Friends, it seems that I am now wanting to write this blog in tandem with what is currently going on in my life. Sorry I just could not resist, you could skip to the juicier stuff once I write it...
I am currently looking up ways to write a good cover letter, looking for jobs to apply for, if I qualify, things like that . . .Sometimes I tell myself "Common Lauren! Give yourself a boost of confidence! You used to work faster than your own thoughts could even keep up with you!"
I am sorry Me, sometimes I find myself just staring at a computer screen wondering where I should even begin. Deep breaths, the anxiety and frusteration eventually quiet down to some intimate and familiar feeling within myself.... ahhhhh yes, I remember, I used to resort to feeling peaceful.
What makes me feel more peaceful? The first thing that comes to mind is my work with Interfaith.
People from different backgrounds coming together in positive light and warm feelings of accepting one another. That's interfaith. No... understanding and respecting one another...that is true interfatih but in the meantime, the warm fuzzy feeling is implied. One I can revisit in moments of this type of reflection.
Last night, some members of the Olive Tree Initiative and myself attended an Interfaith Harmony community event at a center for a specific faith , the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism?), but was accompanied by the good people of the interfaith community (every other religion close by). First step in diversity is filling the room with all sorts of different people. CHECK! Next step: the talking.
Now last night, we had to speak to this room full of different people of different faiths, speaking about religion, response to our current events, and in memory of 9/11 as the U.S. remembers it to be. (I am also happy to report that the speaker from the Islamic Center recognized another 9/11 event (Chile 1973, read it if you wanna know)
I learned a lot. The event was really quite nice I enjoyed it! They opened with a Taiko drum performance (it felt so powerful, I associated it with warfare, like war drums, but I am sure it is much more than that I am just being a little ignorant). After we all relaxed in confidence ("No. The building won't collapse because of these loud drums . . . let's just feel the rhythm of the beat within our hearts.") I do not want to go into the specific details of the program, but here is what I learned:
Speaker from the Hindu Mission said:
" . . . the truth is undefinable. You cannot define it. . . . When you have water in the ocean, it gets picked up, and when it goes down, it picks up acid, like us. We pick up other things, but meditation gets us back to who we are. You see the divinity of the whole community, and this process cannot fail."
When he mentioned truth, I remember that a lot of our lessons in the Olive Tree Initiative reflections during the trip. We grappled with the need to understand the truth. What was the truth? And which of the two sides, the Israeli or the Palestinian, possessed the true-truth? I think the ultimate lesson was that there is no True-Truth. Some would even say that the truth does not exist. But hearing this man say that it has no definition, I think I can agree with that even more. Some people define truth as the facts. Some people define truth as their own personal experiences. So how do I define truth?
I cannot. I am still exploring, or I have not figured it out.
Rabbi from the HOAG Memorial Hopsital Presbyterian said:
"make those strangers into our friends."
I am just comforted with this. It makes sense in principle. It is something I try to actively do. Or when this fails, giving the benefit of the doubt, knowing that another person too has hopes and beliefs, that is comforting enough, even if I was afraid of them or intimidated at first. And when this does happen, I try my best to at least get to know them a little bit more. (Then I can judge whether I like them or not)
AND WHEN THAT FAILS:
"I do not have to be friends with everybody. Civil, yes, civil can definitely work. That's co-existence..right?"
Friday, October 18, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Day 2: Washington D.C. (late due to a busy week!)
Sorry for the delay in this post everyone, I realized I had a lot more to reflect on, and a lot more questions. But anyway, here is the start of Day 2 "in this town" of Dear D.C --> that short quote is from EVERYONE in DC:
We awoke early for breakfast the next morning. Yes. Breakfast. And more importantly, breakfast that was (included). So in my mind that was practically FREE BREAKFAST. Which means a significantly quicker shower time. Which helps out the environment. I think every hotel should follow this model.
