Finally! Fair Trade comes to the YMCA

Can you be fair trader and sell a Nestle product?

Fair Trade producers pay the growers a living wage and seek to improve their working and living conditions, including shelter, medical needs, education. To buy anything less is like enjoying a cup of bloody "java". Nestle on the other hand is known for their poor labor practices.

So I started complainging, even if I accomplished nothing else. Finally, along with the help of our Chaplain Evan, have convinced the YMCA that this should be a Fair Trade facility. The YMCA practices Christian values and tries to uphold the marginalized people. So fair trading seems natural. The YMCA has this friendly little cafe that serves the community of West Bromwich, they offer coffee, tea, hot meals, treats, and pretty much all the things you would go to a cafe for.

When I first arrived I was very excited to see that they had fair trade sugar. Then discovered, to my surprise, that the fair trade sugar was going into Nescafe coffee! Now what sense does that make? It completely negates the point. How could anyone, who would listen, excersie fair trade, and still support Nescafe coffe? True its a bit more expensive BUT so worth it for the people behind the growing and producing of coffee! Maybe the cafe did not know. Well finally six months later....we were heard, when it wasn't only me the "righteous" and zealous American, but also our new Chaplain Evan saying we really should be serving fair trade products in the cafe.

So, now the cafe will begin serving fair trade coffee and tea and over the next few months serving all fair trade products. Who knows, cocoa, chocolate, and more. A small step for the YMCA cafe but another giant step for the growers and fair traders. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more blood in our coffee ;-)

Peace, latte and cheers!
Monisha

In the end fate always wins!

Fate, its such a mysterious thing. I am a very strong believer in fate, even more so after having actually taken an amazing course on Fate in grad school. I can't help pondering about my fate. I have come to yet another cross roads in my life, and I wonder is this the fork in the road where I choose between my predestined path and exercise my free will? Or is this my fate, and no matter what I choose that is what fate has in store for me and at the end of the day do I really have a choice in the matter at all? Hmmm.

I have started dedicating a lot of time in my daily routine to taking steps in planning my future. What will I do next on this journey? My year in England is only half way over, yet I feel like I have to make some decisions now about what I will do next, and very very soon. And all these questions are running endlessly through my head. Where do I want to live? What do I want to do? Does this mean setting down roots finally or is this me still just free floating around the world? Is it ok for me not to set down roots? Is it ok to float with wanderlust? The mystery and possibilities question. Should I be considering settling down, meeting a man, getting married? Aggggggghhhhhhhhhh! It is enough to make my head explode. And I keep thinking why am I putting myself through this now? After all I am only 24 years young, yet with the big 25 (quarter of a century, which my lovely friend Amanda keeps reminding me) looming nearer and nearer, I can't help but wonder, what does fate have in store for me...... Could this be a reminder that patiennce and trust is needed right now? Everything I do and have done is getting me closer to the inevitable next steps.

It is difficult to remember I am but a passenger and surely not driving this bus!

All I know is fate always wins in the end!

Peace and cheers!
Monisha

6 months/ 200 days aboard!

Yup I am alive, well and still in the UK. Phew, I know some people had started to worry, or worse people have waited so long for me to post another blog that they just gave up on me. That's OK, like many things in this world this too can be amended, and having patience is sometimes very important. So I have finally made it to the six month point, and must say it feels a bit strange. A lot can happen in six months, for that matter in a day. One's whole world could change in a matter of minutes, ask victims of hurricanes, war, death and disasters. I must say that I am happy I made it to this threshold without major crises. The question is were there any doubts in my mind? Of course!

The past few months that I have been away from my lovely blog entries, have been difficult ones. I started to feel the pressure of what am I going to do next after this year is over with. I received some news from home that my father was facing some serious health issues though the prognosis was good; I began to feel lonelier than I had in months. My work at the YMCA was starting to...hmm in polite words, not stretch me as much as I would like. To be fair, however, all things weren't bad. I did get make a trip home to see my father (I do not recommend this unless its an emergency, going home and coming back was way harder than I could have ever imagined, but I will get into that another time). Another friend from home came to visit, and I have continued to learn, and adapt to my life in England. Oh, and did I mention I got to go to Morocco and Milan on quick little jaunts. Not bad huh? :-) But at the end of the day is this enough, six months....what have I accomplished? Have I changed lives? Perhaps mine. Made a difference at the West Bromwich YMCA? Sadly I fear that I haven't done any of these things.

But here is a list of things I do feel I have accomplished over the past six months:

Monisha's Top Ten list For the first six months in the UK!

10. Learned how to speak proper English (ok still working on that one)
9. Learned how to ride the bus, train, plane, and everything in between.
8. There is more to England than London. (But London is def pretty cool)
7. How to work with people in a different light, ie different managerial practices, customs, and structures.
6. Some people don't want to be helped, and some just need you to listen. (What a revelation!)
5. A Christmas that was centered around giving to others. (The true spirit?)
4. Was forced to learn independence. Yes I had independence before, but being alone in another country teaches you much more.
3. Had the opportunity to travel to amazing and fascinating places.
2. Gained a better understanding of myself, sometimes I liked what I saw, sometimes I didn't. (More insight and growth).
1. Built warm and strong friendships, that will last forever! (I just know).

The journey is at its half way mark, is it over or has it only just begun? Is the sun setting or rising? Over the next few months, I will continue to think about the possibilities and mysteries that are in store for me. And as frustrating as it can be, I will try to put my best foot forward at the YMCA.

Peace and Cheers!

Hello, Goodbye

When you're so far away from home you learn a lot about freindships, and honestly this is a blog I should have written forever ago. But hey better late than never. I would say the last month has been a bit hard, with the holidays coming and going, missing my friends from home, enjoying the new relationships I am building while being abroad, and saying good bye to some freinds who were along on this journey.

