Taller!!

Saturday I got on a good homework regimen: Read a few pages, brush my teeth, read a few more pages, wash my face, etc. And then Rebecca got back from an interview, and Marijane came over, so the three of us and Ale hung out. It was fun, especially to hear what everyone had been up to recently. Then is started sprinkling, and i ran upstairs to grab my laundry which was drying, and brought it down to hang in my room on hangers and on the windowsill. I had a dream last night that one of my shirts fell down three floors and got wet in a puddle, lol.

Then Marijane left and Ale and Rebecca got ready to go somewhere. I was getting ready to go to a workshop, but they were in a hurry, so I left after them. I ended up catching up to them, and didn't really know what to do, since i was behind them, and they were talking. I decided it would be creepier for me to stay there and not say anything, so I finally said "hi," but that freaked them out because I was so close and quiet. They suggested in the future i say something from further back. Which means I need to yell. I'll try to remember and do that.

I go off the metro and tried to figure out which way to go. I've gotten into the habit of making tiny maps before going to a place I've never been to. And after making the map, I have a much better idea mentally where things are, so I often don't need to use them. I finally found the right street, and started looking for the address, and the name of the cafe where the workshop was being held, which was Ellas/Nosotras. I found a door with the right address, but no name, and it looked more like a house than a cafe. But nothing else said the name of the cafe. I ran into someone else looking for the workshop, and we tried the correct address place together, but it was not the right place. Finally someone held up a sign just a few doors down with the name of the workshop.

The name of the cafe was nowhere to be seen, but we got inside and started talking. They went to UNAM and majored in Psychology, and now work for a women's institute that's sponsored by the government. They talked about it being really good, because they could provide services, and the government would pay for them, making the services more accessible. But they said there were lots of problems with the government being involved too, because it therefore uses hierarchies (hard for me to spell now, because I've been writing it so much in Spanish), and is very tied to the political parties.

More people got there, and the people in charge of the cafe decided that the workshop would have to be moved upstairs because there wasn't enough space downstairs. Since it's a lesbian-themed cafe, the downstairs is a place where anyone is allowed, but the upstairs is only for women. So they made an exception, since there were so many people there for the workshop and it was a mixed group.

The first activity was one where we made two circles, one inside the other, with people from the outer and inner circle facing each other. And we had to answer a question that the facilitator (Sergio) said. We'd each have thirty seconds to respond, and then the outer circle would rotate. Kind f nervewracking, since of course it was all in Spanish, but it was good to be in a setting where I was expected to talk and didn't really have a different option. There were several people from Brasil there as well, so I wasn't the only person who didn't speak flawlessly,although of they all had a better handle on Spanish than I did.

Then we did an activity that Israel led, in which we had to go to the "yes" side of the room, or the "no" side of the room, depending on what our answer was to whatever question Israel asked. It was interesting, and difficult since it was binary-based, but it got people more used to being around each other, and thinking about the topics.

Then they got out a sheet of butcher paper, and on one side, we wrote things that we wanted in the workshop, and on the other side, we wrote things we didn't want in the workshop. Reminded me of ground rules, or community agreements agreements, but it didn't function like these. I felt like saying stuff like "one diva one mic" "check your privilege" and "step up step back," but of course, I didn't. Some people put things they were hoping to get out of the workshop, and others put things they weren't ok with, like anyone smoking.

And then a discussion started, first about the activities, and then about the use of language and sexism. There was a discussion of how to not be sexist with language, since in Spanish, the way people are taught to speak, is to use the masculine plural form when referring to groups that have any men in them. It was interesting to me the way I though about what people were saying. I categorized them into different discourses that i was familiar with, which meant I oversimplified them, and some things seemed "good" and other ones seemed "bad." Paulo said that they didn't want to reinforce the gender binary by saying "ellos y ellas," since not everyone identifies as either men or women. So Paulo suggested using a gender neutral term, or maybe all three, I don't remember.

It got kind of tense, and not resolved exactly, and people kept on interrupting each other. But then we got on with the workshop, which was mostly a discussion, except for a group activity where we broke up in three groups and had to draw a picture describing a word that we were given. Diana, who was another facilitator was really animated, and got everyone to listen to her really well. I was able to understand most of what went on, but of course, there were parts I didn't catch.

It was an enjoyable workshop, and it ended close to 9 rather than at 8, as advertised. I stood around, wanted to ask if anyone was walking to the metro, since i didn't want to walk alone, but the "Old Valerie" prevented me from being that outgoing. eventually Julio, who was one of the facilitators started talking to me, and said that all five of the facilitators would be walking to the metro, so I could wait for them.

They walked outside, and decided they wanted to hang out and talk, so we all (5 facilitators, another person who had attended the workshop, whose name i don't quite remember, and me) went to VIPS (kind of like Perko's or Denny's). We talked about the workshop as well as other stuff in genera. It was a lot of fun. Paulo left earlier than everyone else, but by the time we left the restaurant, the metro was closed (which happens at midnight). I had decided when it started getting late that I was at least going to take a taxi from the metro, because I'm not comfortable walking by myself at night when it's been dark for very long. But the other person who attended the workshop had brought a car, so Julio took a taxi home, and the rest of us got a ride. Which was really nice. I only lived 3 metro stops away, so they took me home first. I had a lot of fun and hope to get to hang out with some of these people again. They have monthly meetings, so maybe I can at least go to those.