Cartoon 36: Soledad (Loneliness)

On a bus in Argentina leaning my head on the seat next to me imagining it's someone's shoulder... 

Riding a bike through the streets of Santiago de Chile, closing my eyes for an instant.  Feeling the wind brush the hair off my forehead imagining it's loving finger tips...

Laying down to sleep in Guatemala and spreading Coelho's (my teddy bear's) arms around my neck imagining that his weight is that of a familiar embrace...

Watching the scenary go by wanting to offer my sister one of the rice cake sandwiches that I'm eating because I know she doesn't like to eat so much bread either...

Cartoon 35: To the Mamas Latinamericanas

The love of a Latin American woman is just a whole nother story.  So many women that I've met along this trip have shown me a level of dedication and commitment to the lives of others that drops my jaw.  Without the support of these women, countless times I would have been a bit lost, a bit alone, and very hungry :)  So this cartoon is dedicated to my Latin American Mamas who manage to make me feel at home as I get farther and farther from my own... 

               Thank you to.... 

       Vicky and Mela... Joaquin's mother and grandmother who housed and fed us for the time that we lived in Mexico City as we did shows in schools and in the traffic lights to earn money for the trip. Vicky woke up every morning and prepared breakfast and lunch for her husband and three sons before going to work at her convenience store to help bring home the bacon... 

           

       Gaby... a friend of KQDA (the group I began traveling with but that fell apart before ever leaving Mexico). Gaby cooked us the most amazing meals and stopped us from killing each other while we argued incessantly about missions and objectives and strategies for the trip that we never took together haha I'm so glad I can laugh about that now!!...

            

       Beth... an honorary Latin American Mama from the US but lives in Mexico, she and her family took me in and feed me when the KQDA trip fell apart and I needed a place to live...

       

       Piquis... a friends mother who opened up her home as a studio and fed home cooked meals everyday to the cast of the Vuelo de la Mariposa as we put together the show that we would be performing in communities throughout Central America...

       Liliana... a Colombian woman that I met one time in Mexico... When the night before arriving to Bogota I couldn't get in touch with the people who were supposed to receive me, I called Liliana and without hesitation she gave me her address and offered to host me in her home for as long as I needed...

       Mely... a woman I met on the Amazon River boat who took me under her wing and shared her dried fish with me when we got stuck together for 5 days on a broken down boat...    

     

I could go on and on and on but for now so this entry doesn't get too long I'll shout out to Nibia, Ana Sofia, Flor, Carolina, Ana, Anabel, Faithy, Pacha Mama and the countless other mamas that hold Latin America together AND I'd like to tell one more little story about one more little mama named Mariana... 

      This Christmas, I was going to be in Chile surrounded by generous and fabulous new friends but far far away from a familiar face and a familiar hug.  Although one wouldn't think it based on the life path that I´m on, I am really a family gal.  I suffer a lot being away from my loved ones and days like Thanksgiving and Christmahannukwanzikah (Christmas-Hannukah-Kwanzaa) are particulary hard.  When Mariana found out that I was gonna be alone in Chile on Christmas, she decided that that was just not an option.  She came up with a crazy plan and called together all her friends and family and basically everyone she knows in Mexico City where she lives.  With each person giving what they could, they organized a huge party with a raffle for a 3 liter bottle of tequila and ten bucks at a time, they sold enough tickets to buy me a thousand dollar flight to arrive to Mexico City on Christmas Eve.  I got to stay there for a full two weeks just lulling about with my Mexican family and storing up energies for the last 6 months of this journey.  Now THAT is the power of love.