Expeditions....

October 17 and just finished reading this article....

http://m.dailygood.org/story/1413/how-to-talk-to-strangers-kio-stark/

And watching Kio Stark's TED Talk....

https://www.ted.com/talks/kio_stark_why_you_should_talk_to_strangers

I am intrigued with the five expeditions she outlined in her article.  Mostly because they bring up past personal experience with such expeditions (in some similar form to what she outlined).  And has me think ahead as I embark on my three months in Spain amidst strangers.  With the added twist....speaking my non-primary language.

Anywho....check back as I embark on Kio's five expeditions while those around me speak my primary language!  And blog what I notice!

Love it!

!¡Buen Camino!

Ever An Adventure...

It's Saturday, 17 September 2016 and I just finished completing some of the program paperwork on-line.

¡Estoy muy emocionada y más o menos nerviosa!

I am heading to Madrid, Spain to study spanish language during the months of Jan, Feb, and Mar 2017.  I figure after four semesters.....I am in my fourth semester at present.....that it's definitely time to get past my not-speaking Spanish.  And immerse myself in a place where Spanish is the first language.

That was my thought this past May as I concluded my semester of Spanish 2A.  The Universe/Source is always testing me.  LOL.  LOL.  I was at City College of San Francisco during May for the pre-departure orientation of the Cuba study abroad program.  As I waited for the orientation to begin, I wandered the hallway and looked at the various postings on the walls.  Outside the Study Abroad Program office, there were flyers for the programs being offered....
Oaxaca (Fabulous culinary program!!! as I recalled the awesome and tasty time I spent there last July),
Cuba (Woo Hoo...will be there in several weeks, I thought),
Paris (great city and not interested in studying French),
Rome (hey, a new program.....another great city and not interested in studying Italian),
Madrid (Hmmmm, Madrid?  This is another new program!  Wow, studying Spanish in Madrid!)

I pulled out the Madrid flyer and took it with me.  As I read through the flyer....WOW.....here was all the logistics of studying Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country outlined for me in a front/back flyer.

I am a bit nervous.....until I remind myself of the morning I awoke after arriving in Napoli, Italy.  And decided to take an Italian language class.  And went on-line and found that a class was starting that day.  And how much easier it was to learn Italian when after class I walked out into a city where Italian was the first language.

I also ask myself....If not now, then when?

¡Buen Camino!

Happy Spring-Cleaning....

Today is Thursday, 11 August 2016 and the start of go through each room and clear out what we have not used in  12 months :-) 

Starting with easy room for me--the bathroom.  It is now complete.  Feels great to throw out old meds or bath stuff I can't remember when last used!

Happy clearing!

A self-compassionate person is....

A self-compassionate person recognises the problem,

addresses it if possible,

deals with it emotionally,

and moves on

without making a dramatic production out of it.

Unknown Author

Photos I Took In Cuba....

And this is link to the rest of the photos I took in Cuba! En-Joy!

Doing Something Differently (plus a lesson learned from a broken finger)

It's Friday, July 9, 2016...and since my post about "deviate from routine".....well, Life has/is giving me ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  At least one planned and one un-planned....

All Good! say I.

Traveling gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And my planned trip last month to Cuba (June 5 to June 18) was no exception.  The cultural program through City College of San Francisco was great.  And I highly recommend it.  Greg Landau the program instructor was fabulous.  He is a wealth of Cuban and Latin American history.  Plus his personal stories from traveling to Cuba since he was 6 as well as playing and producing music are interesting to hear.  The music I heard, the dancing I saw, the people I met along the way.  All memorable and wonderful!  And it was a joy to take a break from cooking.  From eating what I eat at home.  From making the bed.  From cleaning.  To have others serve me.  To have others offer to help me.  It also mixes the brain up....to hear a different language being spoken around me.  To see different things.  See my other post for the essay I turned in for my assignment.

Breaking a bone gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And I did that by accident - because no one I have heard of, intentionally breaks a bone :-)  On the evening of June 9 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the toe of my shoe caught the lip of a driveway.  In an instant, I went from talking with a travel colleague to face-down on the sidewalk.  No slo-mo on this fall.  When I fell forward, my forehead landed on the left open-palmed hand which in turn landed on the concrete sidewalk.  At the moment, I believed I sprained my ring and little finger.  An x-ray a few hours later showed what I had hoped was not  - a fractured ring finger bone --the break was just above the knuckle.  Grateful then and now that my fingers took the fall instead of my forehead and my teeth.  Regardless, having my fingers and hand in a cast gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  Asking for help with carrying something.  Or cutting up food.  Or preparing something to eat.  Or opening a jar.  Definitely got me out of my routine of wearing pants, leggings, or underwear (all too difficult when having to use the bathroom).  I know....TMPI.  Meanwhile, dressing in dresses, especially ones that have no zippers, has been different for me.  And I have to admit....FUN. 

And I have come away from these "deviations from routine" (trip to Cuba and broken bone) with doing or being or thinking differently.  And for me that is a great thing.

Update.......
I saw the Kaiser orthopedic physician assistant on Tuesday, July 12.  The bone is healing beautifully per the x-ray.  Thank you bone and body for the amazing job you do!  They removed the cast.

Time to free the ring and pinkie fingers.  These 2 have been constant companions in stillness and immobility, in a cast of one form or another for 32 days.

What I learned from these two after the cast was removed.....If You Don't Use It, You'll Lose It!  So these two have inspired me to keep my body and brain moving.  These two came out of stillness and immobility....stiff, puffy, swollen, afraid to move, not wanting to move, hurting when they did move.  And the thumb, index, and middle fingers are encouraging them to follow the physical therapist instructions.  Telling them they can regain their mobility and flexibility.  And my experience knows this "for sure"!

Stay tuned for my photos from Cuba.  And a left hand with five flexible, mobile fingers.

Meanwhile...I hear the physical therapist's voice in my head....going through the instructions.  Thank goodness, I have done one of the 3 to 5 times for today.

My Cuba Essay 27 June 2016

As part of the 2016 Cuba program, the participants' assignment was to write a 5-page essay or equivalent about my experience or some aspect of my Cuban experience that made an impact on me.

Aquí está....

Disfruta...