the rescue

on saturday the 25th invisible children put on another big event. this is their third big event, the first one being the "global night commute" which represented the kids who have to walk miles into town every night to sleep in order to avoid being abducted in the bush. young passionate people slept outside all over the country in 50 different cities...asking for change. it was huge. the second was "displace me" - the focus here was for all the people who have been displaced and live in these horrible conditions. again tens of thousands of young passionate people slept outside in their cities. asking for change. although a lot of help has been given, this war is still going strong. joseph kony has not backed down.
on saturday after we got back from kansas my little sister and i brought our sleeping bags and joined about 1,500 people in downtown denver. every city sets up camp downtown - writing letters and making phone calls to moguls asking to be rescued. a political leader or A list celebrity must show up and acknowledge this humanitarian crisis and the attention it needs.
after denver, and most cities, got rescued, there were only a few left. "rescue riders" drove across country to join the cities that have not yet been rescued. chicago is the last one left!!! its been almost 6 days! and there are over 500 people marching around harpo studios. holding out for oprah or oboma (ha....the two most powerful people in the world...that is of course the IC way). i was able to join them for 2 days and the experience of marching with peace signs for a cause like this, meeting other amazing people who "get it," seeing the passion and excitement and energy!
there is something that happens when you realize the lack of difference between yourself and someone else. between an american child and a ugandan child. an american mother who has lost their child and a ugandan mother who has lost their child. for some reason i was born here. god has blessed me with so much and i just pray that myself and the rest of the youth of america can 'be the change' they want to see.
together we are free.

the country life

my family and i finally got the chance to go to kansas! last time we got snowed in, and this time we decided to fly. which was a good choice. a great choice. the boys did a pretty amazing job flying. all of them were excited and my sister said when you would ask vinny if he wanted to go to kansas he would say "sure do."
the country turns out to be quite relaxing with the no cell phone service, no internet, no cable, no starbucks. we used to visit our family about once a year, but i havent been in about 5 years. everything was exactly how i remembered. the smell, the feel of the humidity, the sound of the bugs at night, the furniture in the house. everything. i love going back to places that dont change. but when it came to the actual people we were visiting it was a whole different story. my cousins were all grown up. when i used to come visit we would catch craw-dads, sneak into abandon houses, ride bikes and sleep on the trampoline. are we too old for that? i hope not.
i love visiting atchison kansas. i love getting away and experiencing that which is the country life. i love jamie's biscuits and gravy. but more so its just good to see family. seeing aaron with dante. seeing bob take the boys on the four wheeler. going to the fort sale with sissy. i love you guys and thanks for having us. no matter how much time has passed i know there are things that will not ever change and i just love that.

wait what?

when: last week
where: near cusco peru
who: me, erin, erins roommate monica, jose luis and nacho
what: para gliding

i am surprised at how in the last couple years, i have become more gusty. i still will never go bungy jumping or sky diving, but when erin told me that she knew a guy who could take us para gliding, i was 80% excited 20% nervous (it would usually be the opposite). maybe its because i feel a bit invincible when im in a foreign country.
so on saturday at 9am we met jose luis and his sidekick nacho (really that was his name) for a day of para gliding. jose luis knew some english, but i felt like the language barrier was a good excuse for me not to ask the important questions. is their a spare parachute? how do you land? how experienced is jose? and most important how many people have died doing this? i thought it was better to just not ask. until i was voted to "fly" first.
wait what?

we set up "camp" on the edge of a mountain/cliff. nacho (who speaks no english) started tying me up to the parachute. clips and fasteners and buckles. putting on my helmet (which had less cushion then a bike helmet...but honestly its not gonna to do much good if we fall from 3,000 feet). one huge backpack (which i was hoping held the emergency parachute). and as all this was happening i thought of my questions (my percentage quickly changed to 20/80). really the only question that seemed pertinent was..."so wait, what are we doing exactly?" jose luis says to me "we are waiting for the wind, and when the wind is perfect im going to count to three. when i say three, you run. dont sit. dont jump. when we are in the air i will tell you when to sit." he was talking to me as if i was a first grader. i mean those are not hard directions to fallow, but they would not sink into my head.
wait what?
"at the count of three your going to run off the cliff."
right. of course. thats what i thought you said. oh god.
i repeated the simple directions in my head. 'dont sit, dont jump. just run.' got it.

