Jesus Does Not Work For Google

Jesus Does Not Work For Google...

Offer any question to the Google Search Engine and the universe
shall be opened unto you. The Googleverse that is. A Googleverse
that is coming across a more varied and sophisticated structure with Google Search Engine,
GoogleVoice, GoogleCalendar, GoogleScholar, and a soon-to-be Google
phone to usurp its revered predecessor-iphone. The Google Eye reaches
to many "forbidden" arenas such as North Korea, Alqaeda safehouses
in Pakistan, and that Washington DC 3-bedroom bachelorette pad that your current beau's
ex-girlfriend frolicks within.

In short, Google can navigate you to the furthest corners of the
earth, all from the comfort and "privacy" of your own home. You can
ask Google anything. It is the Trekkies dream come true.

To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before.

No proverbial stone is left unturned. For better or worse. Alas,
the truth is--Google Giveth and Google Taketh Away. Unphased by your
haughtiness, naughtiness, or all around annoying curiosity. No matter
what angle you take, google sits unchanging. Awaiting your deepest
and most secret queries. WIth its two BIG eyes and slot of a mouth.

Ready to gobble up your curiousity and spit out knowledge with the
click of your mouse. Google is omniscent, non-judgemental, forgiving,
everpresent as satellite imagery suggests, and potent with answers to
all of your questions. Could it be? Jesus-Powered?

Sigh with relief in knowing that JESUS DOES NOT WORK FOR GOOGLE.

Well, how do I know? You may ask. The universe poses questions
to us on a daily basis, which we as humans are tasked with answering.
These universal questions are uniquely unaswerable by Google. Some
examples follow:

-What is ____(your name)'s purpose on this earth?
-Should I forgive ____(name of transgressor) for ______(transgression)?
-How can we realize our dream for global peace and not end up
in pieces as a result?

Yes, some questions are unanswerable by our well-respected Googleverse.
Sorry Google, Jesus has you on this one. These are questions, universal
question, that can only be answered by our inner-voice. Whether you get
to that voice by asking Jesus to speak to your heart or by doing
yogic meditations is up to you. Some days Google doesn't have ALL the answers.

Falling Forward

Today I am going to reveal the hidden benefits of the F-word. Okay, we are all adults in here so let me just come clean and say it…Failure.


Many of us are afraid of this word. Afraid of the way it looks, the way it sounds, and the way it makes us feel.

Envision yourselves as that little baby we all were when we took our first hesitant steps. Our shaky legs learn the rhythm and the motion of walking, but before we have the formula down pact, we make an attempt to walk. There was a pitter patter of uncoordinated steps and then (CLAP) SPLAT! Down on our faces. More often than not we got up and tried again. All of us seemed to have learned how to walk—but I bet we fell more than once!

When we became adults, if we fall what is the first thing we do? Usually pop up and look around and think, “I hope no one saw that”. We become ashamed of our falls and failures. We hide from failure we avoid taking risks that may result in failure.

Me? I am well acquainted with failure. I have failed BIG—I got kicked out of the Peace Corps, a job I loved. I was escorted out of the country by an armed member of the Embassy. There was nowhere to hide from that failure. So I had to confront it. I’m glad I did. Failure is a great teacher. It teaches us more than success can. I learned about my limits, I discovered who my true friends were, and I uncovered strength I didn’t even know I had. But most importantly, I got up and tried again. Failing fast and failing forward is a hidden secret to success. I condensed this philosophy into 3 main points:

Accept Failure. Don’t be ashamed of the failures in your life. Accept and embrace them. I hope you realize from that little baby taking its first step—failure is a part of life. The sooner you accept failure the quicker you can move on.
Ask for Help. One thing we can learn from failure is that we are not alone in our struggles. When we were babies we fell down, got up, we may have looked around to see if anyone was willing to lend a helping hand or even get a kiss for the boo-boo on our knee. When we fail…it is good to reach out for help. Don’t be afraid to say you need it because everyone needs help sometime. Ask your true friends for help giving feedback—what did you do that caused the failure? What can be done differently next time?
Fail forward. The baby learning to walk will fall and get right back up and try again. The falls do not define us. They do not paralyze us or scare us out of giving it another shot. Failing forward means using failures as stepping stones to success.