Good Bye
And to be honest saying good bye was one of the hardest things ever, even though its not a good bye forever...it was a good bye to friends who have been my support system here in the UK and in other countries, who due to some unfortunate circumstancse had to return home to the States. Even though I haven't seen some of them since we got on a plane in Chicago, missing them didn't change. Either way, life was easier knowing that they have been there for me, and hopefully I have been there for them too, and this bond is one that will remain unbreakable.

So here is to my mean girls who have helped me on this journey! Hello to the ones who are still out there, and good bye to the ones who have
gone back to the States.








Hello

Now to be honest this journey has been about a lot of goodbyes, but a lot of hellos too! I mean lets be honest, that's what happens when you make a decsion to move across over the pond, or anywhere else for that matter. And another amazing thing that has happend is being able to reunite with old friends here in the UK. I mean its a bit of a shame that it took coming to England or Scotland to finally rekindle old frienships. But its been awesome hanging out with people who knew me since birth almost, or in other cases since middles school, and realizing we still have much in common, and that we can now pursue, what my mom would call an adult frienship.

So here's to Anna and Maita for growing up together, and renewing our friendships!








Hello, Goodbye

And now all those friends at home who have made trips to see me, plan on making trips, sent millions of emails, and of course rang me. The old friends who have now stood the test of time and distance. Thanks! I am not sure I say it enough, but here's to the best mates a girl could ever ask for.
Now of course, I have made some new friends since I have been here too, who are a part of living and working in the UK and West Bromwich, and those relationships are blossoming everyday. So who knows there could be a blog in the future dedicated to all my new mates in the UK. (Only if you're lucky...or should I say unlucky).

Sorry guys this blog was for the ladies. To friends old and new..... cheers :-)

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year...Cheers to 007!

Ok, so I have been a bit of a slacker on the blog. And to be honest I feel like so much has gone on that I dont even know where to begin. Lets see I finally experienced my first proper football match...BOING BOING BAGGIES! In other words I am becoming a dedicated fan to the West Bromwich Albions (after all I am their good luck charm they won that game 5-nil) who are the local team here, a part of the English Chamionship league, and please dont expect me to explain how the football leagues work. This new support for the Baggies has led to a new project for the YMCA - a relationship with the West Bromwich YMCA and the West Bromwhich Albions. This will mean I will use my power of persusion and work on getting the Albions to do some marketing promotions for our Healthy Living Centre. And apparently this afternoon I will have a football traning session with one of the Albion coaches and our male residents(I think they are tying to turn me into a footballer).

Now onto a very Happy Christmas in West Brom. I was ever so lucky to have my wonderful mum come and spend Christmas with me; and honestly it was awesome. It did make me long for home even more having her here, but I couldnt even begin to imagine what life would have been like spending Christmas without family. I do wish that all three of us had been together for Christmas, but hey you live and learn.

This Christmas was very different from any other, and not becuase I wasn't at home in Delaware but because, this year Christmas wasn't about me. My mum and I took the opportunity to give back this holiday sesason, and actually spent Christmas day making a real Christmas dinner for the residents at the YM who were staying here for the holidays. My mum, along with some other staff memembers, and myself cooked a full English Christmas meal down to mince pies and served it to about 10 residents. It really was an awesome experience, and loads of fun. It was nice to be able to share this day of family in a nontradtional way. But I guess I have been doing a lof of that since I have been here. After dinner was all done around 5ish we did our own Christmas which was very simple...and spent the rest of the day making phone calls home, speaking to my Baba (dad), friends, and relatives and of course spending time together.

On Boxing day we woke up bright and early and were off to London to spend some time with relatives, do a bit of sightseeing, and of course some shopping.

Now onto New Years! My New Years was def fun, not what I expected but fun none the less. I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for Hogmanay, which is the largest new years celebration in the UK. Its basically three days of partying, carnival type stuff, and a huge street party on new year's eve, where they expected about 500,000 folks to come in from all over the world. We arrived in lovely Scotland on Saturday night, had a great night, which involved lots of wine and sushi. And then we went to bed a bit early to be ready for NYE.

Needless to say when we woke up it was POURING DOWN RAIN, but no worries its Scotland and the UK after all and that's what it does, it rains. So we made our way outside, around 2ish and we saw a beautiful sun set(yes the sun starts setting by like half 2 because by half 3 its completely dark outside). So we are like no worries, no rain, just windy. We came home and began to pregame, get ready to pop over to our mate Mark's house and head to the party. Well when we arrived at Mark's we found out they had CANCELLED the street party. And we were like what do we do now? So we decided to go to the city centre anyway...well we and thousands of others did the same thing. WE are all loving life, everyone was in a good mood and we went to Rose street which is where there are a ton of pubs, we did some pub hopping, stopping to do a bit of dancing and of course lots and lots of kissing on the cheeks with random blokes. Made some Aussie friends too. And at Midnight we found ourselves with god knows how many others on a street intersection. Well none of us knew what time midnight really was (in our various native time zones) so we all started looking at our watches, counting down at different times, and it was actually quite funny. Until we saw fireworks (now it wasn't as huge as the fireworks display was supposed to be, apparently they have been known to spend millions of pounds on fireworks for NYE). But everyone started popping open champagne, beer, and whatever ever else they could spray on the crowd, I was drenched in alcohol, and it was great! It was an amazing sight. It wasn't as crazy as I heard it was going to be, but hey I got to bring in 2007 in Scotland.

So here is to a great '007! Can you tell I absolutely loved the new James Bond movie and I am now dedicating my whole year in its honour.
May all people be at peace today and each day :-).

