity I indulge in on occasion is reading Fox news reports. On one of those occasions I ran across this article titled “The War on Men” It intrigued me to say the least, and as I read on, in between laughter at the absurdity of it all, I sort of saw where this woman was coming from. While there are a ton of great one liners, this one about sums up the argument: “women aren’t women anymore”. What does that mean, you ask? Well, women aren’t submissive and making less money than their male counterparts, and this scares men away from marriage. I find this insulting as a woman, and I would hope that men also find this insulting. This argument assumes that men cannot view women as equals and that they need to be in a position of power in career and financial arenas. I see a connection between this and the victim-blaming rape arguments. Men are just animals that cannot control their instincts and it is up to women to satisfy them in marriage and not tantalize them in the streets if we our out by ourselves. Why is it our job to “tame” men? Again, my feminism is about respect for all genders, and I do not want to treat a man like he is an animal. That just seems wrong to me. But hey, maybe I got it all wrong. Except I really do not feel that way.

Miss Representation was a documentary that came out in 2011 that examines the bias in media’s representation of women. While some of it was a tad preachy, in general, I think this film brought to light issues that many women (of privilege in particular) want to ignore. I highly recommend checking out the documentary, as well as others the organization continues to produce (one about women in the military and one to come about the culture of masculinity and its effect on boys and men). I would like to see more people getting on this bandwagon, and bringing about another wave of feminism that highlights gender equality, not just women’s empowerment (which is a crucial part of the fight, but not all of it). Boys and Men and other gender identified folks are all a part of this discussion. We need to think about why our gender determines our behavior, social, and economic options. We need to think about why there is so much violence when people try and challenge those norms.

Rachel Maddow. Sonia Sotomayor. Roberta Chisam. Gina Pérez. Aida Maldonado. Yvonne Maldonado. These women fought the good fight, and continue fighting. They are my inspiration and I aim to do right by them.

I am a feminist. Let the gauntlet begin. I’m ready.

Coming together

I am not sure what I want this post to end up being, but I have more to say about my time in Mexico. I am back in Austin now, but will write about that later.

Recap: I went to Oaxaca three times, twice for research and once with my friend Lourdes to the beaches. I finally saw my top tourist spots (el Palacio de Bellas Artes, Zócalo, Café de Tacuba, and el Museo de Antropologia) with my friend Marlene and her mother who was visiting from Germany. I also did an impromptu trip with Marlene, her mother, and two friends to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. I organized an international Thanksgiving that brought some of my favorite people together to share, laugh, drink, and forget our problems (yes, it's cheesy, but that's how it felt).

I met some amazing people, inspiring people. People who remind me that friendships and human connection are some of the most important things I value. I think of Angie and Lou and I laughing at "Guadalajara", Marlene and I buying some tacos at 2am and watching Clueless on the couch, Marine and I sneaking off from school to go to the mall and play with puppies, and a few other things in between.

Thankgiving: yup, I totally made the turkey!!!

So Thanksgiving came together a little bit last minute, but it was all worth it. I looked for a turkey 2 days before (yes, against my nature of planning things WAY in advance). I was lucky to find one that was mostly thawed (thanks to Superama, a branch of Walmart, and the American holidays and customs that are creeping into Mexican society and culture). I brined the turkey and stuffed it into a large bucket that took up 75% of our fridge space. The day of was a bit of a hot mess to say the least. I had to carry a bucket of, uhh, turkey and turkey juices out to the street, hail a cab and go over to my friend's apartment where we were having the dinner. Why not have it at my apartment? Let's just say that big dinner require certain things we didn't have, like a table, chairs, and more than one fork. Ehem. So, after a full day of cooking the turkey (which Lou helped me with for a couple hours), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (fresh, ya'll!), and sweet potato pie I ran home to take a quick shower while Marlene held down the fort. Slowly but surely friends from CIDE and la Comi began appearing and the table began to fill up with delicious food and the room with laughter and good conversation. Due to some difficulties (a certain roommate in charge of bringing plates arriving last), we started dinner late, but it was wonderful all the same. Each of us gave thanks for something, and in our own languages. In total, we had English, Spanish, German, and Italian! I wasn't sure how well my Mexican friends would take celebrating something so distinctly American, but each expressed their gratitude for being able to participate in a tradition that showed them something positive about American culture. We all forgot about the work we had to wake up for the next day, stayed out just a little too late, but it was all worth it because we were together.

