thefutureisred

Photo Essay: Folding Origami With the Blind

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to teach origami to someone who can't see? I hadn't, until I met my friend Monica at the Salta public library for a lesson.

At the far end of the Salta library -- corner of Belgrano and Sarmiento, across the street from the Salta branch Museo de Bellas Artes -- you'll find a spacious room specially for the blind. That is cienaga in Spanish or the more appropriate term novidente.

Wind chimes tied to the door jingle as you walk in. Maria Elena, the woman who organizes the place, pops out from a back room when she hears me enter. It is a well lit and quiet room with three tables where people study, read and in our case learn to fold origami cranes.

 
 

That's Monica on the left and Maria Elena on the right. Maria Elena immediately asks to join when she learns what we're doing.

Monica taught me to make cranes by showing me step by step. First she'd make the fold while I watched, then I'd copy. I couldn't imagine how she'd teach Maria Elena without the ability to visually show the steps.

It was actually very simple. Monica showed her the first fold and Maria Elena placed her hands on Monica's. Then Maria Elena made the same fold herself with Monica guiding.

It took the same amount of time for Maria Elena to learn the crane folding steps as me. And it didn't take long for me to realize that seeing has many different meaning. It is not different for me to see with my hands as for Maria Elena to see with her eyes. They two are simply different expressions of perception, akin to different dialects of a language.

Another thing I noticed. Each of our cranes had their own personalities. Mine had a longer beak and larger body. Monica's had a longer tail and delicate beak, while the wings of Maria Elena's birds looked as if about to take flight.

Update: Making Paint In Your Argentinian Kitchen

Last week, Lila and I experimented with making paint. It didn´t work well at all.

First, I couldn´t find the food coloring, so really, all we had was white paint. Then, it didn´t give very good coverage and was rather grainy. Still, we decided to make the best of things and instead used it for glue. It wasn´t perfect as glue, but it worked.

So today, we tried glue again. Only this time, I left out the oil and salt. Just flour and enough water for it to form a gluey, gloppy paste. Bad paint, great glue.

Here is the picture Lila took of her work of art:

As you can see, it´s mixed media. Paint, markers, crayon, glitter glue, flowers and of course, our homemade glue. It worked extremely well. Sort of makes me not want to eat floury products anymore, though.

As for the paint, we´ll keep trying. Perhaps if we add the salt, but lessen the amount of vegetable oil used the consistency will be smoother and not as gloppy. Also, it woudln´t hurt to give it a whirl in the blender. See what that does.

As for color, I still haven´t found our food coloring. Very disappointed that I lost it, too. We used that coloring for everything from art projects to cooking, and Lila loved it. I haven´t seen any in stores here.

What we will do instead is attempt to create our own colors by boiling plants and flowers in water. Beets, for example. Then, we´ll use the colored water to make our paint.

Oh What A Lovely Day

We spent the day in El Debenir - the hectare of land in Salta where we now live in exchange for work. There's composting, a vegetable garden, dog, cats, lots of plants and medicinal herbs, a playground and plenty of room to roam between our casita, the geriatric home being built and the main house. Today Lila and I made lentil soup, then picked tomatoes, basil and lime from the garden for a salad. Then, we started a paper making project. We found pieces of wood for the frame and started soaking old supermarket circulars.

 Then Lila put on her tutu and shirt and danced while I sang Baby Beluga. Then all three of us took the bus to a nearby heladeria with a play area. When I got back home, I worked on my Hot Momma case profile. The Hot Momma's Project is a collection of cases as part of a leadership program housed by the GWU School of Business. It's been a long lovely day, and I find myself here as the day turns into tomorrow, feeling for the first time since we arrived in Argentina, a little bit more relaxed and normal.