"America, a country no older than a heartbeat"

So, since I have been here I have tried to do a bit of traveling, and really understand where I now live, the United Kingdom and a bit of Europe. Now trust me, that is a lot to accomplish in a year's time and on a YAV stipend. But I can at least start to scratch the surface, after all I am trying to have a better understanding of what it means to be part of a global community. And with Secretary General Kofi Annan, putting forth the challenge to the United States to be the leader of the United Nations, and this growing community, its only fair that I do my small share. After all "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" paraphrasing JFK. Ok so I do have good intentions of becoming a global citizen, but I also just really love to travel and see everything I can. Since its cheaper to travel from England, why not take advantage of this opportunity? Well, my latest travels took me to Rome.

When I first arrived in West Bromwich, one of the women I worked with said to me. I dont really like the States, becuase it doesnt have any culture. I had no idea what she meant by this, of course we have culture, loads of it. And then when I was in Rome I understood. Its not so much culture she was speaking of its history. Yes we have our history but not the kind that spans back way before Christ (or the commonly known error, dependng on who you talk to).

In Rome I was blown away, by the Roman forum, the colliseum, and my favorite Trevi Fountain. I mean these sturctruces had been in existance before the US was even thought of. These cultures, traditions, have roots, that I can never understand, being from a baby of a nation. It's unbelieveable and awe inspiring.

Then this feeling occured all over again when I was walking through the National Gallery in London. I mean there were paitings that I saw which were more than twice as old as the US. Its actually kind of cool if you think about it to walk on streets that have been walked on for thousands of years, that could tell a story, that we may never hear, or only partly hear. It gave me goosebumps and a whole new appreciation for being from such a young nation turned super power. I thought of all those nations that came before us, truly a humbling notion.

So, now we just have to figure out how we can all work and learn together in this modern global community, while preserving, respecting and learning from the past, yet stepping boldly into the future. In the mean time I will continue to enjoy my journey inwads, and travels outwards. Cheers for peace! Chiao!

Make love not war, every cloud has a silver lining, World AIDS Day, just another day at the YM

Well it’s been a while and lots of action going on here at the lovely YMCA of West Bromwich. Where do I even begin? Well first things first, my group of residents, who I have been diligently working with to help empower, teach independence, and all in all try to do some positive self building, sort of blew up in my face. Let’s just say, (tongue in cheek) that this group of about eight residents, learned the lessons well and interpreted them in their own special way. They learned how to support each other, practice loyalty, be independent, and were def feeling empowered….maybe a little too empowered. This group of mainly girls, who were barely friends before, seemed to take the leadership business to heart, and in a way created a very intimidating gang at the YMCA Housing Project, and were being supported innocently enough by none other than yours truly. Oops! I guess next time I should remind them to use their power for good not evil “make love, not war”.

The story starts with an Ice Skating trip. It all seemed innocent enough, the residents came together, planned an activity and off we went. The only problem with Ice Skating is, people can get hurt, and of course one of them did. This created the bond between them, because they were positive that this boy in the pink shirt had pushed one of the female residents, ending in a fun trip for us all in an ambulance. It was like the Domino effect. This happened on Sunday, and things just got worse from there. The team leader of the RAP's (Residents Activities Panel) name popped up everywhere, and was constantly being associated with trouble. Next thing we know fences had been broken, alcohol was being misused (maybe even some pills/drugs), rooms had been trashed, people were arrested, and eventually about eight or so of my great RAP group, had been unceremoniously kicked out.

What was worse, is we had big plans for this group. They were supposed to help with World AIDS Day, bring awareness to the problems in Honduras, work on LPA Qualifications. Where did we go wrong? Did I do that? And then I remembered the word choices. We all make choices, and for some reason they felt powerful, invincible even (empowered oops!?), rules no longer applied to them! And as hard as it was to know that some of the residents who I worked so closely with were sleeping in a phone booth in front of the Y, I knew I had to uphold my supervisor’s position. They really had gone too far. I haven’t had a chance yet to ask them why, but I will. For some reason, they still feel like they can trust me, and speak to me when they see me. And I guess that even if things weren’t quite right, at least I did succeed in building relationships. Will they figure out they brought this on upon themselves? Leadership and bullying are not synonymous.

But all is not lost. Tuesday night RAP was scheduled to meet and Julian and I thought that for sure no one would turn up, but lo and behold there were five fresh new residents ready to plan activities; they were a bit older with different interests, but eager to be involved. Life goes on at the Y.

On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2006 (the residents had been kicked out the night before), the residents were supposed to release balloons, with prayer requests on them. Obviously this couldn’t happen as planned, as they no longer were allowed on YMCA property. I had to be creative and find a solution, this was too important a day not to participate and we had all the materials. Fortunately it dawned on our marketing director that there were many other people who also were a part of the YMCA community, so we involved staff, nursery children, and clients who use the gym. An awesome balloon launch was held outdoors to remember those who are dying or have died, those living with AIDS and those family and friends who are affected by AIDS. So all was not lost. There is a silver lining when you search for one and…..never a dull moment. Cheers!

Scotland, Turkey, and Mates! Must be Thanksgiving

When I first arrived in the UK, the first travel plans I made was figuring out what on earth I was going to do for Thanksgiving. It was decided at our London Orientation that as many of the American volunteers as possible and the two English girls we adopted would all head to Scotland, Edinburgh to be exact, for the famous American holiday of Thanksgiving. So after months of planning, more emails than I care to think about, the time finally arrived; my first ever Thanksgiving without my folks; and I was surprisingly calm.

I left Birmingham on Wednesday, and arrived in lovely Edinburgh. Nothing to do, but enjoy seeing a new city for now....