Hopefully these tips will help you to remember how to make the most of failure. In this holiday season it can ironically force us to focus on our deficits—what we can’t do for our families, what we haven’t done in our personal lives or careers. Treat failure as a moment of abundant learning. As I mentioned earlier, failure is a great teacher. Make sure you are ready to be a great student. Learn what your limits are, uncover your strengths and weaknesses, what works and doesn’t work. Next time you fall, fall forward.

Men are dogs

Men are dogs...

Dogs are kind, loyal, empathetic, and affectionate. Are men really like dogs? I would say men are more like the male of any form of any sentient being (must be aware of pleasure and pain). Let's explore this question a little further. I would venture out to hypothesize that: The sense of compassion and interconnectedness with others is not as strong in male species as it is within females.

An experiment done with the macaque monkey population can bring us to an understanding of this phenomena. It was arranged so that when a monkey pulled a chain, it got food. But everytime it pulled the chain...another monkey was shocked. The one who pulled the chain had to see the other monkey suffer because of the pulled chain. Some monkeys would starve themselves for days. If it was a familiar monkey, it would starve itself for longer periods of time. If it were a the same species, but not familiar, the time of starvation would be shorter. If it were a different kind of monkey, it would hesitate even less in pulling the chain.

Monkey's are compassionate when it comes to their own kind, but less so when they are not familiar. I believe that females of the species have a grander sense of oneness and interconnectedness which comes from the miracle of motherhood-- this a sense of compassion between mother and child. It takes an effort to try and think of other people as close to you, so that their suffering matters as much as your own. For mothers this is easy. A mother would not hesitate to sacrifice herself fo her offspring, even in birds.

In humans compassion is a cultivation of the mind, where you first have to admit the consequences of your actions (knowledge) and then you have to relate it to someone close to you. This is SO easy for females because we are all connected through the act of, or at least the possibility of giving birth. This takes internalization and constant reflection. Do-acknowledge-reflect-act.

Men are more like turtles. A turtle does not have the dependency on its mother from birth. It takes more effort to show affection and compassion for this creature because from birth, it maybe, was never given the chance to be dependent. Like when the mother says, "You are a big boy now". And holds the child at a distance, if the child hasn't finished the bonding period and healthfully let go then this becomes a constant and ever present fear--abandonment.

SO when you hear the phrase, "Men are like dogs". You can say, "Nah, they're more like turtles"

You have a right with me.

Soft tears of new found needs, or buried words of contempt.
I am not disgusted by your worry warts.
The quiet strength you carry can become a weakness if you let it.
It's okay with me.
You have a right with me.
You're emotional episodes can go in my collection of precious keepsakes.
They'll be safe.
I will keep this delicately.
Let loose those silent cries,
my ears are big enough hold them all.
reasons don't matter here.
Not at all...
like you, just you, just how you do.
That's all that matters.
Your most authentic self, in all its lights and shadows.
that's what I am with you,
You have a right with me.

