Islands

This week has been never ending fun and I finally got to go on the ultimate excursions and see this little island open up with rolling hills of green and speckled with little colored houses, draped in a curtain of clouds. Early this week I was scrambling around the city to finish my last works on the list of things to do. I managed to get the key to the roof of the building i live in, to draw my birds eye viem map, and took the elevator to the surface of the world it seemed. 18 floors and looking down on a city of madness. you never realize how complicated, jet a complete organized chaos a city is from above. no wonder los parajos no vuelvan locos como nosotros. (the birds dont go crazy like we do) i spent at least 2 hours up there looking down on everything shooting videos, photos and attempting to draw the compicated scenery below me melting into the sea. then wednesday was when i went on an excursion all around the north part of the island driving around the curvy little roads all through the mountains and the green pine trees. I also got to see some of the caves that the guanches lived in before the spanish came. i can only imagine their body type, digging homes out of volcanic rock. woah!
i felt the essence of washington that day, its amazing how much the geography changes within such a small space. one moment you have warm beaches, the next mountains of green and deep revines, rain and chilled foggy air, the next moment arid dessert and no trees to be found. it was good to get out of the city for a while to breathe again and to see the parts of the island i thought i would never get a chance to see because you cant get to them on the bus. then began the weekend. on thursday we went out of course to the same crazy disco we always go to. on friday we went to un alcedero (a bbq) with some friends way deep in the rolling hills, in this little casa, so cute and small and freezing cold, where we cooked up some meat and spent the night laughing so
hard my face hurt. they kept telling jokes and because its hard for me to follow them in spanish they would then act them out and try to translate them in english. and because they were all drunk it was hilarious seeing them attempt to explain the typical dirty jokes of the canaries. this was funnier watching them do that then the actual joke. they kept calling me Felisa. which i thought was great.(feliz means happy) bult im beginning to get rather exhauste of telling people that im not from washington DC. ive never even been there. then when it got to cold and we ate all the meat, we went inside the little house and played guitar and drums all night long singing songs. and like i was advised, when i was told to sing, i did. even though i felt timid, i had to ya know. i sang imagine by john lennon, and when everyone joined in for the chorus i could have cried. to unite souls at this time in our troubled world is all we have left to keep us going strong.
i finally went to bed around 5am, and they sang me a lullaby as i drifted off to sleep. then 2 hours later they jumped on me singing and jelling and ripping of my warmth, to wake me up for the long curvy dizzy ride home. i was the only one who slept that night. then when we finally got home, i was all sick from the ride and i slept 2 hours more and then woke up to go hiking in the clouds. by 10:00 am we were in the car again for a long ride up into the mountains to Roque Nublo. Which i believe is called that because its a big rock in the clouds.
We went climbing all day long, even though i was still a sick snotball and my ankle was killing me i enjoyed every moment. i never quiet let my cold catch up to me because its non stop here these past few days trying to live up every moment. but the hike was amazing. when the fog broke, it would reveal these incredibal vistas of deep canions and big rocks, but i mean huge. it seemed they were like ghosts because i would turn around the corner and one moment i would look up and see nothing but white and then i would turn around again and see a huge rock reaching for the sky. most of them had strange figures like a person sitting above watching over us. when we reached the top we found a little cave to crawl into to each bocadillos. (sandwhiches) then that evening when we got home we finally slept for a few hours. then when we woke up around 1:30 am raquel said. vamos al paranimfo. and off we went again for more fiestas. es una locura totalmente. (completely crazy) today we slept most the day, ate well and went shopping with a friend who came to visit from lanzarote. this week will be a full house because another friend will be coming tomorro. raquels room will have no floor space, just one big sleepover. tomorro im going to Tenerife, another island and possibley La Gomera ona boat. gotta fit in everything i can in my last 4 days. island hopping and still bloggin strong!!!