Since there were eight Americans and the two English girls, in three houses, we were all split up into teams. For some reason, there were two teams with four people, and one team with two. Of course I ended up on the two people team, and we were dubbed Team Clueless. We had all been assigned foods we were supposed to cook. Our assimgient if we chose to acept it, was a turkey (everyone had to cook a turkey), mac and cheese, a green beans casserole, and chocolate chip cookies. No problems here ...oh wait neither Andy nor I know how to cook. Thank goodness for my mum who gave us the how tos long distance. So Thursday morning, Andy and I were up and ready to go for our first ever Thanksgiving cooking adventure. Off to Sommerfields we went, to buy ingredients. We came home, cleaned our lovely 8lb turkey, put random spices and stuff on it, and popped it into the oven. We then proceeded to do the same thing with the mac and cheese, green beans, and cookies. No worries, a very relaxing cooking day. Until about half past two in the afternoon when we pulled the turkey out and it looked a paler shade of pale. We were to be ready to go in an hour, uh oh what do we do... call mum of course. Who then saved the day long distance. (She has been investing in calling cards). Phew! After the right Rx the turkey not only turned golden brown but we even managed to package everything up. All we had to do now was to carry all of this food onto the bus and into the city centre of Edinburgh. Easier said than done. Trust me.

We set off after packing all the food into back packs, and a huge Lands End Duffel bag, with me carrying the turkey. We set off for the bus. As we were walking down the street the bus passed us. All of a sudden I realized Andy was running. So what do I do but run also! Clutching the turkey for dear life. Because all I could imagine was the turkey flying out of my hands, and me following it. I guess the bus driver took pity on us, so he pulled over and allowed us to get on. Now we just needed to get to Mark's flat safe and sound.

Team Clueless arrived in style with all the food intact, even though all the others were having plenty of doubts about our success. The food was lovely, we had more than enough for the 30 folks who joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. They were a group of volunteers, students, and co workers who came to celebrate this day of thanks. And I was pleased to hear comments such as "I really enjoyed eating authentic American food, I thought you folks only ate McDonald's" . Some of the Scotsmen were a bit leery of the pumpkin pie, but everything turned out way better than I could ever imagine. It was truly an amazing day, and it made not being at home with my family very bearable.

Giving thanks, sharing this day with others, and working to prepare this meal which is so special, that too in a forgien country, was truly a feeling that I am glad I had a chance to experience and will cherish always. Of course I missed being at home in Delaware, but I wouldn't have traded this Thanksgiving for the world.

It is traditional for my family to give thanks for the things that have happened to us in the past year, so as always I will now share mine. I am thankful for having two wonderful parents who have supported me through thick and thin, my old friends who have managed to make me feel at home in a country so far away with loads of emails, for all the new friends I have made who are here and spread throughout the world, for working with all the great staff of the West Bromwich YMCA, and the residents who give meaning to all of this and for all those angel-strangers whose prayers and support sustain me, and my many many more blessings.

Cheers and I hope everyone had a great 2006 Thanksgiving!

To see pics of Thanksgiving please click the link!

Pondering life, growing up, and of course GO DEMS!!!!!!!

About a week ago, I had another roller coaster experience. I realized that I have had a few of them since I have been in England, and I ponder life more than I have ever before.

One of the residents was arrested and I witnessed him being lead away in handcuffs. It sucked; I had this feeling of dread and helplessness. This is one of the residents that I have grown to know over the past few weeks, and he really is a great guy. As he was escorted out the staff and I just watched. It was surprising that no one accompanied him (I really felt that someone should go with him, support him, make him realize he wasn't alone in this), or act in a role of advocate. We know the police dont just come and take people away for no reason, they had to have cause. After all this is no land of coups, it is England. Neverteless I was relieved later when I saw him after he had been questioned and released. He was doing the tough nonchalant thing and was surprised that I cared enough to be worried as to what would happen now.

Of course in my head this brought up the numerous discussions I had received at induction in the States, London, and at West Brom about "boundaries". What my place was here, and what I could really do in these situations. After a conversation with my supervisor I realized its good that I felt something, becuase the reason I am here is to build relationships with the residents, its just a matter of not allowing those emotions to take over.

But lots of questions were still unanswered. Do we judge, do we forgive, do we truly practice "love thy neighbor"? Seems we have to be cautious. So how do we make change, yet maintain a balance, and practice social justice?

In the meantime, elections approached in the US consuming my thoughts. I just can't help myself I am a political geek. I have spent most of my life so far, working towards making a career for myself in politics. I had the opportunity to work on a grass roots campaign as a manager in DC for the DNC, going on to a Presidential Coordinated Campaign, and then to working for a U.S Senator. All of which left me feeling very unfulfilled at times. But also giving me great experiences, drive, focus, and the chance to work with and meet some of the most amazing people ever. But like I said it didn't feel right. So I accepted the call to do a year of service; to find myself, be on a journey within, to aid others, and take a step back.

When I arrived in England I wasn't quite sure why, I was here, and what I came to find, but slowly I have started to settle into my life, make headway with my work, and really get to know the residents, and feel like I can make a difference in this place. And I am beginning to love my work here, and the residents that I am working with. Everyday I see a bit more of those relationships building, and its wonderful! But for what purpose, I don't really know yet, but that doesn't always matter does it? If I am open in heart and mind the purpose will become evident.

All was beginning to look good in England, but on Monday I had this awful sinking feeling of homesickness, and sluggishness that I just couldn't shake. Maybe it was because I knew that at home most of the people I know and had worked with were gearing up for what would be one of the most important mid term elections in history. Their adrenaline would be flowing, I missed the scent of "battle"?

