Whew.   I have hear that sign and sign of exhaustion in the halls and doorways of many of the teachers lately, including from me.  Most if it being utter exhaustion from the work that narrows down to being the end of the school year 2013, yet, there is more, the emotions that go with these experiences.

A ceremony I heard about, but knew nothing about, the ASF Capping ceremony,

perhaps will be one of the most memorable of all events.  I loved every aspect, from the sit down luncheon, to the ceremony where teachers were asked to cap a student that ultimately asked them, as teacher to cap them.  It was a complete HONOR to be asked and I will remember this moment with Camila forever.  There of course with Mr Lemmon singing, which certainly will add that memorable touch!  KUDOS!

LOVED it, as well as the generational picture and the book she gave me from Edgar Allen Poe, now I just need her to sign it.  Mr Cheney, Mr Hamilton, and myself gave her some texts from Jonathan Lethem,  with messages written in them, and a hug that I will remember forever.

It was only a year where Repentino. started churning out the pages…amazing how far we came!  Sitting at graduation practice, as well as this whole past week has brought the experiences that have occurred in the last year full front and focus.  Seeing Alina

back from school to see her brother’s graduation also was just, well, hard to put into words.  Then add thew 30+ students interested in joining Repentino. next year, I have to say the emotions of my “well” are almost dry…  🙂  Emotional, exciting, and closing out a 2012-2013 school year where I know I am supposed to be, it has been one heck of a year to say the least.

I’d post the poems I wrote to the departing staff, and the note, but I can’t, that is between me and them as they go forward and show what they have, and a piece of my heart and soul goes with them.  Mwah!  Good luck today at graduation and I hope each of you ASF seniors can bottle this excitement for the days when you need them!  I am proud of you!

…graduating. Summer.  Exploring the hills and countryside known as Mexico.  Writing and publishing, new endeavors.  These are just a few of what the upcoming weeks will bring and are bringing.

Graduating.  It is bitter sweet to know a few more of the remaining Seaford seniors I knew and had contact with on various adventures will be making that march across the stage.  I am so very proud of them for enduring trials, hardships, and staying the course.  They are certainly most deserving of the rewards of hard work and perseverance they have put forth on this day.  It seems a world away that I was a part of their world, and I am lucky to have been able to share their experiences as they travelled a road less travelled for them, as they separated themselves from the easy way out, to a life of one worth struggling, learning, and working through.

In moving onto the seniors at ASF, I want to say this has also been more bittersweet than I expected.  Within two years, I developed a fondness I had no idea that would develop. I was amazed at how quickly I would fall into a fascination with talents and abilities they carried with them.  The seniors I became attached to this year and the beginning of last year when I arrived certainly took me by surprise, yet, it drew me into a totally different world as I knew it, and they became a part of it.  I am so excited to see them officially pronounce this on June 1st across a metaphorical stage that will become their future.  If they stay connected to the roots and foundations that allowed them to make it this far, they will carry a portion of the world on their shoulders and so quite well. When I hear this music, I certainly think of the bright things that await them.  I laugh every time I see this in the hall that will soon not exist – to make way for a new arts wing!

Death of old ways?  Death of the old styles of procrastination?  Death to falling into the trap of doing the sam old thing, making way for new doors, new opportunities?  🙂

The experience from the states to Mexico certainly has opened up all new doors to my life and will continue to do so, it is certainly with bittersweet reactions and feelings I begin to let people go that have become a part of this process.

Parque Mexico.

