And We're Back! And looking good with designmantic.com

Hi Friends and Family,

So excited to be back in Puerto and this time around with a new business endeavor.  We are, for two months only, hosting a special yoga and pilates retreat for budget-conscious yogis.  This means that we are trying to keep our overhead super low, so when it came to designing a logo for the business, we didn't know where to turn, until we found designmantic.com.

Designmantic was effortless, and so easy to use!  I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but it quickly prompts you for your company name and slogan (ours: Good Vibration, Yoga & Pilates Retreat).  Then it automatically inserts your company name and slogan into 100s of logo variations.  You are able to then select the category of logo you want to further hone down the options.  For example, I selected 'Travel', 'Sports', and 'Massage' to get the best variety of logos perfect for Good Vibration.  I found the perfect one for our business.  I can't wait to post it here for you to see, but I don't have it just yet!

Designmantic is very economical anyway, but the best part is that if you want to share your great experience using the website, they are willing to give you your logo and all of the goodies (PDF, JPEG, PNG files, colors, etc.) for free!!  This works out great for these cost-conscious yoginis.

I will keep you all posted with news on the retreat.  More coming soon!

Love,
Stef

Adios Amigo

Dear Puerto,

I came here not knowing what I was looking for, but searching for something.  And here I found so much more than I could have ever imagined: self-trust, confidence, joy, and peace.  I spread my wings, and you showed me I can fly.  It hasn't been easy - you made me work for it, some of the hardest days of my life, but also some of the best.  This has been a journey of my spirit, through the highs and the lows, I walk away with a stronger connection to myself, my God, and my sobriety.

I'm not sure I will be back.  This experience has been sacred and one I will pull out time and again in gratitude, but you've already given me all that I need from you, and it's time to continue walking my path with your spirit gifts in my basket.  Hopefully, I've been able to add a little sparkle to your endless sunshine.  I thank you, from the bottom of my happy little heart.

Que te vaya bien,
Con amor,
Steffie

So Mexican

On Sunday morning, I went with the abuelita of the family to help her do her weekly shopping.  The market is filled with novelties, like pig heads and chicken hearts and all the fresh fruit, veggies, and flowers one would expect from a colorful and noisy Mexican market.  Here are me and Dona Zoila at the mercado.  I love her.  

That afternoon was Pachi and Julia's bday party (the two girls, whose birthday's are just days apart).  What a fiesta, complete with face painting, pinatas, break-dancers, tons of food, and a hilarious clown.  In this photo, you can see my family on the left - Sol, Roger, Julia, and Pachi (with a fairy painted face :).

Yesterday I went to yoga at a new place, each yoga palapa more beautiful than the next...

One more post to come on Saturday before I return home, and so much to squeeze out of these last 48 hours...maybe even one final surf session to break in my new rash guard that my host family gave me as a good-bye gift...I'm now official. :)



 

With only one week left...

I'm at my favorite coffee shop, Casa Choc, and down the street Barcelona is playing Madrid in a soccer match on TV and I can hear them cheering and screaming from here.

It's another hot, sunny, beautiful day in Puerto and I spent my morning in the best possible way.  I went to volunteer my time with teenagers who want to learn English and cannot afford private classes.  They were so excited and nervous and I could tell they loved having me there - a real American to practice with.  I taught them all the important words, like 'so cute', 'very cool', and 'you guys are awesome'.  Turns out that's how I talk and they were like, um, what?  One told me in broken English that I am very nice and pretty, and I was so touched.  Afterwards, the teacher told me that I changed their lives.  I don't know about all that, but it sure felt good to hear. :)

This past week I got to meet another partera (midwife) and she was wearing a Chicago t-shirt (classic).  She was so happy to talk to me, and show me her herbs and gave me a big hug when I left.

I spent time in the local administrative office for Seguro Popular (their local public health system).  It's amazing how well they track statistics and trends without really any technology.  It's all done with pen and paper until it finally makes it to the main office in Oaxaca to be tabulated.  I chatted with these giggling nurses there, who record and distribute everything having to do with vaccinations.  They were hilarious, and we were laughing the whole time.

