Archive for February 2010

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Beyond Nat Geo: Tales of the Tarahumara

In the recesses of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Northwestern Mexico lies the Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon), a natural wonder considered to be yet more spectacular and raw than the Grand Canyon. It is in the gorges, twists and bends of the Barranca del Cobre that the Tarahumara keep their ancient customs and rituals [...]

Mind Scraps: The Magical Mystery

Yesterday, Bob treated me to both lunch and dinner… and salsa lessons in between. First, homemade spinach ravioli at Andre’s Confiserie Suisse complete with cinnamon tea, cream filled cake covered in marzipan and fine coffee. Wow. Then salsa lessons… we got vid of a cool dance sequence for women… so I’ll be able to practice! [...]

Don’t Go Back to Sleep…

From the Persian poet Rumi: The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you Don’t go back to sleep You must ask for what you really want Don’t go back to sleep People are going back and forth across the doorsill Where the two worlds touch The door is round and open Don’t go back [...]

Mind Scraps: Finally Film

Exciting news! The man featured in the documentary “Being the Diablo” has invited me to collaborate on another documentary film – this time, one that features the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon. I’ve been itching to get more involved in documentary and film making for too long now. Finally… I am! **** Helped film two most interesting [...]

What Makes a Rarámuri a Rarámuri?

They observe the ceremonies. They protect the forest. They run. “At the heart of who they are is running,” Will Harlan. “Where we see giving as something extra or something that you should get praise for, to the Rarámuri, giving is just so ingrained in who they are that it’s not something that you have [...]

Celebrities Tweet, Begay Creates

From Lost at E Minor: Got a spare five minutes to kill? Check out the Museum of Modern Celebrity Tweets. Every Tuesday, talented artist Odessa Begay creates a visual representation of a celebrity’s 140-character message, unless, in his words, ‘my hands fall off and my computer explodes’. Simple, really.

The Tarahumara: Truth Speakers and Champions of Women’s Rights?

In preparation for my trip to the Copper Canyon in Mexico early this March, digging up more info about the intriguing Tarahumara: Perhaps the purest and most unmixed of any Indian tribe in Mexico, so little is known about them that their true name “Raramuri” was corrupted to “Tarahumara” by white men and never corrected. [...]

Fair Trade Honey in Guatemala

Coffee is the fair trade commodity of choice in Guatemala, but the Tennesean reports that some university students are aiming to broaden the spectrum of fair trade goods produced in Guatemala. An excerpt from Entrepreneurship Can Help Rebuild Communities by Jeff Cornwall: The town of Chajul, located in the mountainous region of Quiche in northern [...]

Mind Scraps: Rollercoaster

Oh life keeps jerking me up, down and side-to-side. Don’t really have much energy to elaborate too much. So just some quick notes: Connecting with new people passionate about the Tarahumara every hour it seems. Kindred spirits. Connections, goals and timing so crazy spot on that it’s more than “coincidence.” Excitement! **** Timing not right [...]

Waiting

In this technology-driven world of globalization, waiting can often be considered as a negative, as synonymous with unproductive and lazy. But in less developed parts of the world, waiting is simply a fact of life. Waiting for the bus, waiting in line… just waiting. And, when surrounded by the rustic beauty characteristic of developing nations, [...]