On Faith and redemption.

I just read an incredible story that could have been written by me.

It was an account of an amazing conversion story from a militant feminista- pro-choice, anti-Catholic woman.

Thinking back on that version of me is great, it shows me where I've been and where I never have to go ever again.

I know that there were people praying for me then. I also know that it was God's truest love for me that brought me back to him, in the most wonderful real way. I believe it was through the prayers of others and the seed of hope I had within myself that I too would someday find my true self, my true love for Jesus Christ. I have found him because he never gave up hope for me, not once.

So- please, as Jane asks, I ask too, pray for those women. They need your prayers, they need to know that the world, that Christ has not given up on them.

In Him.

Victoria Martinez.

Feliz Noviembre!

Just saying Hey and sorry I haven't blogged in 4-Evah.
Write more this afternoon.

Ingrid Betancourt Released!

How awesome is this foto! It's 2008 Pride Fest in Bogota
The caption reads: "Say No to Kidnapping"

So- prayers of her safe released were answered yesterday.

I am as stunned that she is with us and safe as anyone following this story.

I only learned of Ingrid this year when I was working in Chile, and her x-husband came to Santiago to plead for the Chilean Govt. to help in her recovery.

Senora Betancourt is amazingly brave and after our collective loss of

Benezir Bhuto we needed such a peace-making heroine to emerge- safe and sound and back in the public eye.

I can only pray that this means the end of the FARC terrorist regime and a new age for

beloved Colombia y Colombianos. ( I realize some of you reading this may not agree, so please feel free to reply if you like-)

I don't pretend to know a lot about Colombian history and the war being waged as we speak,

but this, if there ever was one, is a wonderful omen for the heart of Colombians everywhere, and for hope.
Viva Ingrid y la gente de Colombia. May you see your beautiful country rebuild very soon.

Esta Esperanza!

Warrior Life.

It's June 24th, so much has happened since I wrote last I can't even begin to tell
you all how many wonderful things...
I'll post a couple images of my new and amazing life.
I have decided that Porque Sipo should stay my permanent blog and to to begin
writing about my To Shin Do martial art practice, both for purposes of remembering the
work I'm doing weekly, but also to share what an amazing group of people I have let
into my life...
I'll try to post a vid of Steven K. Hayes, founder of To-Shin Do from YouTube soon.
But, if you wanna learn more than what I am going to say about my own experience,
you should go to http://www.boulderquest.com/ .
First of all, I have to say that I am really proud of myself for creating a great intention for my future when I was in Chile. Having worked for and along side such amazing people gave me a strength I had completely forgotten was within me. Finalmente, soy la fuerza de mi vida y mundo) -Finally, I am the force of my life and my world; the embodiment of the Warrior I always knew was inside my heart.
I was able to grow and leave behind the negative things pulling my life into dull torpor.
I have Green Tara, God, my amazing family and support system of friends and my own ability to stand up in the face of whatever comes at me with delight and fortitude.

When I arrived home to the States, I found out, most fortuitously, that His Holiness, The 17th Karmapa; leader of the Kagyu Buddhist Lineage- was finally granted a visa to the United States and would be arriving any day. Not only was he coming to the US, he was going to be in my home; Colorado! Finding this out actually braught me to tears, I was sitting in my office, beaming with happiness- just knowing how long we all have been waiting for this blessed moment, to see his intention to teach the Dharma here in the West come to light. Wow. I was ecstatic- knowing that no matter what, I was going to help HH be here on the ground in his seat in the West.
I volunteered, applied, was accepted, given a spot on the security team.
I can't express the joy I had, knowing that I was going to be a protector of The Karmapa...
How meritous- which is dedicated to all.
So, I finally recieved the ticket to the Mackey through the Shambhala Center here in Boulder and met with the group I was to work with.
The group was headed by some black Tshirt wearing people, who immediately, I could tell were held by integrity and love at the same time.
It turns out that the the people in charge were Kevin Casey and Mary Casey; head teachers and owner of Boulder Quest Center for To-Shin Do practice of the ninja martial art.
I was on the steps, having arrived a bit early to find the Mackey, paint my nails, have some breakfast in peac, then meeting the some of the other folks there for security volunteer,when this guy comes up and introduces himself, like, made a beeline for me and came to say hello. That was Mr. Jeffery Falls. -And I guess I was just taken from that moment, or even before that when I saw him walking up the steps of the Mackey.
So, apparently HH The Karmapa saw my intention to have a great life through knowing and being surrounded by awesome people, and gave me an even greater gift of daily truth and joy, love and real living. There are not enough things I could ever do to thank HH enough, I think the one true thing is to continue my Buddhist practice - share my joy of livin' and becoming a Ninja through the practice and teachings of To-Shin Do.
Can I manifest or What! That would be a yes.



A really cool Green Belt class to watch!Jeff and I this weekend dressed for rehearsal dinner.
Senor Daniel Torres and my man; cool mutha fuckahs.

More awesome Green Belts at Boulder Quest.
I somehow learned to cook delicious Asian spicy lime mango stir-fry!
Vickie's baby, Vickie, Jenna and Me; these girls are crazy awesome.

And our beautiful hosts: The Bride and Groom Christy and Josh.

