it is working!

I am surprised. I am recieving answers from people I don't even know.

last weekend I made the gourmet festival, that became a one-night festival because it didn't have that much audience. But it was an amazing Indian Food Night. The minimum donation was USD$14, and people gave more. The minimum amount of guests was 10, and there were only 8, but it was a nice dinner, and i collected some money.

I have recieved also cake orders for the christmas festivities. and I am making now the raffle.

I am expecting to raise at least USD$520 with these activities.

I am waiting for the answer of the airline, to see if they give me any discount.

I am also selling all my music, and I have already a burrito party hired for the 21st.

I'll be publishing soon the results by numbers.

fund raising

So... I was selected!!

I am so Happy!

I can't wait to be there learning.

But for now I have to work hard on getting all the money to pay the course.

I have been knocking doors for the last two weeks, since I got some material done to show the people I am asking for sponsorship. I have had good feedback, but not economically yet.

So I have a plan B, wich is doing the things i know in exchange for donations from the people I know. For doing this, I sent an email to all my contacts, in Facebook and email, asking people to support me.

How can you support me?

1. donating any amount of money you want!

2. participating in the raffle I am doing

3. contacting me with people or business you know that might be interested

4. particiating in the events I am doing to raise funds! (Gourmet Festival)

5. hosting a sushi or burrito party

6. hosting an origami class for groups

7. inviting all your friends to my events and to the raffle

8. ordering my famous carrot cake for christmas season!

9. coming to the henna tatoo marathon

Well this is it.

For now I am preparing everything for the Gourmet Festival, that is taking place next weekend (10th to 12th december), and selling tickets for the raffle.

And in the same time I am waiting for the answers of the institutions where I sent the proposal.

For now, I will continue blogging in my personal blog abriendomicamino.blogspot.com in spanish, and in this one in English.

I'll let you know when I have some answers!

Thank you!!

evaluation: evolution

evolution on Prezi

For some strange reason, this prezi doesnt play well in Internet explorer, please use another browser

Sometimes I have lost opportunities to do things I really want, just for planning instead of acting. This was challenging because this is something I really want. So I had to stand on my position of doing instead of planning. I had to ACT!

I think when you evaluate these experiences they are always positive, no matter what the outcome is. When you look back you can see if you gave your 100%, what did you learn, what could you improve, what do you want to change… the most important is that they make you grow.

I did the homeworks with my 100%, I played with love and passion. I also threw away all the fears and shames and decided to be authentic… to be Me, no matter what. In the other hand, I was a little out of focus due to my overloading tasks at work. Even when I was thinking about the game all day, sometimes I let the time pass to show my results.

If I had to change anything, it would be doing things more calmly, so I can get all the focus in the important things, to be concrete. I would love to go to the action more frequently.

The game helped me observe and evaluate myself. And also to feel confident and empowered, because the best thing of and Idea is to make it real. It has more value to see it done, than letting it back, stored in my head.

A veces he perdido oportunidades para hacer cosas que realmente quiero, solo por quedarme planeando en vez de actuar. Este proceso fue retador, porque es algo que realmente quiero. Así que tenia que mantenerme en la posición de hacer en vez de planear... tenia que ACTUAR!

Pienso que cuando se evalúan estas experiencias, todo es positivo, no importa cual es el resultado final. Cuando miras hacia atrás, puedes ver si diste tu 100%, que aprendiste, que podrías mejorar, que quisieras cambiar.... lo mas importante es que todo te hace crecer.

Hice las tareas con mi 100%, jugué con amor y pasión. También deje atrás todos los miedos y penas, y decidí ser autentica... ser yo misma, sin importar nada.

Por otro lado, estuve un poco desenfocada, debido a que tenia mucho trabajo en mi oficina. Aunque estuviese pensando todo el día en las tareas de GSA, a veces se me pasaba el tiempo para mostrar mis resultados.

Si tuviera que cambiar algo, seria tomar las cosas con mas calma, así podría poner todo el foco en las cosas importantes y ser mas concreta. Y me gustaría ir a la acción mas frecuentemente!

El juego me ayudo a observarme y a evaluarme. Ahora me siento mas segura y empoderada, porque lo mejor de una buena idea es llevarla a cabo. Tiene mas valor verlo hecho, que dejarlo en planes guardado en mi cabeza.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Go!

I talked to Rami, he was looking for people who wanted to work in the garden, and no one came. So I asked him if it was ok with him, that I was the godmother of the herbs in the garden, and that I would like to build the herb spiral, and told him about how it works. He was really excited with the idea, so I began plannig how to do everything...

