Sorry guys.... That took a little longer than I thought.

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Those of you who know me realize that being on time is NOT exactly one of my strong points. The whole concept of operating under “Mexican time” was pretty appealing to me… One thing I didn’t count on however, was just how much time it takes to maneuver in a city that has little or no access for people with disabilities.

One of the organizations I will be working with throughout this year provides services and job-skills training for people with various physical handicaps. Every morning, I catch the Route 5 bus from my home and make my way to Calvario church downtown. From there, I wait in the dark early morning for the ALEM bus to arrive. (ALEM is the title of our organization, and it stands for Autonomía, Libertad en Movimiento, or Autonomy, Liberty, and Movement.) From there, Pancho and I drive around the city to the homes of about 10 or so folks who will be coming to work in the shop that day. Some have makshift ramps at their homes, but others need to have their chairs lugged backwards up or down their stairs. No way on earth would typical public transportation make time for these people. By the time we all arrive at the ALEM workshop, it’s about 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning.

At the ALEM workshop, we construct wheelchairs and specially designed tricycles from scratch. The people there have learned how to construct these chairs from the cleaning and welding of old pipes, to the sewing of seats, to the painting, assembly, and testing of the chairs. One of the women there even has her own design notebook where she creates different styles and modifications! It’s really great to see these people all coming together and giving of themselves so that others can find movement and freedom as well.

It may not be the most “efficient” thing I’ve ever seen… it still takes us 2 ½ to 3 hours for everyone to get home again, but it’s helping me to see that time and to-do lists are not always the most important measure of a day.

Again, as many of you know, my Spanish is pretty deplorable. But I figured it would be good fun if you could laugh along with me as I attempt to figure all of this out. So, here is the first (of probably many)
SPANISH MISHAP OF THE DAY:
There is this wonderfully fun man at ALEM who we all call Abuelo (grandpa) because he’s the oldest one of the bunch. Well, the other day, he was explaining to me what had happened to his legs… Instead of hearing that he had a great deal of trouble with Polio, I heard “a great deal of trouble with pollo.” There were about 6 people around when I got this confused look on my face and asked, “Lots of chickens? Huh?” Apparently, the thought of Abuelo’s legs being attacked by lots of chickens was just too hilarious for words, and I couldn’t get an explanation out of them until they all stopped crying from laughter.

Well, that’s all for now, kids…
Send me an email if you can… it’s always nice to feel loved when I can get to an internet café!

Abrazos!

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Photos

Mi casa
My host family and I live in the black door underneath the blue stairs

Comments

[Heidi]

you're a rockstar!
Alisha! How fun to read this first reflection after just a couple of days at ALEM. Thanks so much for sharing the great insights, and also for your "Spanish mishap of the day." I love it...I can just see Lili and Ana Laura and Enoc and the rest of the crew as the laughter explodedj in that space. :-) Good stuff. I'm so proud of you! Heidi (your country coordinator, duh)

[Sally and Tom]

we miss you
Alisha, how wonderful to hear from you and read your first installment. We look forward to each one. We miss you and think of you often. Sending you hugs and laughter, energy and encouragement. We love you (so does a certain person we know -smiles!) Take good care of yourself. We used your Mexican vanilla the other day in a batch of amazing muffins. Thanks.

[Rachel]

Hey Alisha, the Spanish mishap made me laugh out loud especially because I have had many of them my self. I can't wait to get other updates on the work you are doing and the humour too! Rachel Andrepont (friend of Gumm: )