My girl

Everybody who's talked to me in the last year and a half knows that I'm head over heels for my girl Aysel. We've been spending a lot of quality time together around the house. Since she knows how to handle my iPad better than most adults, I let her go wild with the apps and camera. (Too bad I haven't had enough time or strong enough internet to update my apps so they tend to spontaneously shut down.) Sometimes I snap some adorable pics, too.

We like to draw together. 

On paper as big as her.

Who needs snow when you've got corn husks!?

Workin hard or hardly workin, Aysel?

Yesterday I went to the Ciudad Mujer inauguration and it was... typical. Very hot, lots of prom dresses, some woman shoved me into the curb and I got sick from the comedor food. Although the organization is technically separate from a political party the guest speakers definitely trumped up the party who largely supports them, which left me feeling awkward per usual. I genuinely do appreciate what the organization stands for and how they provide cancer screenings and reproductive health information to rural women, but of course there's got to be some political component and that may complicate things for an apolitical volunteer like me. For example, even though my three host sisters gladly participated in the sewing workshop in October they refused to come to the inauguration because they don't support the political party that supports Ciudad Mujer. I came home to a hail storm of who went from the community and who they told people to vote for and did I give a speech? (They clearly misunderstood the amount of people at the inauguration. For once I was just a nobody getting pushed around and having my seat stolen just like the rest of 'em.)

It's all very complicated and I'll be happy when the mid-term elections are finally over in March.

And for some reason the women of my casario were directed to sit in the ONE ROW that was in the gap between canopy tents where the sun was beating down. I sat for a whole 10 minutes then was overcome with a "Oh hell no" attitude and moved to a row more in the shade. I tried to convince the women I was with to move with me to the dark side, but it's typical here to only accept what is given to you so they stayed put and tried shielding themselves from the sun for the next 3 hours.

Too many people. This isn't even half. 

It was absolutely ridiculous trying to find our bus afterwards, just like the other 8,000 women who attended. That's when I was shoved out of some woman's way into oncoming traffic and hit the curb. I shouted a variety of expletives in English, my native tongue that's adapt to swearing, and I think that's about when my women's group gave up hope of leaving and congregated on the road partition. When we did finally meet up with our bus an hour later we were exhausted, sun burnt, and defeated.

I took some much needed alone time when I got home to think. When I look at Aysel I sometimes feel like I want to adopt her and take her to the US where I could give her a good education and recreation and libraries and all the amazing opportunities I had as a kid. But that's crazy. She has a loving family who would never let her go and I don't truly want a 3 year old kid. However, I think Aysel is only ever going to have those things if a million little changes happen across the country at the personal, community, and institutional levels. I have no idea if that'll happen in her lifetime.

I think the goals that Ciudad Mujer have are important and start conversations with women who don't tend to think critically about their lives' obstacles and opportunities. They have their work cut out for them. I hope that someday this country will be a safer and brighter place for all little girls, but especially my girl Aysel.