Waking up to mornings now have become also a new experience.  As responsibilities begin to drop from my life, and I begin to usher room for experiencing the moments that add to every day, I become more and more excited of how I will also transform with more time to reflect on these moments and what will come out of them.  Examples I am sure are needed.  Each morning I wake up to these two beauties reminding me how lucky I am to have been given a chance to take everything in.  Their names have become Wriggly and Amaya, and what a last couple of months it has been with them.  Certainly it has been challenging, but yet, these memories I have of them will never disappear…:)  Add onto that the adventures that go on in Mexico all around us, take for example last weekend.  My first foray into getting back to running in Chapultepec, and I walked away a little sore, yet realizing, it is coming back to me that ability to gain my breathing and control over my stride, pace, etc. Also last Sunday, in Parque Mexico, a group called ArboMex set up booths of food,

and if you stayed long enough, you witnessed dancing

and music representing almost every part of Mexico.  The music obviously was amazing, and the food made was also just as amazing.   This was a Sunday that, despite the emerging heat, Kinah managed to enjoy 100%.

Running.

The yesterday, amazing of amazings, Liz O’ Connor, who studies at Flasco, invited me along on a planned run at Parque Tlalpan.  We parked within the parking lot of Flasco, then walked, walked, and WHOA!  SIX FLAGS of Mexico!  🙂  And then just a stretch beyond, down stairs you can’t see unless you look behind the Six Flags fence, a hidden trail that lead to am amazing trail of runners!  A cross country trail!  It was AMAZING! Literally, tons of runners, tons of hills (groaning from my legs) and tons of trails, this was a revelation.  VERY AWESOME indeed.  🙂  Needless to say, I ran further than I have since my time here in Mexico thanks to the hills, yet, I walked away feeling overall AMAZING and felt I could be on my way back to running and running much better than I ever have.  🙂

Writing/Publishing.

Speaking of writing and publishing earlier, my dear friend Karen that has helped so many people out in the past has become involved in VERY worthwhile investment, if you find yourself able to commit a small part of your income to helping others.  I am doing so next week.  This version of Youth Voices, allowing students to find their voices over the summer, will be one of many adventures that helps students find their chance to become more aware of what they think and have to say.  Please take a moment and spare a chance t be a part of this opportunity for them, you will not regret following and supporting this venture.  Taking place in CUNY, students truly explore areas they never would be motivated or encouraged to examine normally.

TESLA

I am remembering a past post I never elaborated on and still think is remarkable. A student came into the library, one of my homeroom and advisory advisees, asking what I had/know about Tesla.  To be honest, I had no idea.  Then I realized, that Nikola Tesla was often overshadowed by Thomas Edison, I truly had no idea.  I was taken with this conversation as this was a conversation I did not expect I would ever have with my advisee, and was impressed beyond belief.  Turns out we indeed had a biography on Nikola Tesla which I loaned out and he told me I had homework to find out more about him…:)  lol  In addition, a teacher just happening to be standing by, had a book on this individual and CAME BACK to lend the book and donate the book to us. Obviously the student, was shocked someone would do that for him and it shocked me in how it all worked out.  So not only did I learn something new, we also acquired new info for this student as well as adding to the collection, just an amazing chain of events, lol.

Blogging.

You have to take a look at this…

10, 388 views of my blog, this jumped from just under 9000 last month to 10, 388 already – I am like, staggering amazed, HOLY WOW.  :0  I just hope I can keep supplying info that everyone finds interesting, but a huge thank you for making this endeavor possible.

Overall, this is just a small portion of what has been emerging, let alone new applications flooding in for Repentino., the advent of a fresh and exciting summer of adventure, and I am super psyched about going to Rio for Rock in Rio September 13th, I think this will be one of many adventures coming up in the next few weeks…:)

Hre’s to a relaxing and bright Sunday and many more to come!

Certainly things tend to get confusing when you travel, hence people have been asking about my trip home so here it is, remember, you asked.

After arriving in the pouring rain on May 10th, via Greyhound at 1:50 AM in the morning at Salisbury – (Did I mention the last bus for DART leaving Wilmington was 8:00 PM? – seriously it was!) – and being asked to go home with two women driving past me in a car by the Amtrak Station (Welcome to Wilmington!) – I contemplated going to sleep but realized I lost 5 hours thanks to nonexistent public transportation, so I rebelled against my body, I stayed up all night prepping for the 5k.

