Boulder Rocks

Three weeks after I arrived in Boulder, I am still here. My new job is great, and very close to my apartment and to downtown. That's right: I've decided to stay. It didn't take long for me to realize that this was not going to be a mere 2-week visit. Boulder is not an enormous city, but it isn't small either. With just over 100,000 residents, it has both a town-feel and city-vibe. The Flatirons rise at a precipitous angle to the southwest, almost obscuring the first Brobdingnagian* white-capped Rockies.

(*Brob•ding•nag•i•an, meaning "enormous", derives from the name of the "land of giants" in Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. It's just such a fun word, I couldn't help myself! Anyway, back to the point...)

A few days after I arrived, I am exploring Pearl Street, the buzzing heart of the city, with my friend and getting a feel for its pulse. There never seems to be a dull moment on Pearl: A Jamaican contortionist gathers a small crowd in the plaza between an Italian Bistro and an eclectic burrito joint enigmatically named "Illegal Pete's". Nearby, a cacophonous battery of rhythm from a sweating young drummer beating on pickle drums and wooden boxes has drowned out a white-bearded folk guitarist, who is now collecting a fat wad of $1's and $5's from his open guitar case, preparing to move to a less musically-crowded area. He will have to go pretty far, as the next block is dominated by a pair of middle-aged didgeridoo players in Keens puffing away next to a long-haired hammer dulcimer player and a type-writing man with a cardboard sign boasting "Instant Poems about Anyone or Anything". Subsequent blocks are similarly flecked with jugglers, jabberers, musicians and magicians.

Spotting our meandering path, a Greenpeace canvaser has drawn a bead on us, but we evade him by ducking into a gregariously colorful kite shop, where great blue dragonflies hang in a suspended dance among fiery comets and frozen rainbow curlycue spirals and fluttering streamers. The adults in the store seem just as enchanted with the assortment of toys, kites and candy as the wide-eyed children cooing with delight. The sensory overload is almost dizzying. Peeking outside, it appears that the coast is clear, but as we walk back into the street the surreptitious canvaser catches us anyway. But unbeknownst to him I have one last trick up my sleeve: I look him furtively in the eye and utter the magic passwords: "Arctic Sunrise", and he melts away like a Himalayan glacier. My friend raises a questioning eyebrow, but my best Mona Lisa face offers no explanation.

As the day matures we decide it's sandwich time. Kat knows a good place down by 22nd Street, so we turn around and head for the East End. Along the way two words catch my eye, as they always do: fair trade. The store beneath these wonderful words is called Momentum, and reminds me greatly of East Lansing's delightful fair trade shop, Kirabo, so I decide to stop in. (And you can "click-in" as well, for I have provided links to both their webpages. Check them out!) The pretty blue-eyed girl at the counter greets me, and we strike up a conversation. We talk about fair trade, the peace corps and traveling. Impressed, she informs me that the store is actually currently hiring, and that I should apply. Well! This day just keeps getting better and better!

And so I did apply. Kat helped me write a thoughtful cover letter, and I submitted it with my resume and references. A few days later they call me in for a short personal interview, followed by a "working interview", in which they sent me out solo onto the sales floor to greet and interact with customers. Peopleing comes naturally to me, and my knowledge of the fair trade movement is substantial, so manning the floor was a breeze. (I only had one awkward moment: I tried to greet and engage a great fat man in aviator glasses, who responded to me only in bearish grunts. Ooookay, yep, that was awkward.) An hour later they offered me the position, and started me training right away. I was elated, if a bit dizzied by the quickness of all these happenings.

This all occurred just under two weeks ago, and I am really loving this job. The owners are great, and my 4 coworkers are wonderfully friendly and helpful. I am catching on quickly to the routines and rhythms of the store, though I still have a lot to learn. My very favorite thing is reading then recounting the product stories that accompany the items we sell. The multi-colored throw blankets hanging on wooden hooks along the back wall are actually recycled saris from India, hand-sewn by impoverished women rescued from Kolkata's (Calcutta's) brutal sex-trafficking industry. Embroidered baby bibs and dolls provide essential income for a group of Zimbabwean women who have been ostracized by their communities for deciding to keep and raise their handicapped children. The Women's Bean Project supports battered or economically disadvantaged women in Denver through the sale of a variety of homemade soup mixes, iced teas and candy. Cards From Africa ensures steady employment and offers vital support for Rwandan youths, orphaned by violence or disease, who have become the head of their families and must now care for their younger siblings. And there are hundreds more. It is amazing just how much buying a fairly traded product can positively impact the lives of some of the world's most marginalized people. The more I learn, the more I want to promote and support the movement.

I expect to post more good news from Boulder in the coming weeks, so check back here soon. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

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Want to learn more about fair trade? Check out these links:

A Wikipedia overview
Fair Trade USA
Fair Trade Federation
Fair Trade International
Ten Thousand Villages, Fair Trade handicrafts
Cards from Africa, an amazing organization
Fair Trade News (via Google)

<---- Also, look for these symbols!