So I know I wrote two days ago, but I have stuff to write again, so I will before I forget! Yesterday was a crazy day of learning for me. In class we talked about public health and went to the LA County Department of Health and
spent some time learning there. Then Mia from Community Health Councils, Inc. came and talked to us about what her organization is doing to promote health is South Los Angeles. We learned even more about injustices down there. You see, South LA has a stigma for having a bunch of unhealthy fat people. But if their only options for food are gross grocery stores that even sell stuff passed the expiration dates, overpriced convenience stores with limited options (and still expired goods), and fast food, of course they are going to be unhealthy. Right now CHC is getting ready to release a bunch of dirt on the grocers who've turned their backs on the area. They tried to be nice, but Ralph's just didn't want to comply. All CHC asked was that Ralph's care as much about the stores in South LA as they do for all others. And CHC warned them that they had plenty of information. But Kroeger's (the company that owns Ralph's and Food4Less) didn't care. Most of us students were outraged at this.
I got to thinking about it as Mia was leaving that it would be a great internship place. So I called her after class and set up an interview for today. After that, I left for Azusa! I took the Gold Line, which is actually pretty efficient, and Meredith picked me up. I ate dinner with Allie and Carolyn, went to Starbucks with Kelsey, Brian and Amber, and then had a few minutes to catch my breath before the AC group interview. It was so good to hang out with those people again. I got to share a little bit of what I am learning, which is good for me in processing the whole thing.
The group interview was amazing. I had a ton of fun, and everyone applying is great. The final team that is picked is going to be phenomenal. For real. We find out on Monday. And I'll either get it, or I won't. Either that's where God wants me, or it's not. I'll be okay either way,but I'd really like to be an AC. If not, I'll just apply to be a returner. They aren't getting rid of me that easily! Plus, I'm not done with Alpha yet. I know I want to be involved in some aspect. After the interview, I was able to go to Kaleo and worship with voices all around me. I got to see my Emily and Pickolas and Cody and my alpha students, Meredith, Milton, and maria! (Wow, I just realized I saw all the Ms at the same time!) Woody talked about loving our neighbor, as in the parable of the good Samaritan. I thought a lot about South LA. Afterwards, I saw another Alphie (Sara) and Kari and Melissa. And BAILEY, my RA, who did a dance when he saw me. Except it wasn't cuz he saw me, it was because I told him we were dancing. But it was still funny. It was so good to everyone, if only for a brief moment.
Today, I had my interview for CHC, and I think I may be interning there. I'm really excited. I'll be researching to see if there are any policies existing that deal with the sell of expired goods, and if not, I get to be a part of developing a proposal, I think. And I get to help set up the big symposium, where CHC is going to release all their information. I'm so excited. I call her tomorrow to let her know my decision, but I'm pretty set there, especially since South Central LAMP was a bummer and CHIRLA never called me back. I did call Inner City Law Center, but if I can't get an interview today, I won't go there. I was supposed to have this a week ago. I've realized I love South LA. People there are hilarious. I was walking down the street and smiled my usual greeting at the the guy I was sharing the sidewalk with and he was like "OOH! Little Red Riding Hood! Ain't choo cute wit cho.." and I didn't catch the rest of it.But then he shouted his number to me. I just laughed, because really, that's all you can do. And now I'm done. :)
Prayerness: Praise God I've gotten an internship pretty much set up. I feel like He just had to guide me to where He wanted me. Keep in mind, I find out about AC on Monday. Prayer for that would be appreciated! Thank God for the return of joy. But you can pray that I stop being lazy about homework and start finishing before I go to bed so that I don't have to wake up at 4:30. I have to admit, that is a bit of a drag. Oh! Pray for Nayeli (I have no idea if that's how you spell it), Juanita's niece who's in the hospital. And that's about it at the moment, I think.
Love love!
Tracy
PS. Friends and family are encouraged to come visit us and to even attend class with us to see what we're learning! ;)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
1/27
I don't even know what to title these things anymore now that we're into the semester. And might I add that it's extremely difficult to keep up and be consistent. I'm already falling behind!
Ok, so since Wednesday, on which I forgot to tell you, our friend who we see at the Metro stop everyday brought us Ferrero Rocher chocolates! A 12 pack each! That was very generous of him. That was the day we found out his name: Louis!
Thursday was the second day for interviews and setting up internships. I tried calling and emailing people. I called Sarah, the program coordinator and she gave me another name to contact (which ended up being a dead end), but she also consoled me and told me that there's really not a whole lot that I can do about them not calling me. And she said that if I didn't start Tuesday, it would be okay. I spent all day by myself because Lydia did have interviews and Erika was at school and Juanita was at work. But before they all came home, I left to go hang out with Dino. That was good. We had Thai food, and he brought me some stuff I had left at home. Like my guitar. I'm so glad I have it now, except for the fact that it's out of tune. But I suppose that's easily remedied.