I arrived at The Vince Morris Trail at Chapel Branch around 5:00ish AM, and spent the morn clearing paths, arranging blockages to paths not to take, and well, amid dancing between the rain, we had the 5k!  Was it a success?  I would say yes despite the rain, we had 19 entrants (informational page on this be posted today (fingers crossed), yet I was shooting for 40 people.  However, when you ask if the cause or the numbers are important, well, the cause always wins.

After a great rainy race, I went home and literally physically crashed.  🙂  I spent the evening when I did wake up repacking, preparing items to leave behind for friends, and then knew, to get back home I’d have to catch the Greyhound out of Salisbury, at 10:00 to get to the Amtrak train, to get to Philly before my plane left.  I purchased the ticket online, and then to my surprise Sunday morn (I shouldn’t have been) found the Greyhound Station closed, on Sunday, so I might have purchased a ticket but had not way to prove it – awesome!

LUCKILY, the Greyhound driver let me board, I explained, he advised me NOT to purchase online, and we made it to Dover.  I called ahead of time and made sure they looked up my confirmation # and had a my ticket for pick up THERE.  Sure did, that made my DAY (after the uncertainty up to this point), and onto Wilmington.  Made it to Wilmington, caught the Amtrak to Philly, made it to the airport, with literally 20 minutes to spare, and perfect timing.  Whew!  Event free?  Could it be?

I looked at my transfer ticket, and saw they gave me 20 minutes to connect to my flight out of Houston, which well, frankly made me nervous.  I called United and asked them about this and they said United usually leaves 17 minutes to transfer and that I’d make it, and I thought, if you say so!  Getting ready o get off the flight in Houston, I double checked to make sure I had to pick up my bags, recheck them and board, all in 20 minutes, I was slightly nervous.  Affirmative.

I RAN, LITERALLY, ran to the baggage, no bag, nog bag, NO BAG!  Now I saw that I was behind the time for my flight and was sure my plane had left.  I went to baggage claim, and they told me the luggage was automatically put onto the plane to Mexico, so literally, my luggage was on it s way to Mexico, I was however not.

Ever get to the point where you just felt so burned that well, you had nothing left?  This was me at this point, I was livid, exhausted, and worn out.  I was told I could maybe get a voucher at the United desk for a hotel, and found that everyone had left already from United.  Sleeping in the terminal, I was weighing the pros and cons.  Finally, I realized I was just too darn tired.

I went to the onsite Marriott, inquired knowing the cheapest room was 250.00, and no kidding, NO KIDDING, Isaac, the desk clerk and a young woman gave me a blue light rate, of 120.00.  I almost got down and kissed their feet, but gave them 3 boxes of Girl Scout cookies instead.  I have to say I think this was one of the best nights sleep I had hands down. I made it to my rescheduled plane the next morn, into Mexico, and had an amazing end of the day with the SRU students at the Basilica.

Amid the late night coming and going, I realized the following:

Public transportation in DE, awful for people who do not have a car and have to get somewhere in all hours, AWFUL.

I love being home and in bed.

It will take 2-3 weeks to recover and rest from this experience.

Even in your most stressed hour, when you think you don;t see it there are people around that will help you get out of a jam.  They appear out of nowhere, keep the faith.