First, Michi helped me made an estimate of how much soil, gravel and rocks we would need. We thought we were going to need a donation, but we found that the things we needed to do this were cheap (no more than US$50), so we decided to buy everything, and then Rami said that he would help to pay the expenses.

Michi searched all the info of how to build a nice spiral (mathematically), and I searched all the info about the plants and their needs.

I spoke to some friends of the foundation, I called and emailed several people to find hands to work. Everybody seemed to be busy... So I sent all my invitations and waited for someone to come the day that we chose for working in the garden (sunday). I recieved some positive answers.

I was all the week walking the streets to see if we could reuse some wasted material to build the spiral, and in fact we found some construction waste and used it, not only for the spiral, but also for the changes they are making in the house.

We went to find the materials, it was a hard work, because it was too heavy, and my father almost had a heart attack when he saw the picture of the building blocks in the back of the car (he was like "oh! my god!!! how did you put all that weight on the car!!!) Ok, sorry about that... But I drove carefully and took care of not over loading it for real.

Then we made another trip, to a town near Bogota, to buy the soil, compost, and herbs. And we took them to the place and prepared everything for the gardening day.

No one came... Only two friends that had said before that they could not come, came to help for an hour, they were really excited about the idea, but they had another commitment, so they had to leave.

We worked all morning... It was fun, inspiring, beautiful, a little hard work for the back and the hands... but at the end, the result was beautiful for everyone... Really fulfilling...

Everybody is happy and they are thinking how to improve all the garden, and the people that did not come are having also Ideas.... So this is the beginning of a community work.

Our Herb Spiral on Prezi

Hable con Rami, el estaba buscando voluntarios para trabajar en el jardin pero nadie vino. Asi que le pregunte si podia ser yo el hada madrina de las hierbas aromaticas, y que me gustaria construir la espiral de hierbas, y le explique todo sobre como funciona. Le gusto mucho la idea, asi que le explique lo que ibamos a necesitar para hacer todo.

Primero, Michi me ayudo a hacer un estimado de cuanta tierra, gravilla y piedras ibamos a necesitar. Pensamos que ibamos a necesitar una donacion, pero luego nos dimos cuenta que los materiales que necesitabamos no eran tan costosos (no se necesitaban mas de $100.000COP), asi que compramos todo y luego Remi dijo que el ayudaria a pagar los gastos si no nos los reembolsaban.

Michi busco toda la informacion sobre como construir una bonita espiral (matematicamente) y yo busque la informacion sobre las plantas y sus necesidades.

Hable con algunos amigos de la fundacion, llame y escribi a varias personas para encontrar manos para trabajar. Todo el mundo parecia estar ocupado, asi que mande todas las invitaciones que pude y espere que alguien llegara el domingo. Recibi algunas respuestas positivas.

Estuve toda la semana caminando por las calles, buscando material que pudiera reutilizar para construir la espiral. Y encontre, de hecho, algunos escombros de construccion, que pudimos usar, no solo para la espiral, sino tambien para algunos cambios que estaban haciendo en la casa.

Luego fuimos a buscar los materiales, fue un trabajo duro, porque todo era muy pesado... mi padre casi sufre un infarto cuando vio la foto de los ladrillos entre el carro (me dijo: "Como le metiste tanto peso al carro??!!!) Ok, lo siento... pero maneje con muchisimo cuidado y tuve cuidado de no cargarlo de mas.

Luego hicimos otro viaje a un pueblito cerca de bogota, a comprar la tierra, el compost y las hierbas. Luego los llevamos al jardin y preparamos todo para el dia de trabajo.

Nadie vino. Solo dos amigos que habian dicho que no podian, vinieron a ayudar por una hora, estaban muy felices de poder ayudar, pero tenian que irse porque tenian otro compromiso.

Trabajamos toda la manana... fue divertido, inspirador, bonito! Un poco pesado el trabajo para las manos y la espalda.... pero al final el resultado fue muy lindo y nos lleno mucho.

Todos estan felices y estan pensando en formas de mejorar el jardin. La gente que no vino tambien esta teniendo nuevas ideas. Esto es el principio de un trabajo de comunidad.

We are not alone

Team

Laurajimena (me)

Michael, es mi novio, tiene muy buenas ideas, y es muy bueno para organizar y desarrollar proyectos. Ademas sabe mas de jardineria que yo. Es ingeniero civil, y con el garantizo que mi construccion sea estable.

