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”