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 05:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I spent the last week on the beach for vacation here in lanzarote... oh life is tough!!! i almost couldnt take all that relaxation and good food from Raquels mommy.... mmmm she makes the best food. anyway i endulged myself so much that i actually got sick. i dont know how, but i did. so when i got back to the noisy in your face city of las palmas i got hit hard with la gripa... blah. i spent the next few days lazing around the apartment reading and drawing because i could hardly breath with all my snot and flaming soar throat. and of course i got all home sick, wishing that their was someone to take care of me because raquel was all sick too, and i started just wishing i was home where their wernt cars honking my brain off the hook... but then i realized how
precious my time here is. i can`t spend my last 10 days wishing i was somewhere else when more than anything i want to stay here and see how my life could unfold in this environment. i sat alone for a few hours reading and decided that i needed to live in the very moment and state that i was in and except that that was exactly how it had to be. no matter how miserable i felt. and without realizing how you are in your present now, you will never be able to move forward in life. i sat for a long time just listening to my breath and focusing on me, doing nothing but being alive. and although i was plastered to my sheets yesterday, today i feel like a new person and i went out last night and had the time of my life dancing and meeting new people. it really changes your perspective when you take time out of place to realize where you are.
Im learning how to throw koi and i eventually hope to be able to fire dance. i made my own the other day and went down to the beach at sunset and just practiced untill i felt the rhythm of the ocean sweep me into the trance of the movement. i could feel my body awakening and healing to my present state. i think this will be good for my conciousness.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This weekend was sheer madness, but great fun. i went on this trip on this double decker bus with like 50 kids from the university to the mountains where it was all green and pretty. but when we got there it started raining, i mean pouring like it never does here. and no body wanted to barbyQ in the rain, so we spent like 4 hours on the bus driving around all crazy-like chasing the rain around the island, searching for a dry place. imagine doing that in washington, huh? he he. we?d be driving for months. finally we found this place and we all lugged in boxes of food and and cases of beer to these tables and celebrated life. it was so much fun and i think i got some great photos. but then of course it started to rain again, but this time like the ocean was falling from the sky and it was a locura (craziness) trying to clean everythig up and getting everyone on the bus. when we all made it, we were drenched from head to toe and we just started dancing and falling all over eachother while the bus drove back to the city, pouring beer and coke all over eachother. it was a mess but so much fun... the kids here are so crazy and i?m going to miss them so much. i?ve never seen so much life in a group of friends. i thought it would be fun to take a trip some time like that at evergreen, but minus the alcohal right, not quite legal there for everyone. this was the longest weekend ever because monday and tuesday night we celebrated raquel and my friend jennys birthdays. the fun never ends. i keep telling myself that i need to slow down, while the people here keep telling me, tienes que aprovechar todo y vivir en el momento ( i have to take advantage of my time here and live in the moment) they are right, befor i know it i will be back home and missing the islands. i like how they think here, they are very spiratic and free. I have been working on my project with them and getting to know them rather well. During the day I come to the university to talk, learn new words in spanish, observe how they interact and learn new card games. I?ve also been to a few classes here, and it is interesting to see how they differ, especially the english class.
I designed a quiz and am handing it out to as many people as I can with a series of questions. For example, what they fear, whether they remember their dreams or not, what they think of when they hear the word chaos, or serenity, if they have trouble making eye contact... ect. ect. The answers have been really interesting and it has really helped me understand a lot more about young people here. Everyone seems really interested in what I am studying because its nothing like the classes here, and the more I explain how Evergreen works, the wierder it gets. But I love it and miss it and love how we learn.
Tomorro im?going back to lanzarote. i cant wait. i miss my friends there that i made at carnivales. more good energy, good food and fun.

missing everyone of course!

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 04:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Elevators with Mirrors

I lay my clothes out to dry
as if it were my sculpture
there is an art to
the arrangment of damp underpants
and elongated sleeves
just so
I dont run out of clothes pins
Peering over the edge
I admire a latter of fluttering
sheets and towels draping every balcony
Its little things that tickle my nerves
your prickly face
when you give two kisses to say hello
the mistake of walking on the tile floor in the morning
without shoes
sweeping up yesterdays sunflowerseeds
and the afternoon black sand
on the souls of my bronzed feet

Its the way that the same sandwich
tastes like new
everyday
the hesitance to speak with a tangled tongue
Its when you look int my eyes
with a question mark between us
I?m sorry I don?t understand

Its the overexagerated honking
morning, noon and night
the construction
that wakes my brain
pounding nails into my pillow

you snore like you can?t breathe
I dive deep into myself
to find my loungs
and depend on my heartbeat
to rock me to sleep
exhaling slowly
second hand smoke

Its looking away
when you catch me staring on the bus
in line at the bank
but most of all
in the elevator with mirrors

the moment in between moments

amplified and echoing
as if it were a never ending hallway of akward encounters
wide eyed and green
Buenos dias...
trapped in a corridor
with a weight restriction of five
plus your groceries and jugs of water
and a distinct smell every time

There is no where to look
when your nerve reflects at all angles
the stare stops time inbetween floors

El quinto piso por favor...
(the fith floor please...)

Sometimes I take the stairs.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 03:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yesterday I managed to find one of those most tranquil places of my trip so far. The Botanical Canarian Gardens. Walking through the gates was like entering another world. I began walking down the steep stone steps, peering over a cliff side of lush green. The energy there was intense and alive. Within a few minuets, I noticed that often as I passed by bushes and rocks I could hear something running away in the brush. Every time I went to look I was too late. Hmmmm... I continued on, admiring the plants I have never seen before and taking in the delicious aroma of flowers all around me. I felt like I was learning how to breathe again. I continued on to find a fountain, a wooden bridge, a watefall and a pond with loads of critters. Finally I cought sight of the misterious rustling in the bushes, finding a large lizard endemic to the island. He looked me straigth in the eye. The pound also contained numerous friends, I came across a pile of turtles, yes like in Murtle the Turtle, some frogys, some big fish, and red dragon flies. It was magical whatching how they interacted together. My favorite and most fascinating part was the cactus garden. Cactie being my favorite plant, continue to amaze me every time I see one. But these were past my imagination, tall enough to touch the sky. Now I can succesfully say that I got a spine stuck in my butt, but not cuz I sat on one, but because I had to lay down on the ground to photography one because it was so tall. I felt clear and sane amongst there energy. The cactus has an intense knowledge of its surroundings considering it absorbs little water and dispurses a lot of energy. I felt honored to be amongst such an amazing species.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 02:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