For those who don't know, this cafe's name is the inspiration of one of the best Mexican rock bands

In San Miguel de Allende. I think Marlene was more embarrassed taking this picture than I was posing 

Lou at Zapólite beach in Oaxaca

I will miss the friends I made, the moments we shared, but the things we learned from each other will stay with me.

Nation(alities)

I haven’t written in a while, going to do my best to get caught up! I will give a quick summary of what has happened since I last wrote: went to Oaxaca twice for research visits, went to the beaches in Oaxaca with my friend Lourdes on vacation, participated in a really awesome telecommunications conference at CIDE, celebrated the reelection of Obama, and yesterday celebrated Thanksgiving. I have been learning more about what direction I want my career to go in and about what kind of person I am and who I want to be. Living here is a challenge, no doubt about it. I want to take this time to do a bit of reflecting one particular topic: Identity.

I am going to write a little bit on how my identity has been challenged and reaffirmed here. It’s something that’s not terribly easy to write about, but I’m hoping other folks can relate to and understand a little bit more about transnationalism, globalization, and migration affect identity formation. This takes me back to Oberlin days and discussing Latinidad with my people of La Alianza and in Gina’s and Pablo’s courses. I haven’t felt the need to write about those issues again until now. Feedback and comments are more than welcome.

First off, I identify as a Chicana. This is a term Mexican Americans have used to identify themselves, and it has politicized and radical roots. I also identify as a woman, an American, a feminist, and a researcher among many other terms. But this piece is specifically about my ethnic and cultural identity. To be perfectly frank, I have struggled with what it means to be a Chicana abroad for a long time (what it means in a U.S. context is also of interest to me, but I want to focus on what it means outside of the U.S.), and had some anxiety about living in Mexico precisely because I was afraid of how people would see me. I was afraid of being judged. When I found out about the opportunity to come to CIDE, I realized it was an invaluable experience professionally and personally, and I could not pass it up.

A LITTLE CONTEXT

Mexico has a historically and current conflict-ridden relationship with the US. There are economic policies like NAFTA and immigration policies that have certainly, in my opinion, benefit the US disproportionately and do not consider Mexican needs (to put it lightly). Also, for Mexicans who have had experience in the US have likely found a racism and discrimination that squelched any hope of generating a positive relationship between the two countries. Americans promote rhetoric of the American Dream and our history of “mixed heritage” on one hand, yet policies and societal behavior indicate an insipid xenophobia.

However, there is still a strong embrace of certain aspects of American culture in Mexico. Mexicans still want to immigrate, do business, vacation, study, or work in the U.S. There are also a plethora of American products and customs that have “crossed over” into Mexico (stores like Walmart and traditions such as Halloween and Thanksgiving). One common trend is for Mexicans to go to the U.S. just to go shopping because the prices are so much cheaper. There appears, to me, to be some guilt associated with this. It is hard for people to say they like something about a country and a culture that continues to promote discriminatory policies against their own country. The story is much more complicated, but the point is there is a complex and sometimes contradictory history between the U.S. and Mexico.

LABELS

When I have been abroad in the past (France, Guatemala, Peru, etc.), people generally do not understand how an American can look like me (aka not white). When I explain my parents are of Mexican descent they say one of two things: “Oh, so you’re Mexican” or “Uhh, what?” It’s not an easy concept to explain, but here in Mexico people are very aware of the fact that there are people in the U.S. of Mexican origin or descent. What to call them? Now that is where it gets interesting. Are they Mexican? American? (Note: Saying you are “American” in Spanish generally gets people mad because all people from the continents of North and South America are considered “American”, despite their nationality.) The idea of finding some term “in between” is difficult both in the U.S. and abroad. I chose Chicana because I feel is accurately represents what my identity means to me, but there are a variety of other terms not based on nationality.

