Mujerista.org

A new year, a new focus, a revisioning of my self and my place in this world. Christian, my friend and ex-roommate, called the day before my birthday last Friday to wish me felicidades and introduced me to the concept of the return of Saturn.  Apparently, between the ages of 28 - 30, Saturn returns to the same place it inhabited in a person’s birth chart at the time of birth for the first time in that person’s lifetime.  It is a time of change, or rebirth, almost as if your life is resetting itself to the path it was always meant to follow. For many, change is painful so this era in one’s life does not always have the most favorable of associations. I definitely have had one helluva year, at times painful, at times full of angst, but I have emerged stronger and with a clearer sense of self and vision for my future. Things are good! I’ve got a new job which is opening up a whole set of exciting opportunities for growth and development, in addition to allowing me to expend my energies on what is perhaps the most important social issue of our time: educational justice.

Since I’ve shared my bio in the past, wanted to do so again to underscore the theme of re-visioning and renewal, and to share the work I’ve been doing with those who are interested! Stay tuned, I’ll have more news to share about the job situation soon…

http://www.partnershipla.org//about?id=0004#anchor6

Jeannette Soriano, Senior Consultant

Jeannette Soriano is a Senior Consultant directing outreach programs to parents and community members around each Family of Schools.  Prior to joining the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Jeannette served as Chief of Staff to the President and CEO of the community development corporation TELACU; and as Field Representative for Judy Chu, former Assemblymember and current member of the California Board of Equalization.  Jeannette is a graduate of Harvard University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Studies from Harvard College and, as a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow, concentrated in Political Advocacy and Leadership for a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Felice ano nuovo!

So much to say, so little time! I spent the last day of the year on a bus traveling through Tuscany, visting Florence and ringing in the New Year dressed to the nines with over a hundred other Latinos in an Italian restaurant near the Vatican, where the wine was flowing and the accordian was bumpin’! I’m down to the last 20 shots in my camera, gonna have to do some cleaning out of extraneous shots because I’ve got two full days worth of sight seeing to go before heading back across the Atlantic! I might even have to purchase an extra memory card…

There’s only so much I can write while I’m actually traveling, since I want to spend most of my time seeing the sights. But I did want to thank my friend Felipe for insisting that I visit Trastevere while in Rome. I spent our free day on my own, decising to sleep in rather than join my family at the Pope’s New Year mass at the Vatican. I woke up refreshed after nine hours of blissful sleep, having gone to bed around 3 a.m. Luckily, all the wine and champagne from the night before didn’t affect me in the slightest (aside from making the evening a happy one for all - even my mom and dad were in a festive mood!) Only my Tia Delfina, the eldest of our group at 79 years of age, was having a hard time - all the walking in Florence and being awake since 3 a.m. took its toll on her and she couldn’t wait to get to bed!

Walked to the Metro instead of taking the bus (its only two stops away from the hotel) and took that four stops in to the Ottaviano stop. Walked to the Vatican City and took a ton of photos and bought miniatures of the Vatican and the Colliseum to add to my “mini city” back home. With a small map from a local hotel guide and the Metro map to guide me, I found my way to Trastevere in the late afternoon and was absolutely beside myself at the quaint beauty of the neighborhood. Its very pedestrian-friendly, and the public transportation consists of tiny little buses, which I dubbed “baby bus” (photos to follow). I had dinner in a lively pub and ordered some Nutella gelato, and was on my way back when I came across this Internet cafe.

My hour is up, so I must say arrivederci!

The bus is leaving in a few minutes, but who knows when I’ll get free Internet again, so here’s a quick note. We spent the entire day in Venice yesterday, and it was so lovely to see in person what I had only witnessed through the photos of others. I think I even recognized the canal that my uncle had taken a photo of many years ago and based a painting on. I took a ton of photos, especially of our gondola ride. The tour company arranged to have us serenaded, and the old man who sang the songs was singly the first couple directly to me (only natural since I was in the gondola right next to him and the youngest woman in sight!) Highlight of the day - seeing a Venetian policeman in full regalia, cape, cap and all, and finally knowing firsthand what the word “strapping” is supposed to mean, because he was certainly a strapping young man. I caught of photo of him as he turned around but did not see him or any other caped polizia for the rest of the day, so I only have that one shot to remember him by. ***sigh***

I’ve been awake for 24 hours straight and it’s been such an incredible day, I can’t believe we saw so much, but I am certainly feeling the effects. From Paris to Milan to Verona and finally ending up in Padova, I could hardly catch my breath and boy is my bum sore for all the traveling by plane and by bus! I need to sleep, but I did want to get in a note before bed. I had so many genuine “Wow!” moments that I had to share some.

Il Duomo di Milano - a masterpiece in Gothic architecture, can’t wait to post pix! In fact the whole shopping plaza surrounding the Duomo is absolutely stunning and magnificent. I would definitely have stayed longer, if only to gaze at all the details, but I’m kinda glad we only had a couple of hours, I would have definitely been tempted to buy, buy, buy! However, aside from a street market leading up to the Duomo plaza, most of the shops in the Galleria were those I could find in the States anyways, and probably much cheaper. So I’m not missing much.

