Discussions on Development: Guatemala Land Grab

So this was in the news early this week, and this is a response I just came across that I really enjoyed:

Rural Battle

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

"What must it feel like getting to the capital city for the first time? What do the queqchis [indigenous tribe of Guatemala] think of our shadowless streets, of our grey colored progress, of the smell of shit of our city? I can't imagine the strength and conviction that is needed to walk during 8 days, 200 kilometers under the sun and/or rain with the naive hope of being heard and taken seriously. Those of us from the capital are so far away from the rural villagers that it's difficult for us to realize that they are the other side of this coin called Guatemala. One day we will understand that what happens to our brothers has a direct repercussion over our own lives. One day we will understand that we are all part of one whole. If they are not doing well, neither are we. I take my hat off at their conviction and the communal sentiment of the indigenous Guatemalans. I appreciate that I was born in this country where resistance and rebellion are still a reality. I, like the rural villagers who arrived in the capital yesterday, don't want a mine or cement factory around the corner from my home, I don't want them to contaminate the water from the rivers, or to blast the mountains, or to cut down the forests to plant one single product. I also do not agree with the mega projects that DON'T bring development to the communities and that only line the pockets of the same. I also dream of having my own piece of land where I can build a house and grow my food. I also dream of a country with social justice and in which human life is worth more than private property. And you guys?"

Photo caption: "My mother taught me to fight."

Easter Basket

Things I want in my Easter Basket:

• Oreo's
• Chips Ahoy
• Snicker's
• Reese's Pieces
• Brownies
• Chocolate chip ice cream (not even mint chocolate chip, which is my fav--just chocolate chip)
• Chocolate cake
• Hot chocolate (already made, ready for the drinking)

I'm sure I'll have a couple more things to add in the next two weeks....

Adventures in Baking: Snickerdoodles

A couple weeks ago I was thinking to myself how I wanted to start baking...just for the sake of baking and experimenting. Then last week Jeff mentioned how he missed the snickerdoodles from the coffee shop he used to work at. *lightbulb*

So Sunday I decided to look for a good snickerdoodle recipe,and got to work. My go-to recipe resource is All Recipes. What I love about it is that you can go through the comments, and see how people improved on the recipe, or read suggestions they have, or read a heads up on what to avoid or do differently. For someone who does not have kitchen common sense, I getting these little pieces of practical advice from people who have tried the recipe before. This is the snickerdoodle recipe I used, although I'll write it out with the suggestions I found helpful.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (let it soften by leaving outside of fridge for a while, do not microwave)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 and 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar (if you want fluffier cookies, use 2 tsp. of baking powder, which is what I used)
• 1 tsp. baking soda (make sure your baking soda is still good--test it by placing some in water and making sure it still fizzles) (is "fizzles" a real word?)
• 1/4 tsp salt

For coating:

• 3 tsp sugar
• 3 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375
• Mix all dry ingredients together; mix all wet ingredients together (hand mix, do not use a mixer)
• Mix both dry and wet ingredients together

• Use spoon to measure out small balls, shape until you have used all dough

• Mix the coating ingredients in a ziplock bag
• Roll each ball in the cinnamon mixture

• Place parchment paper on cookie sheets, and place coated balls about 2 inches apart

• Bake for 8 minutes; remove immediately from cookie sheets

I had a lot of cinnamon coating left over. I think that's because I made my cookies too big, and therefore there were less of them to coat than what the recipe called for. They still turned out uh-mazing.

Getting Crafty

Not sure if I mentioned this before or not, but Jeff got me a beautiful iPad for Christmas, and instead of buying a cover for it I thought I would make one myself. I bought a plastic cover for it, but I wanted to make something like a little bag to carry it around. So right after Christmas I looked around on Etsy and looked at samples, then wentto Joanne's and Michael's and bought all the stuff I needed. I even went so far as cutting the fabric and filling...and then realized that I needed to use a sewingmachine to put it all together.

I'm ashamed to say that I've never used a sewing machine in my life. Most of this shame is because my grandmother is an amazing seamstress. I mean, amazing. She's made beautiful wedding gowns, quinceanera dresses, she made my First Holy Communion dress (which I still have), as well as my prom dress. So, for her granddaughter to not know how to use one when she's almost thirty...well, let's just say I'm not very proud of it.

So, for the last three months, all my prep work has been sitting in a corner of our room. I also came to realize that I don't really need it. But I already had all the materials, and I LOVE the color scheme and materials that I picked, so last week I decided it was time to finish the project.

I enlisted the help of my mom, and thank goodness for that. It turns out that when I sloppily cut all my materials, I didn't leave enough room for all the seams, so she had to add some fabric here and there to make it work. She ended up putting it together by herself, but now I know more or less how to work a sewing machine, and hope that the next time I need to use it myself, I'll be able to...