Friday was our first day of Community Organization and Social Change. We talked about the differences between charity, relief, community development and community organization and a little bit about how we're doing with homesickness and such. I realized that I was a little hungry for communication. You all can read this and feel connected to me in a way, but I'm lacking contact with you guys. Please feel free to call me. I'd probably love to hear your voice and know how you're doing! After class, some of us decided we'd go to Chinatown and then to my house to watch Arrested Development! Well, before we went there, Jesse had an interview, so Lydia, Josh and I went to Starbucks and chatted it up for a bit. Then we met them in Chinatown after they had managed to pick our teacher from off the Metro. So he hung out with us, and we all ate fried bananas (which were delicious!) and then went and got $2 combos from ABC Seafood, which isn't only seafood. There wasn't room to sit in there, so we went to a bakery that Paul (our teacher, whom we call P. Diddy) showed us. There we ate, sampled pastries that Paul bought us and drank boba! Good stuff. We laughed and told stories. I'm pretty sure I've never hung out with a teacher outside of class before. One of the coolest things ever! :) After that Aicia and Jesse came over and stayed the night. We watched first 7 episodes of Arrested Development and then they went home. And we did our homework. Kind of. I can't rememeber what Saturday was like. Oh! I talked to Allie for almost an hour. That was really good. I definitely felt better after that. And later, most of the LA Term students got together and we ended up at the same restaurant that I went to on Thursday. The food was just as good the second time. (If you want good Thai food in LA, go to Tip's House. Or Alice's restaurant, but I haven't been there yet.) Then I came home and went to sleep. End of Saturday.
Sunday started with my meeting Christy and Brittan to got to church at Immanuel Presbyterian. We made it for the last bit of the bilingual service and the whole English one. I think I'd probably like the bilingual one better, but that's ok. The worship music was odd, and then I realized that it was probably from Africa, so I looked in the bulletin. Sure enough, the first song was in Zulu and the second was from Tanzania. Then came the sermon. It was the first time I'd ever heard a female pastor speak. She talked about no worrying so much about what you're supposed to do in life. It's about how you do it. God gave you passions, but he wants you to live for Him. It was definitely different from what I'm used to. I felt like I was stuck in the early 90s. Next week, I'll try F.A.M.E. (First African Methodist Episcopal) or the Church of the Redeemer. Anyways, after church, I went with Christy and Brittan for a quick stop at the Coffee Bean (my first time ever) and ordered a Winter Dream Latte. When I had gone to Starbucks last, I ordered a Vanilla Rooibos Latte. I realize that I absolutely adore tea lattes. They are delicious! You should try one. And shortly after that, I met up with Alicia and Jesse and Lydia and Brianna and Bethel and Josh to go watch some more Arrested Development at Alicia and Jesse's homestay. (Noticing a pattern?) After about 4 episodes, there were just four of us, and Jonathan joined us, too. We ate dinner with their family, which was great. They made their own Jamaica and Horchata! It was so good. I'm starting to see that I'm pretty in love with new beverages. I guess you could say I like to drink. ;) Or not. Then, because it was dark Jonathan and Josh came with me to make sure I got home alright and ended up sticking around for a little while, mostly doing homework. Then as the bus pulled up for them to leave, we all gave each other hugs, and the bus started to pull away! It was the funniest thing to watch them chase it down for 13 seconds.
Monday we talked about our reading (the first 3 chapters of The Powers That Be by Walter Wink) and discussed spirituality and systems for a while. Then we split into four groups and walked around South LA on another sort of Scavenger hunt, but it was more for observation than anything. (We have to use it to write a paper. Boo.)After class, I came home and had my telephone AC interview. I can't tell you whether it went well or not, but I can tell you I'll either get the position or I won't. :) But really, I'm not upset with the way I represented myself, because I was honest in what I thought. Wednesday is the group interview, so I'll be on APU campus for a few hours. Christy and Brittan came over for GossipGirl, but it was a rerun, so I was very upset. We think it'll be a weekly thing now, them coming over to watch it after yoga. That was the end of Monday pretty much, except for the fact that I toca'ed the guitarra for a little while and got a phone call from South Central LAMP (because Sarah had given me the Executive Director's cell phone number). She told me to go to the open house and talk to (yet another) person who could help me.
So this morning, I got up and was on my way to South Central. When I got off the bus, I couldn't remember the address, so I asked around, walked a little bit in the wrong direction, then realized I could call the organization. I pressed 4 and the recorded message told me that I had to go to 104 West 47th. The problem was that I was at 1000 47th street. So I walked West. For a while. When the numbers started going up again, I knew something was wrong. Then I realized that the address was for 47th PLACE. Not Street. So I walked up half a block and started looking around. From what I could tell, there wasn't a 104 West 47th Place in existance. So I called the operator, and she told me that they operated out of the building on McKinley and 48th Street. The problem is that I had passed McKinley fairly early on in my journey. I had to walk back to almost where I started. I finaly arrived and actually talked to the person I was directed to! Luckily, I had brought my resume with me just in case. She told me that they were in need of someone to do administrative work. Not what I expected. I had really wanted to do something with ESL, but they had only the idea of individual tutoring. If I did that, it'd be rocky at first and it wouldn't start for a while. I'd mostly do paperwork and phone calls, which is not really what our internship is supposed to be about. I still haven't heard from CHIRLA and I'm not sure about South Central LAMP. I'm just frustrated with it all. I wish I could know. And I wish it would work out soon.
Pray for it. Please. It's stressful when everyone else started work today and I'm still looking for an internship. Also, pray for what I'm learning and that my mind and heart will be opened. That I'll be able to go deeper. I'm going back to APU tomorrow for the interview, and hopefully I'll see a few friends. Continue in prayer for my church search. And that's all I can think of for now. I'm a little sad inside, but I'm not sure why. So pray. Prayer is always good.
Goodbye for now, folks!
Teej :)
Ok, so since Wednesday, on which I forgot to tell you, our friend who we see at the Metro stop everyday brought us Ferrero Rocher chocolates! A 12 pack each! That was very generous of him. That was the day we found out his name: Louis!