After I talked with the roommates about outfits and what looked professional enough, I went to the lobby for a nice breakfast of orange juice, fruit, eggs and bacon. And pancakes? I don't know maybe I am making that up, but the breakfast was really good. This was officially the first day where we would rush out to the first speaker right after breakfast. Our team captains for the day had some big tasks on their hands and they did an amazing job keeping us all together as much as possible.
Our first meeting was with the United States Institute for Peace. I do not have any pictures to describe to you what it looked like, but I can certainly describe the experience. For the first time, our members pinned on their customized nametags. For the first time, we readied our bags for a thorough security check. For the first time, we discussed what back-up questions we would ask in case nobody in the group could think of a good question fast enough, along with the second and third back-up questions. And for the first time, we readied our notebooks, as I will describe the notes I am about to forward to you now.
Entering USIP was like entering a world of well-organized peace-planning. Sanitized international affairs. A bright marbled floors that echoes the sound of your feet stepping into an important meeting. I thought it was one of the most beautiful interiors I had ever seen. The sun was shining in all the right spots of the building. You feel so important to be there. And you assume you are working with angels of Capitol Hill. That is indeed a lot to be said but, that's what it felt like to step into the building for the first time, for me at least. And we got extra nametags from them that I saved in my notebook! How much more official could it get??
We had two speakers, a man and a woman. I will not disclose any names for now. The woman used to work for the US Academy Training Arm with USIP in 1984. The man was formally a college professor who took students on educational trips to Bosnia, Kosovo, N. Ireland, places like that - including Israel with an Arab-Israeli team. These trips were meant to be educational and promote dialogue overseas in countries experiencing conflict. They spoke to us first, and later we followed with our own questions after their brief introductions.
We asked how we should be viewing the Arab-Israeli conflict. Their advice was to view it as unique, and yet, as not unique. We were also encouraged to know that there were peace-makers out there, just not on our radar. Having independent and nonpartisan conversations would help avoid conflicts internationally.
USIP used to be viewed as a think tank. The vision was to create a world without violence or conflict. The core principles was to engage in civil society, facilitate a dialogue between government and civil societies. The advice was to respect pluralism, diversity, and conflict resolution. They spoke about the process of doing something to be effective. It needs to be done over time, through buildings relationships in a holistic way. One example of this is a civil education project that was done in Iraq. This project took over 4 years. It was based on a curriculum that Iraqis themselves adopted as their own. The people from USIP helped train Iraqis to teach such curriculum themselves.
Further questions were asked . . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do we make these into projects?
It needs to be tailored to local circumstances - it must be inclusive and engage a full range of people to achieve peace, including those who may not have a voice. There needs to be backup modules with monitoring, research, etc. There must also be a commitment to quality.
The woman told us about her path that led her to work for an organization like USIP. She was a US mediator on the federal and community level. She then tranferred into doing work on the international level with her graduate degree in conflict resolution. She spoke about using real dialogue in her work.
What does real dialogue mean?
It is a dialogue of peace, based on a process of peace. Yet it is something more robust and relevant.
An example of a design was to engage students over 7 weeks on social identity and percieved weaknesses. She then sought to introduce dialogue into a classroom to talk about the sensitive issues that would come up. She found ways to make it safe for people to engage in dialogue: Building bridges through intergroup dialogue.
USIP draws from an illicitive model, drawing forth from people. No presentations or lectures but more from and interactive style. They would replicate types of scenarios that people would encounter when working overseas. At a school for professionals that included diplomats, military, NGOs. They used the model that was meant for the professionals to fail in the scenario. So that they could recognize what they have seen before and pay attention and be aware on purpose.
Issues of culture and identity . . .
Rebuilding a country after war . . .
