Broken English

Since my last post I went on an epic road trip to Florida for Christmas. I met John's family for the first time, spent Christmas with them, ate the most amazing sweet potato tater tots ever, went to Medieval Times with John's best friends where we singlehandedly offended every family in our section with soccer hooligan-esque songs about jousting, convinced three of his very radical Florida friends to road trip back with us to spend New Year's Eve in Brooklyn, swam with wild manatees, got attacked by swans, was named go-cart champion of Funland and ate my first "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake.

On the drive back, the aforementioned awesome friends + John had to rush me to the hospital in Richmond, VA due to extreme dehydration setting off my bum ticker. After 8 hours, a state of the art heart scan (only available at this hospital in Richmond and Harvard), three bags of fluid and a couple of shots of intravenous sedatives (I'm a nervous wreck), we were back on our merry way.

 After spending the next week and a half in bed recovering from the being the sickest I've ever been. It was time for me to face the world. 

First stop - Arab American Family Support Center to tutor women immigrants taking the citizenship exam. Still a little shaky from over a week of bed rest, it took me a little longer to get moving that usual which resulted in me being late. I hate being late, a lot. That mixed with the fact that this was my first time volunteering on this project made me really nervous. Before every project begins, the team leader goes through a quick orientation with the newbies. I knew I was missing the orientation. As I rushed from the train to the center thoughts of just turning around and going home flooded my brain. How was I going to know what to do? How could I possibly participate? What if I messed up? Fuck it, do this. 

Surprisingly, nothing terrible happened. It actually went really well. Even though I missed the orientation the team leader was able to quickly review the project with me, gave me a packet and set me up with Hafsah from Yemen. Hafsah lives in Bensonhurst with her husband (who became a US Citizen when they first moved to the US) and her 5 sons. She's lived in the same house for 14 years. Her husband owns a grocery store where her older sons work. She is the only one left in her immediate family who is not an American citizen. Hafsah is modern and fashionable - well dressed, wearing make-up, with a leopard print scarf covering her hair. Through long pauses and broken English, she introduced herself. 

The naturalization exam is comprised of three components - writing, reading and speaking - so for the next 90 minutes we reviewed a practice test of the written exam, Hafsah practiced writing the answers in English and we did a mock interview like the one she'll have on the day of her exam. Though she knew the answer to almost every question it was clear that she didn't understand the meaning to all the words. Since I don't speak Arabic it was a challenge to explain the translations of things like "separation of power" and "petition the government" but with help from some of the more advanced students in the group and an Arabic-English translation dictionary Hafsah was able to really understand the meaning behind the words she was studying. She had been reviewing this test for months, memorizing all the answers, learning how to read a new language and write with a new alphabet but it took her communicating and connecting with other human beings to make sense of all of her hard work. To see the excitement and pride on her face when the lightbulb went on was absolutely incredible. 

This project is very special and amazing - it gives women the opportunity to help empower other women. This is paramount considering that in Hafsah's native Yemen it is estimated that only 64% of all grade school girls are actually enrolled in schooling - of that 64% it is estimated that only 50% will complete the first 6 years of schooling.

I'm signed up for this project again next week and am looking forward to finding out Hafsah's exam date - which she should have found out this week or last. I'm excited to continue to prepare her and other women for the exam, to help them become more confident in their ability to communicate in English and most important to help facilitate what could possibly be the most attention to education these women have ever experienced. 

uncrossed.

There is quite possibly nothing more exciting/terrifying than your first day at a new job. First days possess all the childhood excitement of riding every single ride at Six Flags Great Adventure combined with all the adulthood fear of receiving a letter from the IRS (I just got one). Last week I worked my first (and second) day at Greene Ave, which I'm happy to say was a success. It was incredibly humbling to be the "new kid" for the first time in a really long time. I was surprised at how hard I had to push myself to switch out of boss mode - especially when I was being trained on how to properly and politely answer the phone. I wanted to stop and say with the sarcasm of an angsty teenager, "Yeah, I know how to answer a fucking phone. I was director at the nicest salon in Brooklyn. I wrote the book on customer service." Oh wait, that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to learn new things. I really really had to bang that into my brain but once I did, I was ready to go with an open mind, to learn new things - and I did. I learned a lot - how to set up and break down a machine/station, how to price tattoos for clients and how to dispose of hazardous material. It was an amazing feeling to step out of my usual tell-people-what-to-do role and interact with co-workers in an entirely new way. No longer was I running around trying to plug all the leaks in the damn, instead I was collaborating, listening and learning. IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME. All in all, I'd say it was a success. Here I am at my new desk -  a happy, eager-to-learn shop greenhorn. 

Not only did I have my first day at the shop but I also had my volunteer orientation for New York Cares. New York Cares is NYC's largest volunteer organization. They plug willing volunteers in with non-profits, government agencies and public schools in need of help. 

For those of you who don't know - before I moved to New York and started working to serve the privileged elite who have no issue dropping a $600 bill at a hair salon - I worked in non-profits, specifically at-risk youth agencies. I did almost everything - homeless street outreach, school outreach, LGBT youth advocacy, working in a youth shelter for domestic violence victims and offenders, homeless youth drop-in center, teaching life skills classes to youth in housing transition, launching new programs, working with other agencies, activities coordinator, case management, you name it and I probably did it...and I was good at it...and I really fucking loved it. Time to get back to it - with or without a paycheck. 

I'm very excited to be participating in to two very awesome programs. Starting January 3rd, I will be volunteering at Covenant House, the largest homeless youth and at-risk youth agency in the country. I will be participating on a career exploration panel for their Job Training Program - sharing my story of my own career paths and how I achieved goals that I set for myself. Despite the fact that I was in gifted and AP classes in high school and accepted into the honors program in college, being on this panel is a little ironic considering that I am technically an unemployed high school and college drop out. Maybe I shouldn't word it quite like that in my presentation - then again, maybe I should. 

The second program I'll be volunteering with is Citizenship Through English at the Arab American Family Support Center. Starting January 11, I will be preparing a group of Arabic-speaking immigrant women for their US Citizenship exams. Ever since I was very young I've always been enamored by the history of America. I remember being around five years old and snuggling up with my dad to watch old westerns, by the time I was seven I knew every president in chronological order, by the age of ten I knew every amendment to our Constitution. For a school project in the 5th grade I had to make a family tree. I learned that both sets of my father's grandparents were Dutch and Irish immigrants and that's when my fascination with Ellis Island began. What can I say, I was an obsessive child. I'm thrilled to teach the history of this country to people so eager to be a part of it. Additionally, just last year my mom studied hard for her Citizenship Exam. I will never forget the pride in her voice when she called me and told me she passed. After 25 years of living in the United States she was finally a citizen. This past November my mother voted for the first time in her life and though she and I don't necessarily see eye to eye on politics, I'm so incredibly proud of her. I can't wait to pass that knowledge, accomplishment and pride on to other women.

So, what has been fueling all this progress, my witchy uncrossing candle perhaps...? Like I said before, I'm a skeptic when it comes to things of this nature but my candle burned out on Sunday and since I began burning it last Tuesday quite a few doors have opened. I attended my first NY Cares orientation this past Tuesday, yesterday I was asked to pick up a third day at Greene Ave and I have officially been hired for my first freelance business consulting job (IN HOUSTON) and am being flown out there for a week in January. On top of it all, this Saturday I start an epic road trip to Florida and back to spend Christmas with John's family and friends.

Whether all this transition is fueled by the stars and planets, my uncrossing candle (which is now a pile of glitter and lead) or good old fashioned tenacity, I'm super stoked to see where it all takes me....or where I take it.