Pacing

Just Gimme the Coffee

Tall Chai, 2 pumps vanilla, extra hot? Sure.
Grande? This one? Do you want Bold or Pike?
Hi. Good Morning.
Venti Latte, nonfat. Did you want whip on that?

Can I get a morning bun?
Sorry about that! I heard “pumpkin” somehow. So, you wanted Cinnnamon Dolce?
GRINDING GRINDING GRINDING
$100? K. You're all set. And you wanted to pay with the card?
I don't really know much about the ap actually.
I gotta get one of these gold cards.
Black and White Mocha? Hold on a minute. What is that?
The Brice? You probably told me, but I don't remember. So – a Trenta cup with ice – and you're Brian, with the ice, that's the Brice? Ok.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
I'm sorry, what was the first drink?
Ah, the Ted special. What is that again? No problem.
Just getting some more pennies. I hate the pennies.
Tall Bold.
Medium Pike.
Can I get a piece of pumpkin bread? Great choice.
GRINDING GRINDING GRINDING GRINDING
So, that was soy milk?
There's actually cream and sugar over at the counter.
Chocolate Chip Cookie? That sounds so good.
Hi! I love your jacket.
Bryan with a y! Yes, I remember.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
And that's Barb, not Bob, right? With that Boston accent, it just sounds so similar. But you're Barb and you're Bob. Got it.
And that wasn't decaf or anything, right?
Cricket?

Seven? Like the number?
You know, people say the name doesn't matter, but I don't agree.
Where are you from? I was just in Buenos Aires! Love South America.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Hey! How's it going? Yup, been here a few weeks. It's good, like a game.
You can put "DJ Jonelle" on that cup.
It's just so funny that they're Marshmallow Dream Bars. We all know they're really rice crispie treats.
I know, they look so good. But they're not real food, just sugar pretending to be.
Totally. I've gotten that before.
Hey, I went to Gordon.
GRINDING GRINDING GRINDING
Americano. My favorite drink.
So your total is $4.86.
Pumpkin Scone? Nice.
I'm sorry, can you say that one more time?
It's like autumn in a cup.
Hey, I have the same backpack. So good!
You all set?
Nice, my dad's name is Gary.
GRINDING GRINDING GRINDING
Thanks! I got it in Mexico.
I love your scarf. Where in France?
So I guess that's our only organic coffee then.
What do I think of Howard Shultz?
Yes, you can.
Salted Caramel Mocha? So good. They'll kill you though.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
And here's your change – 2 Abraham Lincolns. Nice. Thanks!
I'm good, you?
Enjoy!
Thank you!

Dias para las Tias

For the past three days we’ve been offering spa service to the Tías. From 12:30 until 4:00 the Tías can come to our guest house for facials, manicures, or pedicures. We’ve been playing peaceful spa music, or Enya, along with decorating the table with crackers, cheese, grapes and boiling water for hot chocolate and herbal tea.

Over the past few weeks I have gotten to know all of these women through the English classes that I’ve been teaching along with helping them in each of the three houses with the children. Most of the time there are three Tías in each of the three houses: the baby house, the toddler/preschool house, and the special needs house. The special needs house is right below our guest house and we often hear them playing music at around 8:00 in the evening, imagining all of them having a dance party down there.

At 8:30/9:00 at night I have gone over in the dark to the preschool house just in time to hear the children going to bed or a Tía reading or praying with them as they drift off to sleep. A couple times I have gone over and little Joshua or Josue has been sitting on the landing, being punished for not wanting to go to sleep. I only know he’s up there by the little feet that are sticking out of the railing. Meanwhile, I sit with the three Tías below the stairs and teach them the alphabet song.

That moment of rest at the end of a busy day is when I get to see their personalities exhaled, which is really enjoyable. We’ve played matching games with vocabulary words such as crib, blanket, bottle. The first game that I created I drew amazing pictures of the items and they had to find the matching Spanish word. Each day I would teach three different groups of Tias, so it was fun to see some of them excel and others laugh and fumble at their lack of English knowledge.

