How to change from size 4 to size 1 in one week....

1. Buy a bag of these addicting "...oughnuts". aprox 20 in a bag

2. Eat the whole bag immediately; they're only good when fresh*

3. Wait an hour and then continue with the rest of your daily meals...

*You can share them with maximum 2 others if can't finish completely on your own.



Only in the States, the place of opportunities, where everything is possible and where everything is really big... it is possible to drop 3 sizes in one week!

Emotions...? (short story 11)

The two little girls stood there looking at each other, one with tears in her eyes and the other one so cool as if she didn't know that this was the last time they see each other for a very long time. The cool one acted as if she doesn't really care, no goodbye, no farewell, just kept ignoring the emotional little girl who was desperately waiting for some kind of acknowledgment of the wonderful time they just spent together; running freely in the fields filled with blooming flowers, late nights in pj's with their imaginary figures, dance, music, cakes and laughter. 

That's the way we are. Human beings. Some like to show emotions, others don't. Is it that they feel the same but scared to show? too vulnerable? or is it that they really don't care or see no point? Is it that the ones who show emotions only do it for attention? or is it just what it is without meaning to it at all...?

Perhaps all of the above and even most likely for adults, but the way little kids react in these moments of truth is quite interesting to watch. Is this an act of fear, joy, or pure indifference...

Spring

In a place that is not a paradise, every flower and every bright color brings a smile to every face...

Farewell

A toast to my beach
A toast to my paradise
cerveza on the beach in the late afternoons
satla with the fish sound of water at full moon
A toast to my beach
Farewell my paradise

Fundacion Marlee Jo - from a fan's point of view

I remember a few years back, in 2004,  when I visited my friends Limor (Nessa) and Ofir (Oro) for the first time since they moved to the Dominican Republic, the way they were with the local kids. On every trip, either long or short, driving or walking through towns and villages, whenever there were kids playing on the side of the road, and they always do, or stopping in and around the villages exploring, they always had a bag of sweets to hand out to the kids. The nice thing, I always thought, in the way they were doing it was that they never gave away the bag to let the kids divide it between themselves. No, they would take a few out of the bag and hand them one by one to make sure everyone will get some. It didn't look as if that was all, from Nessa's and Oro's perspective; it wasn't just "to give the poor kid a sweet". They always enjoyed talking and playing with them before continuing on to their destination. It always looked as they enjoyed it themselves, maybe even more than the kids...

A few years later they had their own kids. The kids of "Agua Sabrosa". Over 60 kids currently, and growing. I am one of their witnesses from the beginning. I heard the stories of how it was founded, the connection between the two with Marlee-Jo Jacobson, the woman behind the idea and the finance of the foundation at the start. I am watching it growing and developing through the years with their main drive of building a community center to provide good health and education with the hope to have a better future for these kids and the village in general. Most of the people in this charming village live without running water and until recently no electricity in the beautiful surroundings of El-Limon, Samana.
Three years ago Limor and Ofir bought a plot of land in the village but did not have enough money at the time to build the center. They put their mark in the middle of the plot, a little shed, just a floor and a roof so at least they would have a little space to hold their activities in rainy days.

Last year they managed to start the constructions from donations received through the years. Unfortunately it is still not complete due to finance reasons, but they do have a building now with what is planned to be a classroom, a library room, a kitchen, a clinic and toilets. Still no doors or windows, but it's definitely a huge progress.
Their work is not limited to Carnivals and construction. The list is long. In addition to their weekly activities in the village they often take the kids on trips, help financing schools for the more misfortunes, medical treatments and medicines, handling emergency situations as well as the smooth running of the foundation. That sounds like impressive words, right? What does it mean though?... it means they keep lists and records of all their kids with their data such as birth date (if known), family relations, education level and health problems. They have folders with all the kid's work and art from their activities, anything to keep track of their level and progress. They are constantly in search for donations and volunteer work of professionals . They organise medical teams that come and spend a few days (voluntarily) to examine the kids, consult and treat them. They contact specialists to come and talk with the kids on important subjects as sex and safety. They collect and organise donations of any sort such as 2nd hand cloths, toys and manage its distribution fairly and evenly. In short, the work never ends. And did I mention that all this work is done by the two of them alone? Of course there are some temporary volunteers that come and go but also their visits and donations are all properly managed and recorded.