Thursday was the second day for interviews and setting up internships. I tried calling and emailing people. I called Sarah, the program coordinator and she gave me another name to contact (which ended up being a dead end), but she also consoled me and told me that there's really not a whole lot that I can do about them not calling me. And she said that if I didn't start Tuesday, it would be okay. I spent all day by myself because Lydia did have interviews and Erika was at school and Juanita was at work. But before they all came home, I left to go hang out with Dino. That was good. We had Thai food, and he brought me some stuff I had left at home. Like my guitar. I'm so glad I have it now, except for the fact that it's out of tune. But I suppose that's easily remedied.
Friday was our first day of Community Organization and Social Change. We talked about the differences between charity, relief, community development and community organization and a little bit about how we're doing with homesickness and such. I realized that I was a little hungry for communication. You all can read this and feel connected to me in a way, but I'm lacking contact with you guys. Please feel free to call me. I'd probably love to hear your voice and know how you're doing! After class, some of us decided we'd go to Chinatown and then to my house to watch Arrested Development! Well, before we went there, Jesse had an interview, so Lydia, Josh and I went to Starbucks and chatted it up for a bit. Then we met them in Chinatown after they had managed to pick our teacher from off the Metro. So he hung out with us, and we all ate fried bananas (which were delicious!) and then went and got $2 combos from ABC Seafood, which isn't only seafood. There wasn't room to sit in there, so we went to a bakery that Paul (our teacher, whom we call P. Diddy) showed us. There we ate, sampled pastries that Paul bought us and drank boba! Good stuff. We laughed and told stories. I'm pretty sure I've never hung out with a teacher outside of class before. One of the coolest things ever! :) After that Aicia and Jesse came over and stayed the night. We watched first 7 episodes of Arrested Development and then they went home. And we did our homework. Kind of. I can't rememeber what Saturday was like. Oh! I talked to Allie for almost an hour. That was really good. I definitely felt better after that. And later, most of the LA Term students got together and we ended up at the same restaurant that I went to on Thursday. The food was just as good the second time. (If you want good Thai food in LA, go to Tip's House. Or Alice's restaurant, but I haven't been there yet.) Then I came home and went to sleep. End of Saturday.
Sunday started with my meeting Christy and Brittan to got to church at Immanuel Presbyterian. We made it for the last bit of the bilingual service and the whole English one. I think I'd probably like the bilingual one better, but that's ok. The worship music was odd, and then I realized that it was probably from Africa, so I looked in the bulletin. Sure enough, the first song was in Zulu and the second was from Tanzania. Then came the sermon. It was the first time I'd ever heard a female pastor speak. She talked about no worrying so much about what you're supposed to do in life. It's about how you do it. God gave you passions, but he wants you to live for Him. It was definitely different from what I'm used to. I felt like I was stuck in the early 90s. Next week, I'll try F.A.M.E. (First African Methodist Episcopal) or the Church of the Redeemer. Anyways, after church, I went with Christy and Brittan for a quick stop at the Coffee Bean (my first time ever) and ordered a Winter Dream Latte. When I had gone to Starbucks last, I ordered a Vanilla Rooibos Latte. I realize that I absolutely adore tea lattes. They are delicious! You should try one. And shortly after that, I met up with Alicia and Jesse and Lydia and Brianna and Bethel and Josh to go watch some more Arrested Development at Alicia and Jesse's homestay. (Noticing a pattern?) After about 4 episodes, there were just four of us, and Jonathan joined us, too. We ate dinner with their family, which was great. They made their own Jamaica and Horchata! It was so good. I'm starting to see that I'm pretty in love with new beverages. I guess you could say I like to drink. ;) Or not. Then, because it was dark Jonathan and Josh came with me to make sure I got home alright and ended up sticking around for a little while, mostly doing homework. Then as the bus pulled up for them to leave, we all gave each other hugs, and the bus started to pull away! It was the funniest thing to watch them chase it down for 13 seconds.
Monday we talked about our reading (the first 3 chapters of The Powers That Be by Walter Wink) and discussed spirituality and systems for a while. Then we split into four groups and walked around South LA on another sort of Scavenger hunt, but it was more for observation than anything. (We have to use it to write a paper. Boo.)After class, I came home and had my telephone AC interview. I can't tell you whether it went well or not, but I can tell you I'll either get the position or I won't. :) But really, I'm not upset with the way I represented myself, because I was honest in what I thought. Wednesday is the group interview, so I'll be on APU campus for a few hours. Christy and Brittan came over for GossipGirl, but it was a rerun, so I was very upset. We think it'll be a weekly thing now, them coming over to watch it after yoga. That was the end of Monday pretty much, except for the fact that I toca'ed the guitarra for a little while and got a phone call from South Central LAMP (because Sarah had given me the Executive Director's cell phone number). She told me to go to the open house and talk to (yet another) person who could help me.
So this morning, I got up and was on my way to South Central. When I got off the bus, I couldn't remember the address, so I asked around, walked a little bit in the wrong direction, then realized I could call the organization. I pressed 4 and the recorded message told me that I had to go to 104 West 47th. The problem was that I was at 1000 47th street. So I walked West. For a while. When the numbers started going up again, I knew something was wrong. Then I realized that the address was for 47th PLACE. Not Street. So I walked up half a block and started looking around. From what I could tell, there wasn't a 104 West 47th Place in existance. So I called the operator, and she told me that they operated out of the building on McKinley and 48th Street. The problem is that I had passed McKinley fairly early on in my journey. I had to walk back to almost where I started. I finaly arrived and actually talked to the person I was directed to! Luckily, I had brought my resume with me just in case. She told me that they were in need of someone to do administrative work. Not what I expected. I had really wanted to do something with ESL, but they had only the idea of individual tutoring. If I did that, it'd be rocky at first and it wouldn't start for a while. I'd mostly do paperwork and phone calls, which is not really what our internship is supposed to be about. I still haven't heard from CHIRLA and I'm not sure about South Central LAMP. I'm just frustrated with it all. I wish I could know. And I wish it would work out soon.
