Mommas Coffee: participants, trainers, organizers, kids – we all finally fulfilled the last, 3rd meeting of the very first circle of the project. From 27th February till 4th March 2020 we were together in Muoriscade Youth Hostel in Galicia, Spain to still share, sum up and empower ourselves for the future. It was very meaningful meeting as we probably won’t meet again in exactly the same conditions. But we can’t ever say never…
Short diary of the meeting has been written below by Cristina Gende, our Galician coordinator of blog and participant of organization team.
27th February, Arrival
Just a quick glance, some participants walking around the hostel, last preparations, different areas, first impressions, many work and efforts to get the best of the meeting,
Some known faces, some new….
28th February, First day
The piece is plenty of people, women and children talking, organizing last questions, lots of children on the floor, first introduction, some nervous faces and tension, never is enough but we must trust, everything is going to be all right.
There is such a spring weather, even if we are still in winter.
The sessions will be celebrated outside in the forest by the hostel. We’ve got a water mill, a shelter, and a lively river giving us its lightness and freshness, calmness and relaxing atmosphere.
Going deep into the topics.
Women, trees and circles, the river draws a circle by the forest where the circle of women is.
Hungry and maybe angry, like our children at last hours of the day, by the time they need some kind of food, maybe meal, maybe hugs, maybe just a calm place where to close the eyes.
The blue sky painted of branches.
29th February
Today our expectations were high, and not everything went fluently. We still need to improve and correct programme of the meeting, there were also few logistic problems to solve. The meeting is very challenging to organise. We learn, we learn also from mistakes and it is a part of the process.
Like the weather, sometimes it is sunny, sometimes cloudy, sometimes rainy and from time to time stormy, I would like to hide under the bed sheets.
Is it that we need a sheperd leading the flock, is it that we are not able enough to lead ourselves, maybe that we don´t trust the others enough or as mirrors, we project our own insecurities in others, so that others feel insecure about us…?
Feeding and energy is the core topic of this Galician meeting. We’ve got a cook, whose name is Chus. Chus is a thin, small mature woman, that surely has cooked for hundreds and surely thousand of people. Both toghether with Paula (coordinator) designed the menu for the meeting, and it seems participants are very satisfied with the results.
Cooking as art and factory of health and emotions, isn’t it?
In the afternoon, Agata prepared some gluten free pancakes (potato, corn and buckwheat) filled with fruits and Dianette, Fabio and Paula prepared pizza for the next day coming… Then the music arrived.
March 1st
Who’s that girl? Madonna’s hit title comes to my head, as I wonder who is each one of the woman being in the Galician meeting. Who are they, why are they here, what are our common points? What can we learn from each other?
Alena, Misa, Kaci, Agata, Kamila, Jana, Jana, Maria, Terka, Karolina, Ania, Patricia, Sara, Sonia, Dianettis, Lorena, Milena…
We were in Fontao, we were with our children, mates, husbands, neighbours, we opened part of our current spaces, some of our houses, we ate the pizzas we had prepared the previous day and we drank.
I forgot to say that we improvised and we decided things on the go, but we decided. According to my self-indulgent vision of life, we didn’t kill anybody, and I would say there were non collaletaral damages, I hope. ¿?
Raining and raining.
March 2nd
At this moment I feel so tired and sleppy. The day was light and easy to lead. Wine is a perfect host, so, hurrray for the wine and the people and women who offered and drank it at Breixa.
Coming to the hostel this morning, there were trees and branches on the road, as last night was wery rainy and windy. After the storm the calm arrives. So at Mouriscade there was a delightful calmness state. Every thing flowing, with the stories of those who wanted to tell us and the intervision to practise the real listening.
I think that somewhere else in the world is happening what we have lived these days, or maybe something similar happened time ago.
The cunca is the galician name for the recipient used to drink young wine. We could rename the meeting Wine and Woman.
Even Brais was refreshed by the Atlantic air, renewed and clearminded.
Tomorrow we will have Dianettis bagel for breakfast, plenty of rythm and assúcar (sugar).
March 3rd, last day
The day is intended to be very emotional as it is the last day. Emotions are in the air, and joy too. In the morning, the circle . One by one, we share how do we feel. Then the love letter to ourseves, Kamila is in rock’n roll mode, so we stay with for some seconds with him (Jimmy).
In some way our heads are here and there at the same time, thinking about the things we want to do or the words we want to exchange.
It’s a bit like “hurry up, the train is going in few minutes”.
The stories. Coming back to the circle. I like the children in their circles. Everything is so natural. Why?
Today words are lazy in my mind. I imagine those fireworks pointing the end of the party.
But, what will remain of all of this? Maybe the idea of how to prepare a healthy meal for our children?… maybe, the wish we will run into another meeting? Somehow the fact there is a before and an after, we are not alone mommas.
Happy dreams!!
— Cristina: Galician poet, forest manager, mom of 3.