I love therefore I am…

When I was a little girl I never played with Barbie or Ken…not because I was socially conscious at that age. But mainly due to practical reasons their cost and dimensions, they were too tall to fit into the narrow Payless shoe boxes that would be converted into condominiums. There were also a little too standard. Not like the trolls. The trolls came alive in a unique way, each effectively transformed into a miniature character that strolled around in the shoebox/condos and interacted with a family of individual troll relations. When I was a little girl I teamed with my older sister to create the troll colony.
We played with the trolls, but before long the trolls took on their own lives and played themselves. We had a few at first…they slowly picked up in number and a family was started. Eventually they gained neighbors and sparks flew between a few as multitudes of troll love connections were made. I remember playing with these treasure trolls with scrunched up faces, olive skin, and jewels in their bellies. I loved them, the way the reflected happiness so brightly.
My sister and I must have played with these trolls for years there were generations of trolls and they each had their own individual story and character history. They had condos made out of shoe boxes and each of them had interior decorations unique from the next. They had livelihoods, though I can't remember what those were. They were kind of like the desperate housewives, in that, you knew they were getting money from somewhere but that source was not clear and you couldn't really say that you care with all of the drama that went on between them being enough to focus on.
From the trolls with their elaborate lives to where I stand today, I see myself as a dreamer. When I have a dream, I follow it. All the way—and that has gotten me in a lot of trouble at times and other times it has worked out but either way I have learned a lot about myself. One thing I can’t do is I can not not follow my heart. I am so passionate that when I feel for a cause or a person I feel completely and with every morsel of my being. For that reason I take my time in expressing myself. Sometimes I take so long in expressing myself that everyone has left the room and gone home to their families and I am still sitting there thinking about how I can express myself…and the answer has always been, with written words. I take forever to think of how I want to say something but when it finally comes out it is exactly the way I intend. I revel in choosing my words one by one.
In summary, I am a walking contradiction. I love people. I’m antisocial. I follow my love for life. I’m scared to make the final step. I am experienced. I have a lot to learn about love, about people. I don’t take well to no. I am half man and half woman. I live in extremes. I feel people’s emotions deeply but I am not sympathetic. I create wherever I go. I cherish precious moments. My favorite ice cream is mint n’chip. I eat an enormous amount of chocolate on a daily basis. I run. I cherish perspectives. I write. I live.

You're in my right brain...

You have no name.
You're in my right brain.
Beautiful and seamless...
one whole loving flawless circle of light.
Cliffs edges cannot limit us--
boundless in ecstasy,
breathing in you...out me.
Levels of incoherence
laughter for hours for no apparent reason
it just is.
No laws or rules or doubts
we just are.
Seeing a soul past the confines of the body.
We are free.

These things are A-ok by Me

-Men running shirtless in the heat of the day
-Taking extra long steps at a cross walk
-Counting out loud in your head
-Random dancing in the supermarket
-Language fusions
-Walking into work late
-Living organisms praying together
-Chasing rainbows at night
-Daydreaming during meetings
-Sleeping or napping on the job (as long as it isn't putting anyone in danger and you still get your work done)
-Telling the truth even if it hurts
-Meeting the maker
-Having coffee in the middle of the day or at night
-Breaking or keeping a routine
-Anything that doesn't hurt anyone
-Using the power of your influence to create a ripple effect
-Morning showers
-5-minute showers
-Chewing with mouth open
-Speaking with mouth closed
-Intense staring, as long as it is not directed at me
-Long drawn-out meetings
-Drawing in meetings
-People people
-Anti-people people
-Knowing your limits and setting them
-Monday morning blogs
-Simplicity
-Life

Why Chocolate Chips are the Best!

My body is the instrument
and the music is bitter sweet.
Like chocolate chips in my mouth touching just the tip of my tongue,
slowly spreading across my tastebuds making my lips--buzz.
Give me that truth to hum sing songs to the bottom of your soul.
I delight in you.
I wish I could melt you and keep you in me--If only I could encapsulate the melody.
You and I could be. But when I awake, I'll be in the same place.
And you in yours.
Each of us so dreadfully singular.
Boom boom boom
boom boom
The rhytmic baseline
connecting our hearts is the only beat.
Moving us forward and propelling us through this chocolate dream.
Every piece of me wear the vision of we.
Chocolate chips give me a reason to be.

He's Always Gone Too Long

Everytime he goes away,
Ain't no sunshine,
instead the distance between us feels like one long cloud,
outstretched like an arm with no attachment and no grasp end,
where are we going with this,
are we just relying on the consistency of dreams?
I can't count sheep falling asleep,
instead I count the days,
and the dollars dripping from my bank account,
and the days seem endless,
I never liked counting.
So pointless, it never ends.
It never brings me closer to what I really want.
Only longing for more.
My goal has never looked this concrete, but at the same time like a brick wall.
It's as if seeing all the signs wasn't enough.
I had to come right up against it.
Feel it on the palm of my hand.
So cold and hard.
So real.
Everytime you go away.

Jamaican Men 101: Lessons 1 & 2

1. Don't listen to anything he says to you.
2. Only pay attention to what he does.

The benevolent liar...