So do I sound as a sales person trying to promote this incredible work? Yes, I do. Because one year after my first visit to Agua Sabrosa, I see progress. I see the same kids as last year (and many more) a bit calmer, a bit more disciplined. I see the kids enjoying sitting down with board games, books and coloring papers, learning how to play chess and not just running outside playing or fighting being the macho man. How they are aware when they're doing something bad or wrong. How they feel proud when they receive a positive feedback for doing right or given a responsible task. Maybe the two of them won't change the world and maybe they won't be able to help the whole village but even if only one kid will be able to go to university and get a good education, that, in my view is worth the effort. Even if only just one girl in this village will not be pregnant before she turns 18 years old, it will be worth it and it should be encouraged. But how about the scenario of fulfilling their currently new dream of establishing a Montessori school in their ground and have 20 kids going on to university in the capital or abroad, how about that? Is that a fantasy from another dream, or is it just about possible to achieve?

 
Fundacion Marleejo website

View movies on YouTube channel

Contact Limor and Ofir: fundacionmarleejo@gmail.com

More own stories from a fan's point of view on the fundacion can be found on its own page here in this blog.

Arte de la Jungla

Playing in my temporary garden...

 

Un beso para mi (short story 10)

And there he comes... she thought to herself while shaking off the drops from her body. Just got out of the water from her morning swim, all wet and loose, feeling her back and neck muscles relaxing after the effort. "Yo no compro nada, gracias" she was already used to reply each time when someone approached her with whatever craft, fruit or any other goods they had for sale. With or without goods, everyone who passes by, along the beach or on the road just behind, in town and in the bars, always the same old sentences: "Hola chica, mi amor... quiero ser tu marido... que linda.." Can't blame them for trying, it's just part of the game.

This time he had pareo for sale, "no tengo dinero en la playa, amigo" she replied and then, just like that, a refreshing sentence she has not heard before from a pass by.. he said without hesitating.. "un beso para mi".

Genesis

..."And God said, Let there be Light, and there was light"...

 And God saw the light, that it was good:and God divided the light from the darkness"...

                                                                                                  

Tridilidom dam and dim (short story 9)

Tridilidom and tridilidam went out to look for their tridilidim. They had no idea how they manage to loose him again as they were watching him the whole time, or at least they thought they did. "He must have crawled through the piglet hole" said tridilidom and giggled to himself as he imagined the picture in his head. But tridilidam didn't find it funny at all and replied with her sarcastic tone "of course he did, and I bet he's having tea with him right now...?" Tridilidom was about to reply that this is probably exactly what tridilidim is doing but something in tridilidam tone startle him,.."hmm... ye.. hmm..." he said and couldn't really decide what he should say so he went on .."hmmm, ye.. hmm... eh.." when suddenly he spotted piglet behind a tree further on. "Hey piglet, emmm, have you seen tridilidim?" he shouted towards him, but no reply from piglet as he was busy staring at his own huge legs. At that moment tridilidom realised how silly he was thinking that piglet can talk or have tea... "Ohhhh" he sighed "what will we do? how will we ever find him? he could have gone anywhere in this big endless field... we lost him forever". Tridilidom was sobbing while trying helplessly to think of an idea...He turned around to look at tridilidam and to ask her to think hard for a good idea as she usually does, but he couldn't find her at the spot where she was standing before he started sobbing in despair. Naturally that made him panic even more and while he was now crying out loud for his two losses he heard a little whisper from just behind his back. He turned around and couldn't see anything. The poor little creature was in so much sorrow that when he finally opened his eyes he couldn't even see that tridilidam and tridilidim were playing hide and seek just a few steps away from where he was lying down for his afternoon nap in the field.

Another day in paradise (short story 8)

She woke up to the sound of the birds as any other day, opened the curtains and the door to her balcony and immediately knew from the smell in the air that it finally had rained last night. She stretched her arms, her neck and back and as the sun was shining brightly through the trees she thought to herself, what a beautiful fresh day in paradise. Heading down to her beach, this time all the way down to the big pool between the reefs and the weed, she was all excited to see what this amazing spot will bring her today, now, in her own private paradise. Step by step into the sea, slowly and calmly as if not to disturb the life underneath, taking long deep breaths welcoming every little wave that splashes to her skin an extra inch with each step further and then stopping to enjoy the chill water as it gently touches her. The endless horizon she can picture with her eyes closed, the whale shaped rocks not too far from shore, the hills along the peninsula on the west, the deserted white beach with a palm tree leaning side way on the east, smiling to her self as IT IS one of the most relaxing enjoyable moments that she knows, early morning when it is quiet and all to her self. Take it in, take it all in. She kept standing at the point just before the water reaches above the belly button enjoying every breath with a light movement, first with her fingers drawing eights in the water, then small circles with her wrists as it grows and move the hands then the arms, stronger movements almost as if she was dancing in the water to the rhythm of the waves when she then realised she was not alone in her little spot in the water in paradise. A school of fish was swimming right towards her, then made a turn away from her. She stood there watching without a movement, checking them out as they were checking her out (or not...), swimming in circles around her, first a big circle then a bit closer and swam away. That was nice, I wonder what they think of me she thought to herself as she noticed them swimming back towards her again. And so they swam towards and away from her. Oh ye, of course, she laughed, silly me, fish have a very short memory, they can't remember they've just been here, she was smiling to this thought when she suddenly noticed that each time they change direction more fish are joining the school. It kept growing and growing as she counted at least 100 fish swimming in a structured double pyramid shape. Not really paying attention to how long she's been standing there breathing, watching, playing, smiling she then felt a little hot and sweaty, she dived straight in to join the school but they were not as friendly and could not be fooled to think that she was one of them and just like that, they swam away...