Here in Mexico, I am a gringa (a common term for Americans). The official term for Americans is estadounidense….yeah, doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue. A lot of people will just say gringo (for men) or gringa (for women) because it’s easier, but it can also be used to express historically rooted anger/frustration/hatred of those north of the border. I accept the term gringa, mostly because while I was in Peru I found gringa to be a relatively neutral term for any white foreigner. However, I have sensed a judgmental use of the word gringa and against me. I have also been told by Mexicans here in D.F. that gringo is used in a negative context commonly, but not exclusively.

My speech has also been called pocho. This term, in my U.S. experience, is a negative way of saying someone of Mexican descent is using a mix of English and Spanish, implying they have lost their respect for Mexico and Spanish, bastardizing the language. In D.F., I have heard the term quite a bit, not always in a negative context, but still referring to an integration of English into primarily Spanish rhetoric. At first it was painful to be called pocha, or to have my speech be called pocho, and have accepted that its use here is somewhat different than in my U.S. context.

GOING HOME

I consider the U.S. home. I was born and raised there, and most of my family is there. It will be interesting to go back and see how my identity will be viewed. Before coming, a few people jokingly commented, “Oh, you’ll do just fine in Mexico, it’s not totally a foreign country for you”. Well, ummm, last time I checked, it is. My heritage does not give me an innate sense of belonging to a land I have only visited a few times. It reminds me when my 1^st grade teacher asked me to explain to the class some Mexican history (Cinco de Mayo, specifically). Really? First of all, I am, like, what, 5 years old. Second of all, I have been sitting in the same classroom as everyone else for the past, ummm, year. If you haven’t taught us Mexican history, how am I to know? Ah of course, the Aztec gods of my ancestors will beam down some knowledge to me. (Sorry, I will try to drop a bit of the snarkiness :P) But, point being, I love Mexico, Mexican culture, my family, and my heritage. But, that does not give me the right to claim a nationality and identity not my own.

While I am so happy to be in D.F. and spend time in Mexico, it is not my home. I do have roots here, yes, without a doubt. I also am proud to claim Mexican heritage. But, at the same time, I was not raised here. I do not know what it means to be Mexican, and I do not feel correct claiming an understanding or identity that is not mine. While I would be proud to be Mexican, I have not found that just because my parents are of Mexican heritage I can claim that identity. Being here in Mexico, I am treated like a foreigner, which is perfectly fine. Because I am.

This is just my own opinion and thoughts, and I am certain other Latinos and Chicanos born and/or raised in the U.S. have a WIDE range of experiences and opinions. My point is just that. We all have our own individual experiences and identity, and nationality is just one part of it. Any thoughts are more than welcome! Thanks for reading ya’ll J

Simmering beneath the surface

In light of the recently revealed video footage of Republican Candidate Mitt Romney, I’d like to take the time to write my response to the implications of his opinions of the American public. I do not want to fall into the trap of slamming him as a person, although I am not a supporter, but rather take the opportunity to reflect on American society.

While it is easy and understandable for people to be utterly dumbfounded and angered at Mr. Romney, I caution against simply seeking revenge. His words are not solely a reflection on his own perspective and person, but that of what lies simmering beneath the surface in our society. While I believe we are all accountable for our actions and words, I also feel that our society fosters an incredible ignorance about recognizing the institutionalized and internalized discriminatory practices that lie at the heart of discrimination and prejudice.

I have heard arguments that affirmative action is a joke and that there are so many opportunities for people of color that we’ve turned into a society of reverse-racism. I see people writing about how black and Latinos are just asking for handouts and they refuse to work hard. I also continue to see staggering statistics about poverty, discrimination, and prejudice throughout the U.S. that indicate discrepancies amongst different racial and ethnic groups. Just because we have eliminated Jim Crow era policies does not mean we have taken all the necessary steps to change the societal views that made those policies possible in the first place. I know writing as a Chicana will make some people immediately dismiss my views. Been there done that. I hope, however, that my words will still resonate with some.

