Time Is Tight!

Time is Tight...Simple Update (As soon as time allows I'll write detailed ones)

    We're in a reeeeaaaaaaalllllyyyyy nice house on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. We're trying to see if we can set up an event for tonight to raise some money to get to the next spot. It's been a tough couple of days money wise and the Arizona heat doesn't help much. The minute we entered Arizona the sun came down and said ; Hey guys...I'm going to be ticking you off the whole time you're in this state...How do you like them apples? Since time is tight and we're all on the grind I'm going to write a basic update of what's been going on. Don't worry (Monica) I'll write a detailed update soon.
    So we made it to San Antonio and met up with Monica. She has one of the most beautiful spirits that many of us have ever met. Not once in the time that we met her did she not smile or have an indestructible love for life. She works with the South West Workers Union (a 20 year old Organization that was created to fight for the rights of teachers and has grown to be an organization that works hard for others) under Ruben and introduced us to him so that we could stay at his house. He has a large house that wasn't as hot as it was outside (which all good with me). As soon as we walked in he welcomed us and let us know about his home's Mexican style plumbing (C=caliente H=helado). Soon after Monica re-arrived with some of the best breakfast burritos I've had. For those of you that don't know...Tex-Mex food is the bomb.  During breakfast Ruben taught us an extensive After breakfast we all found a spot to chill out it and relaxed until we had to head over to our workshop.
    Monica came by and picked us up so that we could head to our workshop. Actually we followed her in our bus. She stopped by the South West Workers Union office to pick some things up and we were back on our way. When we got to the venue Ruta Maya we found a basement packed full of youth. We presented our "Hip Hop and Poetry Save My Life" workshop and had a great time with this particular group of youth. The kids were wise beyond their years and threw out issues that they were seeing in their communities with no problem. When we did one of the techniques we teach (bubble technique) they immediately blurted out phrases that youth their age should not have to be concerned with. Phrases and words like police brutality, poverty, gentrification and others flew through the room we were in with the power of ancestral knowledge. Later on we learned that many of these youth are very involved in their communities working hard to stand up for the rights of su gente. After the workshop we had a few hours to rest before our performance that night.
    The performance was at a venue called Cafe Latino. It was a packed house and some amazing artists vocal and musical artists like Vocab and Bombasta blessed the outdoor stage. We performed our set and dealt with some sound difficulties (mics kept giving off feedback) while at it we rocked a live crowd and had a great time doing so. There was an awesome party afterwards that had us all dancing and enjoying ourselves. There was a guy that liked the event so much that during the party he came up to me and said... You guys were awesome. Dude! Your like coffee...I wanna just drink you up! To which I politely answered thank you and slowly walked away lol.
    The next day we had an outdoor performance in Hondo, Texas. the stage was setup on a long trailer and it was under the stairs. After the event there in Hondo we headed straight to El Paso which was a loooong drive. At El Paso we were greeted by Monica's beautiful family. The love and warmth that Monica had given us was granted to us by her family as well. In El Paso we realized that we had no money and needed to do so some fundraising. We were fortunate enough to get a couple of events where we made enough money to get back on the road. 
    This is a quick update to let you all know where we are. Hopefully if we get more time I can write a more detailed one soon. Thank you so Monica and her familia for being the warm beautiful people they are and for making us feel at home from the moment we met Monica to the moment we said good bye. Much amor para ustedes.

-Latin