This is going to be such an abbreviated blog update. I promise never to let this much time go by…
So Austin. It was amazing. It really is like Katy Roe says, Athens on steroids. I loved it. The feel of it, the size, the culture. It really seems to fit Layton and I could see myself there one day. But I’m glad I’m not there now. I wanted this year to be such a drastic change. And San Antonio is so different from any other place I’ve lived. So it’s perfect. I loved meeting Layton’s friends and finally feeling like our moves out here are complete. We have these amazing separate lives in separate cities, yet we are still undeniably connected. It’s inspiring.
Leigh came to visit. I cried in the airport when I saw her, if that gives you any idea of how excited I was that she was here. She ended up staying for a whole week! I took the Monday she was here off. We went exploring around San Antonio. We went to a couple of the missions. Mission Conception and the San Jose Mission. They were beautiful and we took millions of pictures which was good fun. She hung out with the puppies while I was at work and then we got to hang out. She came to work on Wednesday with us. She wasn’t too bored, which is good. A ridiculous cold front came in so when we went to see the Movie in the Park at Hemisfair it was freezing. We had a great time laughing our butts off at the Birds. Great flick. I made her get up bright and early on Friday morning to come watch us do PT at the Eastside Boys and Girls Club where our Make a Difference Day service event took place. She was entertained at least. She came to MADD on Saturday for a bit at the beginning and the end. Matt Lugo and I had a great big group of fraternity men. They were relatively productive; I could have been a stronger leader. But we got the baseball field all beatified, so it worked out. We just hung out for the rest of the weekend. And the crazy ending to her visit was the puppy! Jill found a puppy outside of their apartments and was set on keeping it or finding a home. So Leigh ended up taking it back to Atlanta. It looks like Lexie and Philip are keeping it until they find a home for it (or fall in love with it). It’s an adorable little Koda looking pup. It was great to have her visit and I’m sad she’s gone…
Alright, so the super sad news. Skip to the next paragraph is you like. I found out last Friday (24th of Oct) that Lauren was leaving. She told us on the way to our big community meeting. There is no easy way to describe how much I miss her. She was a blast and I definitely felt like I could relate to her. I loved her spirit and felt so lucky to know her. I know none of that is gone now, but it’s different when she is not right there next to me. It’s going to be harder getting to know her and building our friendship with her all the way back in New York. But it’ll be worth it.
That’s good enough for now.
PAZ.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama on City Year
So I haven't updated in a while cause my computer has been broken. Soon there will be an update on Austin, Leigh's visit, Lauren leaving, MADD, and lots more. But in the wake of the history that was made last night I felt that this speak from Obama was necessary:
Remarks from President-elect Barack Obama during the 2006 City Year Chicago Ripples of Hope Awards Dinner
May 31, 2006
“I started out as a community organizer—that is what originally brought me to Chicago—so I am well aware, for all the City Year participants, that it is not always glamorous work. I know that you wake up sometimes, and say that ´This is too hard,´ and that ´I don’t feel like I am making enough of a difference,´ and ´I am frustrated, and nobody appreciates me,´ and that, I think, is the nature of a lot of service work. This is not a society that always values it. It certainly does not always reward it monetarily. Despite the fact that in all of life’s journeys there are always going to be disappointments and setbacks I notice that you are still doing it—you are doing it anyway, and I don’t think that it is just out of a sense of obligation. It’s not just because it makes you feel good. It’s also because you have genuinely come to care for the people that you work with—that you’ve seen the look of hope in a child’s face and that makes it worth while, that makes all the frustrations go away.”
"The only caution I have is this: as the City Year participants continue on in life it will not get easier; it will get harder. You will encounter all kinds of obstacles along the way and people who don’t put much stock in empathy. You will find people who, out of fear or the need for power, try to divide us and deny what we have in common. You will hear that American’s who sleep in the streets and beg for food got there because they’re lazy or they are weak in spirit. You will hear that immigrants, who risked their lives to cross a dessert because they just want to make a better life for their children, in fact, don’t belong here. You will hear that inner city children who are trapped in schools with not enough money—not enough resources—that these children can’t learn and won’t learn, so we should just give up on them. You will hear of innocent people who are being slaughtered or expelled from their homes, half-way around the world, are somebody else’s problem and not your problem. You are going to hear all this, and you’ll have to choose, at some point, where your obligations lie."
"Now the easiest thing in the world to do is to do nothing, to turn off the TV set or to put down the paper and to walk away from the stories about Iraq, or Darfur, or poverty, or violence, or joblessness, or hopelessness, to go about your busy lives, wishing these problems away but expecting someone else to do it. There is no community service requirement in the real world. No one forces you to care. No one demands that you extend yourself. And after you leave City Year, you can go, if you choose, to chase after big bucks and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should want. I hope you don’t do that. I hope that you don’t lose the spirit that brought you here because if you do you will be displaying a poverty of ambition. Nothing’s easier than looking after yourself, but I hope that you do what’s hard, and knowing what you have done so far I think my hope is well placed.”
Remarks from President-elect Barack Obama during the 2006 City Year Chicago Ripples of Hope Awards Dinner
May 31, 2006
“I started out as a community organizer—that is what originally brought me to Chicago—so I am well aware, for all the City Year participants, that it is not always glamorous work. I know that you wake up sometimes, and say that ´This is too hard,´ and that ´I don’t feel like I am making enough of a difference,´ and ´I am frustrated, and nobody appreciates me,´ and that, I think, is the nature of a lot of service work. This is not a society that always values it. It certainly does not always reward it monetarily. Despite the fact that in all of life’s journeys there are always going to be disappointments and setbacks I notice that you are still doing it—you are doing it anyway, and I don’t think that it is just out of a sense of obligation. It’s not just because it makes you feel good. It’s also because you have genuinely come to care for the people that you work with—that you’ve seen the look of hope in a child’s face and that makes it worth while, that makes all the frustrations go away.”
"The only caution I have is this: as the City Year participants continue on in life it will not get easier; it will get harder. You will encounter all kinds of obstacles along the way and people who don’t put much stock in empathy. You will find people who, out of fear or the need for power, try to divide us and deny what we have in common. You will hear that American’s who sleep in the streets and beg for food got there because they’re lazy or they are weak in spirit. You will hear that immigrants, who risked their lives to cross a dessert because they just want to make a better life for their children, in fact, don’t belong here. You will hear that inner city children who are trapped in schools with not enough money—not enough resources—that these children can’t learn and won’t learn, so we should just give up on them. You will hear of innocent people who are being slaughtered or expelled from their homes, half-way around the world, are somebody else’s problem and not your problem. You are going to hear all this, and you’ll have to choose, at some point, where your obligations lie."
"Now the easiest thing in the world to do is to do nothing, to turn off the TV set or to put down the paper and to walk away from the stories about Iraq, or Darfur, or poverty, or violence, or joblessness, or hopelessness, to go about your busy lives, wishing these problems away but expecting someone else to do it. There is no community service requirement in the real world. No one forces you to care. No one demands that you extend yourself. And after you leave City Year, you can go, if you choose, to chase after big bucks and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should want. I hope you don’t do that. I hope that you don’t lose the spirit that brought you here because if you do you will be displaying a poverty of ambition. Nothing’s easier than looking after yourself, but I hope that you do what’s hard, and knowing what you have done so far I think my hope is well placed.”
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