_________________________________________________
As you can see there is a lot of information I took from this meeting. I had even more meetings to follow this one, but I must say, this was one of my favorite meetings. Here is why:
Popular opinion in our group found this meeting to be pacifist in nature, and realists would call it an unrealistic approach. I had my suspicions before, as I do for many of the meetings on our trip, however this one is very interesting especially in my upbringing at the UCI Public Health school. Most of the topics and projects that were presented were quite in line with public health practice on a global scale: analyzing the needs, involving the community, encouraging leadership roles on the ground level, creating a sustainable system, and most of all creating an organic atmosphere. (Of course, this does not include their model for professionals seeking more training in international humanitarianism).
Earlier today I had a meeting with a public health administrator. She informed me that most U.S. organizations going abroad to do public health work are greeted with negativity and suspicion as to the real purpose of that organization and their motives. It is funny because, I have always thought about working with an organization like this. However, I wonder if I am willing to accept the limitations that come with working for the United States government in regards to funding, and which issues are focused on the most. A big takeaway from this meeting was that the issues focused on the most tend to be what the US government and international media draw their attention towards the most. If I remember correctly, there even seemed to be an aura that conflicts in the Middle East were overworked. That more attention needed to be on the Democratic Republic of Congo. That more people were being affected there. And here is the weird part . . .
In public health, there is a question of a need, and a question of "measurable learning outcomes that are more likely to achieve effective results" Because this obviously is better for the organization. In popular public health opinion, the more contained a disaster or a conflict can be, the less numbers involved, creates a higher percentage of people helped. Sometimes I wonder, are peace people like me trying to save as many people as We can, or just trying to save as many people as possible under a budget, limited resources due to political backing, and international law of not engaging with terrorists? The rules themselves can make helping people more difficult. People who had no blame or fault to a conflict or disaster. Yet seem to suffer the most from it.
Soon, we were going to meet with the other side . . .
We awoke early for breakfast the next morning. Yes. Breakfast. And more importantly, breakfast that was (included). So in my mind that was practically FREE BREAKFAST. Which means a significantly quicker shower time. Which helps out the environment. I think every hotel should follow this model.
After I talked with the roommates about outfits and what looked professional enough, I went to the lobby for a nice breakfast of orange juice, fruit, eggs and bacon. And pancakes? I don't know maybe I am making that up, but the breakfast was really good. This was officially the first day where we would rush out to the first speaker right after breakfast. Our team captains for the day had some big tasks on their hands and they did an amazing job keeping us all together as much as possible.
Our first meeting was with the United States Institute for Peace. I do not have any pictures to describe to you what it looked like, but I can certainly describe the experience. For the first time, our members pinned on their customized nametags. For the first time, we readied our bags for a thorough security check. For the first time, we discussed what back-up questions we would ask in case nobody in the group could think of a good question fast enough, along with the second and third back-up questions. And for the first time, we readied our notebooks, as I will describe the notes I am about to forward to you now.
Entering USIP was like entering a world of well-organized peace-planning. Sanitized international affairs. A bright marbled floors that echoes the sound of your feet stepping into an important meeting. I thought it was one of the most beautiful interiors I had ever seen. The sun was shining in all the right spots of the building. You feel so important to be there. And you assume you are working with angels of Capitol Hill. That is indeed a lot to be said but, that's what it felt like to step into the building for the first time, for me at least. And we got extra nametags from them that I saved in my notebook! How much more official could it get??
We had two speakers, a man and a woman. I will not disclose any names for now. The woman used to work for the US Academy Training Arm with USIP in 1984. The man was formally a college professor who took students on educational trips to Bosnia, Kosovo, N. Ireland, places like that - including Israel with an Arab-Israeli team. These trips were meant to be educational and promote dialogue overseas in countries experiencing conflict. They spoke to us first, and later we followed with our own questions after their brief introductions.
We asked how we should be viewing the Arab-Israeli conflict. Their advice was to view it as unique, and yet, as not unique. We were also encouraged to know that there were peace-makers out there, just not on our radar. Having independent and nonpartisan conversations would help avoid conflicts internationally.