Pray for it. Please. It's stressful when everyone else started work today and I'm still looking for an internship. Also, pray for what I'm learning and that my mind and heart will be opened. That I'll be able to go deeper. I'm going back to APU tomorrow for the interview, and hopefully I'll see a few friends. Continue in prayer for my church search. And that's all I can think of for now. I'm a little sad inside, but I'm not sure why. So pray. Prayer is always good.
Goodbye for now, folks!
Teej :)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Since Saturday!
Well, since Saturday morning. On our way out of the house, somehow I stepped off the stair wrong and totally rolled my ankle. It hurt more than it had when I had done the same in the past. But I didn't want to look dumb, so I just smiled and kept walking. It hurt. But my thought was, "Just walk it off." We got in the taxi, and I rubbed it for a little while, and it was fine during lunch and only bothered me when taking the stairs up and down from the rooftop. When we got home, we put our food away, and left again for Placita Olvera! It was great and the crowds made it ever better! It actually made it seem more authentic! :) I bought a gorrito and tried a coco roll, which was DELICIOUS! Then we watched a break dancing group and they pulled Lydia into the middle. It was great fun to watch (and video)! Then we made our way into the church right there, and Juanita told us that the church is really big on helping immigrants right now. When we got back home, my ankle was.. pretty swollen. Aaaand it was starting to feel really tender. I don't think walking on it was such a great idea. So I texted my friend Michael (shout out! haha.), and he told me it may be light sprain. That made me sad because LA Term is a lot of walking. And a lot of stairs. And then I made a stupid decision. I told myself that I wasn't going to let it slow me down. Way to be healthy, Tracy, right? Of course.
So Sunday, a bunch of us went to try out New City Church, which is where our professor Nori goes to church. I thought it was a good service and was very impressed that they addressed the subject of homosexuality (even though it was pretty tangental to the sermon) (and I AM aware that I made that word up!). The pastor was saying that when Jesus came, he took all of the 10 commandments and took them to the heart level, saying that if you lust after a woman, it was the same as adultery, if you hate a man, it's like killing him. He went on to say that if sin is at a heart level, who are we to judge gays if our own hearts are not right either? And he mentioned that the Bible rarely talks about homosexuality. It's only talked about when in conjunction with a list of sins. But the point of all this was to say that homosexuals are welcomed in the church, even though he's not going to say that it's right. He just knows that he's not in a place to judge them, but knows they need Jesus, too. But with all that said, I don't think that's the church for me. It just didn't click like I feel like it should, so I'll keep looking! After church, Lydia and I went with Brianna and Justine back to Placita Olvera to show them around. We watched the same break dance show and Lydia got pulled into the center again! I thought it was hilarious! Then we came back, and I told myself that I should probably not be walking around so much on my huge ankle.
Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Lydia and I met up with Christy to get coffee and then go down to watch the parade on Crenshaw Boulevard. But before we left, I bought an ankle brace becuase my parents told me to. I'm glad I did. The parade was pretty cool; the high school marching bands/colorguard/dance teams were great! And as we were walking away from the parade, this woman called out to us and asked if she could interview us. I, of course, said yes. It turns out that she wanted to talk to us about expectations for the coming presidency. She asked me the most questions, and even though I didn't really know what I was talking about, Christy and Lydia told me that I BSed it pretty well. :) So I got my 30 seconds of fame. But I didn't see it, because Christy and I went to Santa Monica after that. It was fun just hanging out with her for a day. Our bus ride back took waaaay too long! We got on the 704 at 4:40 and finally got off at 6:20, but it was way before we had planned to get off! We just got sick of riding that same bus and had seen a metro stop, so we got off as soon as we could! That was soooo long. But we got home and watched GOSSIPGIRL! I'm glad there's still something that's the same that I can hold onto. But yes, I'm glad I wore the brace all day, because most of the swelling went down.
Tuesday, Lydia and I got up early to make our way to Sarah's house to watch the inauguration, but because Lydia also had an interview schedule, she decided to leave me at the bus stop to get there on time. The problem is, I didn't know where the house was. I got off at the right stop, but didn't know where to go from there, so I called Justine to see if she was there. She wasn't. And didn't know if anyone else was going. So I went back to the bus stop. But not before buying a stamp so I could mail my AC application! And then I waited at the bus stop for forever and talked to a one-legged man in a wheelchair and the uy who came out of the tire shop to offer me a ride. Surprisingly, I was unafraid, even though I was alone. I as just riding the joy wave. haha. Then I just went home. And watched the inaugural address on youtube. And then I mailed my application! So that's done for now. Until I have my phone interview! :) The other thing I finally did was to call the place in which I'm interesting in interning. The problem is that no one has called me back! And I have to interview and choose by Friday! AGH!
Today was the first day of our Urban Explorations class. It was pretty cool. We spent maybe an hour talking about our assignment, and then we were off! We went to Olvera Street (for the third time!) and talked about our history reading. We toured the very first house of Los Angeles (and California!) and saw the famous street of Calle de los Negros, where the Chinese Massacre of 1871 took place. Then we made our way to Los Angeles Catholic Church. Or something like that. I have to admit, I didn't pay much attention at that point. I forgot I was supposed to be observing. Instead I realized that my ankle was beginning to cause a little bit of discomfort again. Then we went to Bunker hill and the water court at California Plaza and ... the place where you can see all the banks. I forgot what it's called. It was a day of a lot of walking, but learning about the city. Then we came home, and I called my internship places again with no luck. And here I am now!