A part of a quote

I published a new quote that I just read in a book: "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. It is not her quote, it's Henry James s. There is something about it that I like and wanted to write it straight away. I didn't publish the whole quote as the first part didn't "do it to me"... maybe it will some day but for now I left it out. As I know I will forget how it was written and I will probably pass on the book, here's the full quote so I could get back to it whenever I want and see if anything changed, from my perspective of course...

" We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have.
Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."
Henry James

a stormy night (short story 7)

There was something in the distance, far far away. At first it looked just like a fishing boat out for a night catch but then something didn't look right. He kept staring at it trying to figure out what it is and as the staring progressed he noticed how clear the picture becomes in the darkness of the night. He could make up the size of the boat, from front to back, the lines of two figures shifting from side to side with the movement of the boat. It made perfect sense and still he wasn't convinced. The white foam of the waves was getting closer when he noticed one of the figures jumping into the sea and drifting away fast from the boat. At that point nothing made sense anymore and when it seemed as if a whale was crunching the side of the boat and getting closer to the figure that was still on it he turned his look away as if to ignore the horror, as if he didn't want to believe what his eyes are staring at. He closed his eyes for a few moments, shook his head and when opened them again everything around was rocking like the sea. No sign of the boat, no figures in the water, just a stormy night he thought to himself while spotting an airplane shape object in the water...

No Title

There was a girl who lived like a bird
nothing would stop her no one could join her
in contrast to birds no need for a nest
she migrated in winter slept calmly in summer and then
one day she dropped dead

Encounter with a Grouper (short story 6)

He felt so relaxed and peaceful as if the whole world came to a halt and only he was moving slowly and gently with the addictive sound and motion of underwater. So many have been there before and unfortunately it is not hard to notice it, the tore nets, nylon bags, strings and ropes, here and there a shoe that fell off a previous invader. What a shame...

In his own world, he then noticed a big, no, a huge creature. His breath turned into a hyper mode as his instinct was telling him "get away, get away... a whale has come so close to shore..."as if getting away in a hurry would help in that case. He swam away for 3 seconds, trying to calm his breath again and realised it is not a whale, but didn't know what it was. Swimming back to try and find it and to get a closer look, the creature was gone, out of sight. All that was left was a vague memory of the size, shape and colors of what probably was a sweet big Grouper swimming along searching for a catch, when almost got bumped into this huge enormous creature, me.

Surprise...? (short story 5)

In a matter of minutes everything changed completely. From the top of the mountain they could see the clouds moving so fast, faster than their own steps. The clouds were covering the whole mountain area, it was getting darker. Visibility was crap, they couldn't see the path three meters ahead. And then the rain came. It caught them by surprise, and a big surprise it was. The forecast was for a clear and sunny day. It was a six hours return hike, six hours according to their guide book which usually means about four hours for the above average fitness level. They still had to go all the way down, about an hour and a half in good conditions.

What to do? They didn't carry any of the necessary cloths or equipment for these conditions, "It was suppose to be nice and sunny" she kept muttering to her self as the 2nd she in this story got impatient listening to it again and again. All she could think of, the 2nd she that is, was keep walking, don't stop till you get there, don't mind the rain, don't mind the wind, keep walking, use the i-phone for light now and again when really needed. Can't have the battery die on me now.

It was getting more and more slippery as they progressed on the path down, it is not easy walking down a fairly steep path when it is as wet, dark and slippery. 2nd she started feeling her knees, trying hard to break easily as they descend. "Keep going...do not stop... whatever happens... keep going...we can do it.."

As they got closer to the starting point of the track, 2nd she's i-phone was ringing... with mixed feeling she stared at it, on one hand she knew they are very close to dryness, warmth and safety, but on the other... welcome back to civilization ,where there is mobile reception, where there are people, especially concerned people and sooner than later she knew they will start checking on them...

"Well...", 2nd she said to the 1st one... "at least we had a few moments of clear sky on the summit...now it's time to have a drink!