I see a fallacy in the logic behind using stereotypical images that we have recently been bombarded with to make policy decisions. We have a country supposedly filled with welfare queens and parasitic Latino immigrants that need to taught a lesson and removed from society. Apparently this will solve most of our problems. Policymakers seem to be echoing images from the Moynihan report from 1965. We still think that there are cultural inequities amongst poor and non-white households that make them inherently susceptible to “bad behavior” and staying in poverty. What we’re doing is mixing up causality with correlation, to use some statistical jargon. Just because more blacks and Latinos are living in poverty than whites does not mean that their identity caused their poverty. We need to dig deeper than just demographic data. There are many people in the U.S. who genuinely believe in Mr. Romney’s platform and who identify with his perspectives on “the rest of us”.

Peter Edelman recently came out with a piece in the New York Times that hits the nail on the head. He argues that there are four reasons why poverty continues to be a problem in the U.S.

“An astonishing number of people work at low-wage jobs. Plus, many more households are headed now by a single parent, making it difficult for them to earn a living income from the jobs that are typically available. The near disappearance of cash assistance for low-income mothers and children — i.e., welfare — in much of the country plays a contributing role, too. And persistent issues of race and gender mean higher poverty among minorities and families headed by single mothers.”

Obviously the issue of poverty is much more complex, but these four reasons are clear and articulate. People are not poor because they choose to be or because they are lazy. People are poor, generally, because they are born that way. While there are opportunities for growth in the U.S., there are equally as many, if not more, barriers. By promoting more accurate, clear, and powerful research I believe people’s knowledge of what poverty means will improve. I also believe that by better understanding poverty, we can begin to break down the discriminatory beliefs and practices that are common across the nation. Continuing to foster hate will only widen the fissures throughout our society.

Before we start blaming Romney for being the worst racist out there, I think we need to see why his words are understood and felt by many. If we do not take the time to see and comprehend other people’s perspectives, a practice I believe Mr. Romney suffers from, we will not be able to bridge the social and cultural rifts that are growing throughout our society.

Atravesando la ciudad- Traversing the city

Life in Mexico is busy! I am in full swing with my 2 classes, really enjoying both of them. I have been asked to write some online TOEFL and GRE writing lessons for which I will get paid (woo!). I’ll go from where I last left off and give a basic rundown of stuff going on here.

I organized an event through Couchsurfing to go explore a fantastic barrio (neighborhood) called Coyoacán. My primary interest was to go see Frida Kahlo’s infamous Blue House, but I also wanted to check out the neighborhood. The event was a great success, there were 6 of us that showed up to the first stop, which was, of course, coffee at El Jarocho (a popular café chain in the area). We went on a tour of the main plaza, snuck into a wine and cheese festival, and checked out the Blue House. A few folks left after that as it was getting late, but 2 more people joined us for food and drinks at a lovely Spanish-style restaurant. All in all, it was a lot of fun to meet new people and see a beautiful zone in Mexico City.

La Casa Azul

Spanish food and drinks after a long day

I have been working one-on-one with our lab teacher to learn Stata. I am finally understanding this mysterious yet magical program! I also moved recently. While I love my home, it was simply too far away from public transportation and I needed to relocate. I now live 3 blocks away from a metro stop, 1 block away from where the free CIDE school bus, and surrounded by everything else I could possibly need. My roomies are 2 guys who just graduated from CIDE with a bachelor’s degree in econ. Very friendly and chill environment. I highly recommend a Mexican dark comedy we watched called El Infierno…el Cochiloco (one of the main characters) is my favorite. You’ll see why.

CIDE was recently selected amongst 22 competing institutions across Latin America to be the headquarters for CLEAR’s regional office. CLEAR (Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results) is a global initiative dedicated to strengthening monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to improve development outcomes. While the majority of their work is based in Africa, creating a regional center in Latin America is an important step in developing programs and trainings in the region. I attended their first conference which consisted of a variety of panels from leaders in policy M&E across the region discussing their experiences and approaches to program evaluation. I found it really helpful to put what I’m learning at CIDE in context with actual government programs, like the Dominican Republic’s innovative approaches to community involvement in M&E and Guatemala’s integrative model for improving public health across the country. I find this marriage between qualitative context and quantitative assessment a crucial step in creating, maintaining, and evaluating social programs that will have the best impact on alleviating poverty.