Prayer: I am So frustrated with the fact that they haven't called me back. I'm starting to be a little nervous about the fact that I have to know by Friday and haven't even spoken with anyone who can help me, so I'd definitely appreciate prayer for that! Also, my ankle doesn't hurt a lot, but as you read, it's caused me quite a bit of discomfort, so pray for healing, because I don't like wearing that brace. It actually makes my ankle hurt more, I think. And while you're at it, keep in mind that I'm searching for a church that's a good fit for me. :)
I love you!
TJ
P.S. I posted pictures on Facebook. :)
So Sunday, a bunch of us went to try out New City Church, which is where our professor Nori goes to church. I thought it was a good service and was very impressed that they addressed the subject of homosexuality (even though it was pretty tangental to the sermon) (and I AM aware that I made that word up!). The pastor was saying that when Jesus came, he took all of the 10 commandments and took them to the heart level, saying that if you lust after a woman, it was the same as adultery, if you hate a man, it's like killing him. He went on to say that if sin is at a heart level, who are we to judge gays if our own hearts are not right either? And he mentioned that the Bible rarely talks about homosexuality. It's only talked about when in conjunction with a list of sins. But the point of all this was to say that homosexuals are welcomed in the church, even though he's not going to say that it's right. He just knows that he's not in a place to judge them, but knows they need Jesus, too. But with all that said, I don't think that's the church for me. It just didn't click like I feel like it should, so I'll keep looking! After church, Lydia and I went with Brianna and Justine back to Placita Olvera to show them around. We watched the same break dance show and Lydia got pulled into the center again! I thought it was hilarious! Then we came back, and I told myself that I should probably not be walking around so much on my huge ankle.
Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Lydia and I met up with Christy to get coffee and then go down to watch the parade on Crenshaw Boulevard. But before we left, I bought an ankle brace becuase my parents told me to. I'm glad I did. The parade was pretty cool; the high school marching bands/colorguard/dance teams were great! And as we were walking away from the parade, this woman called out to us and asked if she could interview us. I, of course, said yes. It turns out that she wanted to talk to us about expectations for the coming presidency. She asked me the most questions, and even though I didn't really know what I was talking about, Christy and Lydia told me that I BSed it pretty well. :) So I got my 30 seconds of fame. But I didn't see it, because Christy and I went to Santa Monica after that. It was fun just hanging out with her for a day. Our bus ride back took waaaay too long! We got on the 704 at 4:40 and finally got off at 6:20, but it was way before we had planned to get off! We just got sick of riding that same bus and had seen a metro stop, so we got off as soon as we could! That was soooo long. But we got home and watched GOSSIPGIRL! I'm glad there's still something that's the same that I can hold onto. But yes, I'm glad I wore the brace all day, because most of the swelling went down.
Tuesday, Lydia and I got up early to make our way to Sarah's house to watch the inauguration, but because Lydia also had an interview schedule, she decided to leave me at the bus stop to get there on time. The problem is, I didn't know where the house was. I got off at the right stop, but didn't know where to go from there, so I called Justine to see if she was there. She wasn't. And didn't know if anyone else was going. So I went back to the bus stop. But not before buying a stamp so I could mail my AC application! And then I waited at the bus stop for forever and talked to a one-legged man in a wheelchair and the uy who came out of the tire shop to offer me a ride. Surprisingly, I was unafraid, even though I was alone. I as just riding the joy wave. haha. Then I just went home. And watched the inaugural address on youtube. And then I mailed my application! So that's done for now. Until I have my phone interview! :) The other thing I finally did was to call the place in which I'm interesting in interning. The problem is that no one has called me back! And I have to interview and choose by Friday! AGH!
Today was the first day of our Urban Explorations class. It was pretty cool. We spent maybe an hour talking about our assignment, and then we were off! We went to Olvera Street (for the third time!) and talked about our history reading. We toured the very first house of Los Angeles (and California!) and saw the famous street of Calle de los Negros, where the Chinese Massacre of 1871 took place. Then we made our way to Los Angeles Catholic Church. Or something like that. I have to admit, I didn't pay much attention at that point. I forgot I was supposed to be observing. Instead I realized that my ankle was beginning to cause a little bit of discomfort again. Then we went to Bunker hill and the water court at California Plaza and ... the place where you can see all the banks. I forgot what it's called. It was a day of a lot of walking, but learning about the city. Then we came home, and I called my internship places again with no luck. And here I am now!
Prayer: I am So frustrated with the fact that they haven't called me back. I'm starting to be a little nervous about the fact that I have to know by Friday and haven't even spoken with anyone who can help me, so I'd definitely appreciate prayer for that! Also, my ankle doesn't hurt a lot, but as you read, it's caused me quite a bit of discomfort, so pray for healing, because I don't like wearing that brace. It actually makes my ankle hurt more, I think. And while you're at it, keep in mind that I'm searching for a church that's a good fit for me. :)
I love you!
TJ
P.S. I posted pictures on Facebook. :)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
orientation
Well, it's the end of orientation week. I think I went through about 6 million emotion changes in the first couple days. On Tuesday, we introduced ourselves and Yvania, the graduate intern, gave us a presentation on resumes and how those are supposed to look. That was the first point at which I felt overwhelmed. She had said not to use experience from high school because it was now irrelevant. Well, the majority of activity in my life was in high school, so I freaked out. But then Christy, my friend who's also doing LA Term, showedme that I still have good stuff to put on there. Then we had a safety orientation and then the public transit scavenger hunt, which ended up being a lot less public transportation and a lot more walking, but whatever, I guess. It's good for me. But my group, Lydia, Jesse, and me, went to USC to check it out and I got to see my friend Nick, and then we went to Exposition Park where there are a lot of museums that I'll check out at a later point in LA Term.