Have you ever been lied to?
What about that lie when the person you trusted with everything,
I mean EVERYTHING...
looked you in the eye and said, its true.
And later you found out that this person was lying to you for 2-years?
And when they finally got caught and confronted they said...
It was for you.
To protect you.
To keep you safe from harm.
The expression on the face looks something like this,
....
The benevolent liar.
Lying for the good of all mankind.
Sometimes the words come later for this type.
I wish I could have looked him in the face right then and said,
NO, you lied because you're a liar.

You reflect me

You reflect me.
You are a reflection of me.
From deep within the darkest dreams,
To outside from what the world can see.
You reflect me.
And me you.
When we collided we shattered and broke the prettiest picture which made us quickly drop to our knees to pick up the prettiest pieces and it was doing this that we discovered that what was before would never be, so we built back ourselves and in picking through these pieces we were shocked to see the most beautiful things that were in you, in me. And from that day on I looked at you and saw the best parts of me.
Little pieces of you now shine through my eyes. The parts I saved from before, they transform themselves in the way I look at you and others. And that pretty picture from before now looks like the unfinished art we now see.
Where everything makes one again. Where we are united through our broken bits.

I felt when I first looked...

I felt when I first looked...

When I fist looked at you I felt like I had taken my first breath. I saw your body first. It swayed back and forth under the warm night, transplanted...you looked like a delicious palm tree so natural in the warm night air that enveloped us both. I looked without seeing, like reading from a text without words, I forgot which foot goes in front the next, you captured me, I was taken by you and I wanted to go and in that moment I lost time. I wish I could have taken a picture of what my face looked like at that space when place didn't exist. Mastering my mind and aligining my senses didn't come until later. Much later--in fact. But in that space place I felt like nothing needed to make sense. The same way that the stars in the sky don't need to be justified--the preexistence of our connection seemed ancient. I had, feelings for you so I withdrew, in the only safe place I knew, convinced that if you saw the real expression escape from my face my insanity would be convicted. I was also protecting that little piece of myself that screamed, "don't break me". I let my brain take over for a second--and thats all the time I needed to say...Think slowly, talk slowly, reveal nothing. And I think I succeeded, maybe. But as soon as you left and drove off I jumped as high as my legs would take me (no not into the sky as I had hoped) still I felt superhuman with boosted powers. When I reached the bottom of that long winding staircase leading to the UWI dorms the ladies were sitting around the tree on brown metal folding chairs, still whispering women talk in the dimmed illumination of campus lamps. I stopped dancing before getting into eyeshot but I forgot to stop my spirit from dancing and as I approached the women immediately stopped the evening stories to receive my joy which seemed to be flying out from my body in all directions. A smile spread across their faces in a wave. One slyly asked, "What happened to you?" and a combined "ooooooh" hushed through the rest of them. I answered with a burst of laughter and spilled out a flurry of words I can't even recall and I don't even know if it made sense. I just remember wanting to share the Leonness with them. There is no way I can explain that spirit joy to a group of people and they didn't need an explanation because they just felt it. And I shared you that first pure still night.

You blank me

You inspire me.
Like morning dew on grass blades listening for the liberation of dawn...
You make my spirit dance.
I hear the call of the drum in you that connects us all...
You give me a reason.
That doesn't sense but understands completely.
You motivate me.
I go not knowing the limits of space or time.
You light me.
When I feel like the flame has been expunged.
You hold me.
Even when oceans and seas come between us.

The New Line

The way I see it, everyone deserves to see the way the world should be. I call it your individual "license to dream". And this is not one of those fade away dreams that you don't even remember when you wake up. This is a conscious and strong-willed fantasy that will morph into reality at any moment. You have the license to have the love that you have always wanted, get the job that you have always seen yourself in, taste the decadence of your hard work turning into well-deserved results. I say this, because sometimes we become soooooooooooooooooo satisfied with what is before us. Every day should be a struggle...not in a bad way. In a kick ass super stealth ninja on a mission...way. When your work begins like to look like this:

It's time to take a step back. Look at what is what in life. Invite and allow dreams to contextualize themselves in reality. And take out your license to dream.