Michael, is my boyfriend, he has great ideas, and is very clever and organized when it comes to bring projects to reality. He also knows more about gardening than I do. And he is a civil Engineer, so i can guarantee the stability of the construction.

Ramiro, is my instructor and he is also administrating the headquarters with Angela and Natalia.

They can help me gather people to help build the spiral by sending emails to the database of the foundation. Ramiro also knows a lot about gardening in the city, and he is willing to help a lot.

Luis, es mi papa, el tiene buenas ideas de como hacer las cosas, y tambien tiene un carro que voy a necesitar para recoger todos los materiales.

Luis is my father, he has great ideas of how to do things, and he also owns the car, wich I will be needing to transport the materials.

Foto de Monica Amaya.

Estudiantes de la fundacion. Puedo pedirles ayuda por email, y tambien a los que vengan a la reunion semanal de los sabados en la manana. Cualquiera puede venir a ayudar.

Estoy segura de que conseguire la fuerza y la paciencia que necesitamos para construir la espiral.

Students of the foundation. I can ask for help by email but also by asking people at the saturdays meeting. Anyone can help building it.

I am sure I will have the strenght, patience, and the hands ready to help.

Great ideas are born from small causes

Los integrantes de la fundación de Yoga donde estudio acaban de mudarse a una casa donde sera la sede. La casa es muy grande y tiene una buena porción de espacio al aire libre. Se ha hablado de hacer una huerta urbana y también se hablo de embellecer el espacio con algunas plantas adicionales y flores.

Como había comentado en una tarea anterior, me gusta la jardinería y me encuentro estudiando y aprendiendo todo sobre el tema. Considero que seria increíble, no solo por su utilidad sino por su belleza, hacer una espiral de hierbas, pues ademas de ahorrar espacio y permitir las condiciones para albergar diversas plantas, podría ayudar a ahorrar dinero y prestaría un servicio a la comunidad que permanece en la casa (instructores, estudiantes y visitantes).

Para hacer esto necesito comunicar la idea al grupo y mostrar los beneficios de hacer la espiral.

Después necesito conseguir los materiales, que deben ser donados, puesto que la fundación es una ONG, por lo tanto es una entidad sin animo de lucro. También se debe hacer una planificación del espacio y de la construcción de la espiral, y finalmente proceder a construirla.

The members of the foundation I work with have just moved to a new house that will be their headquarters for a good time. The house is big, and has a good portion of space outside. They have spoken about doing there an urban vegetable garden, and they also talked about putting some flowers and plants to make everything see beautiful.

As I told you before, I like gardening, and I am studying and learning about it. I think it would be incredibly nice to do there a herb spiral, not only it is beautiful, but also saves space and creates conditions to allow different plants to live happy there. It could also save money and serve the community, because they can use the herbs to cook and drink.

To do this, I believe the first step is to talk with them about the Idea, and present all the benefits it will bring. Then I will need to have the materials, that must be donated because the foundation is a NGO, and it doesn't have much money. Then I have to do an plan of the space, plants and a building plan, and then find people that will help me build it.

My consumption

Que consumo? / What do I tend to consume?

Alimentación:

Muchos vegetales/Lots of veggies

Huevos/Eggs

Cereales/Cereal

Granos/Grains

Agua/Water

Frutas/Fruits

Te/Tea

Pan/Bread

Chocolates

Especias/Spices

Aceites/oils

Mantequilla/butter

Cada vez que puedo, compro alimentos orgánicos y que soporten comunidades vulnerables o en desarrollo, y trato de comprar local.

En general intento no comprar cosas que vengan con muchos empaques. Tengo varias bolsas de lona con las cuales voy a hacer el mercado de frutas y vegetales para no pedir bolsas plásticas, pero de vez en cuando debo pedirlas pues las pequeñas las utilizo para recoger los desechos de mi perro, y las mas grandes las utilizo para recoger las basuras.

Everytime I can (it is not easy or cheap to find) I buy organic foods that support vulnerable or developing communities, and I try always to buy local.

Generally I try not to buy things that come in a lot of packaging or non-recyclable materials. I have some fabric bags to go shopping (fruits and veggies). Anyway, every once in a while, i have to ask sometimes for bags, because I need little bags to pick up my dog's waste, and big ones to collect my garbage.