I also attended a couple trainings for doctors and nurses in their last year of residency during which they are doing their 'year of service' and have to work in one of the local Centros de Salud (many of the clinicians I met in the clinics were in fact these doctors and nurses).  The training was about how to put in the subdermal implant for birth control, and they went ahead and did some demos right on the spot...

The previous week I spent in Chila again, but this time in the clinic instead of chinche-hunting.  I was a part of two 'platicas', which are discussions with the local women (who are required to attend to maintain their level of financial support from La Programa de Oportunidades) based on family planning.

I also watched in fascinated horror as this insanely huge abscess on an old man's back get sliced and drained of pus for like a half hour, and met a little boy who had so many cavities in his teeth I could actually see them as black shadows.

Aside from all the medical stuff, I'm still getting to the beach.

Here is the sky the other night after the sun had set from the beach, La Punta.

A picture speaks a thousand words, so 'nuff said. :)  

Semana No Santa

I am in for a very low-key weekend.  I am down to my last peso (and, incidentally, it is my lucky peso that I found on the ground when I got here, so I am not spending it), and I went to the bank yesterday to get money.  They were closed.  They are closed until Monday, which means that I have the opportunity to figure out how to live muyyyyy simply.  I mean, I have everything I need - two meals a day from my host family, clean water, books, music, the internet, legs to take me to the beach...I shall survive.  And maybe learn a thing or two in the process about the spiritual benefits of austerity.

In any case, I'll never go hungry - the abuelita of the family is this cute old lady who LOVES to talk about nothing, for example, the mango trees in our yard.  There are, apparently, ten different types of mangoes here in Puerto.  I happen to love talking to her and activity participate in chatting with her whenever I can.  As a result, I am the beneficiary of many fresh mango gifts, so that I may taste and experience the difference between the types of mangoes...I can have mangoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Perhaps I can even sell a few for a couple pesos.  The possibilities are endless.

Yesterday I talked to a couple of locals, who really do not appreciate the Mexican spring breakers.  They both commented that they don't know why this week is called Semana 'Santa', when this week is anything but saintly. Sol told me that when she went surfing yesterday morning at 8 AM, there were still tons of drunk Chilangos (as are called the vacationing people from Mexico City) milling about from the night before, and she said the playa smelled like cerveza.  

I, however, got to witness something very holy on my way to Spanish class yesterday.  In front of the half-finished cathedral I found a crowd of people watching a live-reenactment of Jesus being hung on the cross.  To be honest, the human Jesus freaked me out just a little.

This morning while I blog, Pachi (as they call Maria Paz) is sitting here playing games on my I-phone. She is obsessed with it, and as a result I am pretty sure I am her favorite student who has every stayed in her house (I'm not ashamed to use to technology to get into people's hearts).  The phone is essentially hers now, and I borrow it every once in a while.  Here are me and Pachi hanging out on Saturday morning in mi casa. 

Happy Easter, everyone!!! xo

   

Sah-Hey y Yo

Sah-hey (as Sage's name is pronounced in Spanish) is leaving today.  We had a great few days together, filled with yoga, beaches, walks, sunsets, and a hilarious Zumba-type work-out class (the students were the two of us, and a gray-haired bigggg dude with no rhythm).  Our friend Maria invited us to her house on Sunday, a little oasis in the middle of nowhere on a secluded beach.  We spent the day and evening lounging, talking, eating, napping, and releasing baby turtles into the ocean.

This week is Semana Santa, and the town is filled to over-flowing with families on spring break.  This is Sage waiting in a huge @ss line at the Super Che (or as Sage calls it, Mexican Costco).

I got home from Spanish class on Monday and found a dude up in the top of one of the palm trees in our yard.  He had shimmied to the top with just a rope to cut down the coconuts so they wouldn't fall on our head (problems in paradise).  Look close and you can see him in the tree.

It was so good to have Sage here - so needed.  Now I'm perfectly positioned to enjoy my next few days off doing yoga, surfing, walking, journaling, reading, and resting in the spirit of solitude.

Otra Dia en Paradiso

Not much to report, but I know my dad is looking for a post to know that I am, indeed, alive :).  Today was my last day in Santa Maria Colotepec, and I have next week off due to Semana Santa (their holy week before Easter) and Sage is coming today!  She will be here until Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to having a piece of home here in Puerto.

I will post more when I have any updates!