news from down Mexico way

Dear Friends,
I am now in Chiapas after a few marvelous days in first Oaxaca and then Mazunte, which is on the southern Pacific beaches of Oaxaca.

In Oaxaca City, Karla and I drank splendid cafe and I ate lots of chocolate. The food there is exquisite and we had some fine meals with their specialty----mole´. Karla (my friend companera´)and I spent a day at an indigenous market in Ocotlan, near Oaxaca City, which was a feast of all the senses. Spices. Roasting meat. Tropical fruits. Coffee. Chocolate, with cinnamon. For myself, the oaxacan chocolate, coffee and food was muy delicioso! Also, we found a beautiful art exhibit of Rudolfo Morales´ work, which is characterized (as far as I can tell) by huge and boldly colorful murals of people and often dogs, his favorite.

The beach of course, for me, was a wonderful thing. To awaken to the rhythmic sound of the waves and the beauty of the blue green water and lush tropical surroundings did my soul good. In Mazunte there is a tortuga reserve----all kinds of sea and river turtles, many of them endangered. There is also a women´s cooperative which gathers essential oils from the people of the highlands and makes and sells all kinds of natural-organic cosmetics. It was begun by the Anita Roddick of the Body Shop years ago.

Unbelievably I found Lynn Eby in Oaxaca City and she was ready to head south, so she and I traveled together to Mazunte. We left Karla, my traveling companero, in Oaxaca City and took the bus ride from hell to Mazunte, the beachside town. Fortunately i had some herbs for nausea and motion sickness, and Lynn was kind enough to loan me a plastic bag and her neck pillow, just in case. As it was, I tried to keep my head very still and take a gasp of fresh air when it came to the back of the van, keeping the volcano in my stomach at bay.


In Mazunte, Lynn and I stayed at the Posada de Architecto. An architectural wonder -------a maze of huts with the fronds of a certain type of palm tree, lashed together for the roofs. Our first room was up on stilts, requiring one to climb a wooden ladder to and fro el bano. El bano, of course, is a rickety outdoor toilet and shower stall. It was tricky business in the middle of the night, but fortunately neither Lynn nor I fell into too deep of a sleep due to the chorus of barking dogs outside and up and down the beach all night long----and then the drums somewhere around 3am. Both of our beds looked like a guazy sarcophagus´with each of us enshrouded in mosquito netting. My particular bed was gently swinging from the ceiling, to imitate the waves or the ocean breezes, I guess-----the swinging motion added to the excitement of crawling down the ladder in the middle of the night.

The best part of the beach was waking up as the sun came around and sitting on the patio with my cappucino and journal. Muy lindo.

My stomach has held firm and my intestines have remained dependable. I have my apothecary of chinese herbs, with a backup of western medications and am being very careful of what i drink and eat.

Here in Chiapas I have begun my espanol clases. Today was my first day. Four hours of individual instruction and I still feel like a baby beginning to acquire language. The teachers are very kind here at Instituto Jovel. The Institute itself is located in a sunny beautiful garden setting with lots of windows and happy, smiling people. I enjoyed my first class, but by noon, I was finding it difficult to concentrate. Oy vay.
San Cristobal de Las Casas itself is in the higher elevations, about 4,000 ft. and foggy and very cold in the morning. There are no bugs and the days get very hot and sunny after the fog burns off. San Cristobal is known as the center of the Zapatista uprising, on behalf of the indigenous Mayan people, in the 1990´s. There are still murals and signs of revolution on the walls, as the struggle and solidarity continues. I have begun to find my way around now and it is actually a small town and quite simple. All streets lead to the zocolo (town square). The market is colorful and full of Mayan vendors of every imaginable textile. They are a beautiful people and I wish I could speak their language. But espanol will be my challenge, this time around.

I must go sit in the sun now and have an afternoon tea. The yerbabuena here is muy delicioso!

Abrazos,
Anita

Heading South...

Hello friends,
I'm off to Mexico tomorrow, on an early flight. I will be there until Nov. 30, studying espanol. To AMC'ers: daily I have been reading your reflections in the wonderful book Brenda put together. Thank you! They have been an inspiration and fun to start my days.

Here's the plan for my final month of sabbatical:

Nov. 5 Mexico City, Quaker Hospitality House, Phone # 011 55 52 5705 0521.
Nov. 6-8 Oaxaca City
Nov.9 bus travel to Chiapas
Nov. 10-28 San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas/Language school at www.institutojovel.com
Nov. 29 bus travel day and overnight in Mexico City/Quaker Hospitality House
Nov. 30 Back home to ABQ

At this point, I don't have any contact numbers except for the Quaker Hospitality house. A way to connect would be my blogsite and my webmail account.

