pinay sister in the praktis

during my lil' day trip to deerpark, i "re-met" a pinay sister whom i had spoken to briefly during the people of color retreat in march 2004. maiana was her name and the reason i remember her was she shared with me these fly flip babayin tattoos on her arms. well, i saw her again at deerpark this weekend and with her pamilya (nay and brother joined in the quiet retreat fun). then later that day, i realized, could she be the writer i've seen and heard on an old flip spoken word cd from the bay area produced several years back now...infliptration. could she be maiana minahal?

all i remember from her kind gesture to say hi to me and my "oh yeah, i remember you, the tattoos!" afterwards was the sound of her name and then i realized, she's that writer. like an excited groupie of sorts, i was all excited to ask her if she was that writer/poet and then, well, i think she and her family packed up and left before i had a chance to reconnect.

i arrived home, looked up her name and picture and i think it was/is her.

anyways, if i see maiana (ma-ya-na) again, i'll make sure to bring it up.

either way, it was cool to see a pinay with her pamilya at deer park. very healing to praktis with other flipbuddhas. i guess in my still small mind, i feel an immediate sense of comfort to know i can continue on my path and my community is with me here, too. entering the dharma path is not about leaving one's home, it's about expanding one's HOME and going deeper to rest within the depths of myself.

:-)
isanghamahal
to sister maiana
your praktis
pamilya
and creative work