Descriptions for these will come soon

More Pictures

Here is my view from my homestay.

The HotelPrincipal lobby where we stayed the first night. Im staying here again on my way out.

The hotel room.

First night Fiesta

This is the fiesta that was happening in the Zocolo my first night in Oaxaca. The pictures are not clear but I thought it would show the energy of the crowd.

La Casa del buen Samatario

On thursday of last week, we visited an organization that was, in english, called The house of the good Samartian. This was an eye opening experience. We learned a little about the program, a place where migrants traveling both away and to home, were able to rest for 3 days with food provide for them. The house was wedged into a little downtown area behind a large grocery store. It had only two very small dorms that could each house about 8 men or women. We had the chance to talk to two migrants who were traveling from Nicerauga and Guatamala. The most eye opening thing was to hear about the dire straites that they were in at home. One had decided to find his way to Miami over the course of one night. He pick up and left at 4.30 in the Morning. Both men we talked to, had at some point so far in their trip to Oaxaca been robbed and beaten. Really eye opening.

More to come, and pictures!

More Pictures

This is the view comming into Oaxaca. Lots of green this time of year. It also
means a fair bit of rain.

The bottom two pictures are of Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is a church in
the center of Oaxaca and is often saught after as a prime location for weddings
of wealthy couples.

It is somwhat unusual for Mexican cities in that it is more beautiful than
the Cathedral that borders the Zocolo, or center square.

First Pictures

These are some traveling buds from my class. Sharron, Jessica, and Joshua.

Santo Domingo, a famous church in downtown Oaxaca.

The Cathedral, borders the Zocolo.

Arrival!

I arrived this morning about noon. The flights went pretty smoothly despite a 45 minute wait on the tarmac in Houston. I traveled with four other classmates the entire trip which made things a little less anxious.

I had the occasion to be duped by a 12 year old on my way over. Here is what happened.

I was loading onto my flight in Portland and came up to my seat. The kid and his grandma were in their appropiate seats, they were my only obstical to my great window seat, where I could look out my window, watch Portland fade away and lean my head against the wall and fall asleep. This is how I pictured it in my mind. This was supposed to be my flight.

Instead, the kid looks up and kinda stammered ´´Uh, um, my grandma and I were wondering if you would change seats with us.´´ I heasetated, I really wanted my window seat. It seemed like he got the message and looked down kinda dissapointed. ´´no, its alright´´ he says.
´´Uh, oh yeah OK´´ I respond fealing guilty that I would take this potential early developmental experience of sitting in a window seat on a plane, away from a kid.

Well what happened, the kid promptly slides over puts on some sleeping blinders and falls asleep before we even take off. He is a pro.

I'm off!

I'm just hours from heading to the airport where I will travel to Oaxaca via Houston. I'm super excited, but I also forgot how much goes into packing and getting ready for travel.

I'd love to respond individually to everyone who has recently written to me, but I have a feeling that I won't have quite enough time, at least not right away. I'll try to get to it in a down moment during the next week.

The raffle was a success, my friends Jay Harragin, Paula Hansen, and Lora Giles were the lucky winners and are currently in a fight to the death-match to win all of the prizes. Hey, thats just how they wanted it, who am I to stop 'em.

Enough for now, there's packing to be done!

I'll check back soon, with pictures hopefully.

Payment option removed...

Apparently it is against the acceptable use policy to accept payments for raffles through a certain website. As a result, I have removed this as a payment option from my page, and all references to the website.

I'm hoping to come up with a good gift for my host family. I'm thinking something tasty, crafty or Oregony. What should I get?

Monte Albán

I'll be really excited to check out this archaeological site located in the state of Oaxaca. The history of the Monte Albán civilization is pretty interesting. It was at its peak in about 600 AD with a population of about 50,000. They had a complex calendar and written language and they documented history through stone inscriptions. If anyone has been to this site and has any tips please let me know.

$800 Raised!

Thanks for the great turn out guys. We've raised enough to cover my air fare to Oaxaca. Next up, sleeping arrangements.

Please forward raffle info along to interested friends.

Oaxaca Raffle!

Dear Friends and Family,

This summer I will be taking a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico for a community service project through Portland State University. The project, titled "Health and Migration" focuses on the health concerns of families in rural Oaxaca. See more information at the link Oaxaca Capstone.

I am working toward raising some of the funds necessary to pay for the trip: program fees, tuition, air fare, and hotel. Toward that end, I am holding a raffle!

1. My good friend and inspiring photographer Allan Zee has generously donated two fine art

prints of photographs taken in Oaxaca (10x14 prints matted to 16x20). See more of his

work at www.allanbrucezee.com. (Retail value $255 each)

2. My mother, aka Terri Risley, aka The Rug Lady, has donated a handmade, 100% wool, Khal
Mohammadi rug (4'9x3'1). (Retail value $350)

Raffle tickets are $10 for one ticket, or $15 for two! Prizes are awarded first draw gets first pick. Raffle will be held on August 1st.

In the event that I raise money beyond what is required, I plan to make a donation to Puente a la Salud Comunitaria which is the non-profit organization that I'll be working with on my trip.

I am honored by any support that you can give. Please forward this on to interested friends and family.

Luke Brown

503-764-7505

Mr.Lucas.Brown@Gmail.com

Please send checks to: Luke Brown C/O Terri Risley 17200 NE Sullivan Ln Newberg, OR 97132