Thoughts on Leavin: And things 7-10

Thing 7:
I guess I should have learned to always look down when I'm walking here after the poo incident.
However, being me, I rarely do that unless I'm in an area- like my neighborhood where there are many dogs/poo factories.
So, I'm walking along the filthy streets of Arica last week when what should jump up and attack my foot?- one of those damned sign posts, but the ones without a post, it's just a clump of rusted metal waiting like a trap to catch any foot or toe that passes w.out noticing. Fucker.
My little toe was gushing blood, mmm, nice. And luckily I was in Arica where literally there is a drugstore, or 3 on Every block.
So, I was trying to explain hydrogen peroxide to the counter lady, and she gave me some iodine, so I gave up and took bottle of iodine and some Tigger bandaids.
Holy Crap. Aaron wasn't kidding when he said that bandaids are expensiver here.
I bought the Tigger ones cuz they were the price of silver instead of gold.
But, don't worry. Later that night I went out w. the cutest boy in Arica. Leo, sigh.
Pizza, wine and fun conversation can do a lot for a girl's ego. :)
So, Thing 8, find a cute boy to dance with! It's great to find really fun Chileans.
I have to say, all the people I know, they aren't boring, they're pretty cool and have great outlooks on life, however different those outlooks may be.
I think things 8, 9 and 10 would include
-sunning; it's just the most luxurious thing to do here, such a great getaway from the craze of the cities. It's great in Arica, playa Lisera is probably nicer than Vina de Mar and very safe.
-head standing and teaching kids headstands on the beach.
-Leave and come back. Whenever I leave Santiago, I'm so glad to be leaving, but within 24 hours I'm always missing home.
I've enjoyed my time here so much and quite honestly, as most of you predicted, as did I, I don't want to leave. I miss my life in Denver, so I'm glad to be going back, but does Santiago have to be so far away?
I'll miss my WiFi cafes and yummy mango juice drinks and hanging out w. new friends here.
I'll talk about my trip to Buenos Aires in another blog, when I can post pix.
Lo siento mucho, pero no tengo mi cosa para conectar mi camera ahorita.
Puedo mandar los fotos muy pronto. ;)
OK, eso es amigos y amigas.
Besos. V.

butts and more.

For some reason my camera is more apt to take butt pictures
than anything else. Lots of butts just present themselves
to me here in Chile, so here's a few. Happy fat caballo butt.

Groddy Vicuna butt. G to the M dude.
Sara missing an arm and Vic w. rabbit toothed smile I think right after eating the best food either of us has ever tasted!
Police round up horse butts in the park. Down here is My Santiago.

Sara w. possibly her 1st pisco sour. ;)

Isn´t it the 1st day of Spring?

Wow. So much time has passed. I feel sated today.
I realized my favorite color finally: it´s Green!!!
I used to say blue, but as a default , because I just didn´t really have a "favorite".
But, now I realize that I love Green Tara for a reason. Not just that she´s perfectly green, but because she Rules!
Oh, and I want to start teaching yoga to kids, I think it sounds like fun. And in Spanish.
I´m sure I could get some sort of grant from ORR for that right? - That´s a joke for my resettlement amigos. ;)
I was thinking about Pascua, Easter is tomorrow and how I used to adore Easter as a kid.
Mom would always have some special new dresses for Sheila and I, life and happiness were finally back with the baby birds, kittens and weird candies that ushered in the Spring.
It makes me miss home, the feeling of people in the city ditching church Sunday morning to go to breakfast instead, egg hunts in tall green grass and the sun. Marvelous warm sun.
Doesn´t it just make you want to play croquet? Yes, yes it does.

I'm here in Valparaiso, I´m so happy here, people are so nice and it´s always such a great retreat from the city. I expect the church bells of the zillions of churches and cathedrals here will be amazing. I try to record them and see what happens. It´s become a fun past time being a voyeur into a religion I´m no longer part of and have no desire to be. It´s like an great cultural education of a history I used to think I wanted to be in or thought I was at times, but always felt awkward at trying to fit into, like a caged bird looking out onto the world. - No comments about Maya Angelou please ladies. You know how I feel about her. Queen of England.
However, even as a non-believer, I , like Sara Silverman think Jesus was majic.
I mean, I do think he really rose up and walked (yes, as a Zombie does) after expiration, but what´s with this shroud business? I guess it´s the same as keeping buddhist relics burried in the Stupas. Kind of. We all like a direct link to our beliefs, don´t we.
Unless we can give it all up somehow and not return to samsara. But part of me loves this struggle thing that is life. That´s what's harder to relinquish. The love of it all. Don´t worry, this isn´t morbit talk, it´s just pontification on how and when we all are ever gonna reach nirvana, heaven, anything above purgatory I guess is pretty good.
I guess I would like to start with creating Free mobile health clinics for women, kids, animals and of course yoga for kids.
Oh yeah, I think I found purgatory on Earth, it´s called a ferry from Chiloe island back to mainland Chile. Frack that sucked.
But, Sara and I did have again some of the most amazing food in Puerto Varas.
Plus I found the rug of my dreams - it´s pink. So, if you ever get to Chile,
Thing 7:
Go to Chiloe island- Ancud, it´s so lovely and stay at the Mundo something hostel,
and of course eat Machas y parmesana... you,ll be thinking you are on that slice of heaven here on Earth.
OK kids, hugs and love. Wish me luck getting the thrust of my work done next week.
Ciao! Vixx.