Signature Style

I am taking a jewelry making class.  Yes, a craft class.  Seriously.  Stop laughing. 

We (8 of us) started in mid-August with a 15-hour class focused on learning the basics.  I practiced lots techniques using various tools, wire, thread and beads that I do not have the faintest idea what they are called in English.  "Nudo de rosario" anyone?  I also had to consult the dictionary to find out how to say "bead" in Spanish. 

We had such a good time, enjoyed each other's company tremendously and felt we still had so much to learn that we decided to go for another 15 hours beginning this Thursday night.  Our assignment is to craft 3 pieces of jewelry that we feel represent our signature style using odds and ends of jewelry that we have on hand.  We were not to buy anything.  Given that I was not going to take apart any of my pearl jewelry which is basically my signature style and that I have never created anything in my life, I was feeling a little overwhelmed to say the least.  I looked at many websites and Pinterest pins to copy, but everything looked too complicated and/or I did not have the materials to proceed.  I gave serious consideration to opt out of the class. 

Then I met a friend for lunch yesterday.  She had just returned from a trip to Egypt and was wearing a tiny little beaded bracelet from which hung one larger bead and nothing else.  I fell in love with the idea instantly.  The rest is history.  This afternoon I sat down and made these three bracelets.  Of course, I had to make the beads bigger and the hanging-down-bead bigger and of a variety of materials.  I cannibalized pieces of jewerly I have picked up while traveling and then stashed away because I had no idea why I bought the pieces in the first place. 

I may wake up tomorrow wondering what the hell was I thinking and destroy these istantly, but for now, I am at least planning to attend class on Thursday evening.

Day 1 - Fall 2012

Only six students, all females.  Three are from Central College, two from Carthage College in Wisconsin and one from Campbell University in North Carolina.  Four of the six will be living with host families beginning next Sunday while only two will be living in the Central House.  We are having orientation today and tomorrow with classes beginning on Wednesday.  The semester end on December 1.  Stay tuned to see what happens between now and December 1.  I promise to blog faithfully about the program and about other things of interest as well. 

Summer 2012?

Today is the first day of the Fall 2012 semester.  What, you may be asking, happened to Summer 2012?

I have to say that Summer 2012 was one of my best groups ever.  They were bright, motivated, eager to experience everything, and unwilling to waste a single opportunity. 

The experience was enhanced by the presence of Naphtali and Aidan for 10 days or so.  They were able to experience two field trips, and a presentation by Naphtali about her 2011 experiences in Honduras which fit in perfectly with the summer course on Health care in Yucatan.  Even though we did not talk at all about her presentation or the summer program, she hit all of the same topics we were studying/discussing/experiencing such as community/public health challenges, cultural competency, cultural differences and travel.  Everyone fell in love with Aidan especially as he bravely jumped off the high dive into a cenote that only a couple of other students dared to attempt. 

The month-long program flew by.  I have high hopes for a similar program next summer and an expanded version of the program for Fall 2013.  In the meantime, Fall 2012 is here.

Inspired by Ilona

There has been something wrong with my blog site for months.  Naphtali told me in June that I should have updated the site when blogger made changes in the system, but I didn't.  After reading Ilona's email and then calling up her site with the new address, I was inspired to figure out what was wrong with mine.  I entered my site via Ilona's.  I am  going to post this now and see what happens.  Stay tuned.

Wedding in Guadalajara

Five years later...

And I still miss him. My passport will expire in 2013. While paging through it last week, I noted I still list John as my emergency contact. I should probably change that in the next one. (I also use the Hampton and Guadalajara addresses, too. Also need to be changed.) But oh the trips with John between June of 2003 and April of 2007...St. Barts, the Cook Islands, Paris, Costa Rica. I still have my previous passports, too. China, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, London, Ireland, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt. Then there were those trips to Hawaii... Good times. Great memories.

It's a small world after all...

I don't know how many times over the past 20 years in Mexico I have thought, "If only Señor Snell could see me now." Well, now he has.

I hosted a dinner at the Central House on March 2 for Iowa Sister States/Partners of the Americas. (Iowa and Yucatan are sister states.) As I was greeting people, I noticed a group of four unknown gringos coming in the door, but it took me awhile to make my way over to them as I a little distracted as I made sure the waiters, musicians, etc. were doing what they were supposed to be doing. But my attention was instantly focused on one particular guest when he said as we were shaking hands, "Me llamo Rogelio Snell, Señorita Grimsley. No se si tu recuerdes de mi." (My name is Roger Snell, Miss Grimsley. I don't know if you remember me.) I actually thought I was going to faint. Remember him!?!?!?!? He said he thought he recognized me the minute he walked in the room and then he heard me laugh just before I came over to his group to introduce myself, and he knew for sure! He said he would know my laugh anywhere.

We talked as much as we could during the event, and then we met again on Sunday to have more time to talk. Good times.