the mile high city/ken

we're in denver, our last night away from home, about to go to a colorado rockies game with a family from long island (my old stomping ground) who also attends the cambodian heritage camps. camp was truly wonderful, but it's nice being about 3600 feet lower. i can't believe i miss humidity.
if you didn't know, there are 10 separate parent run heritage camps at the Y in the Rockies --e.g.,Cambodia, China, Korea, India, Carribean, Africa, etc.--that are offered in the summer, where the kids are (finally) in the majority both in their ethnicity and family configurations(i.e., adopted). the counselors also share the same ethnicity -so for molly's camp, 98% of her counselors are cambodian american. the kids and the parents revel in this. the kids go to activities all day that enhance their identity and understanding of their culture of origin and the parents attend workshops that address a great variety of adoption -related issues. there is a unique sense of openness among the population. watching molly interact with both peers and adults was a testament to how much she has grown.
today, in denver, walking down the posh 16th street mall, we noticed many down and out folks selling a newspaper called the denver voice. this is a newspaper sold by folks out of work, homeless. they sell it for a buck, where 25 cents of each sale goes back to the organization to cover costs, and the folks selling it get 75 cents. the paper talks about homelessnss, identifies homeless shelters, places serving free meals, etc. we ended up buyin 3 papers from three individuals and listened to their stories --which is part of the whole idea. i think they have a website denvervoice.org or just google it.
we're looking forward to coming home to family and friends, and we also are glancing towards returning to cambodia in 2 to 3 years.