One and a half hours later, I struggled to wake up as our bus pulled into Verona. I almost didn’t leave the bus, it was sooooo cold! It definitely rivaled those cold Boston nights, and my body isn’t accustomed to the cold as it once was, but it bounced back pretty quickly. Again, the ancient buildings, walls and walkways were amazing, but we waled quickly on a mission to see Juliet’s house, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s masterpiece. After passing all sorts of shops with lovely, lovely clothes (purple’s the color of the season, much to my delight!), we came upon the little alleyway that leads to the courtyard with the famous balcony and a statue of Juliet. The alleyway is covered in lover’s graffitti, names and initials encircled in hearts, in all sorts of inks and colors. People even stick gum on the wall to create more writing space to add their mark. [Things to add: restoration will get rid of graffitt, the awful men on our tour, highlight of the day - choc calda]

Bonjour!

I’ve got ten minutes left on my internet access card, so I’ll make this brief. We visited the Eiffel Tower and although it was cloudy, we still had some wonderful views from the second level. I decided not to go all the way to the top because the line was too long and I’m not one for lines. Took lots of great pix of my family. The boat cruise tour was amazing, this city is so exquisitely beautiful! It’s only day 2 of 10 and I’ve already taken over 200 photos! The tour bus dropped us off at the Louvre, at which point we proceeded to shop for souvenirs, LOL. After finding a place to drop some Euros, we made it to the Louvre - to eat. They have a food court called Le Monde Sur Un Plateau, which I think means The Word on a Plate, because it was an international themed food court. We chose crepes and I proceeded to wait almost an hour in line to order in French again (”Si vous plait, trois crepes Complete et un crepe Montagnarde; trois Coca Cola et un chocolate chaude”). By the time we finished our meal, it was already dark outside (it was just past 5 p.m. and it hadn’t become light outside until after 8 a.m. - they sure have short days here!)

Highlight of the day - I guided my family back home on the Metro almost effortlessly, thanks to years of living and learning on my own, in Boston and my travels. We boarded at the Palais Royal Musee du Louvre station on the 1, changed trains at Champs Elycees-Clemenceau to take the 13 towards Asnieres-Genevilliers to the Porte de Clichy stop, and walked about 5 blocks to the hotel, immediately recognizing the way from having seen it on the bus. I managed to impress my dad with the life skills I’ve acquired along the way. Will this mean he’ll finally start consulting me for directions or stop questioning my advice? Doubtful!

My mom was sad that we didn’t have time to shop at some stores we saw along the way, there was a coat with a high neck and large buttons she fell in love with. I really like that style, as well as a cape coat and jaunty cap I saw another woman wearing. Perhaps in Italy we’ll see the same coats, maybe it’ll be less expensive there! (I swore I wouldn’t calculate the cost in dollars of what we’re buying, but it’s too hard because the conversion is fairly simple - 1.5 dollars for every euro. Now I’ve decided to just not care what I’m spending. Good thing I don’t have a taste for haute couture!)

In all the excitement of the day, I didn’t have the chance to contact my penpal Edouard at all, although he did write back and even left a message at my hotel. By the time we arrived back to the hotel, it was much too late to make plans to meet him and his wife for dinner, and try as I might, I couldn’t figure out how to call him with my international calling card. I was able to call another friend in the States, however; so it must’ve been a fluke. Sorry, Edouard, I’ll just have to visit again soon so we can finally meet!

It’s now 5 a.m. and folks are starting to get in line for breakfast (we’re leaving for Milan in a couple of hours). I should go up and help my mom get everyone’s luggage in order. We’re traveling with 3 septagenarians (my grandmother and great aunts) and my mom tends to get flustered easily. We call them “Las Ninas”, so that should give you a hint as to how much help they need!

Au revoir!

Boo… I wrote such a lovely long post and lost it somehow. I’ll rewrite it after getting some breakfast!

POST-BREAKFAST UPDATE

So after numerous delays in Philly, we were finally off and running on our trans-Atlantic trip to Europe. Sitting on a tarmac for two hours isn’t fun but the excitement for what awaited us made the time fly by. We finally arrived in Paris around 11:00 a.m. and joined the group of about 70 other Latinos from Los Angeles who were traveling with celebrities from a local Spansh radio station that my mom listens to, KLOVE Radio Amor. After waiting for the wheelchair service for my grandmother and aunts (airport wheelchairs in France are much more compact and streamlined, like everything else over here!), I walked behind the attendants and marveled at the magnificent 60s retro space-age ugliness of Charles de Gaulle airport. Escalators in tubes crisscrossing each other through a central space, the centerpiece being an advertisement several stories tall. Wasn’t in picture-taking mode right then, but maybe I’ll capture an image on our way out.