On Tuesday morning I woke up with a buzz, everyone at the YMCA was subjected to hearing me speak about the US elections and what could happen. How on earth was I going to manage to stay up to watch the numbers come in? I had sent emails to my friends on campaigns, and even a message to my former boss the Senator. I felt disconnected knowing that no matter how hard I tried, this year 2006, I would just be an observer from the sidelines.

Finally at about midnight the BBC news started to report, I watched as Ohio elected a new Democratic Senator and Pennsylvania elected another new Senator Bob Casey, and finally I saw that Delaware Senator Tom Carper would be keeping his seat for another six years. Hooray! By this time it was nearly 2:00 am, and I knew I needed to put myself to bed.

Wednesday morning arrived, and I had to struggle through working reception, not because I was sleepy, but because I couldn't stand not knowing what the results were. Finally it was time to break and I literally ran home, and was greeted by the news that Nancy Pelosi may become the first woman Speaker of the House and I knew we had done it, the Dem's finally took back the House. We had elected our first Muslim Congressman, our second black Governor (in Massachusetts) since Reconstruction, created a possible dynasty in Delaware with Beau Biden winning the position of Attorney General. Then I watched Senator Tom Carper give his victory speech with my former colleagues in the background. I felt such a sense of pride. America is taking steps forward, we are on the brink of huge changes, and we are setting the stage for the 2008 Presidential Election. As the week went on, the Dems took the Senate and Donald Rumsfeld stepped down, it was def turning into quite the eventful week.

No time for messing up. Now the soul searching. This is what I have been waiting for, and here I am in England, far away from the changes that have started to occur. Did I make the right choice? After all don't elected officials claim to serve constituents? Will my service at a global level count? Is it after all a calling for servant leadership? Will this path take me to beoming a better person? Time for me to ponder some more, like I am not doing enough of that already. Living each day is another learning..... :-)

GO DEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who needs Halloween, when you have Bon Fire Night!

Well, needless to say Halloween came and went without me so much as noticing. Other than an attempt at a fancy dress party in London (which was cancelled), and a few emails wishing me a Happy Halloween from mates back in the States. Well there, was a brief moment on the Saturday before Halloween where I was like slightly bummed and a bit nostalgic, wow, if I was at home right now I would be on the faboulous Halloween Loop, which to me is one of the premier events Wilmington, Delaware has to offer. I found that Halloween isn't very big here, trick or treating is a new idea that has only just begun and the Christian community frowns on the idea of the celebration, viewing it as Demonic. I actually was warned not to really mention Halloween at all, and the few people I did speak to about it raised their eyebrows when I said I grew up attending Halloween Parties held every year at my Church, but I digress.

Here in the lovely United Kingdom, we have something much better. We have the 5th of November aka Bonfire Night. This is a night celebrated all over the UK, which includes more fireworks than the 4th of July and huge bonfires everywhere from public parks to peoples home gardens. Why may you ask is there a bonfire night? Well way back in the day, a man by the name of Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the British Parliament and failed. Since then every year on the 5th of November the UK celebrates his failure, by burning him in effigy in Bonfires, a bit barbaric, I know but hey, no judging, just joining in on the fun. For more of the history of Bonfire Night check out this link.

Since Bonfire night fell on a Sunday this year, there was twice the fun. Many places in the Birmingham area had bonfire celebrations on Saturday as well as Sunday. So, on Saturday (November 4th) night I had the opportunity to attend the Bonfire Fayre in West Brom. Where there was a HUGE bonfire, lots of rides, a laser show, fun music, and of course loads and loads of fireworks. And when I say loads of fireworks I mean that for the past two days, as soon as it got dark outside you heard the continuous popping of fireworks.

All I can say, after a rough week (I will write more about that later), it was a great way to finish it off. I enjoyed my first English Bonfire night a lot.

Cheers!

I live in England

So, even though I like think to think I am rather spontaneous, and all that jazz, I am a person of routine. And since today is Sunday, I was thinking, yup time to write a blog. I opened the page, and just stared at the screen. And I couldn't help wondering why didn't I have anything to write about? Then it dawned on me. I live in England now, in West Bromwich. Hello! I already know this, and have written about all my new experiences here and blah blah blah. But today, I had that wonderful comfortable feeling that maybe I am no longer a visitor, but this is indeed my present life, and I really don't have that much to report on it, it is now an everyday thing.

I had a wonderful weekend hanging with my mates, doing some shopping, chatting, and drinking coffee, and tomorrow, I will go back to work. Yup, I live in England and its not really that big of a deal anymore the newness is going away (OK it is still a very big deal, but I am finally getting used to it).

Tomorrow I start yet another new project at the YM, working with the head of childcare (no I am no longer in the nursery). I am helping her organize all the new out of school clubs, and nurseries that the YM will be opening in Januuary 2007. It will be very administrative, but in quite a different way than what I did in the Senator's office in Delaware. I look forward to it, and am excited about giving someone a helping hand. Also tomorrow will be the first time I meet the board of the YM West Brom, which should be interesting.

Lets hear from you too. Cheers!

Moving Forward: Y - M - C - A Style

Ahhh another week, and another blog. Its a weird feeling of time going by so fast, and yet at the same time so slowly, but I keep moving forward.