i wouldnt have thought to lengthen my pace
the way starfish do
untill i realized
how considerably fast they move

the irony of a city built up on a shoreline
seems silly to me
only underlining
our constant state of liminality

and while i lose my way
amongst the footprints of others
i find comfort that i am not alone

aside from the emptiness of a moonless sky
i awake to the spherical contrast within
myself

when i forgot that their is always a single star
that has the potential to light the way
for a development of 550,000 condensed souls

no matter how close we are in proxemics
and how distantly aware we are of active kinesics
it will never be too crowded to find a coinciding energy

if you study the tracks of the water sifting through the sand
the resemblance stands obvious
of the viens of a breathing being
this reasures me that the earth is exhaling its knowledge
to quench my everlasting thirst
and still finds way to my level

and how does my silence fit into the mindless chatter
without considering what language is spoken
i still notice the same things

the less i speak
the louder they become

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Continue reading "pussy cats" »

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Look at me riding a camel in Lanzarote!!! I did it.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The fiestas were deffinatly one of the craziest things Ive ever seen. It seemed they were never ending. Ive never really seen anything quite like them. The only thing I could think to compare it with would be mardi gras, but different. Never have I seen sooo many drag queens. These boys do their make up better than I ever could!!!

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:48 AM | Permalink

hi, this is just for kate and crissey. i was just wondering if you were ok cuz you didn?t call the other day. for some reason my email only works sometimes, so i hope you read this. if you want, i made another email. it is cupidovictim@hotmail.com i was hoping i could meet up with you again before i left lanzarote, but you never called and i had no way of finding you. i tried to call different hostels, but nada. please call rakes phone. i need to know what the plan is, and i desparetly need my battery pack so i can start filming. i was hoping you could meet up with rakes mom and give it to her so she can send it, if your not coming to gran canaria soon. i hope you are ok.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 01:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have arrived safely but maybe not sanely to Lanzarote after more horrendous plane activity. After waking up at 7am and then taking taxi and bus to the airport then waiting forever for a delayed then cancelled plane because it was broken, ay, we finally got to board. After sitting and waiting some more, and going through the security shpeel again, I sat with nerve peering at the perpeller thingy on the wing struggling and spinning with all but smooth motion. Then we waited more and they said that there was a "technical difficulty" and that in 4 minutos we would be leaving. A big guy that looked like a monkey came to save the day apparently and soon we began to move. After one minuet the wing went psszzzttt pttt pttp and kaput. The intercom barked that we had to board another plane, broken. Everyone was in a fuss, and said, thank god that it didn?t happen in the air, me, scared for my life and we got onto another bus, and drove around in circles, because even the driver didn?t know where the other plane was. Finally we get off, the wind is blowing like all hell and we get onto the other plane. But after waiting some more, a brief apology and a dinky chocolate snack I arrived in Lanzarote. No worries I am alive and functioning.
From the plane everything looked very brown town. I noticed that the plants looked like they hadn?t been watered in years. I asked if it ever rained here and she replied, casi nunca, almost never. Today it poured. La papa de Raquel said that whenever an American comes, they bring the rain. How ironic.
And i thought I would miss it. Que lastima!

ps. i was trying to figure out how to put pictures from my camera or from rakes computer. Does anyone know how to post them on the blogs

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So far this trip has been clasic. Traffic on the way to the airport, packed too much, no room for forgotten battery pack for my brand new video camera. Very thankful for my savior geo group member kate, who will hopefully remember to bring it for me. I gulped through tears of departure, who would?ve thought that running off to an island would be so sad. It is change we fear, isn?t it?
I?ve found myself sitting next a grumpy guy who doesn?t speak english, although I find it interesting how he can stare off into no where for hours on hours. And of course the screaming baby in front of me, the kid kicking my seat behind me and the dry brittle air of the plane increasing my sickening addiction to crack stick (chapstick) and lotion. I just cant seem to stay moisturized at an altitude of 33000ft. I think my music is too lound for the guy next to me and he may be bothered by the light, but I remain guessing. Its funny how people remain almost emotionless in the airport and on the plane, When traveling is such an exciting time. When I was waiting to board I was doing some good stretches before getting onto a 9 1/2 hour flight. It seemed I was the most animated person in the gate. I felt people watching me as if movement wasn?t an option. But with my music and my breath, I as well as everyone esle stayed within my own world. That was the most action of the traveling until the guy next to me got a dinner tray of some mixture of rice and mystery meat catapulted onto his turtle neck. Meanwhile the stuardess?s are scrambling around trying to clean the isle, cursing in Danish while the man got served up seconds onto his lap. He laughed and said, ?" I didn?t know I would be attending a wedding" as he brushed stale rice onto the floor next to my feet.

one more thing, at this moment my email is not working, I?m not sure why. but if my geo group reads this, here are raquels numbers
Lanzarote 928815364
cell 636755425

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

its raining outide and I cant feel it. my skin is dry with the energy of computer charicters...

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 11:00 AM | Permalink