LaRovRevDoesLaPaz

¡YO, PEEPS!

Long time no... as in, the last blog was 11 months ago. It described both my supposed Call a little more than a year ago to be part of a bilingual UU satellite congregation in Chula Vista and my restoration to sanity. Thought I was headed for peace and quiet and stability in Bahia Asuncion after that. Well, it was swell while it lasted, which was about five months...
¡JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA!

Through a process I neednt go into here, I am back living in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico for the next few ... weeks? months?? years???

SUNRISE this morning from the prayer space on top of my apartment building

Today was surprising, to say the least. I play bridge twice weekly with people who like me about as much as I like them, for the most part -- and I LOVE being competitive at cards, so I am willing to suffer fools silently, if not gladly. Yesterday, two of the players volunteered the info that there would be a Women's March in La Paz the next day. You cannot imagine my surprise. So, I went in order to be in some sort of solidarity with my sisters around the globe, and wait til you hear what happened!

There was no "march" -- only a group of about 8 women who walked sometimes together but mostly not for the 1/2 mile from the fancy marina (where most of them are boat people) to the new LAPAZ sign on the malecón. Plus one husband / designated fotografer. Walking part of the way with one of the "organizers", I was instructed that this was NOT an "anti-trump" march, so as not to be controversial with their mostly conservative fellow marina-ites! She confided that she is not "out as a liberal", but she may change her mind about that because it would mean she and her husband would not be in with the in crowd. and then she "would not have so many social obligations with people I don't like spending time with". Yours truly is clueless, as usual, as to why anyone would make that choice.

We were met at the LAPAZ sign -- across the street from the hotel La Perla, where justice trainer and professional bellydancer Tammy Johnson stayed for 8 glorious nights last December (more about why I mention that later on) -- by about 20 more women who had chosen to skip walking and simply attend the foto op (I do NOT make these things up, folks!). Some of them had eaten at La Perla, as evidenced by the foto above taken on my cell by a Mexican gentleman who ended up taking fotos with 4 more phones. The woman with the eye patch is a native and does not speak English, but we managed to explain to her friend why "gringa" is not a word she wants to use to describe herself. The woman sitting next to me ended up stalking me later on (for real--keep reading!). A few more ladies had come with fotografer husbands, and after they had taken shots for about 15 minutes, I asked them all to join the ladies, and if they had a backbone they could ask for one of our spare pink hats. No takers, altho I did like the fella who wore a pink hat the whole time.

At the restaurant, the fact that I am retired and a former Unitarian Universalist minister came out, and at the table of five there were TWO UUs who immediately repeated the refrain I heard when I moved to La Paz eight years ago: Please start a UU fellowship in La Paz. Across the street, they recruited another person they knew to be a UU to agree that it was a swell idea.  I said I would convene a small gathering at my place to have a conversation about why on earth any of us should do this. And if they could find common ground with me, I would be excited to try to start a liberal religious congregation here structured along the lines of 12-Step programs, As in, I would work myself out of a paid position within a year, and there would never be "leadership" as such in any sense of power over another, only in the sense of service, which is power for the other.

(new hair style i am trying out, thrown in here just for the hell of it)

ALL OF THAT passed through my mind and lips in a 15-minute conversation that happened in front of the Jesús del Mar statue, to which I had been tracked by the aforementioned Katharine, who without preamble said "tell me who you are"! Turns out she is LIFELONG UU who worked for 47 YEARS for AT&T (her only employer) from Denver, new to La Paz, and serious as a heart attack about this idea.

SO, REALLY the only reason to read this blog from here is to see (1) what realities in the usa look like from another country to a racial justice actor, and (2) if I manage to pull off a MAJOR "use white privilege for the benefit of the people who pay for it with their blood, sweat, and tears" revolution in La Paz!

ps--When we disbanded, I walked up to two police -- one male, one female -- and explained / lied to them that it WAS a demo against "el pinche idiota presidente nuevo al otro lado", and they shook my hand and said "gracias, dios bendiga ustedes". #MakeAmericaMexicoAgain