Hey now

I write this post from the El Paso Public Library. As many of you know, my plans of Bastyr have changed and I have been exploring other options for my education. One option is Maternidad La Luz in El Paso, Texas. MLL is a birthing clinic and midwifery school on the border which provides a very hands-on midwifery education (maternidadlaluz.com). I arrived in El Paso Friday morning. On Saturday I shadowed a student for a 24 hour shift at the clinic and was able to observe one birth and many prenatal/postpartum visits (a slow-moderate day at the clinic). It is a high volume clinic with many of the clients coming over from Juarez. Overall this place seems to be right in line with what I want to be doing...midwifery, public health, on the border, etc.
I also would like to inform you all that I was just recently accepted to apprentice a traditional midwife in Guatemala. The dates are not certain. I am waiting to hear back from my landlord about adjusting my lease from 1 year to 6 months. If this is possible I may be going in March and starting at MLL in September. OR, I may need to keep my lease which means Guatemala in September and MLL in March. I am OK with either but my eager excitement makes me cross my fingers about getting out there in March. Vamos a ver.
In other news, I will be returning to Seattle on Wednesday and continuing to work at the Madison Market and attend births with my doula clients through Open Arms. Thanks for tuning in and I'll let y'all know how things work out.

With rustling leaves...

These days I have been taking long aimless walks around my neighborhood(s). The air has been cool and crispy. The sidewalks and streets are blanketed with brown and bright golden leaves. Countless times my senses have been exploding with pleasure and I have had to stop and just witness this. In a neighborhood park I rest my knees into the rustling autumn earth and reach my hands into its layers of dried leaves.

To translate the poem from the previous post...

The garden is full of dry leaves;
Never have I seen so many leaves in their green trees, in spring.
-Jose Juan Tablada

When I first read this poem I took it to speak to how one notices death much more than life. That, in fall, we mourn the death of the leaves' but we also mourn that life because we realize we had not fully acknowledged or celebrated it until its passing. However, as I read this poem on a morning like this, surrounded by abundance passing on; I can truly say that never have I felt such gratitude for death nor so much contentment with its falling.

Hojas Secas

El jardin esta lleno de hojas secas;
nunca vi tantas hojas en sus arboles verdes, en primavera.
-Jose Juan Tablada

I came across this poem this summer in an old, stain book of "New Mexican Poetry" a friend found in a dumpster and gave to me. I liked the poem and wrote it into my journal. It has been returning to me incessantly ever since and probably for good reason. It plays in my head like a song one cant forget.

I will return and translate but I am using the computer at work and my break is over. soon come.