On Wednesday, we were given little scenarios that we had to play out about living cross-culturally with our families. That was pretty cool. Then we met our professors and talked a little bit about all our classes. And then it was either this day or the next during which an LA Term alumnae came and talked with us about her experience. I'm not gonna lie, I was freaked out. She said it took her years to process all that happened during her term. I was pretty much terrified of all that was to come, and I know that's foolish, because I have nothing to be afraid of, but I know at least one other student was in the same boat as me. We were both asking ourselves, "What the heck am I doing here?" The last thing we did on Wednesday was to do an internship survey of a few sites. We split up into groups and went to these places and kind of found out what an intern would be doing there and what each place was like. My group, which consisted of Brittan, Brianna, Mackensie and me, went to El Camino Nuevo High School, P.A.T.H, and Faith/Action Collective. Out of those, I thought I'd be interested in the PATH internship, but it turned out that I really liked the Faith/Action Collective. An intern there would be doing a lot of community organizing around the issue of food justice which is something I don't have any previous knowledge about. But somehow, it drew me in; it could be because it incorporates my hometown. It's all about how LA farmers were pushed off their land and have to commute to Bakersfield on weekends to do what they love, while day laboring or working in sweatshops during the week. I'm also looking at two other internships that I didn't visit. One's called South Central LAMP, and it's a lot of working with parents and children to improve home life and social life. I was partially drawn to that one because of the possibility of teaching English as a second language in some of the classes for parents. I think that'd be great for me. But also, there's another internship at CHIRLA, which is the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. It's exactly what it sounds like. I'm not sure if I should be looking at an internship that is something I'm somewhat familiar with (South Central LAMP) or something that's entirely new to me (food justice or immigration rights. But we'll see where God leads me after my interviews, which I still have to schedule.
On Thursday, we learned the history of the LA riots and all the violence that occurred in that time. On this day, we also got a quick facility orientation, and then two of the girls stayed behind to meet with Sarah one on one for internship advising. The rest of us went to Lost Soul's Cafe and hung out for hours. If anyone ever comes to visit me, we'll go there. It's sweet. But we spent forever doing different "minute mysteries," which are those things were someone says "Two men are found dead in a cabin in the middle of the forest." and then everyone else has to figure out what happened. We did a bunch of those, as well as played games like Black Magic and the Box Game. The games that only like two people know and the rest have to figure out how to play. Lots of mind games. Oh my goodness, Jonathon told us a riddle and we couldn't figure it out! It was so annoying, especially when he told us that someone got it right, but he wouldn't say who it was or what the answer was. Talk about frustration right there!
Yesterday was our last day of orientation, and we played the handbook game, basically trying to find out if we even read the thing, which of course, we did! Then we talked about ways to stay healthy physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. After that, we did more one-on-one advising and then we left for the weekend!
Today is our host family potluck. Then we're possibly going to the beach! I really like everyone in LA Term and am super excited to get to know each one.
Prayer time! Peace and confidence about interviews and internships. And I still have to call and set up the interviews to prayer about that, because I've never done that in my life. And in the middle of the week, I got really homesick/APU sick. I missed everyone terribly. So prayer for that area. We talked about it was important to have people outside of LA Term praying for you, so thank you guys SO much for supporting me. I appreciate it much more than you could know! Every time I begin to feel overwhelmed, I feel at peace minutes later.
Much love. Grace and Peace.
TJ
On Wednesday, we were given little scenarios that we had to play out about living cross-culturally with our families. That was pretty cool. Then we met our professors and talked a little bit about all our classes. And then it was either this day or the next during which an LA Term alumnae came and talked with us about her experience. I'm not gonna lie, I was freaked out. She said it took her years to process all that happened during her term. I was pretty much terrified of all that was to come, and I know that's foolish, because I have nothing to be afraid of, but I know at least one other student was in the same boat as me. We were both asking ourselves, "What the heck am I doing here?" The last thing we did on Wednesday was to do an internship survey of a few sites. We split up into groups and went to these places and kind of found out what an intern would be doing there and what each place was like. My group, which consisted of Brittan, Brianna, Mackensie and me, went to El Camino Nuevo High School, P.A.T.H, and Faith/Action Collective. Out of those, I thought I'd be interested in the PATH internship, but it turned out that I really liked the Faith/Action Collective. An intern there would be doing a lot of community organizing around the issue of food justice which is something I don't have any previous knowledge about. But somehow, it drew me in; it could be because it incorporates my hometown. It's all about how LA farmers were pushed off their land and have to commute to Bakersfield on weekends to do what they love, while day laboring or working in sweatshops during the week. I'm also looking at two other internships that I didn't visit. One's called South Central LAMP, and it's a lot of working with parents and children to improve home life and social life. I was partially drawn to that one because of the possibility of teaching English as a second language in some of the classes for parents. I think that'd be great for me. But also, there's another internship at CHIRLA, which is the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. It's exactly what it sounds like. I'm not sure if I should be looking at an internship that is something I'm somewhat familiar with (South Central LAMP) or something that's entirely new to me (food justice or immigration rights. But we'll see where God leads me after my interviews, which I still have to schedule.