***First excursion: Las Margaritas***

So, as I mentioned before, I was invited to help with a research project about the digital divide in which we evaluate communities’ interaction with the internet. Our first site visit was to a community in the desert of San Luís Potosí near a popular tourist area called Real de Catorce. Since the project is ongoing, I shouldn’t give too many details on our trip, but I can write about some of the people I met and experiences I had. 

We left at 5am on Thursday the 6^th and returned at 5pm on Sunday the 9^th. I should probably explain who “we” are, no? Well, there were 4 of us from CIDE (Angie- qualitative social scientist, Giannina- assistant to the lead professor & graphic designer by trade, Lourdes- Peruvian visiting researcher/librarian <>, and myself). There was also a car with some representatives from TOA (English translation: Environmental Operations Workshop), an organization that is dedicated to designing and constructing environmentally friendly buildings. TOA is our connection to the community, since they are in the process of building a community center in Las Margaritas. This community center will provide both a library and computer/internet access.

We arrived around 3pm on Thursday. It is hot. We are in the desert, which is gorgeous, but certainly drainingly arid. Entering the community, we (when I say “we” from now on I am referring to the CIDE group) know very little about the community. Essentially, we know there are around 70 some-odd people and that there is no cell phone service or internet. Our goal was to collect demographic information through interviews and observations. Giannina and I were to focus on collecting observational data and Angie and Lou were to conduct interviews.

Las Margaritas

One thing we noticed right away is that nobody was out and about. We later learned that most women stay inside during the day and that the men go out in the morning to pick up work in fields near-by, if they can. The women will also go out with their machetes and harvest crops as they come in, as well (impressed and glad to know women in this community can hold their own damn machete!). Income-generating work is few and far between here. We saw virtually no one from ages 15-30 and later found out that the majority either go to secondary school in neighboring towns or work in the bigger cities of San Luís or Monterrey.

At the school.
Angie- far left, Gianni- next to Angie in back,
Kareli (teacher)- 3rd from the right in  the back,
Lou-  2nd from the right in the back,
me- far right

Gianni and I dedicated one day to creating a map of the community, both for our own endeavors and for the community themselves. There is something important, I feel, about being able to show somebody a picture of where you live and I wanted to be able to give that to the community. We made feeble attempts at drawing a map, so I suggested we use rocks and sticks and other found objects to help create the map. You would think that making a map of a small community would be easy to generate, but let me tell you, if there is no rhyme or reason to placement of houses, it ain’t easy! In the end, we were proud of our creation, and Gianni, being a graphic design guru, will take the photographed image of our map and construct a more aesthetically pleasing map using a fancy software program.

Okay, I know it doesn't look like much, but this is our ad-hoc map.
It will resemble a real map soon, I promise.
This took us all day.

There were quite a few houses hosting about half a dozen volunteers working on the construction of the community center. I will do my best to control my prejudice, but I felt the majority were disingenuous and were merely there to consume peyote (something I can’t comment too much on, but peyote consumption is an important and illicit practice throughout the region). It was clear that the folks living there (between 22-28 years old) came from wealthy families in D.F. and had travelled the world on their parent’s dime. They all had so many stories of picking up one day and leaving, but never clear on how they managed to afford living a year in Brazil, visit half a dozen U.S. cities, or even live in Las Margaritas on no pay. Normally, I would have no problem with this lifestyle, but their attitude/opinion was that they were living a “less materialistic” lifestyle and that they were doing something good for the community. Sorry honey, but flying out to Orlando looking like a dirty hippie doesn’t count as “less materialistic” in my book. Granted, we were only there for 4 days, but based on our actual conversations with people from the community, they had no interaction whatsoever with the community. It was a big frustration of mine, but, alas, not our main purpose there.

I know this post is getting long, so I’ll be more concise. Overall, I felt we learned a lot about the community and had a wonderful time bonding with each other. I always love being around inspiring women, and my CIDE associates are some awesomely badass women. I am grateful to have had this opportunity and to have met some really wonderful women and children in Las Margaritas (aside from the Comisario [Deputy], no men spoke to me). I look forward to our next site visit. Luckily it will be in a semi-urban environment where we will have access to showers because, ooh lordy, did we smell bad after 4 days!  Hope you enjoy the pictures I attached, but also please check out my Picasa album here.