USIP used to be viewed as a think tank. The vision was to create a world without violence or conflict. The core principles was to engage in civil society, facilitate a dialogue between government and civil societies. The advice was to respect pluralism, diversity, and conflict resolution. They spoke about the process of doing something to be effective. It needs to be done over time, through buildings relationships in a holistic way. One example of this is a civil education project that was done in Iraq. This project took over 4 years. It was based on a curriculum that Iraqis themselves adopted as their own. The people from USIP helped train Iraqis to teach such curriculum themselves.
Further questions were asked . . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do we make these into projects?
It needs to be tailored to local circumstances - it must be inclusive and engage a full range of people to achieve peace, including those who may not have a voice. There needs to be backup modules with monitoring, research, etc. There must also be a commitment to quality.
The woman told us about her path that led her to work for an organization like USIP. She was a US mediator on the federal and community level. She then tranferred into doing work on the international level with her graduate degree in conflict resolution. She spoke about using real dialogue in her work.
What does real dialogue mean?
It is a dialogue of peace, based on a process of peace. Yet it is something more robust and relevant.
An example of a design was to engage students over 7 weeks on social identity and percieved weaknesses. She then sought to introduce dialogue into a classroom to talk about the sensitive issues that would come up. She found ways to make it safe for people to engage in dialogue: Building bridges through intergroup dialogue.
USIP draws from an illicitive model, drawing forth from people. No presentations or lectures but more from and interactive style. They would replicate types of scenarios that people would encounter when working overseas. At a school for professionals that included diplomats, military, NGOs. They used the model that was meant for the professionals to fail in the scenario. So that they could recognize what they have seen before and pay attention and be aware on purpose.
Issues of culture and identity . . .
Rebuilding a country after war . . .
_________________________________________________
As you can see there is a lot of information I took from this meeting. I had even more meetings to follow this one, but I must say, this was one of my favorite meetings. Here is why:
Popular opinion in our group found this meeting to be pacifist in nature, and realists would call it an unrealistic approach. I had my suspicions before, as I do for many of the meetings on our trip, however this one is very interesting especially in my upbringing at the UCI Public Health school. Most of the topics and projects that were presented were quite in line with public health practice on a global scale: analyzing the needs, involving the community, encouraging leadership roles on the ground level, creating a sustainable system, and most of all creating an organic atmosphere. (Of course, this does not include their model for professionals seeking more training in international humanitarianism).
Earlier today I had a meeting with a public health administrator. She informed me that most U.S. organizations going abroad to do public health work are greeted with negativity and suspicion as to the real purpose of that organization and their motives. It is funny because, I have always thought about working with an organization like this. However, I wonder if I am willing to accept the limitations that come with working for the United States government in regards to funding, and which issues are focused on the most. A big takeaway from this meeting was that the issues focused on the most tend to be what the US government and international media draw their attention towards the most. If I remember correctly, there even seemed to be an aura that conflicts in the Middle East were overworked. That more attention needed to be on the Democratic Republic of Congo. That more people were being affected there. And here is the weird part . . .
In public health, there is a question of a need, and a question of "measurable learning outcomes that are more likely to achieve effective results" Because this obviously is better for the organization. In popular public health opinion, the more contained a disaster or a conflict can be, the less numbers involved, creates a higher percentage of people helped. Sometimes I wonder, are peace people like me trying to save as many people as We can, or just trying to save as many people as possible under a budget, limited resources due to political backing, and international law of not engaging with terrorists? The rules themselves can make helping people more difficult. People who had no blame or fault to a conflict or disaster. Yet seem to suffer the most from it.
Soon, we were going to meet with the other side . . .
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Day 1 - Washington D.C.