Congrats to Slippery Rock’s grads today!  YEAH!  🙂  They came to Mexico about a month ago, led by Tom Gordon and Jodi Kastafanas (say that five times fast! 🙂 and they, as always brought a fresh breath and new perspective to ASF.  It was AWESOME seeing them and having them here, and as always, it was always not enough time to get to hang with them as I wanted…:)

I was able to spend the time at the Basilica with many of them, and attend their gala which was awesome as well.  Without even being near the campus. I could sense the spirit of Slippery Rock – 🙂  I have to say this from experience, the best thing I EVER did was transfer to Slippery Rock from Edinboro.  This is the thing, I LOVED Edinboro for the Irish festivals, the amazing scenery, and the occasional downfall of snow.  I had to get alot of the partying out of the way, and sure, that did begin to dictate my life, so a transfer was in my best interests.  Dwight Greer helped facilitate much of that and to him I am indebted to opening up a world that opened doors for me. I love that there is this Award in his honor:

“Dwight E. Greer Legacy Award

This award recognizes a student who has made a unique contribution to the campus and surrounding communities by presiding over an organization or program that made a significant contribution to students of color and the community at large.”

From working with the Social Equity Office, to the amazing world of the Writing Center family, I began to grow into a position that molded me into what I envision and strive for today – the studies of English mobile-style – not contained in any one area but able to bring the info to others in many formats, in many areas, in many multi-disciplinary ways.  I NEVER, EVER, have had to worry about a second interview anywhere, as soon as they saw Slippery Rock and Education together, it was like a secret code was given out.  I owe much to SRU, and every chance I get to treat someone that comes from SRU or represents SRU, I feel that is my internal duty.

This amazing group of SRU students did one of the most amazing things after the day at the Basilica, they gave me a gift, I mean, they really did!  It gets better, it came from Wendell August FORGE!  Seriously, if you know this forge, you know the best quality of materials come from this forge, and this was no exception.  Take a look…

Hands down, that has been the BEST gift I have received in like YEARS!  I LOVE IT but loved meeting and being with the SRU group more.  The card from Sam, Suzanne, Kaelin, & Marissa was just – GREAT – and I felt so sad seeing them leave so quickly  😦  Congrats on their VERY special day – MUCH deserved – MUCH.

Let’s backtrack a bit – today, FIRST time in well, like it seems FOREVER, that I ran for 30 minutes straight, in shoes that have seen MUCH bette days, thanks Liz O’ Connor.  I felt AMAZING after the run though, like reborn.  I think I can do this on a regular basis with my schedule freeing up now, I am 100% devoted to building back up al the things I used to do in my personal life, traveling, running, and more – but today’s return to a weekend run felt GREAT.

The last open Mic held was this past Wednesday, and I have to say, I can’t think of a group of people I am more proud of than my Repentino. staff.  They work so hard on making sure food is out, prepared, all is set for the night, they have become masters of the Open Mic ceremony.  The seats are not enough for the people attending, and the performances keep getting better.  They are truly amazing and I am so proud, both of the soon to be departing seniors and the returning staff, I am lucky on multiple counts.  Perhaps one of the greatest things has been the advent of the Open Mics celebrating the talent that is right at our doorstep.

There is soooo much more to blog about dating back a few days, so stay tuned, this isn’t over.  By the way, by faaaar my favorite song?  Funky Cold Medina…reminds me of the time I dressed up as one of the Robert Palmer women with three friends (Pat, Curt) for one of my birthday parties, not sure since that is a different song, different artist, but it does.  I could ALWAYS get stupid and act funny when I hear that crazy song, Funky Cold Medina...

🙂

People say that about the things I write here, and I believe they would believe it sometimes as they are kind of, well crazy.  Makes for good reading and an unusual life…:)  Well this one might take the cake.

I get on my plane for IAD – arrive no prob, make the pickup and check back in luggage AND transfer, no prob, and see myself getting on this very small jet from IAD to Philly, (United doesn’t go straight to Philly so this shuttle was it, wow, I was a little nervous as this was like a private jet!  We literally were zipping along and 30 minutes later back off and I am in Philly!