It might give you a different perspective on what is here and now.

Reintroduction: Mayan direct to you baby...

I am a very loving and selfless person with a slightly insensitive streak. I am deeply emotional which confuses me sometimes, searching for the right way to express myself is a struggle. I always reach to improve myself and I am very critical of myself and others. I do not take on excuses. I love the world around me, sharing stories, and livelihoods. I believe I can change someone's life even if I only meet them once. I have a wild imagination--sometimes it takes me to places I don't want to go, and I have to fight my way back to the common ground we call "normal". I dream about how the world should be--and act on it. I aspire to be a writer but I'm a little too timid to come out. I push myself and others to the limit. I care deeply. I am able to feel a child's pain even if they don't say a word. I love more than I know, and sometimes give more than I have. I'm eternally flawed in so many ways. That's me.

Aiport Madness...going back to JA to claim my loveness.

On another funny note the airport was mad today at 530. The line was so long that all the early birds were piled on top of each other trying to check in all at once. The lady in front of me had dwarf legs, a full sized husband, baby stroller, and puppy in tow. I felt bad for her. When I realized I could use the self check-in I broke away from the line and in my urgency knocked over a divider pole that smacked some girl in the head. After check-in people jumbled near the security check in a bottle neck shaped line. Those in the back vying for a better position in a slow creep. The top of the bottle neck was the most aggressive spot. Last minute checkins trying to catch their flight pleaded with those in prime position. I had a woman beg me to let her in front due to her need to adopt a baby in less than 24-hours. When I responded with a blank stare she found better luck about 15 people ahead of me. See, everything happens for a reason. My time to push I stealthily manoeuvred in front of a tall black man trying for the same spot. Put my head down shoulders back...glanced sideways and realized it was my boss! Good morning Dr. Artis! Good thing he knows about my trip...to be cont

Leaning...Something I did Today

Great big dents fill my heart. My fingers trace their invisible beginnings...not knowing where the hastily stitched seams connect to reality. Trying to make sense of the senseless. Too heavy to lift, filled with whispers from the past. Longing for a future unburdened, where the snow falls back into a blue sky. Carefully and proportionally measured. A balance that many may envy. Cut out from my pain, I make paper dolls dance in front of me, paper dolls. Lifting my heart. Creating something where I thought nothing remained. Finding what's left and going from there. Swallow my unanswered questions every morning, wash it down with coffee from the old cart, or bottled water. Liquid fills my empty stomach, dreams and mixed feelings invade my mind. Subtle changes, restoring. I hope.

Last Day in the Hometown...

Okay so today has been a bit of an up and downer. I had a good short run in the morning and after showering Alofa and I went to have breakfast at a cute little coffee shop in Kensington right by the library and across from a Monster Starbucks. They had one last blueberry scone, the way Helen makes them, underneath the glass and we were both looking that sucker up and down like it was the last slice of food for miles out to sea and we were on a make-shift raft like the one in the movie where Tom Hanks talks to a volleyball head. I let her have it because she's the mama and also because she was paying, and with my high cholesterol I probably shouldn't be looking at it anyway. So we both ordered Large vanilla nut coffees and the scone plus an oatmeal with brown sugar and honey for me. While Alofa was getting cream and sugar for her coffee I snuck a slab of her blueberry scone for my own personal pleasure. I witnessed a man outside expertly dipping a piece of his blueberry scone (the second-to-last one!) in his coffee and eating it. Hmmm...I tried it. The angels trumpets blared a song of bliss in my ears, dun duh dah daaa!!!! It tasted amazing. Wow. When Alofa came back I mentioned to her my coy little move and she seemed unsurprised at my thieving antics. I also shared my dipping secret with her and she tried it saying, "This is How Samoan's Eat". Ahhhh an ancient Samoan secret...those palagi's are always trying to steal our stuff!