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend a session about the Y Care International. This is the larger organization that the West Bromwich YMCA is a part of in the United Kingdom. Y Care links West Brom to the bigger picture of what is going on in the rest of the UK and the rest of the world, actually. This session was about how do we incorporate what is going on abroad with what is going on at home (isn't this always the question foreign policy vs. domestic?). The YMCA is the proud owner of the largest Young Peoples Movement in the world, and they want to bring some of that social justice momentum to my (yes, my) residents in West Brom. They want the residents here to take ownership of not only their environment here, but realize that they are the future, and they can make a difference. (Yes, I must admit, my heart was racing throughout the whole session. FINALLY, someone speaking my language, CHANGE and ACTION!). We learned about young peoples' rights, and what programs the Y Care provides to help create these movements; programs like visiting Parliament and speaking to MP's (Members of Parliament), and also creating letter writing campaigns.... Finally we were given a task, we were made aware of some of the atrocities of what is happening to young people in the Honduras, and how we can support their movement. Their humanity needs to be acknowledged, they need to be recognized as people and not just gang members. To help support them as they take on the task of battling with their government for fair treatment, and to stop the unlawful killings of young people in their prisons. (for more information please click on the above link).

Now the question is how do we accomplish this task? And the light bulb clicked on...we already have in place a group of residents who want to take some ownership of their home here, so why not add this on as an activity, after all it only takes a spark.....Now we just have to get them interested, and battle the question of why would one (Y residents) want to help people so far away when there are their own problems right back here at home? My answer is, through helping others you can help yourself. We are all in this together (to paraphrase the great MLK). Now all I have to do is convince them :-)

I also wanted to share with you a little history of where I am living. West Bromwich is a part of what is called the Black Country, this is a part of England, which was at one time very industrial and home to lots of coal mines. The story goes, that Queen Victoria was riding on the train, and when she arrived in the Black Country she requested to have her drapes drawn, for she thought it was too ugly to look out of her window. While the Black Country may not be the prettiest part of the country, I disagree with Queen Victoria, its def worth looking out your window. The culture, history, and language (the dialect of the Black Country is the same as that of William Shakespeare and Chaucer, it may sound funny, but its the original English) here is a small part of what makes England great. And I had the opportunity to learn a lot more by visiting the Black Country Living Museum. I had a chance to experience a 1900 village (which actually does look a lot like present day West Brom) go down into a coal mine and have the coal miners experience, and play on an early 1900's fairground. It was fun, to take a trip into the past, and have a better understanding of where I am. (to see pics, check out the pictures link in the sidebar)

Cheers!

Now, I get it!

Well, let me tell you a treat is waiting for you in this entry, a two for one type of deal, if you will, about my lovely weekend in London, and starting to find my place at my job. I will start with the work I am doing, because it might be a bit more boring, and that way you have to keep reading to get to the fun stuff.

As I may have stated before, I have been on assignment at the YMCA in West Bromwich, where thus far I have been working in all its various departments. Which is cool, but I did not come here to be a childcare worker, or a dishwasher, but I am willing to do whatever, it takes, if it means a helping hand to someone. Then as the weeks continued I found it to be more busy work. I didn't feel fully utilized and needed, and I found myself asking; why did the YMCA request to have social justice volunteers here? Then I remembered my initial interview which had made me accept this project in the first place; which was to work with the 16-25 year old residents who live here. To be a part of the support work team here, which helps the residents gain independence, and hopefully empowerment.

Now the question was how do I do that? The residents come from all different backgrounds, with lots of different stories to explain why they are at the YMCA, some simply wanted to get out of their parents' house, some…have a greater need, but regardless they are all a part of this community, yet they have no ownership of it other than a small dorm room. So, with my type A personality and my go getter attitude Julian (my partnenr in this enterprise) and I set off to create a Residents' Activities Panel (RAP). Allowing the residents to start leading, planning, and having a bit of fun during their stay at the YM. We have gathered a group of about 12, and like a good Presbyterian, we have divided them into committees, and even appointed two co-chairs for the RAP. Now all we need is a bit of money and support from the powers that be at the YM.

The next project I have started on with some of the staff, is working on the qualifications program (basically high school certificates) that has recently started here at the YM. The program has the residents complete 150 hours of course work, that vary from sex education, to healthy living, and leadership. The program lacks resources (again no money, and this time no academic projects) which makes it a little hard to complete the requirements. So off we went again, volunteering my time, to help research funding sources and grants, and to find coursework available to help the residents accomplish this task. Finally, I feel like I am beginning to serve the people and fulfill needs here at the YM, and not simply being a warm body. Not to mention its been a lot of fun getting to know the residents who live here, they truly are a wonderful group of people.

Now for the fun….

I had the joy of spending an amazing weekend in London, where I finally got myself out of this sleepy slump and out enjoying travelling and exploring my new surroundings along with a fellow volunteer Sally (who is such an incredible person). London is truly a fantastic city, and I found myself having a Carrie (from Sex and the City) moment, of falling in love with the city, and the city becoming my friend. Walking along the South Bank, hanging out in Piccadilly Circus, attending Rupert Everett’s book signing at Harrods’s (yes the guy from my Best Friend's Wedding), ice cream in the afternoon, going to cool flea markets, and open air markets, seeing Kensington Palace (Princess Di's previous home), the dreadful tower of London, and of course my favourite thing just sitting on a park bench and people watching.

It was one of those weekends that renewed and awakened the spirit, and reminded me why I love to travel, and that I can only make my year in the UK even better depending on what I put into it.

One Month

Well I have been living in West Brom for one month today, in England for a bit (month) and some change, and have been away from home for a month and a half almost. And I feel like I have already learned so much, new words, new flat, new mates, and its only been a month. Gosh I can only imagine what a year will bring me. Well here are some of the things I have learned and experienced so far.

I have had more tea in the past month than I think I have had in my whole life. Lets face it a cuppa tea really does make everything better!

You have breakfast, then tea, then dinner, then tea (which is tea with a snack), and then some people have supper.

Having an American accent in the Midlands is cool - Even if people do compare you to the girls from the movie Clueless (hmmm I feel like I have heard that before...)