I go to get my rental car from Hertz, and needless to say, the ton of money I put on my credit card was delayed – um yeah, like for 24 hours meaning all my money, literally, on this American card was well, stuck for 24 hours, and so was I.  I had enough to cover the car, but not the 250.00 extra that had to clear as a security until the amounts I had paid would go through, yeah, in 24 hours, LOL.  What do I do?  I tried Enterprise but they had a 400.00 above the limit needed, I was freaking out now, what the heck did I do?  My amazing luck, the man working for Hertz, who just got off, said he;s suggest Septa, the train, and sure enough, he helped me get a ticket to Wilmington.  Close.  Not there but close.  I loved the train by the way, super cool.

Once in Wilmington, I realized I JUST missed the DART (Delaware bus system) bus to DOVER by 30 minutes, last one of the day, LOL.  No kidding.  I couldn’t find anything else then stumbled across a Greyhound, leaving 3 hours later for Dover.  No way.  Despite the huge time difference, I took it.  then I realized, after I bought the ticket, I had a chance to get a ticket for the stop in Salisbury, MD.

While in the station I let a man making his way to Texas, and a woman with a very thick German accent, use my phone to make their own arrangements to find a way home too.  I have to say, after coming here from a public system that is amazing in Mexico City, I can’t believe how inconvenient the public transportation is in Delaware with how soon it stops running and the limited routes, tonight being a perfect example.  I realized though, I was not the only one stuck in trying to get a way home, and when I couldn’t get wifi to charge my phone, and ran over to the AMTRAK station to do so, and it worked, I was in HEAVEN!

Back to the Greyhound ticket to Salisbury…Even better!  I took it!  Now it is 1:44 AM, and here I am again, another sleepless night, doing the same thing I was doing 24 hours ago, but in Mexico.  Is that crazy?  Crazier I am still kicking…:)   yet, I am in DE, and realize, not having a car is actually kind of cool…so far this only cost me 44.00 plus 15.00 for chicken at the rest stop, and 39.00 to recharge my old tracfone…and hey!  I ran into my to former students at the Royal Farms Store, my first two students since returning, CRAZY!  LOL….Autumn scared the bejeezus out of me when she said hit to me, I couldn’t believe it was her in front of me!

What REALLY worried me was the rain on the way in, hoping it would disappear before the 5k tomorrow.  Can you believe how ironic it is that I was expecting to just pick up the car and drive in, and all this changed everything of how and when I arrived in DE?  LOL…it will be a story to tell for sure, but you heard it here first…let’s see if I can function tomorrow for the 5k!  Anyone thick this trip was going to be boring  (I was hoping…)

Last minute we received tickets for going to see President Obama today, oh mygosh!  I grabbed my zoom lens and whoa!  Wait until you see the pictures!  WHOA!  Thank you Mr.Williams, Mr Lemmon, and Ms Gallie!

Two of our students were interviewed too!  See below:

“I hope to hear about his education plans in the U.S. because college is expensive and I’m hoping to study there,” said Stephanie Vondell, an 18-year-old senior.

“The biggest thing I want to see is how the U.S. and Mexico are willing to tackle the war on drugs,” said Julio Meyer, another 18-year-old senior. “In my point of view, it has not been successful.”

More to come, it was exciting!  He was right in front of us!  🙂

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/world/americas/mexico-obama-visit/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

MAY DAY!  In Mexico!  What dos it mean! Aside from a day of me catching up on sleep, rest, and emails, check the link and you’ll see the deeper significance!

We are running our premiere tomorrow at ASF – after school showing of Perks of Being a Wallflower – fully equipped with all things theatre like! – and our Book swap is growing including some brand new videos that can be swapped for your swappable books – during lunch and brunch only – check it out before some GREAT books get missed for a great swap!  Also, do not forget to stop by Twitter at

#asflibweek2013

and add a line to our short story, we need your entries please!

Also, with President Obama visiting tomorrow in Mexico at the Embassy, everyone, including 10 students from our school attending, are excited.  Yes, I remember that cold day when we skipped class Alison to see President Obama’s Inauguration and were within his seeing distance and how amazing that was…and a friend has also joined in the celebration!  Check this out –