All of that being said... I'm finally sitting down to write and I don't know where to start, so I guess I'll just start somewhere aroundabouts where I left off. MOSAIC. M is for mutual respect, don't put me down and don't hurt me. O is for openmindedness, see me for who I am and don't judge me. S is for self-respect and A is for attitude, you gotta love yourself and stay positive. I is for individuality and C is for community, when we come together in the places we live. Or maybe its we gotta come together. COME TOGETHA. riiiiiight now. ova me. Those are the Mosaic values, and they are certainly values to live by. There's so much to say about it, it's one of those things where so much happened that trying to somehow capture it with words seems so defeatingly meaningless. I guesssss to sum it up: amazing people, magical woods, beautiful children that SERIOUSLY exhaust you, peace is possible, glitter and bubbles and appreciation of weirdness or rather "individuality," mixing it up. Basically just everything good and true and whole and beautiful about the world buzzes around on the backs of the fairies that drift about in the magical mosaic woods and you see it all in the reflection of childrens' eyes. But don't get me wrong, that shit's HARD. It is a weeklong therapy session and a lot of these kids have been through.... fucking shit.... in only 9 or 10 years of living. And so they start off making your life hard, miserable, but you know that you've done something SO meaningful and profound, you've actually made a difference when you see those kids opening up, their shell cracking, you see that sparkle in their eyes, they hug you or hold your hand for the first time, cry when they say goodbye... And then you notice that you've changed and opened up and started sparkling. All of that positive energy and love and support washing over you fills you up and makes you stronger and you wanna pass that on. Because the world truly IS a beautiful place.
And after three weeks at Mosaic I had a profound personal breakthrough.
And then I left for France. I left for sunny days with Sam in the south of France, cobblestones and dresses, beautiful people and beautiful fruit and produce, fresh bread, small cars, accents, winding alleys with planters overflowing with blooming flowers, divine wine, adorable children, a crazy scooterer, 40-year-olds and soccer players for lovers, pubs with friendly bartenders, fountains, jellyfish stings, a night in the cheapest hotel in Cannes, train rides without tickets, the most amazing field carpeted with red poppies, the beautiful 10 place de albertas, making friends through conversations of broken French mixed with English and Spanish and hand motions, delicious food, and an overall splendid time for about a week. And then several days in Paris. If you're looking for a hostel in Paris I HIGHLY recommend staying in St. Christopher's Inn, it's super cool and nice as far as hostels go. For those few days on my own I literally just walked all over Paris. More rambling streets and beautiful people. Great metro system. But what I loved most about Paris was the art. There's art everywhere! Soooo many posters up for art expositions or music shows that are themselves pieces of art. So much tight graffiti and street art. And SO much music! From the old-timey group playing Sam Cooke outside of the Notre Dame, to the Bolivian and Peruvian guys playing indigenous, meditative flutes in the Metro station underground, to the FREE 3-day rock, pop, electro concert down the canal from my hostel, to the Mexican dude who started singing me love songs in Spanish on the Metro train, to the mirthfully girthful woman belting out French ballads accompanied by her accordian and friends over wine on a sunny Sunday afternoon, to the Norwegian bands Borko and Sin Fang Bous I saw perform at the sweet "center for artistic dynamics" Point Ephémère, to ALL of the posters for upcoming concerts... So Paris defines cool, but in many ways Paris also defines music.
And now I'm home. After a week of (sort of) relaxation I begin working at camp on Monday. I'm housesitting for most of the summer starting Wednesday, woohoooo! So now I transition into a totally new and different phase of life - work, living on my own, and training like crazy for my half-marathon on July 26. Speaking of which, I'm fundraising $1500 for the marathon's benficiary Youth Run4Fun, an inner-city youth running program. So far I've raised %88, just over $1300! But I still have just under $200 before I reach my goal and I would so appreciate any donation you could make. To donate go to my fundraising page: https://secure2.merchantcart.
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