Peace ya’ll

CIDE exchange: part 1- I'm in Mexico!

I arrived without a hitch. Arrived at my place safe and sounds and got to meet some really amazing and helpful people. A friend of a friend connected me with Patty, the woman who owns the home I am staying in. I have my own room with a private bathroom attached to the main house. It is very cozy and feels private, but I still have someone living near me and tons of dogs to play with! I am in a residential area southwest of the central part of the city. I like this a lot because I am surrounded by trees and mountains, but I still have everything I need close by. I have figured out the bus routes relatively quickly, and Patty has been so nice and driven me around a lot to show me where stuff is.

I like my study abroad group, I am the oldest, haha. There are a total of 10 of us, 6 of us are from out of the country and 4 are doing an exchange from other universities in Mexico. It is pretty common here for students to do a semester or year exchange with another school. CIDE is a unique experience in the sense that it is not a university, but a research institution that offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. 4 students are finishing their bachelors degree, 5 of us are doing our masters, and one is a doctoral candidate writing his thesis.

I am trying to explore as much of the city on my own as I can, and I also enjoy going places with the group. There are no “official” events for the exchange students as such, but we still try and hang out together.. I’ve made a map of all the important places in the city I plan on going. I love googlemaps, it really makes things so easy!

So far, I am taking 2 classes at CIDE: analysis of social programs and evaluation of education policy. The social programs class will take the most effort since it is a master’s level economics class, but I feel ready to tackle the challenge. We have a laboratory component (the class collectively asked for one) and I will be battling my frenemy: STATA. For my education policy class I will be working on a report about a pilot program my professor is working on with some other researchers at CIDE to integrate technology into education. I will update with more specifics as I get them.

I am also doing an internship for credit at the Mexican Commission for Defense and Promotion for Human Rights. I will be working on Institutional Development on projects almost exactly mirroring what I did at Rainforest Partnership this summer. I will be helping create a database of potential funders, create a master calendar about of grants, and start an individual donations program. I will only be going once per week, but it looks like it’ll be a way for me to perfect some fundraising skills.

I was also just invited to help collect some baseline data for a research project! I am thrilled because September 6-9 I will be travelling with 3 other women to interview and survey a small community in San Luis Potosí called Las Margaritas. Something crucial to note about Las Margaritas is that it is isolated technologically. By this I mean no cell phone signals or internet connections at all. Our job is to talk to people to get a sense of whether or not people want to be connected, and, if so, how and why they see this as desirable. It will be a fascinating experience, no doubt.

I look forward to see what the rest of my time here brings. I will continue to post pictures here. Keep in touch!

Crossing the Southwest

This post is a not-so-short update about my latest move from Austin to Mexico. This post is covering my last week in Austin and a road trip I took with my brother and father.

Packing week:

So my brother, Stephen, was visiting me my last week in Austin and I couldn’t have asked for a better time. It was filled will beer on the porch, a visit to the Austin zoo/sanctuary, Blues on the Green, and some pretty fantastic potlucks. It was certainly bittersweet to leave Austin and one of the best summer’s I’ve ever had, but knowing I will be back in the spring reminds me there is certainly more Austin fun to be had. I will miss Eric’s and my house, for sure, nothing can top our amazing location and porch. But a new adventure awaits and it began with a 5 day road trip that I will try and describe next.

TX to NM to AZ to UT to NV to CA (6 states in 4 days)

Day 1: Austin to Carlsbad Caverns

My father, brother, and I started our trip started off with some last minute packing into the Taurus, but we started on the road at 4:30am. I took the first leg, somehow wide awake despite the darkness. We made good time and got into Carlsbad around 1pm (after the extra hour we gained from the change of Time Zone) and were able to go through the Caverns all afternoon. They were unbelievable! Being 75 stories underground is pretty surreal, and the formations that took thousands of years to form were impressive. By the time we hiked out of the Caverns we were all pretty tired. We headed back to Carlsbad (not exactly as amazing as the Caverns), and slept about 10 hours straight. One of my favorite parts of Carlsbad was the Chinese Dragon restaurant whose advertised slogan was “Cheaper than a Trip to China” (needless to say, we did not eat there).