Got bored with the coffee shop and after refills with French Roast we went to the North Park Library to return my wedding books and do our first in a series of G-mail tutorial lessons, courtesy of me! Ok so we get on and it is like death silent in the library and we hop to our computers. We snag up the last 2 60-minute computers and complete our lesson in G-mail, which I am sure the other patrons were forced to enjoy as well. At one point a black guy sat behind us and was having trouble breathing. Alofa stage whispered, "Who is that breathing heavily behind us?", oh just another library patron waiting to check his e-mail or...hinting to us to shut-up. Well anywho, we got done with this pretty quickly and I asked to be taken to "Nails by Peter" on University.

"Nails by Peter" ended up being Vivian's Beauty Salon with a vietnamese guy named Peter sitting in the background. Hmmm...I could see why they wouldn't want to advertise using that name on the OUTSIDE. I am not very business saavy but I do know what would not catch my eye if I were driving by looking for my nails done. Luckily I had the address, Peter hopped up to help both my mom and I. At first he told my mom to go eat while he was doing my nails, but when she informed him that she already ate, I just said "That's my mom, we came together", for the second time. I guess he didn't hear me, I noticed the hearing aid in his ear. Well he was pretty cute, did both of our feet at the both time (mixing fungus?) and started to warm up after I started to get pissed off that it was taking so long. Funny how that works. I didn't calculate the 45 minutes it would take to multi-task. Ahhh! What if work called??? What would I tell them, sorry its my last day and I don't feel like doing shit. So I decided to get my nails did during company time. Hmmm...stress. After informing my mom that flowers on toes were not suitable for women of her...uh age? and me that black finger nails were for party animals and Halloween time, we both changed our selections to better suit Peter's desires. And afterall what other nail salon has fashion police and manicurists rolled into one?

After stressing out and rushing to work, I invited Alofa into my workplace so I could use her as an excuse in case the boss lady had called. Fortunately all was well and noone cared that I was late. Although Alofa apologized profusely to my co-worker who works at the same property but for a different company. Good look mom. We feigned another gmail tutorial session half-heartedly, and probably just as an excuse for both of our nails to dry before I gave Alofa the keys and she left off to the gym. Alls well that ends well. All that stress for nothing! Yes, yes, yes. And when I signed on to check my G-mail I noticed Alofa had sent a chat while I was offline:

11:56 AM Iva: hi you need to relax and take a deep breath blow out slowly like yo are blowing candle

Promise to the baby...

Someday baby you will be full grown. And I shall only hope that God will guide me to raise you in the best way I possibly can. I want you to be able to come to me with anything that is on your mind. I want to be the person in your life who you feel will never judge you. I want to be the person you can come to and say, "I made a mistake" or "I don't know what to do". So many things I want you to know, so many things I want to teach you, but I know it won't always go as planned. All I can tell you is that I care about you very much and I am doing the best that I can to prepare a path for you, to help you reach wherever it is that you want to be. Your father is here for you too. No matter what we will both be supportive of you and be honest with you and we hope that you are honest with us as well. Over anything I hope that honesty and love prevail in our family. I want you to know that there is nothing better than just being honest with us and with yourself and trusting each other. I hope that you will learn your own lessons as well, as crazy as life gets. You are love.

The Loss of the little butterfly

I have sought some sage advice from married women. And they say that the little butterflies will go away. "You know that feeling, when you see your boyfriend" "Cheah, those butterflies go away". But I love my butterflies! Why! oh Why! Woe is me and the loss of the butterfly. Good thing mine are still in their larvae stage, waiting to be released at the exact right moment. I wonder if there is a way to extend that larvae period...hmmm. Something to think about, note to self. Maybe I can release them one at a time so they don't all have to die out at one time. Well my sister is leaving sooner than I thought, 6am on Sunday! Maybe I can let one out for her that morning...and continue like that. What do you think? Well one for each monumental occasion: Marriage, Births, Graduations, Deaths, well maybe not deaths. Who said a funeral can't be a celebration anyway? Well. I think that butterflies are the perfect analogy for occasions like this. Leaving one form of life and starting another, it never has to end completely right? There is always some sort of shape shifting that goes on that ends in glorious glorious FLIGHT!

8 days until the flight of my leaving The States for Jamaica butterfly...