I'll try to post something while I'm down south, but realize that my time and energy will be limited in trying to find internet cafes and send emails/blogs. You are in my prayers daily. Please keep my traveling companion, Karla and myself in your prayers for health and wellness, as well as Kenneth, my husband, holding the fort down in Albuquerque!
Love
Anita

Magical moments in Ohio

Greetings friends, I am in Ohio where autumn leaves are awash in every possible color. For Albuquerqueans, this is a strange phenomenon, as the leaves turn brown and crispy in the high desert and fall off with barely a hint of color---except for the majestic cottonwoods. Above are pictures of ye old farmstead, where I grew up.

Time here has been about truly relaxing-----visiting with family and old friends, biking those back country roads where rarely a car is seen. Mainly Amish buggies and Amish children walking home from schools with their lunch pails. I was fortunate to have an interview with David Kline, the Amish Naturalist who lives down a few hills, in Holmes County, Ohio. David, a Bishop, author and farmer, spoke at the 2007 Quivera farming conference in Albuquerque, along with Wendell Berry. We talked about crop rotations, climate change, fireflies, oraganic farming and some of his famous friends, Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Pollan and Wendell, of course. He enjoys a wide range of reading, and said he remembers in Kathleen Norris' book, reading about the Benedictine monastery, where they see every guest as though they were entertaining Christ in their midst. Since I imagine that he gets lots of curious visitors, including people like myself, I was glad that he saw it this way, as I felt a bit voyeuristic, in spite of his generosity with his time.

Today at my parents church, Kidron Mennonite Church, was a big celebration. A worker who had been kidnapped at the end of August 2008, was freed a week ago. He and his wife told their parallel journeys of faith during the worship service. As the pastor Terry Shue said, this service will be like having Easter in October. After a harrowing 56 days in captivity in the Afghan mountains, blindfolded and bound, he was rescued by special military operations, 30 pounds lighter. The service included a healing service in which the pastor and family washed both Al and Gladys' hands as a sign of welcome (an Afghani welcome ritual) and then annointed them as they continue healing from the trauma of the past 2 months.

I have been here for 10 days and am ready to head back home via Michigan, Kansas and then to the Big A. November 5, I leave for a month language immersion in San Cristobal de las casas in Chiapas. Maybe I'll see Lynn Eby there! Though I didn't plan to be in the states on Nov. 4, I will be here to see how these national elections turn out. Pray for healing of the divisions in our country and in people's hearts, which the ugliness of this campaign have unearthed. Peace, Anita

Below see your power hitting pastor at play in Ohio...

wistful thoughts...post-Iona

Dear friends and family,

O.k. you'll need to use your imagination for one more blog until I get to Ohio and have a chance to apply photos from the trip...lo siento (practicing for Mexico!)

Here are some thoughts from the final days at Iona. Didn't have much time to blog while there so I'm setting this out after the fact, from my own cozy wee home here in ABQ. Here's from my inner musings...

I love this little island town! It's like most small villages...warm, trusting, open hearted, easy to get around. Unbelievably this island is also a fair trade zone----probably largely the influence of Iona, a global community.

Tonight after the healing service at the Abbey, I walked out under a big sky with stars and no light pollution....it's been an intense 4 days . A ceiladh dance last night, at 10pm, which is the Scottish dancing----very similar to contra or square dancing. We were mixing it all up, young and old alike, men and women, men and men, women and women, children and geezers, with laughter and smiles abounding.

Today we had a pilgrimage around the island. We were out for 6 hours, alongside the sheep, cows and birds of the air, who live in the sleet and sun and wind, day in, day out. They say that you can experience all four elements of weather in a day at Iona. Indeed. It was misty and wet to start with, sunny halfway through and sleeting and windy for the final leg. The pilgrimage was powerful, with stunning views, sacred sites and readings that cut right through to the soul. 7 miles round trip over hill and dale, moor and heather. Bogs and rocks and slippery and rainy and sunny. I fell in a bog the very last stretch. DRAT! I was determined not to do that, but the bogs can be up to 1/4 mile wide and you can sink up to your hips in some places. No way to escape unless you want to walk out of your way and lose the group.
Think thick, black mud, slime, quicksand... Anyway, I tried to run across it, "GrouchoMarx style" as our leader instructed. Instead, I fell back at the last minute, clawing to no avail at the clumps of slippery grass, to pull myself out. Well, that is a ridiculous thought. Now you get the picture....muddy peat and stinky thick water poured into my boots. SLosh, slosh, slosh, for the rest of the pilgrimage.
I think my blood is just beginning to get a little thicker after all this time out in the elements with the sheep and cows.
Truly, it was a metaphor for the daily faith journey of life.

