Saggy Tights

Kaitlyn’s Kindergarten Screening Test:
Q: Do you know what a cow is?
Kaitlyn: I don’t know. But they sure do stink!

You know when little girls wear those thick white tights and they get all baggy at the knees? That is what the cows are like here. Their skin is baggy white tights drooping all over their enormous bodies. They meander through the streets and plop down just where ever they please-even if it means that they are sitting in hectic mid-day traffic. I kind of love it. Cows make me smile now.

Campaign Kick-off and Dance Show:
I’ve swallowed quite the mouthful and I’m now realizing that perhaps I should have chewed a little slower, gulped a little less. I’m working on this dance performance for the kids that I teach and I only have a couple more weeks to put the whole thing together. I’m realizing that I’m going to need more material to work with, so I’m now combining the dances, with a couple songs, and this campaign kick-off that I have also decided to undertake.

In my “right-before-I-fall-asleep-brilliance” I came up with an idea for a human rights campaign that would tie in perfectly with Maitri’s work. Here’s the pitch: we do a series of workshops with women and children to help them gain self-respect and dignity. With a new sense of pride, the participants are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Their new sense of confidence allows them to stand up for themselves and say “no” to physical and emotional threats. As a result, the campaign helps women and children live happier, longer lives. During the workshops, we take photos of the participants and help them come up with positive adjectives to describe who they are. These phrases are then photo-shopped onto the pictures and made into posters/coffee-table books/advertisements on Maitri’s website/etc. The women can see themselves on an advertisement, which gives them added confidence and helps Maitri promote the campaign.

So, I’m kicking the whole thing off at this dance show by having the kids stand up and tell the audience their “self-adjectives.” I’m also planning on conducting the workshops with the women working at Maitri’s vocational training school in Delhi.

While I think it has a TON of potential, I’m sort of freaking out! Can I actually pull this off? And more importantly, can I pull it off well? Let’s cross our fingers.

Weekend Plans:
Apparently, we can’t keep our feet planted on the ground for more than a week. This weekend we are planning a trip to Jaipur and Agra. We leave tomorrow for Jaipur (known for its history, desert, and shopping) then Sunday we will head to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. When it’s all said and done, it seems that I like to live out of my suitcase.