Chucho

       When Chris and I moved into our first apartment here in Suchitoto, our roommates had recently adopted a puppy named Nova. I had to laugh, Chris and I had talked about getting a dog of a long time, but always said, "not now, we're going abroad". Then, when we got to El Salvador, there was a puppy at our house. Oh, life. Our roommates soon named us Nova's padrinos (godparents). And what an adventure it's been.

           Dogs are treated very differently here. People get them for protection, and feed them food scraps and tortillas. Most people don't pet dogs. In Suchitoto there are many street dogs, who usually end up receiving poison from someone who gets tired of them stealing tortillas. To be fair, when you are poor and don’t have much to go around, you do what you have to to survive…

 In our old house we had a tunnel in which water ran down from the street to the lake. Nova could get in and out of the tunnel as she pleased, and loved to follow us to work on a daily basis. Our neighbors started volunteering to hold Nova back so she would stop following us. One neighbor suggested we use more violence to get the dog to listen. But, Nova has never been the listening kind. Nova knows all the local pupuserias and often sniffs until she finds out. Where we are, there’s bound to be a scrap or two. She liked arriving just in time for yoga class, and making lots of noise during Savasana.

She was a pain sometimes, but we've come to love that crazy chuca. It's amazing how comforting it can be to have a dog around, especially in the lonely moments. She has accompanied us on many adventures. 

Nova was made famous by our friend Melina! Nova approved of the painting.

Nova has always had a great appreciation for nature...

We were giving Nova a birth control injection every few months. Like all forms of birth control, the injection is not 100% effective... she ended up pregnant. 6 little puppies. Oh, they were so cute. We quickly fell in love with all of them. Finally we chose the funny little runt. She is a little clumsy and barks like an Ewok. But, we love her. We have to make sure she has all her vaccines, and take her to the capital in a month to get her approved to travel to the U.S.

We love Nova so much, it is wonderful we get to take a little part of her to the US. Life is full of surprises. I try to accept and love them with open arms. And that is the story of how we adopted an El Salvadoran puppy names Traviesa.

Santo

I haven't written in a while. Life has been... speaking loudly recently. I've been too busy listening. And learning.

Connie, Chris' stepmom, passed away on January 8. Chris was with her when she took her last breath. It was such an honor to walk with her until the end. 

The memorial service was a celebration, filled with interesting characters from Connie's life. We sang Morning Has Broken, Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Songs of hope. Check out the beautiful slideshow here.

She was an adventurer, a collector of beauty. It feels so strange that she is gone.

Death is strange. One person's life ends, everyone else's continues. We have to move on without her. Eat lunch, take a shower. But we are changed, forever.

The week after Connie's death I began my 3 week yoga teacher training at the Asheville Yoga Center. I thought I was going to have to cancel, I was a bit shaken by the experience and felt I didn't have the strength to do the training. But I am so grateful I did. 

I went into the yoga teacher training expecting to learn to do fancy arm balances, handstands. Bad ass stuff. What I found was my own breath. My life! Gratitude. Yoga, to me, is movement with breath. It's a way of connecting with yourself and the present moment. The balance between effort and ease. 

I remember going to my first yoga class, clumsy. I remember thinking that I could never teach it. I would never be good at it.

The truth is, I am not the most flexible person. Nor am I naturally coordinated. But I love sharing yoga with other people. Especially in Spanish! When Sister Peggy invited me to teach yoga last September, I wasn't sure what I have doing. I learned the poses in Spanish, I awkwardly guided the class through it. Now, it feels like second nature. I feel confident. 

I'm not sure what I will do with my yoga certification. I don't think I want to be a full-time yoga teacher, but I want to continue teaching it in some way. Possibly to Latino farmworkers and their families this summer! Life continues to be full of surprises.

And maybe that's the point - 
Enlightenment will never be reached.
We are always growing, moving.
Never stagnant.
My practice comes in stages,
As I climb up the mountain,
Only to find the range is endless.
I have so much more to climb.
I protest...
I thought I had finally made it.
My creator laughs,
Wraps me in her arms,
And stands on her head,
Just as my grandmother did
In her polka-dotted bathing suit
Never forgetting to laugh at life.
Om namah shivaya.
I am a child again.
I sigh, and ask my mother from the back of the minivan,
"Are we there yet?"