Finished product to come!

Dreams

I've been dreaming a lot lately. This wasn't always the case (well, I might have dreamt, but I didn't remember them). Now I remember my dreams all the time, and I couldn't quite pin point how I felt about this. Until a couple days ago.

As I was driving, I realized I was annoyed. Why, you ask? Because the day after having a particular dream I find myself trying to figure out what they meant or where they came from. And this takes up time. Time that I would rather spend doing something else, or taking care of something else. Whatever dream theory you subscribe to, I'm sure they have their meaning and purpose. But I don't really want to spend time every day trying to figure out what they mean.

Mostly because I never have a single idea what they mean, ha.

Music Corner: Clutch - The Regulator

I've been catching up on some episodes of The Walking Dead that I missed, and there was an amazing scene with this song in it. Thought I'd share. My favorite parts starts after about 1:23 (it's a long intro...)

Networking

I used to hate it. I kinda still do.

But I'm getting better at it. It's still awkward to walk up to people, introduce yourself, give your "elevator speech," and hand out your business card.

This year I'm on the board of directors for the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, and I'm also going to meetings and events for the Orange County Community Outreach Committee, not to mention monthly meetings for the Family Law and Immigration Law sections. Being involved in these organizations have really helped me improve my networking skills. It's also given me an opportunity to attend events I wouldn't otherwise be invited to.

For example, this past week we were invited to attend an event put on by Disney, where they invited members from many cultural organizations in Orange County, from various Chamber's of Commerce to the National Society of Hispanic of MBA's, among many others. It was a great group of people, and I got to meet and mingle with people from all different backgrounds and experiences. I feel so thankful that I'm part of an organization that gives me opportunities to do things like this, even if it's at the expense of feeling awkward sometimes :)

Adventures in Starting My Own Firm: Mentors & Willingness

There are a few attorneys in the area that have been absolutely incredible and have truly given me confidence to keep doing what I'm doing. One of them has been extremely open in letting me ask her questions whenever I'm stuck on something: she always gives me more information than what I ask for, right away. And she's never made me feel bad or guilty about using her time.

There are two other immigration attorneys who have recently talked to me about doing some contract work for them. They are both great at what they do, and they have sought me out because they have a ton of work, and need someone to help them out. In exchange they are offering me a great mentoring partnership (as well as paying me for the work I'd do for them), they have been incredibly generous with their time, and have offered to show me the ropes of immigration law. One attorney took me to the federal building and introduced me to almost every agent and clerk that he saw--which he knew personally. Everyone liked him, and was incredibly nice when I was introduced. I felt like I was getting star treatment.

Recently someone told me they really admired that I walked to the beat of my own drum. I found this really encouraging, and also eye opening. I'm not claiming that I'm a trailblazer for opening my own firm, by any means, but I know I'm doing things a little differently than most. I like feeling comfortable in my own skin, and sometimes this means wearing jeans to an MCLE event, and I love that I now have the confidence to wear jeans in a room full of suits. I'm always waiting for the 60-year old male veteran attorney to come up to me and tell me that I'm a disgrace to the legal practice for dressing the way I do (mind you, I'm not dressed like a slob, I just hate wearing suits when I'm not going to court). I'm sure someone's said something to someone. But the truth is, I don't think I am a disgrace to the legal profession, and I'm ok with it if people want to talk about it. I'm ok with not getting the approval of the veterans. At least for now...who knows...in a few months this could all crash and burn and I'll realize that my rebellion needs to cease. Ha.

The reason for that whole last paragraph is that I feel truly blessed that attorneys think I'm trustworthy and smart enough to partner with, even though I don't do things the "normal" way. It makes me feel like I'll be okay if I keep doing what I do, and that I won't crash and burn. There seem to be some great people out there that are willing to help me out, regardless of whether I'm rebelling against the suit or not.

Finally, this past week I was referred a case through a new contact. It's in a subject area of family law that I haven't handled before (obviously, there are a ton of areas I haven't handled yet, haha), and my natural instinct was to send an email saying "hey, thanks for thinking of me, but I think you should refer it to someone else." It's not because I can't do it...it's because I lack the confidence to know that I can. But instead of sending that email, I read about the subject, looked at my practice guide, looked up the code, and realized it wasn't a super difficult thing to do. So I said I was willing to talk to her friend, looked over her documents, and told her I'd be happy to take her case. She's talking to another attorney tomorrow before she decides who to go with (I'd have to charge her for driving time since it's not in my area). Whether I get the case or not, I'm really proud of myself for being willing to take it, instead of automatically passing on it.

Temptation

I really wanted a chocolate cookie last night.

I had a moment of weakness when my mind tried to trick me into thinking that Oreo cookies aren't chocolate cookies, but then Jeff and I checked the ingredients. THAT was scary.

I can't wait for Easter.