We boarded our buses (or auto-cars, as they’re called here) and ended up at the Holiday Inn in Porte de Clichy, around the corner from the L’Oreal laboratories (perhaps corporate headquarters?) I took out my Eva Longoria lipstick and made a quick application to my lips to commemorate the moment. We had just enough time for a quick change of clothing (we’d been in route for almost 24 hours!) before hopping back on the auto-car for a panoramic tour of the city. I was not prepared for the absolute beauty of this city, the immense palaces, numerous monuments and signature architecture left me breathless - I couldn’t wait to walk throough it all. One thing is for certain - I must return sans tour guides and family for a much longer stay to truly appreciate what the City of Lights has to offer! The highlight of the tour was when we stopped towards the end for a quick stop and I ordered seis sandwichs a jambon et fromage from a crepes lady all by myself in French! It was a successful transaction and we devoured the meal as soon as we returned to the hotel. Those sandwichs were perhaps the most delicious I’ve had, having not eaten for most of the day!

The only thing that put a damper on my arrival in Europe was the news that Benazir Bhutto, two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan (the first woman Prime Minister of her country and, indeed, of the Muslim world) and a Harvard grad, was injured and subsequently killed by a shooter/suicide bomber. I had heard of her many times over my university career, especially while at the Kennedy School, since she was such a trailblazing role model and leader for both democratic reform and women’s political empowerment. It is a sad day for democracy and I can only hope that this tragic event only serves to impel the Pakistani people to rise up against extremists in their midst.

After an eventful first day, I was so exhausted, as usual not sleeping the night before my flight and only fitfully on the plane, that I fell asleep before my 75 year old aunt even went to bed! Now I’m wide awake at 4:30 a.m. and, like a good little blogger, immediately bought access to the internet! The plan for today will be a trip to the Tour Eiffel and cruise down the River Seine, followed by free time at the Louvre. I’m also looking to connect with my long-time web penpal, Edouard. I haven’t really made firm plans so not sure if he’s available, but it would be a great story if it actually happens!

I must sign off for now, but will be posting updates on our trip along the way. Maybe I can even get the map function working on my blog again while I’m here; if not, definitely upon my return.

Au revoir!

After suffering the seemingly insurmountable blow of having lost my original Mujerista site thanks to something incredibly bizarre that must have happened on the server-side (which the undoubtedly Indian tech support staff from my hosting company, NineDotSystems/Siteocity, somewhat mechanically denies as being the case), Mujerista v 2.0 is now streaming to you live for your reading pleasure (all two readers of you)! Although only tidbits of the site can be found at various places on the web, such as the Internet Archive and Technorati, I’ve discovered that I can use RSS feeds to import my Multiply posts (sans photos) and create one uber-blog (my Multiply site includes posts I had created once upon a time on BlogSpot/Blogger). Looks like there’s further tweaking to be done, such as adding links and photos that were on the original posts. I’m not sure if I’m going to invest the time or just refer people to the original posts, but I’ve uploaded the first twenty for now, and will save the rest for later, seeing as it’s 4:30 a.m. here on the homefront, and I still have to learn how to back-up my site so that this never happens to me again! I’m too bleary-eyed and lazy to find the “Gone With the Wind” quote, but just picture me dressed in my finest (ala Carol Burnett) and saying something to that effect in an affected Southern accent.

Originally posted on Multiply

Today is supposed to be a lucky day, perhaps the luckiest we will ever see in our lifetimes, given that it’s 07/07/07 and seven is considered an auspicious number in cultures all over the world. Al Gore is promoting the global Live Earth concert, and the New7Wonders of the world were announced in Portugal, as well. Happy 7s and may luck smile its blessings onto you and yours!

Originally posted on Multiply

So I’m on Day 3 of living a healthier lifestyle, and here’s my progress thus far… In addition to eating more greens and less carbs/starches/sugars, I’ve gone bicycling with with my parents for the last two days, enjoying beautiful sunsets and breathing in fragrant mouthfuls of air from whizzing past the native California plants at the Rio Hondo Spreading Grounds across the street from my parents’ house (my favorite being the sage). It’s a three-mile path that takes me about 30 to 40 minutes to complete (we enter at the Paramount Blvd/Mines Ave gate), and it really is an incredible experience. The rest areas are kept clean, the plants are taken care of, and it’s actually being used by the community! Kudos to Supervisor Gloria Molina (who, incidentally, also grew up in Pico Rivera - just like yours truly!) and all the local agencies and jurisdictions who are making more public green space a reality for our communities and keeping our groundwater basins repleni…

Originally posted on Multiply

Whoa…just got off the phone with the doctor - my triglycerides (cholesterol) are through the roof! Close enough to consider medication as an option, yikes! High cholesterol/ triglycerides can lead to a whole host of problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. If that’s not a kick in the arse, I don’t know what is…I gots to get in shape! I’ve downloaded a heart-healthy, weight-loss daily menu plan to get started, and I’m gonna go ride my bike for 30 minutes and have a salad for dinner. I’ve been a bum too long, might as well take advantage of this lull in employment to work on me!For breakfast, I will have oatmeal and orange juice and some grilled chicken for lunch. Then it’s off to the grocery store to stock up on healthy options. Maybe Felipe will want to go for a walk with me around the lake at Whittier Narrows. That’s one thing that has stopped me from going out by myself, safety concerns. There’s a great bicycle path near my mom’s house and parks to walk in, bu…