Our first stop on the OTI Itinerary was Washington D.C. The flight was pleasant, and once we checked into the hotel I felt much more comfortable with my prepared attire for the day. Shopping at Ross for the D.C. formal wear was definitely a great idea, thank for the help Mom! Wardrobe on this trip in a very "dress to impress" attitude was an extra concern on top of mentally preparing ourselves to ask critical questions for our speakers. The first thing we did as a group was walk through the streets in search for real food. We went to this over-priced cafe for big salad bowls and hard, healthy bread to go. It was just down the street from the hotel. We initially planned to go to the mall, but decided to walk around and see some national monuments instead. IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. The group indecisiveness was bearable for now. Everyone was still very excited to go to the region. We were still in our state of anticipation to step on Middle East territory.
Our first stop on Day 1 was in front of the White House. We did the tourist thing and took group photos, while the Kurdistan community and supporters protested in front of us. Their main message on the banner read "Al Qaeda is murdering Kurds of Syria." followed by other fliers that read "Free Kurdistan". This brings up other issues in another part of the region, I cannot really comment on any of this yet without extending my research. I just read this article so far among a few others, not yet trying to draw any connections to the crisis in Syria in my mind.
On the opposite side of the street, an elderly woman was sitting in a tent of some sort with all sorts of posters about US-Israel relations. Honestly, I really had no idea what that was about. I have video footage of the protest but I will not post it just yet, since I was just observing its for my personal records.
After seeing the White House, we saw the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, among others. We saw a diverse group of tourists, from India, China, and other US visitors. I did not really care much for visiting these monuments though, sorry, so I don't have much to say about them except that I took some nice pictures to prove I went there:
BAM. SO MUCH PROOF.
The weather was hot and sticky.
But that's ok because I think I looked pretty cute regardless.
Our first speaker was Parham. Yay Parham! I have heard him speak on many occassions, but it was even cooler to have him speak to us in front of the MLK Memorial. But before he could begin, we had to wait for our fearless leader Daniel to arrive.
ENTER: Daniel
At last we begin . . .
August 13, 2013
The memorial was under construction because they were currently fixing the quote. Yeah. It was definitely a problem, something about a mountain, agh... I did not write it down, but it was definitely wrong so they were fixing it. It needed to hold on to its symbolic meaning. DON'T MESS WITH SYMBOLIC MEANING.
The greatest lesson I took away from Parham is that its the Principle of it. We held on to this throughout the trip. This was one of the few national monuments dedicated to the civil rights icon himself, Martin Luther King Jr. Later on the only mention I would hear about MLK was everywhere! On the news, internationally, including China. He started in 1929 as the son of a Baptist preacher, which is important because it adds so much more to his element of public speaking.
About the "drum major" reference: That quote needed fixing too...
"If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."
From this article.
The drum major is the symbol for all those first in charge or are important as being in front of the line. Parham makes a point that it is natural for many of us to want to be in front of the line for something, to be the leader of something. But it is only ok to do this if you are first in moral excellence. I take this as, if I want to lead people towards a beer and cheese run, I probably should not since I am slightly lactose intolerant. Nah, jk. This means you need to be leading people down good morals yourself first, again, its the principle of the thing.
From 1963-2013 (it was the 50th anniversary), so the statue needed to be fixed. Because on August 22-23, it would be the official 50th anniversary on the march on Washington. People responsible for the push was headed by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, who raised the money of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for the memorial. The March on Washington in 1963 fought for the context of the civil rights movement, during a time when there was still segregation in the United States. Sit ins and marches were organized to appeal to the U.S. government. There was a question regarding youth today. Does our youth, our students from the Universities have what it takes to start a movement? And the answer was no. Because today many of us are students of privilege. Our parents were the ones who struggled for us to have more opportunities. We may use our opportunities to search for struggles to fight for now, but this is not enough to start a movement. We have the technology to do so, but not the tact. I will continue with this.