Iona is all about community. As we all know, there's wonderful, amazing things and challenging things about that. On Iona, since we're more buffered from the elements, I don't feel the harshness nor the rawness of the earth and my own emotions, quite as I did at Camas. We can always gather around the coal fire hearth during the day. When it is too cold or blustery, we can have a cup of tea with biscuits over a cheery fire. I can always resort to a hot shower at the end of a very looong day. I am needing a massage. My neck and lower back are killing me. Not much place or time for yoga here.

Worship and work are one in this place. Each day the rhythm kicks in.. breakfast at 8:15am, Worhip in the Abbey at 9am, chores at 9:30am, time with John Bell from 10-12:30pm, lunch and then some free time before diving into either a pilgrimage, a tour, a walk, etc. 4pm is singing time with John Bell, followed by dinner and then an evening session of either a healing prayer service, a talent show or time for reflection together. Evening worship is at 9am in the Abbey. Dancing or a reception follows this, or just sitting around talking about the troubled world or the days thoughts with people from many places.

We continue to read the front pages of the Guardian and The Telegraph and other british papers daily, and folks from the UK, Canada and US bat about thoughts and feelings about this time of collapsing economies. Sounds grim, but perhaps a time for a fresh start and "cleaning house". I wonder what the sentiment is in the states. One British commentator calls this the Economic 9-11 and signals the end of U.S. empire. Interesting.

Check it out for photos, hopefully by the end of next week.
Until later...here is St. Patrick's prayer.
Christ be with me,
Christ within me
Christ behind me,
Christ before me
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me
(HWB #442)

Peace,
Anita

The Isle of Iona

Dear ones,
I have just had a very satisfying meal here at the Columba hotel on Iona. The hotel is named after St. Columba, a monk who founded the Iona monastery in the 6th c.----called one of the 12 disciples of Ireland, so named because he constituted one of 12, who after studying under St. Finian, came to Scotland to missionize the Picts.

This hotel is dedicated to Fair and Organic Trade, as are a growing number of Scottish farmers and businesses. The food was fabulous----a salad with greens from their own garden, and a carrot/sunflower seed soup! All overlooking some of the ruins of the island and the moody skies and rowdy seas of this part of the world. I think I have begun to suffer in earnest from SAD (seasonal affective disorder)after almost 20 days running of no sunshine. (o.k.,o.k. there were at least 1 1/2 days of sun---gasp!) How I long for the dry, blissfully warm and brilliant skies of New Mexico.

I have just completed a week of off the grid living with the wonderful community at Camas Center----a seemingly remote array of buildings overlooking a small cove. There is a mile hike in with a wheelbarrow to carry whatever you can't take on your back. The track is muddy and often full of sheep and cows moving from one pasture to another. We picked some fine blackberries (brambles, they are called here) for a pie one night, along this trail to Camas.

The group at Camas was an amazing one, with young people from Uruguay, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Scotland and England. All of them incredibly hospitable and inclusive and willing to share of themselves and their space. This international group is involved in keeping this centre alive and running day after day, from April to October----which is abounding with groups of children and youth most all of the summer. They come to learn about living in community and to become more acquainted with the earth. The kids do games and community activities and get to kayak and rappell and garden, as well as dive into the daily responsibilities of chores.
Here's some youtube click ons, to give you an idea of Camas entertainment!

YouTube - Good Form Peter! Do Sheep Swim?: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSAZ1t7UcbY"


The final evening of our week Reading the Big Book of Creation, we sat out under the night sky, where the sea lapped the shore and built a huge bonfire which kept us toasty warm well into the night as we sang all manner of international songs. It was rich.

It was an intense week and I had a day where I had a wee 'meltdown' due to the endless days of activity and constant community time. I hadn't had much time to reflect and find some solitude (I know you busy parents are saying ----'hello?')so I felt a bit backlogged in terms of my feelings and thoughts. So much had ocurred both inside and outside myself in these 3 weeks on the road. But, the oceans and the cheery birds and the ever blooming flowers are kind and gracious. After sitting in the garden for awhile, I was able to return to some sort of inner balance, and remember that God's mercies are new everyday, thankfully.