Day 2: Carlsbad to Tuscon

Stephen had some business to attend to in Tuscon, so we made our way across the desert of New Mexico and Arizona to Tuscon. Not really much to say about the drive, desert is desert my friends, and boy did I see enough of it. It was a bit of a dead day, but provided some much needed rest for the remaineder of our journey. The highlight of the evening was a good ol’ fashioned Western style meal at Pinnacle Peak. Many people mistake cacti and cowboys as a Texas phenomena, but in reality a lot of those classic Cowboy and Indian movie images come from NM and AZ. Anyways, it was a delicious meal of beer and salmon for me, and I couldn’t have asked for more.

Day 3: Tuscon to Kanab, UT

This was an epic day. We started off a bit later than intended, but still hit the road ready for 2 big stops (Sedona and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon). Sedona is absolutely gorgeous. Even though I was a bit tired from desert, this had some unbelievable picturesque views. It also had the most amount of churches in one concentrated area than I’ve ever seen. I’m not talking bible-belt style churches here, I’m talking EVERY kind of church imaginable. Our personal favorite was the Church of the Red Rock. There was also a spiritual center than claimed to guide you through the vortex…yeah, the vortex. The actual town was a strange mix of psychedelic hippie locales and high end resort style buildings. After having a quick lunch, we headed off up north. It became clear we were chasing a storm and could see the dark storm clouds ahead of us. The red cliffs surrounding us were nothing short of amazing, and guided us towards Marble Canyon, the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Looking over the bridge at the Colorado River amidst the silence surrounding me was calming and satisfying. This world has something wonderful to offer us if we just take a look around. As ya’ll probably know, I’m not a city person, and this stop really reinforced that in me. There’s just nothing that can compare to being outside, smelling fresh air, and knowing that anybody can experience the beauty of our land.

The last leg of this day was the longest, for sure. Not much after Marble Falls and we had almost caught up to the storm. The day started getting darker and darker and we were driving through curving roads along the mountains of northern Arizona. It was a bit frightening when the only light around as we’re diving down into the valley is coming from the car, but luckily it didn’t last long. The lighting shooting across the sky ahead of us was awesome, but also foreboding. We crossing into the next town, Fredonia, AZ and immediately decided this was NOT the place we wanted to stay. It had a hotel that screamed “stay here and you will not wake up alive” and a lovely gas station advertising “FOOD AMMO AND BEER”…not exactly waving a warm welcome sign. Luckily, 10 miles ahead was wholesome Kanab, UT where we were welcomed with a stoplight, a gas station with a beer cave (yes, beer cave, people, beer cave!), and an open Pizza Hut. We ate our pizza, watched some of the Olympics, and passed out, satisfied after a LONG, long, day of awesome.

Day 4: Kanab to Los Angeles

We had a great morning filled with fresh mountain air through Zion National Park. It was such a relief to have some cool air around us and be able to have the windows rolled down as we drove around. Zion was beautiful, as can be imagined, but my goodness, the squirrels were insane! As my dad and bro were walking through the river and I sat atop a large boulder, a squirrel was plotting its robbery. While admiring the beautiful red cliffs surrounding me, I took a quick look down to notice a little squirrel approaching our bags. As I tried to call out to my brother, it was too late. The squirrel had already started digging through my dad’s bag and took off with Steve’s Pepperoni Pizza Combos. My dad and Steve took off after the little thief as I attempted to scuttle down the boulder, but it was to no avail. Team squirrel won, and left a trail of dead combos across the battleground. Annnyyyywwwaayyysss, we took off towards Los Angeles, but not without a quick tour through Vegas. I’ve been here plenty of times, but it still never fails to impress upon me how entertaining human stupidity can be.  So many things, I can’t even describe. Excess at its best contrasting with the natural wonder of Zion. Sigh. Anyways, we had some food after walking around the city and safely made it to Los Angeles. Yay! Back in California!!! I look forward to our last leg back to the Bay Area and I look forward to my next adventure…Mexico J