Speech: A Time to Break the Silence, Riverside Church, New York
Parham said that there was a big controversy over King's words being quoted by numerous sides and different points of views. These include words for Peace. The problem was that when you freeze King in time, you only look at a snapshot. There is always more outside of the frame. Existence has a face on every side and every face teaches a lesson, those whi truly understand existence, do not separate the faces from the lessons. When you look at a face what does it teach you? Do not focus on the personality, focus on the core principles that he dedicated his life to. And here they are:
Victor Hugo- theres nothing more powerful than an idea whose time had come.
MLK's time had come. The idea of equality and justice finally had come alive.
Civilization vs. Culture
The way we live vs. what we live for.
ARGUMENT: the means by which we live have paced the ins for which we live.
Peace, Harmony, Forgiveness, Understanding. There is a constant CLASH.
1) He was influenced by Ghandi (as a student of nonviolent resistance)
2) Even though he was a civil rights icon, he was a Christian minister, and he came out of morals under God. How does his way parallel from other nonviolent resistances in the world?
It was the human determination of Black people - not just as a strategy but it is a commitment to the tactic of principle. PRINCIPLE. Do our youth today lack this? Is this why youth cannot start a movement like that of the 1960's?
King was accussed of threatening the U.S. government through this speech. In 1965, the time of the Vietnam war met with student protests. Somewhat to the Watts riot in Los Angeles. The conditions of jobs decreased, discrimination increased, and unemployment increased, and access of schools decreased. This was the first time that MLK spoke out against the war in Vietnam, against the military industrial complex which is fed every single day. He portrayed America as the nation that was approaching a spiritual death ('67).
In '68 at the Lorraine hotel, Memphis TN- led a strike to sanitation workers- You cannot help the people if you do not love the people, you cannot love the people if you do not serve the people:
New definition of GREATNESS:
Not by title
Not by position
Not by ownership
It is defined by serving the people. The idea of "servant leadership" is that everyone can be great because everyone can be a leader.
Oh, now I found it in my notes . . .
"carving a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair", there is spiritual energy in this, and it missed the symbolism.
Integration VS Nationalists
The clash between working within the system, to - No. The system is oppressive.
Psychic tension within the community have to be there at the same time, otherwise America had too many options. You can ignore it unless it has a call to action. There haven't been good coalitions - reasons that issues rarely change are that people who scream about them are only the victims problems. Motivation of the masses went out in the 60's.
This is basically what I received the most from the lecture. I will add in how I connect all of this together soon. Later on that day, we had an Alumni dinner with other students who attended the Olive Tree Initiative trip to the Middle east. I will leave the names out, but it is definitely reassuring that these students were about to make something of their situation. To really take control and go somewhere, in which the three ended up in D.C. so far. I felt comforted to know that it worked out for them. I am still trying to figure out what will work for me. Should I consider D.C.? I think it is unlikely as the town seems to run in its own rules, its own language, and I do not think it would all sit well in my stomach. But I look forward to making something of myself too, if I have not yet done so.
Our first stop on Day 1 was in front of the White House. We did the tourist thing and took group photos, while the Kurdistan community and supporters protested in front of us. Their main message on the banner read "Al Qaeda is murdering Kurds of Syria." followed by other fliers that read "Free Kurdistan". This brings up other issues in another part of the region, I cannot really comment on any of this yet without extending my research. I just read this article so far among a few others, not yet trying to draw any connections to the crisis in Syria in my mind.
On the opposite side of the street, an elderly woman was sitting in a tent of some sort with all sorts of posters about US-Israel relations. Honestly, I really had no idea what that was about. I have video footage of the protest but I will not post it just yet, since I was just observing its for my personal records.
After seeing the White House, we saw the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, among others. We saw a diverse group of tourists, from India, China, and other US visitors. I did not really care much for visiting these monuments though, sorry, so I don't have much to say about them except that I took some nice pictures to prove I went there:
The weather was hot and sticky.
But that's ok because I think I looked pretty cute regardless.
Our first speaker was Parham. Yay Parham! I have heard him speak on many occassions, but it was even cooler to have him speak to us in front of the MLK Memorial. But before he could begin, we had to wait for our fearless leader Daniel to arrive.