one.

two.

three.

run! im running. i mean im trying. im just not really moving. im hooked on to a person and a parachute and a backpack. but im really trying. thank goodness for nacho who pulled me. and my legs began to move. off the cliff. except there was no falling - just flying. it was the most exhilarating experience. a rush of adrenalin. a fear overcome. oh and also a shoe lost (somehow on takeoff).

i recommend para gliding in peru to all my friends.

blanca

i woke up at 6am in the mountain town of ollantaytambo to the sound of latin music and pots and pans crashing together. the hostel was conveniently also a restaurant, that apparently opens early. i looked over at erin and she is the most dead sleeper i know. so i lay in bed, in and out of sleep for a few more hours until about 9.
the plan for the day was to hike around. hang out till our train ride to aguas calientes at one. we stop in at a little fair trade coffee shop. mmm. the menu says in english you can get your coffee with whip cream - so thats what i tried to order. erin also told him in spanish. he just gave us weird looks and said ok. the whip cream was more like a crisco (this was not my only ordering mistake, i had accidentally ordered lama intestines the day before).
the hike was b e a utiful. lots of inca ruins. hidden caves (which we were afraid to go in, and when we did we found someones dreadlocks...weird). from the mountain i spotted a white lama playing soccer with two little kids in their backyard. "i have to pet that lama," i told erin. she pointed out the 13 foot stone wall with cacti all around it. its fine.

i use my climbing skills to get to the top of the wall, peaking my head through the cactus. "hola!" the kids are so confused. but thankfully their mom was near by. "hola!" i keep saying. because thats really all the spanish i know. she tells me, in english to be careful of the cactus. its fine. im just glad she knows english. "can i come kiss your lama??!!" please. i ask excitedly. she says yes! and to come around to the blue door. perfect. we come in to the fun little back year. meet marta and her husband and his friends who are drinking some beers. we play soccer with the kids. and finally kiss the lama. her name was blanca and it was love at first sight. she was sooo soft and would rub up against me. giving me kisses. i told erin to take and picture of me kissing blanca, when i try to move blanca towards me, bam. blanca spits in my face. in my mouth really. i thought we were really getting along. marta and friends laughed at me. its fine.
i still really want a pet lama.

top 10

this weekend may have made the top 10 list of good weekends.
on friday my friends and i enjoyed happy hour at dazzle, and had some very good mac and cheese. we then ventured off to the artwalk on sante fe, there are tons of art galleries, all with different styles of art. live music. wine and cheese. all free . we ended the evening with a game of clue at the shoppe (they specialize in cereal and cupcakes ...yum:))
on saturday we stood in line for hours for the REI garage sale! which was a success. and that night we celebrated the marriage of laura and james. laura has been a dear friend of mine since ecuador trip 1999 with our church :) and although is has been harder to keep in touch as our lives take place in separate places and with the reality of work and life, i know we will always make an effort to keep up with the important things. like her brand new husband james! anyway, i loved the wedding! and laura look so beautiful and happy! congratulations friend! i love you.
sunday is funday. always my favorite. chruch with my sister at flatirons. and then we celebrated easter early at my parents. the boys looked sooooooo cute in their matching outfits. and my mom got all of us girls some fancy high heals in our easter baskets.
perfect.

slumber party.

on wednesday my nephew dante was cordially invited to have a night of fun at the orchard. my sister dropped him off around three...which was also around the time we had the most bizarre weather. first rain. then rain and snow and lightning and thunder. then hail. then snow and hail. then windy snow and thunder and lightning for quite a while. it was the craziest weather ive ever seen!!! i guess you had to be there. or maybe you were.
the night began with setting up for dinner. dante was an excellent helper. we had the neighbors over for dinner. a family of four. plus our house of seven. plus little d. good conversation and good food. dante said he was so excited to go to bed and when i asked why, he said "because this just seems like such a comfortable house!"
we colored. played with playdough. read books about pirates and pranks. watched madagascar 2. played fetch with the dog played uno and had multiple snowball fights in the snow. every six year old's dream. we slept on bunk beds that night and bright and early (7am) dante woke up saying "wake up kate! kate im up! lets hit it!"....ok dante yeah...lets hit it... what do you do with a six year old at 7am? ha.
the next day was full of fun things too and dante is planning his second sleep over (he says during the summer on a tuesday?)