Energía/Energy

I use energy only for this appliances:

computer, Cellphone, digital camera, Ipod

microondas/microwave

horno eléctrico/oven

nevera/freezer

licuadora/blender

lavadora/washing machine

Gas

Cocina/Kitchen

calefacción agua/heating water

Agua/Water

(Ducha y limpieza personal, lavadora, lavaplatos, Riego jardín, limpieza casa, baños)

Shower and personal hygiene, washing machine, dishwasher, watering garden, cleaning the house, bathroom services)

Con el uso del agua soy bastante rígida. Lavo la ropa cada dos semanas, y la lavadora de la casa tiene sistema para regular el nivel de agua de acuerdo a la cantidad.

Para lavar la loza, siempre busco métodos que me permitan ahorrar la mayor cantidad del liquido, como por ejemplo limpiar los residuos antes de poner los platos en el lavaplatos, y enjabonar todo con el agua cerrada y luego enjuagar todo al mismo tiempo.

I am really rigid with the use of water. I wash my clothes once every two weeks, and the washing machine has a water level regulator.

To wash the dishes, I always look forward for the best method to save water. For example, cleaning all the remainings before putting the dish in the dish washer, put al the soap without water and then watering everything at the same time.

Ademas al momento de cocinar trato siempre de limpiar las verduras en un platon con agua que después utilizo para regar mis plantas.

También tratamos de economizar agua soltando la cadena cada vez que es necesario únicamente.

En la ducha es donde mas gasto agua y me gustaría cada vez ajustar mejor la cantidad de tiempo y agua que utilizo allí. Creo que podría economizar mucha agua. Algunas veces recogemos el agua que cae fría y esta se utiliza para los inodoros. También probé un tiempo bañarme con un balde pero se pierde agua mientras se espera que caliente.

Y también podría utilizar agua fría, pero a veces me parece un poco difícil pues hace mucho frió en Bogotá.

When I cook, I try to wash the veggies in a container, and I use the water for the garden.

We also try to save water only flushing the water when it is necessary.

In the shower is where I spend more water, and I'd like to adjust this in terms of time and water. I think I could save a lot of water there. Sometimes we collect the cold water and we use it for the W.C. I also tried some time to take the shower only with a bucket. But you loose a lot of water while the water gets hot.

And I coul use cold water to shower shortly, but it is alittle difficult because Bogota is very cold.

Papel

Utilizo mucho papel para organizar mis tareas y para llevar nota de lo que aprendo y vivo.

Tengo la mala costumbre de utilizar papelitos para anotar cosas que debo hacer aunque ya lo tenga anotado en mi agenda. Y también para anotar teléfonos y razones... Todo esto podría ahorrarlo si utilizara bien mi agenda o si la cambiara por unos buenos ejercicios de atención y memoria.

Paper

I use a lot of paper to organize mi homeworks and to take note of what i learn and live. I have the bad habit of using little papers to write things therat I already have in my schedule book, And also to write numbers and notes. I could use some exercises of memory and atention.

Transporte

Cada día gasto entre 4 y 7 dolares en transporte publico, dependiendo de la cantidad de cosas que tenga que hacer afuera. A veces cuando el clima lo permite hago todos mis desplazamientos en la bicicleta, lo cual me ahorra mucho dinero, mientras hago ejercicio y disfruto del paisaje. Además en Bogotá, es mas rápido andar en Bicicleta que en transporte publico o carro particular.

Tambien a veces utilizo el carro de mi papá, cuando debo hacer algo que implique trasladar muchas cosas o ir con varias personas.

Everyday I spend betwwen 4 and 7 USD in public transportation, depending on the things I have to do outside. Sometimes when the weather allows me, I go everywhere in my bike, which makes me save a lot of money while i do exercise and enjoy the city landscape. By the way, in Bogota it is faster to ride bike than drive a car or go by bus. I also use the car of my fahter to carry heavy things or when I have to take other people to the same place.

Vestuario

Solía comprar mucha ropa, pero hace un tiempo que solo consumo lo necesario. Trato de comprar ropa hecha en mi país, aunque cuando viajo no puedo evitar comprar ropa o cosas (poco) que no encuentro en Colombia. Creo que se puede tener un estilo propio sin necesidad de gastar mucho dinero en ropa y accesorios.

Soy muy sencilla para todo lo que tiene que ver con apariencia personal, no uso maquillaje ni me gusta utilizar productos para pintar el pelo, las uñas, o cambiar nada de la apariencia física.

Clothes, accesories, and make up.

I used to buy a lot of clothes, but a while ago i left that habit. I just buy the necesary things. I try to buy clothes made in Colombia (when I travel I can't help to buy something that I won't find in Colombia). I think you can have your own style buying cheap.

I am very simple in this things of personal appearance, i don't wear make up, or use things to dye hair or nails or anything that uses chemicals to change appearance.