1.) Jailhouse Rock...on the elevator
2.) Was Anne Frank Italian?
3.) Community Voicemail
4.) Shall we dance? Every day of the week?
5.) Spring Break 2011!!!
6.) Austin, I STILL love you, gosh.
7.) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
8.) Healing Nature's Healer
9.) Thanks for the tiara
10.) Could have been me?
1.) Jailhouse Rock...on the elevator
So, yesterday I was on the elevator at the Bexar County office where I deliver mail on occasion during my mail run. As the elevator descended back to the first floor lobby, it stopped on the third floor to allow a few more passengers to enter. Well, much to my surprise, the people waiting to board were prison inmates! There were four of them and two officers. The inmates were wearing what looked like light orange and white striped hospital scrubs. They also had on work boots laced up to the mid-shin. I couldn't help but notice how pulchritudinous the young men were but also how filthy their clothes happened to be. They were covered in dirt and it appeared their uniforms hadn't seen a washer or dryer in years. It was sad. They were friendly and smiled at me but I became uncomfortable because I feared they could read my thoughts as my imagination ran wild with ideas of what their crimes might have been. Seeing them really made me want to learn more about the prison system here.
Apparently a month or so ago the San Antonio prisons had to release a large amount of prisoners because of overcrowding. I'd like to know how programs could exist to help prevent people from going to prison in the first place. Does it start with the kids in my After School Program?
2.) Was Anne Frank Italian?
A conversation between my client and me yesterday:
Client: You know, you look Italian.
Me: Wow, you guessed it! I am Italian!
Client: Yeah, I could tell 'cause you look a lot like Anne Frank. You got that Anne Frank look.
Me: Oh really?
Client: Yeah, I studied German in college and people always asked me, "What's a black woman like you doing taking German?" But I stayed with it. And I learned all about that Holocaust stuff. That was sick.
Me: Sure was...
3.) Community Voicemail
I've got a NEW duty at work. I am now in charge of the entire Community Voicemail program at Catholic Charities. Here's how it works:
1- A client who has no telephone comes to see me
2- He/she fills out a form stating what his/her goals are for receiving a community voicemail account
3- I assign the client a telephone number
4-Client can then give that number out to potential employers, friends, family, doctors, potential landlords, etc.
5- When someone calls the client's number, they are immediately directed to the client's voicemail
6- The client can use another person's phone or a pay phone or public phone to check his/her messages
It's a nice way for clients without telephones to have a number to put on job applications and a way for friends/family/doctors to leave them messages and stay in touch. So far I've had two clients (service is based on a walk-in basis) and they both seemed well-pleased by it!
4.) Shall we dance? Every day of the week?
I have two dance partners. Their names are Megan and Ricky and we've been going out quite a bit to try out different salsa-dancing clubs. Megan is an expert dancer and Ricky and I are not. However, Ricky and I enjoy goofing around on the dancefloor and learning new dance moves as we go along. Megan is friends with the members of a Salsa Dancing Social Club so we've been getting to know them. I've danced with a few of the guys in the club and it's really fun! I'm getting better at following another person's lead. Watch out, Chicago! When I get back, I'm going to take the salsa dancing scene by surprise!
Ha.
5.) Spring Break 2011!!!
We provided a Spring Break program last week for the first 12 kids to register. It was from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday, and completely exhausting. There were two families each with five children and then two only children in the program and they kept us on our twos! Sabrina and James offered a lot of activities for them like field trips, art projects, guest speakers, and planting a community garden. It was a good time for the most part.
However, one thing that bothered me about the week was how much sugar and junk food the children were given. They were given donuts for breakfast, cookies and chips for snack all throughout the day. They were given cake, cupcakes, candy, and sugary drinks. I was appalled! But when I brought it up to my supervisor, she was offended that I was criticizing the children's diets. Eesh!
Also, John is no longer working with us because of something that happened during Spring Break. Can't keep them Mennonites for very long I guess.
6.) Austin, I STILL love you, gosh.
I went to Austin last weekend for the annual music festival- South by SouthWest. It was quite delightful! Some highlights include:
-Seeing Snoop Dogg perform for free!!!!
-Silk screening an image onto a T-shirt BY MYSELF!
-Dancing, exploring the city streets (and then napping at a pizza place) with my roommate Owen and a JV from Houston, Emily (they are fun girls!)
-Hanging out with John (coworker) and Ricky (dance partner)
7.) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Not me! I read the entire play by myself. A less than impressive feat for many 22 year old college graduates but I am sooooooooo lazy when it comes to reading that I commend myself wholeheartedly for rising to the task.
It was an alright play. Very strong on the character development and weak on the plot. I usually enjoy those kinds of plays but this one seemed a bit TOO eventless. Also, the characters all based their behavior on alcohol consumption which made me uneasy. If it was a social commentary on the excessive nature of U.S. Americans' alcohol consumption, then I liked it. If it was the author's way of avoiding meaningful conversations, I did not appreciate it one bit.
8.) Healing Nature's Healer
James came over last week to help me groom the aloe vera plant growing in our backyard. It's looking nice now! But my hands are worse for the wear because aloe vera plants are rather spikey!!
9.) Thanks for the tiara
Ms. San Antonio...yes, THE Ms. San Antonio showed up to my church yesterday after being reinstated as Ms. San Antonio. Her crown was is question after she gained too much weight (she turned into a size 2 model...big deal! gag me) and showed up late to some very important events. She came to a mass I was singing at yesterday and placed her tiara on the Our Lady of Guadalupe altar as an offering to the Virgin. I had no idea it was her when she first came up to place it there but then I noticed she was the only one dressed as a model in the church and there were a ton of TV cameras set up in front of the church.
10.) Could have been me?
I went walking in my neighborhood at 8:30pm on Tuesday night with Megan. We walked by the Family Dollar on the corner of our block. Then half an hour later, there was a drive-by shooting at the same Family Dollar and two men were injured. I thank God I was not a witness to or victim of that heinous deed and I pray that the attacker gets the help he/she needs. (I also pray for the victims of course)
That's it for now! Gotta go watch the kids :)
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