ENTER: Daniel
At last we begin . . .
August 13, 2013
The memorial was under construction because they were currently fixing the quote. Yeah. It was definitely a problem, something about a mountain, agh... I did not write it down, but it was definitely wrong so they were fixing it. It needed to hold on to its symbolic meaning. DON'T MESS WITH SYMBOLIC MEANING.
The greatest lesson I took away from Parham is that its the Principle of it. We held on to this throughout the trip. This was one of the few national monuments dedicated to the civil rights icon himself, Martin Luther King Jr. Later on the only mention I would hear about MLK was everywhere! On the news, internationally, including China. He started in 1929 as the son of a Baptist preacher, which is important because it adds so much more to his element of public speaking.
About the "drum major" reference: That quote needed fixing too...
"If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."
From this article.
The drum major is the symbol for all those first in charge or are important as being in front of the line. Parham makes a point that it is natural for many of us to want to be in front of the line for something, to be the leader of something. But it is only ok to do this if you are first in moral excellence. I take this as, if I want to lead people towards a beer and cheese run, I probably should not since I am slightly lactose intolerant. Nah, jk. This means you need to be leading people down good morals yourself first, again, its the principle of the thing.
From 1963-2013 (it was the 50th anniversary), so the statue needed to be fixed. Because on August 22-23, it would be the official 50th anniversary on the march on Washington. People responsible for the push was headed by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, who raised the money of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for the memorial. The March on Washington in 1963 fought for the context of the civil rights movement, during a time when there was still segregation in the United States. Sit ins and marches were organized to appeal to the U.S. government. There was a question regarding youth today. Does our youth, our students from the Universities have what it takes to start a movement? And the answer was no. Because today many of us are students of privilege. Our parents were the ones who struggled for us to have more opportunities. We may use our opportunities to search for struggles to fight for now, but this is not enough to start a movement. We have the technology to do so, but not the tact. I will continue with this.
Speech: A Time to Break the Silence, Riverside Church, New York
Parham said that there was a big controversy over King's words being quoted by numerous sides and different points of views. These include words for Peace. The problem was that when you freeze King in time, you only look at a snapshot. There is always more outside of the frame. Existence has a face on every side and every face teaches a lesson, those whi truly understand existence, do not separate the faces from the lessons. When you look at a face what does it teach you? Do not focus on the personality, focus on the core principles that he dedicated his life to. And here they are:
Victor Hugo- theres nothing more powerful than an idea whose time had come.
MLK's time had come. The idea of equality and justice finally had come alive.
Civilization vs. Culture
The way we live vs. what we live for.
ARGUMENT: the means by which we live have paced the ins for which we live.
Peace, Harmony, Forgiveness, Understanding. There is a constant CLASH.
1) He was influenced by Ghandi (as a student of nonviolent resistance)
2) Even though he was a civil rights icon, he was a Christian minister, and he came out of morals under God. How does his way parallel from other nonviolent resistances in the world?
It was the human determination of Black people - not just as a strategy but it is a commitment to the tactic of principle. PRINCIPLE. Do our youth today lack this? Is this why youth cannot start a movement like that of the 1960's?
King was accussed of threatening the U.S. government through this speech. In 1965, the time of the Vietnam war met with student protests. Somewhat to the Watts riot in Los Angeles. The conditions of jobs decreased, discrimination increased, and unemployment increased, and access of schools decreased. This was the first time that MLK spoke out against the war in Vietnam, against the military industrial complex which is fed every single day. He portrayed America as the nation that was approaching a spiritual death ('67).
In '68 at the Lorraine hotel, Memphis TN- led a strike to sanitation workers- You cannot help the people if you do not love the people, you cannot love the people if you do not serve the people:
New definition of GREATNESS:
Not by title
Not by position
Not by ownership
It is defined by serving the people. The idea of "servant leadership" is that everyone can be great because everyone can be a leader.