On Thursday, we learned the history of the LA riots and all the violence that occurred in that time. On this day, we also got a quick facility orientation, and then two of the girls stayed behind to meet with Sarah one on one for internship advising. The rest of us went to Lost Soul's Cafe and hung out for hours. If anyone ever comes to visit me, we'll go there. It's sweet. But we spent forever doing different "minute mysteries," which are those things were someone says "Two men are found dead in a cabin in the middle of the forest." and then everyone else has to figure out what happened. We did a bunch of those, as well as played games like Black Magic and the Box Game. The games that only like two people know and the rest have to figure out how to play. Lots of mind games. Oh my goodness, Jonathon told us a riddle and we couldn't figure it out! It was so annoying, especially when he told us that someone got it right, but he wouldn't say who it was or what the answer was. Talk about frustration right there!
Yesterday was our last day of orientation, and we played the handbook game, basically trying to find out if we even read the thing, which of course, we did! Then we talked about ways to stay healthy physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. After that, we did more one-on-one advising and then we left for the weekend!
Today is our host family potluck. Then we're possibly going to the beach! I really like everyone in LA Term and am super excited to get to know each one.
Prayer time! Peace and confidence about interviews and internships. And I still have to call and set up the interviews to prayer about that, because I've never done that in my life. And in the middle of the week, I got really homesick/APU sick. I missed everyone terribly. So prayer for that area. We talked about it was important to have people outside of LA Term praying for you, so thank you guys SO much for supporting me. I appreciate it much more than you could know! Every time I begin to feel overwhelmed, I feel at peace minutes later.
Much love. Grace and Peace.
TJ
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
orientation
Today was our first day of orientation. Lydia and I were away from the house for over 10 hours. Talk about a long day. I found out I have to redo my resume which, after much encouragement today, I realized won't be all that bad without my high school experience. The most taxing part of the day, though, was the public transit scavenger hunt. It was 4 hours of mostly walking, and my feet hurt so badly! But our scavenger hunt led us to USC, so we got to walk around there, and I met up with my friend Nick from high school. He showed us the library that we would have had a hard time finding without his help. After USC, we went pretty much across the street to Exposition Park, which is a lot of museums. It might be cool to go back there and check it out when I have some free time. That's it for today. More to come later.
Prayer stuff: I'd still appreciate prayer for the whole resume and internship application process. And speaking of application processes, continued prayer for the AC application process would be lovely. Today I started to feel very homesick/APU sick. I miss everyone dearly. Almost to the point of tears. I have friends here, but no one to connect with deeply yet. And if you care enough about to read this blog, you probably know that I don't open myself up to people very quickly. So definitely pray for that. I love you all. And I miss you.
In Christ,
Tracy
Prayer stuff: I'd still appreciate prayer for the whole resume and internship application process. And speaking of application processes, continued prayer for the AC application process would be lovely. Today I started to feel very homesick/APU sick. I miss everyone dearly. Almost to the point of tears. I have friends here, but no one to connect with deeply yet. And if you care enough about to read this blog, you probably know that I don't open myself up to people very quickly. So definitely pray for that. I love you all. And I miss you.
In Christ,
Tracy
Sunday, January 11, 2009
el primer día (my first day)
Well, I moved in yesterday and ended up having a lot more space than I had anticipated, which is great. I have a closet! I wasn't excepting that one! But I didn't know to bring hangers, so my parents and I went to get some. The family gave us directions to target, but I like the hangers they sell at Ross (and they're cheaper!). So we used my dad's GPS that he got for Christmas. But it turns out that the Ross we were going to no longer existed, and that it used to be right near Santee Street. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's a street with a LOOOT of vendors and a LOOOT of foot traffic. Needless to say, my dad was very frustrated and angry that we led him that far away for nothing. So we went to the target that we knew existed.
A few hours later (like 2), we arrived back at the house and said our goodbyes. Then Lydia (my roommate), Juanita and I were off to her sister's house for a family birthday party! So I got my first taste of public transportation (the DASH) and met like 20 people, of whom I only remember about 5 names. I also ate delicious carne asada and tried cactus, and for dessert we eate tres leche birthday cake. It was SOO good! I can't remember the different kinds of milk, but I htink there was condensed milk and regular milk, bu I could be wrong. But so good nonetheless! Oh yea, and I was offered a beer by one of the guys, haha. As if I look mature enough to be 21. Well, maybe. But I didn't take one! For the birthday song, we sang Happy Birthday and then they continued on with the Mexican birthday song, followed by a chant of .. dangit. I can't remember. But it was something like "Se muerde," which means bite it. I guess it's tradition for the birthday person to bite the cake, but often the head of that person is pushed into the cake, so they get very wary about doing so! But she tried and got very close to biting it before she was pushed, but she avoided it pretty well- she only got frosting in her hair! After that we all just talked for a long time. They asked me where I learned Spanish, and I'm pretty sure they were surprised tht I learned it in school. Juanita keeps telling people that I can translate, so it must be a bigger deal than I thought! Juan Carlos, the youngest of Juanitas great nephews, is absolutely adorable. He's two and mumbles like no other, but he is just so dang cute! We played a little bit of soccer, also known as just kicking a tiny basketball back and forth. :)
Afer we left the party, Juanita made us lemon tea- from scratch! She used the leaves from their lemon tree! It ended up being realy sweet, because there was a lot of sugar, but it still tasted really good. Juanita, her two daughters, Lydia and I talked for a few hours while drinking tea. I'm getting used to understanding Juanita's accent, but I've realized that anytime I'm talking to a new person, I first freak out, because I'm not used to their voice and the inflection that it puts on words I'm used to hearing another way. But it'l get easier, I'm sure. We sat there until the tea was gone and I was too tired to try and figure out what was being said, which was like.. 11. But still. I had had a long day.