Birmingham has a huge music scene, and the art festival was one of the coolest things I have gone to as yet. I really might enjoy this whole British Indy Rock scene.

Learned how to play net ball (basket ball without the dribbling)

Attempted to get into Football- Go West Bromwich Albions?

Learned how to cook a bit (I am not ready for Iron Chef, but hey I might make someone a good wife after all)

It is hard to make friends in a new country, but that doesn’t mean one, should give up trying.

British Soap Operas can really hook you, my favourites are Hollyoaks, Emmberdale, and of course East Enders (hey it’s no Grey's Anatomy, but it def grabs your attention)

City Centre Birmingham is a lot of fun to hang out in, whether you want to chill at the park, or go to the clubs, go shopping or walk along the canal.

I can do things by myself....

And here are a slew of new words that I have learned....

Mobile-cell phone
Jumper- sweater
Blokes- guys
Mates- friends
Ta- thank you
Ta ra- good bye or see you later
Telly- TV
Snog- kiss or make out
Cuddle- hug
Crisps- chips
Chips- French fries
Motorway- highway
Cinema or Pictures- Movies
Cheers - thank you, good bye, pretty much you can use it whenever
Car Park- Parking lot
Take Away- Take Out
Petrol Station- Gas Station

Church vs. Secular World

I have been thinking about how to write this entry all day. Having been in the UK for about a month now, I have really been trying to put myself out there and join a community. Being a YAV I figured an easy community to join would be a church community, but for some reason its not that easy.

Europe much like the USA seems to be going through a, how do you say, transition in church life. Simply put people don't seem to be going to Church that often. More specifically the twenty somethings are absent from church. And my question is where are they? I must admit when I was at home and I was close enough to go to my home church or any other church for that matter, I found myself also guilty of skipping church on Sunday. Why did I skip? Numerous reasons, but one of the main ones was, I wanted to do more then just attend a service I wanted to act on it. Which was part of the reason I became a young adult volunteer, to serve, to learn, to explore my faith, yes all of the YAV's are in their twenties, but when we go home will we go back to attending church or will our absence continue? How do we get the twenty somethings involved? And how can the Church compete with the growing Secular world?

Since I have been in the England, I have had the opportunity to attend two different types of churches, and meet with the pastors of the local churches here in West Brom. The first church I attended was St. Andrews Anglican Church in West Bromwich, while the service was very similar to what I was used to at my home Presbyterian Church, the congregation was not. About 50 people in attendance, ALL over the age of 60 (or at least pretty close to 60). The congregation, knew we were visitors right away, and seemed excited to have us in attendance.

The next church I went to was Living Stones Church in Birmingham. This church came as a recommendation of one of the friends I've made. She has been attending this church since she converted to Christianity from Sikhism( but in their language she was saved), and has become "born again". Not going to lie, I was very nervous about attending this service, right away in my mind I was thinking this might be a very radical church, that I was not accustomed to, but I went with an open mind. I had been promised that this Church had a huge twenty something attendance, so I was looking forward to also meeting some people my own age. Alas wrong again, while the Sermon was really quite good, the service was something that left me feeling uncomfortable. It seemed to me that this church had a very strict understanding of what Christianity was, and ones life is only right if you follow the rules that they have set forth.

Having come from a multi cultural/religious background. I find it very hard to tell anyone how to find their way to God. I truly believe everyone finds their way in their own right. Be that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.

This raised yet another question in my mind. What does it mean to be a Christian? And is this the question that has led many people to stop attending church?

I almost feel that its easier to say you have faith and believe in a higher being than it is to explain why you believe in a certain religion.

One of the things that I will eventually become involved with at the YMCA will be in a program called 'church without walls' run via the Anglican church. The main goal of this program will be to attempt to attract the twenty somethings, so maybe (hopefully) in working with this program I will begin to answer some of my questions.

Needless to say my Church experience has made me miss Hanover Presbyterian Church quite a lot and appreciate that fact, that I can safely say, that being a Presbyterian suits me just fine, and how much I really love my home church community and my family of faith.

Net Ball

Well what can I say, I am truly entering into a whole new world of sports over here in England. Yesterday I had the fabulous opportunity to play in a rousing game of Net ball, the staff vs. The residents. Now you may ask yourself what is Net ball ? Well frankly I am not sure I could tell you(I am still working on learning the rules), but its the British answer to basketball (but without dribbling, once you get the ball you can no longer move just pass or shoot). Needless to say, even though I never did quite get the rules ( I was told I was the goal keeper, stand under the basket and don't go past the red line). I think I did a good job. The staff won 19-7, and you know what you they say offense scores points defense wins games.

As fun as the game was, what was really great was getting an opportunity to get to know the residents a bit more. Which is truly what I feel my purpose is, to interact with the residents and build a mutual relationship, where we can learn from each other. It's interesting to be around people who are the same age as you, but basically have nothing really in the world to support them, other then the staff and community of the YMCA. And it has become clear that part (the main part) of the work that I will be doing here is helping the residents to become empowered and independent, but I can't stress enough, even though I am here to serve/work with them, I know that I will probably walk away from this expereince learning more from them, than I could ever teach.

Right now we are working on a project to create an activities board with the residents, plan trips, social events, sports leagues, a newsletter, residents board (sort of like a student government type thing) and basically anything that they can think of. I would serve as a support or a means to an end, and hopefully this will become a project that they will take and really run with. So they can finally feel like they have some ownership in how things are run in their homes.

Now all we need are some residents who want to particpate and if its anything like Univeristy, a little food should get them out to the first meeting :-)

Cheers!

(for more pics of net ball please check out my pictures link above)

My new favorite Sport....