I do love the Scottish people. Their accents, their kindness. Their sturdiness and down to earth acceptance of all the elements around them. I'd go nuts without more sunshine and warmth, but they seem to accept it all with aplomb.
I've gotten used to scottish oatcakes, oat porridge and oat everything.

And now onto a week with John Bell on the Isle of Iona. Here's a prayer as I part ways until my next internet window of opportunity...

Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.
ash Wednesday - t.s. eliot - 1927

With love,
Anita

Scotland-----Highlands to the Outer Hebrides

Hi all,

I finally found a free internet service in the public library of Nairn, up in the Highlands of Scotland----a lovely beachside town near Findhorn.


So sad that Kenneth needs to fly out in one day, so we have tomorrow to visit one of the outer islands of the Hebrides together----Skye Island,. This is supposed to be very beautiful with 'plunging cliffs, and sparkling beaches and peaks reaching to the blue skies'. They reportedly also have great shopping. Unfortunately, each day has been rainy and grey in Ireland and Scotland. But, we continue to take pictures nevertheless, and enjoy the warmth of the homes and the people who invite us into their B&B's. I am soaking in the moisture, since there will not be much of it back in New Mexico!


When I return, I will be eager to put together my presentation on communities whose spirituality is based in a deep sense of creation ----seeking to live in harmony with the earth and one another. Some very exciting things to report...from my times in Ireland, now Findhorn and next week the Iona communities.
Tomorrow I embark on the final leg of my journey. First, The Island of Mull, the village of Camas, an off the grid community which is a satellite of Iona. Here I will need to hike in an hour from the road. We will be reflecting on The Big Book of Creation-----and exploring it daily through hiking, kayaking and abseiling (otherwise known as rappelling in the states). The final week will be Iona. Well known to the Scots as a very sacred island. Both of these spiritual communities are trying to live more simply and prayerfully with one another. I look forward to the quietness. We'll see how long til I go stir crazy!


Well, time to move on to Skye Island. I have been driving so far in Scotland and it has been rigorous, but I've gone slow and we've stayed safe, thanks be to God. Some of these roundabouts are made to drive the motorist to insanity, but I'm getting the hang of it. just when i get the hang of it, we are going to go and put Kenneth on the plan to drive so he can take the car back to Glasgow by the end of the week. he'll get a taste of driving. YIKES! Then I'll be off the grid and off the road. Hallelujah!

Blessings of Peace to all,
love,
Anita

Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Hello friends and family,
Well, it's almost 10 days into my trip and I've only managed to squeeze out this one blog...traveling keeps one very busy, between and betwixt driving here and there and finding accomodations and food. Internet cafes is the next challenge, especially in these tiny towns. Unfortunately there is no way to download pictures from my digital on these public computers, according to our host. Sorry, you won't see my cheerful mug on a windblown misty highland with the horned shaggy cows surrounding me...

Ireland was quite exhilarating. Rain everyday, but the people's hearths and hearts were very warm. They welcomed my friend and I with open arms and lots of information forthcoming about the best sites to see, places to eat and routes to take. This was a good thing because we hit a sturdy stone sheep wall the very first day. The car was towed, we returned straightaway to Dublin and picked up another car. No one was hurt, since we were only traveling about 30 mph ----on the wrong side of the road, of course.
We hadn't had our morning brew yet----black coffee or strong tea, that is. So, I guess the brain cells weren't hooked up.


Next few days were taken up with St Brigid, the goddess who was later subsumed into a real Irish woman, Brigid, who was Abbess of the Kildare church. She became sainted by the Celtic Christians as someone who loved the poor, animals, the earth and was known for hospitality and healing. We went to her well, drank some pure water, visited the ancient cathedral and saw a little garden dedicated to her----and met some real live Brigidine sisters. Lovely people.

Last stop in Ireland was St. Gobnait's sacred well, burial place and pilgrimage site. Whew. She was a keeper of bees, also known for healing----so bee inscriptions were abounding on her pilgrimage statue.

Of course, everywhere we went, there were celtic crosses, the circle meaning the circle of creation, endless regeneration of life.

Ah well, time to go....you can await breathlessly the photos that will be forthcoming for these travels.
Scotland is more of a kick back with Kenneth----less pilgrimage, more sightseeing. But we will be visiting Findhorn, a spiritual off the grid, community in the Scottish Highlands after we hike the Glen Affric tomorrow, a fantastic, wild (for Scotland) part. Hope to take in the Orkney islands instead of the Lewis Isles by the end of the week, before I head off to my final two weeks on Iona and Mull.

Love the pubs---best food in town, and the home of guinness. Lively conversation, and some great music on a few nights!

Love to all,
Anita