10 Days! Well...Technically...

10 days! Well…technically…



Ten days until I leave to spend the rest of my life with spiritual partner. 10 days. A perfect number. Most of the time I am scared and a little flustered about big transitions in my life, but this time, it is just pure excitement and energy pulsing through my body. Plans rushing through my head like the water of a new spring bursting through the earth’s surface. I would say it hit me just yesterday, when I gave my boss Wendy, the infamous two weeks notice. Extended my arm with that letter on the other side of it…the two-weeks in writing. When my arm cranked that letter out to her it landed on the top of her desk. Her eyes followed it and I snapped my hand back to my side as if I were afraid I held it out too long it might be chopped off. “Put it in writing” she said, as it landed on her desk. This been a long time coming my friend. I left that letter on her desk and lifted myself out of the chair at the exact moment that I felt my spirit lift. The possibilities that lie ahead of me propelling me up into the stratosphere. Leaving what could have been viewed as a ho-hum community organizer position to tread the unknown (to me at least) capital of Jamaica. Kingston-town. A city that breathes. You know how they say when one door closes another one opens? I felt like this door closing opened the flood gate of my closeted and ‘parking lot’ dreams. Studying development issues at the University of the West Indies. Conducting field work in the garrisons of Jamaica. Full of history, passion, the streets have a heartbeat there. Dreams are big and reality even bigger. Nights when everything seems still, the street seems to whisper to your soul.



Plan of Action for this week
Monday
Inform residents and students that I will be leaving including the reason, last day, and what will be happening with the programs
Flyer each and every household letting them know to sign up for the food co-op by THIS FRIDAY
Recruit youth volunteers to flyer all of the apartments for the food co-op and also to get started with volunteering on a regular basis
Award “Points Winners” from last month with FREE tickets to Legoland California
Call Starbucks and try to get coffee donated for our last meeting (next week)
Inform Ahmed of my plans
Start creating a “transition binder” complete with step-by-step instructions and a resource guide for RSS position
Collect Food Co-op Money
Tuesday
Complete newsletter article to highlight student of the week Safiya Abdiraham for being accepted into the Young Entrepreneur’s Club
Have the “Points Winners” from this month get together and think of places they would like to go, write a letter requesting donation, and send it (I will also write a letter with them and send it)
Continue adding resources and more detail, including tips from residents, to the “transition binder”
Follow-Up with Starbucks to try and get the coffee donation
Ask new resident children to fill out the “Payless Shoe Voucher” request form
Start the monthly report for December
Ask Wendy for permission to take the “Park Clean Up” crew to the movies (courtesy of SAY San Diego) and set a date for Monday of next week at 4pm to return by 7pm
Collect Food Co-op Money
Wednesday
Write up an article for our newsletter about the Christmas party and the “Points System” as well as including pictures of the Points winners of November with their Legoland tickets and the kids making Gingerbread houses at Christmas
Work on Monthly Report
Work on the “transition binder” call all contacts in the binder to make sure their information is up to date
Call all personal/professional contacts and let them know when I am leaving and how to contact me
Upload all the pictures from Metro Villas to a Web Album and send Ahmed, Danielle, Wendy, Maria, and Allison an e-mail with all of the pictures from my time at Metro Villas.
Ask new resident children to fill out the “Payless Shoe Voucher” request form
Hand out permission slips to the “Park Clean Up Crew” to go to the movie on Monday, arrange rides for those who desperately need it (do not have a parent at home at that time) Allison will drive 4 children…
Collect Food Co-op Money
Thursday
Work on Monthly Report
Work on “transition binder” show the draft to Ahmed and Maria and ask for tips on improving it
Collect Permission Slips for Monday
Flier Each and every household letting them know that I am leaving and have as many 1-1’s as possible, inform residents of next weeks meeting.
Collect Food Co-op Money
Friday
Complete and Submit Monthly Report
Continue flyering each house that I did not get to on Thursday, inform residents of next weeks meeting.
Collect Food Co-op Money
Give Sakara the “Payless Shoe Voucher List for January”
Compile a list of everyone who has ever gotten a shoe voucher so that they DO NOT receive one again by accident—enter it into the “transition binder”
Work on the “transition binder”