Are you ready for some football? Yes please...

What do you do when your in a country and you can't watch good ole American football on Sundays....Well you watch Rugby of course, which looks like might be my new favorite sport. :-) I am working on getting into that whole real football thing, but watching soccer on the telly is just not that exciting. Maybe after attending a match I will get more into the football spirit. In the meantime rugby it is, from what I have seen so far, it def is entertaining to watch, even though I don't have a clue what is going on. And lucky enough for me Birmingham has a professional rugby club I can go and check out. Cheers!

But alas, I still miss watching my favorite NFL football team the Detroit Lions. Now if only the Lions could win some games, hopefully Moseley will do a bit better. GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lost in Dudley

So I never realized how much I really took for granted at home. For instance, having a washer and a dryer(I will save that story, for another time), and knowing how to use public transportation.

Having previously lived in two big cities, I felt that public transportation was something I easily could catch on to and basically knew how to use. The metro in Washington D.C is like an old habit, and getting around Philly became second nature. So, I figured how hard could the bus system be in the Midlands, I speak the same language, so I would be able to read the maps, and understand the drivers and I had already mastered the tram (mind you it only goes in two directions, so not a hard task). Boy was I mistaken.

It was now our third Friday in West Brom, and Julian and I decided we wanted to continue to broaden our horizons, and check out some of the towns around us. The next biggest city after Birmingham is Wolverhamptown, and then there at two small towns in between Dudley, and Walsall. Well we didn't want to travel all the way to Wolverhamption, so we decided on Dudley, we could go to the Cinema there, and around the Cinema there are lots of restaurants, a bowling alley, and a few pubs. Perfect Friday night, all we had to do is get on bus 74 and get off at the right stop, and we would be able to see the Cinema from the road. Easy..... Of course not, other wise why on earth would I be telling this story. Well of course we missed the stop, so we figured we would just get off at the next stop and walk back. Turns out the next stop was in the town center of Dudley at the bus station. Cool, still no problem, a bit longer walk, but we can do it. So off we went, and about 3o mins later we realized, hmm we haven't seen the Cinema, and we honestly have no idea where we are. And we began to laugh, we were like hmm even if we called someone we wouldn't be able to tell them where we were all we knew was we were on a road, and there was a chip shop near by. Here we were an American and a German lost in Dudley (at least we thought we were still in Dudley). And to be honest, neither one of us was phased a bit, we chalked it up to another adventure in the Midlands. So we walked for about 10 more minutes, and decided maybe it was time to turn around, so we caught another random bus, with hopes that it would take us back to the bus station and we could start over.

Eventually we did end up at the Cinema, but by this time it was around 9:30 (we left our flat at 7) and we didn't have time for a movie, so we went to a pub and grabbed a bite to eat, and really actually laughed about what a fun and random Friday night it had been, and heading home.

Even though we didn't have a perfect night, I couldn't help thinking to myself. Well has nice as it would be to have someone hold my hand and show me the ropes of where I am. Its been kind of fun learning things trail by error. As I told my friend in one of my emails, its def a sink or swim situation, and I am def going to swim. :-)

Cheers!

"You talk funny"

So, I was trying to add pictures to my blog, but being that I am a blogging idiot, I cant seem to figure out how to do that. So hopefully you can use the link at the top of my page to check out pictures from my journey.

The past two days, I have had the lovely opportunity to work with the Out of School Club. The Out of School Club is for children ages 4-15. They are picked up from school by the YMCA and are brought back to the YM to hang out, have tea (snack time), and to hang out. Since the children range in age, its quite crazy at times. My first day working with the Out of School Club, I felt like I was on show and tell. When they children first arrived, they basically ignored me, but as I was serving tea (sandwiches, and juice) one of the children mustered up the courage to say "Miss, you talk funny". My response was of course "Do, I?". This then proceeded to a game of guess where the new teacher is from. Of course they guessed American right away and from then on I gained instant popularity. The children wanting me to play games with them, sit next to them, and most importantly tell them about all the Hollywood celebrities that I have met (unfortunately , I have to disappoint them when it comes to the Hollywood part).

24

Well its official, I am finally 24. I wasn't really looking forward to my 24th birthday, but a very good friend of mine reminded me "how many people get to say they spent their 24th birthday in a new town in England, exploring a new country" So, that's what I did, I ceased the day. :-) And actually had a rather lovely birthday. Not only was it my birthday this past weekend it was also my 2nd weekend in West Brom.

Saturday night I had my first chance to go to the city center of Birmingham, and it was actually really cool and quite pretty. The Birmingham art festival was going on which meant there were lots of bands and other fun things going on. We (Julian and I) walked around and ended going to broad street which is a street full of bars and night clubs. At a random bar that we went into, we met two guys who were night club promoters from London, and they invited us to go with them to a club VIP style....Which would have been awesome but Julian was wearing trainers and track pants, and there was no way we could get in with those on even with the big timers, so they tried to convince us to go home and change and meet them out, but I didn't feel like it. So we went to West Brom and went to one of our local pubs. And I had a drink at midnight to celebrate my 24th year.

On Sunday(my actual birthday) I went by myself to the city center and went to the art festival, walked around, listened to some bands (one of which I really liked and hopefully I will get to seem them perform again), drank some coffee, and really had a nice day. When I returned to West Brom, Julian and I went to the pub for a drink and then had Chinese take away.

For the past 5 years, I have always remembered that as I celebrate my birthday on the 10th of September, the next day is the 11th. And I always say a prayer and have a remembrance for all those who lost loved ones due to the events of September 11th. I realize, that those events affected more then just the United States of America, they affected the whole world. But, we can not live in fear. God Bless the world. :-)