Now for the prayer request part: Public transportation. I keep hearing about how long it takes or how it can be dificult. Lydia might be getting a bike, so that would leave me walking and bussing alone, unless I buy one soon, which is a possibility! Prayer for better understanding would be great, too. Both of the language and of the people I'm with. Last night, while we were talking I meantioned how at age 16, everyone goes and gets their driver's lisence. But that's not the case here. I felt foolish when I said that. And pray that for my roommate, too. She struggles with Spanish. Sometimes she looks to me, but I don't think it helps her much to just finish her sentence, so I'll help her think of a different way to phrase it. I hope she appreciates that. I just want her to be able to learn, too. So I guess patience for me when I know how to say what she wants to say but can't.
I guess that's enough for one day!
Hasta luego,
TJ
A few hours later (like 2), we arrived back at the house and said our goodbyes. Then Lydia (my roommate), Juanita and I were off to her sister's house for a family birthday party! So I got my first taste of public transportation (the DASH) and met like 20 people, of whom I only remember about 5 names. I also ate delicious carne asada and tried cactus, and for dessert we eate tres leche birthday cake. It was SOO good! I can't remember the different kinds of milk, but I htink there was condensed milk and regular milk, bu I could be wrong. But so good nonetheless! Oh yea, and I was offered a beer by one of the guys, haha. As if I look mature enough to be 21. Well, maybe. But I didn't take one! For the birthday song, we sang Happy Birthday and then they continued on with the Mexican birthday song, followed by a chant of .. dangit. I can't remember. But it was something like "Se muerde," which means bite it. I guess it's tradition for the birthday person to bite the cake, but often the head of that person is pushed into the cake, so they get very wary about doing so! But she tried and got very close to biting it before she was pushed, but she avoided it pretty well- she only got frosting in her hair! After that we all just talked for a long time. They asked me where I learned Spanish, and I'm pretty sure they were surprised tht I learned it in school. Juanita keeps telling people that I can translate, so it must be a bigger deal than I thought! Juan Carlos, the youngest of Juanitas great nephews, is absolutely adorable. He's two and mumbles like no other, but he is just so dang cute! We played a little bit of soccer, also known as just kicking a tiny basketball back and forth. :)
Afer we left the party, Juanita made us lemon tea- from scratch! She used the leaves from their lemon tree! It ended up being realy sweet, because there was a lot of sugar, but it still tasted really good. Juanita, her two daughters, Lydia and I talked for a few hours while drinking tea. I'm getting used to understanding Juanita's accent, but I've realized that anytime I'm talking to a new person, I first freak out, because I'm not used to their voice and the inflection that it puts on words I'm used to hearing another way. But it'l get easier, I'm sure. We sat there until the tea was gone and I was too tired to try and figure out what was being said, which was like.. 11. But still. I had had a long day.
Now for the prayer request part: Public transportation. I keep hearing about how long it takes or how it can be dificult. Lydia might be getting a bike, so that would leave me walking and bussing alone, unless I buy one soon, which is a possibility! Prayer for better understanding would be great, too. Both of the language and of the people I'm with. Last night, while we were talking I meantioned how at age 16, everyone goes and gets their driver's lisence. But that's not the case here. I felt foolish when I said that. And pray that for my roommate, too. She struggles with Spanish. Sometimes she looks to me, but I don't think it helps her much to just finish her sentence, so I'll help her think of a different way to phrase it. I hope she appreciates that. I just want her to be able to learn, too. So I guess patience for me when I know how to say what she wants to say but can't.
I guess that's enough for one day!
Hasta luego,
TJ
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
First Meeting
So I met my host mom on the 1st. I was really nervous at first, and it took me forever to find the little house that was tucked away BEHIND two other houses... haha, but it turned out to be a good time. Her future son-in-law, Benjamin, was there, and he talked with my friend Allie who came with me. I felt bad that Juanita couldn't understand their English conversations, so I often leaned over to tell her was they were talking about. And sometimes, I let Allie in on what was being said in Spanish, although she didn't do too badly at understanding what was going on. But Ben and Juanita said that for me to be able to translate both ways like I did, I had to be really good and know what I was doing! That made me SOOO happy!
In other news, I move in in 4 days. Wow, that's soon; I didn't realize I had that little time left! I found ot today that im going to have to leave around 7:45 every monday and wednesday in order to get to class by 9. That'll suck, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Prayer requests: Still public transportation and that I'll get accustomed to it quickly. Also, I'm applying to be an Alpha Coordinator at school for next year, but it will require that I leave LA more than the allowed 3 times, and that will also mean that I won't get to visit friends like I wanted to. So I'd apreciate some prayer about that whole situation, that it would work out according to God's plan and that I won't continue to worry about it.
Thanks so much!
Til next time,
TJ
In other news, I move in in 4 days. Wow, that's soon; I didn't realize I had that little time left! I found ot today that im going to have to leave around 7:45 every monday and wednesday in order to get to class by 9. That'll suck, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Prayer requests: Still public transportation and that I'll get accustomed to it quickly. Also, I'm applying to be an Alpha Coordinator at school for next year, but it will require that I leave LA more than the allowed 3 times, and that will also mean that I won't get to visit friends like I wanted to. So I'd apreciate some prayer about that whole situation, that it would work out according to God's plan and that I won't continue to worry about it.
Thanks so much!
Til next time,
TJ
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