In the baby house there are two Tias that are around my age: Nancy and Alisha. Alisha brought us out to her house in the countryside one day and says that I know more Spanish than I speak, which makes me laugh. Whenever I walk in I hear, “Senorita Saaaaaarah. Beunos Dias!”. There was one afternoon when I was looking for some social company, so I visited them while the babies were sleeping and showed them pictures of Scotland, Europe and friends back home. They both came into our spa a bit camera shy, despairing with a smile at any picture I would take of them.

There are some other Tias that I click with more than others. There’s Merry from the toddler house, who one of the other Tias jokingly referred to as Merry Christmas during one of our games. She’s very funny, in a dry kind of way, and seems to get a kick out of the children, wanting to mess with their minds a little bit sometimes (in a playful kind of way, which is right up my alley). Isabel strikes me as a strong woman yet retains this sense of loveliness and openness. There’s also Marcia, who has a harder looking face and is stooped when she walks or stands because something has happened to her leg. But when she feeds the babies or works with Thalia (who has special needs) she sings to them in the most motherly way, gently holding them and rocking them.

All of the Tias come with their own way of disciplining and mothering the children, carefully watched and monitored by the directors here. Most rooms have cameras , making them very intentional about how they instruct or play with the children. We’ve been told not to pick the toddlers up as much because once we’re gone they start to cry. Everyday all of the toys are disinfected and every piece of laundry is washed. I’ve had to sit and wash the balls in the ball pit: it was not the most fulfilling task, especially since I wanted to shoot the children’s music that played on repeat in the background.

Giving back to the Tias and offering them a day of treats was so wonderful for us. Sometimes I felt like I had found my true calling, since I strangely enjoy picking at things – therefore, picking at people’s toes and nails all day was actually quite fun for me. Jen would pull off their fask masks when they were finished, Sharon would carefully paint their fingernails. We were like the Asian nail places, only we were speaking English amongst our Spanish speaking Tias – quite humorous.

The kids here have such a wonderful home as a consolation to their lack of real family. When the children are adopted, it must not be easy for these women to let them go, but they know they have to. They’ll have a place in the child’s photo album of their years here, but continue on raising children and babies until others are ready to do so.

Muchas gracias, Tias.

An Opportunity

When your eyes are open just enough you finally see an opportunity rise out of the ground, on the horizon. Majestic and powerful, he will take you with him, lifting you out of the routine you've lived in for so long. Here he comes with his big wings spread, get ready to jump into his claws. He's not going to hurt you, but he may scratch you a bit because his claws are not very soft. Up you go, higher than an airplane or a rainbow, or a dream, he takes you, soaring through cumulus clouds and spots of orange sunset light.

Ah! His furry claws tickle a little bit, causing you to laugh as the adrenaline speeds through your veins, to your fingertips. You are almost flying yourself, yet helpless without his powerful wings navigating the sky. And he is beautiful, this creature that you had never imagined because your mind can't create to the extent that it ought to. His wings are bright blue with a stunning palette of shades, muddled with gold speckles and green splotches burning like embers in a passionate fire. The undercoat of his wings are all you see above you. His golden claws grip you and you hang, legs dangling like flower petals or leaves. you don't know what you did to deserve this ride, astounded by the new perspective you now have on the land. Its vastness overwhelms you, and how small it makes you feel, but how exciting is it all! You even let out a loud cry to the bird, attempting to communicate joy in the way you know best.

Hello world! How big you are! I am discovering you in every direction and all I can see are areas unknown to me.

And you don't want to close your eyes because the landscape is so glorious.

Turns out the opportunity has a destination in mind, unfortunately you can't be in the sky forever gripped in his royal hand. After awhile the ground begins to come towards you. The houses and people settle around you and you need to leave the opportunity's claws. Now the investigation begins. What is this new place and why does it feel so strange? What is strange about it? The adventure stops and you realize you have so much work ahead of you. Now you have to comprehend your surroundings as if it were a research project.

Where am I? Where was I taken? All I see are Xs and Ys and I can't seem to do the equation very well and don't know the answers.

And like research, you must be proactive and study. Set a hypothesis and find evidence or clues. Set goals.

As you live in this new place you find you are growing taller and you're surprised by how many sections of your brain had never been explored. You can feel them become alive like a lite-brite, forming different pictures of what you'd like to be, solidifying convictions.

All around you has become new and although you hadn't recognized it, you let it take you.