One of my last views of San Francisco (off to the right and covered in fog): on our way to Lorena and Gregor's friend Patrick's to play a game before going to the airport.I got back to Buenos Aires a week ago Friday after six weeks in the States. I want to tell you about my return:
Killer flight, 26 hours from first take-off to last landing, two nights in a row on planes! Yuck! I still don't sleep on planes, and they actually repeated a movie that wasn't worth watching the first time. But I did buy some Peruvian chocolate (see last posting).
Friday:
Got home, watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords (that Lorena and Gregor gave me) and went to bed at 8:30 am.
Woke up to a phone call from Silvia and Horacio (Baradero team). We chatted about the next day's training in La Plata that they were going to help me with. I reviewed what I'd prepared for the next day and found that I had no more work to do on it!
Went for a run and felt so good after the first round that I went again for a total of 6.6 miles, a new record for me (by far!).
Got back to more phone calls from my friends Nora (also on the Baradero team and helping out at the next day's training) and Monica.
Opened my fridge and found the food that Margarita, the woman who cleans my place fortnightly, had prepared. Pears, plums, carrots (some grated already), lettuce (already washed), tomatoes, and milanesas (breaded meat). What a huge blessing!
Saturday:
Took the train to meet Horacio and Silvia who were driving Nora and me to the La Plata training. We shared mate on the drive as we discussed last-minute plans for the day.
Excellent training in La Plata. All of the participants had completed or at least started the assignments from the last session which were to start spiritual maps of their target communities and do a seed project to help out in the neighborhood. Wow!
Here are the participants looking at the collection of resources in our group. The different colors of post-it represent 1) what we like to do with our hands, 2) what we can teach others, 3) what we're passionate about, 4) what we would like to learn if it were available in our neighborhood, and 5) neighborhood groups we are part of. This is an exercise to help them begin to focus on the resources of their communities (Asset-Based Community Development) rather than on what is lacking.
Leading the group in singing, "Build your house on the Rock."
Three wonderful women: Silvia, Monica, and Nora.