Amor y Luz

This is a tender time for us as a family. As I write the word family, I think how very grateful I am to be a part of it. Shared laughter, shared grief. Life is short, and fragile. Death is part of life - and it helps those still living to live deeply and love more.

Chris stepmother Connie is dying. She has been battling breast cancer for many years, and it has spread to her bones and now her brain. Chris was able to fly home early, a week before Christmas, to be with his dad and stepmom. He has been feeding her, giving her medicine, holding her hand, calming her when she cried. A friend of mine called it being a "midwife to the next life". I love that image.

We have been spending a lot of time with Connie in her room. When she was still talking she was kind of loopy. We would ask her if she would like some juice, she would respond, "oh yeah, baby" or "absolutely". She handled this difficult situation with grace, and humor. She cried a lot, especially when she saw someone she loved or something beautiful. A dog, a flower, a card -- it all brought tears. It was like she was becoming a child again.

Waiting for someone to die is a strange feeling. We have no control. We sit, and listen to her breath. Her friends talk about memories they have of her. We wait.

We found the perfect place for her memorial service today. I am grateful to have something to help with. I am a planner. I have enjoyed helping plan her service. Chris and I will provide the music, surely not without tears.

The amazing thing is that we planned this "month off" from volunteering before we knew Connie would die during this time. Chris was planning on taking a CNA course (that's been cancelled). I am still hoping to complete my yoga teacher training at the Asheville Yoga Center. It is an inbetween time, but inbetween feels ok. We are in the right place.

I have been amazed at how many friends Connie has! The visitors have come like waves on the ocean, bringing hugs and flowers and fun, too. I hope that when I die I have as many true friends as she does.

Connie, we love you and we are grateful for you. Thank you for being so kind to me, welcoming me into the family, encouraging us to go to El Salvador. You are a sweet soul. You find beauty in everything. The world is better because you were in it.

"For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, 

that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."

-Kahlil Gibran

Fiestas Patronales

This week was party week. The celebration of Santa Lucia, the patron saint of Suchitoto. Every morning, fireworks went off beginning at 3:30AM, for a different neighborhood in the town. Each night the "queen" from that neighborhood rides in her carriage and the neighbors cheer as she passes. And there are more fireworks.

Fireworks here have no bounds here. Anything goes. Including the "toritos". Men put a wooden platform on their back full of fireworks and run around while the fireworks go off above them. They often run towards crowds of people as well, and the children run away laughing. Honestly, it is really dangerous. It's fun as long as you keep your distance!

The 12th of December was the big party. There were beautiful fireworks, and 3 live bands. We stayed up until 3AM dancing, and then ate some late-night pupusas in the plaza. If you know Suchitoto, you know that most people go to bed at 8PM, and dancing until 3AM is unheard of. The 12th is the great exception, the party of the year. A city come to life.

Llena

On Monday morning, the fireworks started at 3:30. The fireworks sounded more like cannons, really. Our bed shook. There was no sleeping through it.

At 5AM we dragged ourselves out of bed and wandered over to the arts center. There were at least 50 people outside sitting on the sidewalks, watching us as we entered. Inside the arts center walls were at least 100 more people, some serving coffee, sweet bread, and a corn drink called atole. A small band was also there playing loudly, with gusto. 

How odd, everyone so cheerful so early in the morning. Yet I too felt the joy that was present - a sense of community and tradition. I felt honored to be there, in that odd, joyful moment.

Everyone turned their coffee cups upside down and made them into candle holders. Four women carried Santa Lucia, the patron saint of Suchitoto. We processed together, singing songs in the darkness. "Es Maria la blanca paloma... que ha venido a America a traer la paz..." The sun was beginning to rise, the beginnings of light entering the sky, when we arrived at the church.

We participated in a short service with our neighbors from Barrio San Jose. I lit a candle for those I love. It was sweet, and simple, and moving. 

My name is Spanish is pronounced "Llena", which means full. I do feel "full", full of gratefulness and life. And tortillas, of course!

"Remember when you were little and you thought everything was amazing? It still is."