La Vita Alessandria: Same Planet, Different Worlds....

It's that time of year again. Once July hits it gets warm to downright hot here. This last week it was in the 90's and here in Seattle, it's whining in the city--heat wave 2010, and time to finally water the yard versus pots here and there.

While walking one of our downtown streets this last week, another sign of July appeared: "Sea Pirates". They come along with the Seattle SeaFair which mixes pirates, hydro boat races, and the Blue Angels. There are two camps in Seattle: either you love SeaFair or you are of the eye rolling ilk who just sigh knowing that it's a festival of LOUDNESS. LOUD hydro races on Lake Washington and LOUD Blue Angels flying over the city for three days making houses shake and me thinking how grateful I am that I don't live in a war zone and have bombs dropping out of those planes.

These SeaFair pirate guys are something else; they like to run around in their costumes and say "GGGRRRRRRRR" a lot and act out their fantasies of plundering, pillaging, and scaring the shit out of little children. There are, I am sure, also the rape fantasies but collectively as a city we seem to ignore that part and pretend they're really lots of fun. Anyway, this sounds like the beginning of a rant but there they were on the street; driving around in their pirate mobile while I was trying to get to one of my buildings.

Next on my route I walked by a large picture display window for one of Seattle's fancier clothing stores. So here is their advertising strategy to get folks to come in and shop. Those are all little pills attached to the window along with huge blow ups of a PDR--Physicians Desk Reference. So, the catch here is take drugs and look fashionable at the same time. Or, it's cool to take drugs AND look fashionable while you're doing it. Or, what??? This really stumped me and I am sure I made a few people nervous as I just stood and stared at that window for the longest time trying to figure out how I felt--Is it hip? And I am not hip and therefore I don't get it because I am being too serious just because I work with end stage alcoholics and drug addicts?? So then I stood there taking pictures and I am really sure I looked strange....

Let's talk about better things. Remember our friend Ellen (who now lives in Copan Ruinas, Honduras) and was visiting awhile back? I wrote about all the amazing accomplishments she has brought to her town and the villages nearby. Here are a couple of pictures to remind (or introduce) you to Ellen. Kim and Ellen met up in Florida some months back and took these for their scrap books.

Anyway, while she was here she told me about a little village named Pinalito. It's up in the mountains and very isolated. She told me about how there is a one room school that had only mud floors and a couple of desks for the 20+ students. The children mostly sit on the floor for class. Anyway, I gave some money so that a cement floor could be put in and had some large tables made. These are pictures Ellen recently sent me and this is what she wrote:

"The pictures sure capture the joy and the eagerness of the kids. They appeared out of nowhere, running down the mountain ..."

"Each one wanting to carry something. And we all waited so long for the rains and waters to clear.." They couldn't deliver the desks because of the rain storms that they were having. Trucks can only go so far before they have to stop and then one goes the rest of the way by foot (or horse).

"You should have seen us crossing the river, Rachel. The water was up as high as the top of our tires."

Marel kept saying "Dios va a ayudarnos" and i kept saying "no , Dios va a matarnos!!!"
(Marel kept saying God is going to help us" and i kept saying "no, God is going to kill us.)

"The other things that your donation does, are provide visitors... they hardly ever leave their village and i was their first Gringuita, and also let them know that folks "out there somewhere" care about them." New tables and a new floor.

"Then we ate chicken soup and tortillas and headed back... pretty damn pleased. Too bad you couldn't be with us. Maybe next time...."

Before Ellen left, they also shared a pineapple that she had brought with her.

So I have come full circle. Many images this week. It's a strange world to me. I live in a place that gets giddy over make believe pirates and racing boats at top speed along a beautiful lake. Where "they" tell me that chic is expensive designer clothes and "they" associate that with medications.