Oh, now I found it in my notes . . .
"carving a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair", there is spiritual energy in this, and it missed the symbolism.
Integration VS Nationalists
The clash between working within the system, to - No. The system is oppressive.
Psychic tension within the community have to be there at the same time, otherwise America had too many options. You can ignore it unless it has a call to action. There haven't been good coalitions - reasons that issues rarely change are that people who scream about them are only the victims problems. Motivation of the masses went out in the 60's.
This is basically what I received the most from the lecture. I will add in how I connect all of this together soon. Later on that day, we had an Alumni dinner with other students who attended the Olive Tree Initiative trip to the Middle east. I will leave the names out, but it is definitely reassuring that these students were about to make something of their situation. To really take control and go somewhere, in which the three ended up in D.C. so far. I felt comforted to know that it worked out for them. I am still trying to figure out what will work for me. Should I consider D.C.? I think it is unlikely as the town seems to run in its own rules, its own language, and I do not think it would all sit well in my stomach. But I look forward to making something of myself too, if I have not yet done so.
Olive Tree Initiative: Middle East - Introduction
I have just returned from my trip with UCI's Olive Tree Initiative to the Middle East, specifically Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. I have decided to start my blog now that I have returned as a way to process everything that happened for each day. The upcoming posts for the next month will highlight a specific day on the trip, including the speakers, what they said, whether or not I believed them, and ultimately what I learned. Consider this as my contribution and a thank you for the UCI supporters and critics. This is also a thank you to those who paid for half of the trip. So that you see your investment making a positive impact. Long term goal: for you to fund students like me to attend a trip next summer. Full rides perhaps? Just kidding. I want to clarify that this trip was in part funded from the collective fundraising of all the members in our organization. Without the help from many of our supporters and from previous trip participants with OTI, this experience would not have been possible. I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for this learning opportunity.
I also want to make a disclaimer, that these blogs are only of my own thoughts and opinions, and the opinions expressed are not necessarily represented to those of the University faculty, staff, administration, students, supporters, etc. Also, I do not wish to criticize or or critique the organization Olive Tree Initiative. I am completely supportive of their concept of educational experiential learning. Sure, there are always improvements to make, and there has been a lot of criticism from the public and my own friends, but right now I am speaking from the mindset as a participant and supporter of the organization. Because I can. But I am in no way closed off criticism or suggestions from others. All I ask is that it be an engaging dialogue, constructive in a very minimal way, and always an open-ended conversation. Heck, I am still learning as I hope you are too.
With all that said, anyone who wishes to find out more about the organization themselves, be my guest:
http://www.olivetreeinitiative.org/
I am sure you can find many other articles on the organization yourself, and there definitely are many so... thats all I have to say about that.
Now its my turn. :)
I also want to make a disclaimer, that these blogs are only of my own thoughts and opinions, and the opinions expressed are not necessarily represented to those of the University faculty, staff, administration, students, supporters, etc. Also, I do not wish to criticize or or critique the organization Olive Tree Initiative. I am completely supportive of their concept of educational experiential learning. Sure, there are always improvements to make, and there has been a lot of criticism from the public and my own friends, but right now I am speaking from the mindset as a participant and supporter of the organization. Because I can. But I am in no way closed off criticism or suggestions from others. All I ask is that it be an engaging dialogue, constructive in a very minimal way, and always an open-ended conversation. Heck, I am still learning as I hope you are too.
With all that said, anyone who wishes to find out more about the organization themselves, be my guest:
http://www.olivetreeinitiative.org/
I am sure you can find many other articles on the organization yourself, and there definitely are many so... thats all I have to say about that.
Now its my turn. :)
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Dream in the Making?
The chances of my moving to New York have just been increased! It's an amazing feeling, but I wonder if it is the right time? In all this wondering and future predicting, I downloaded some software that lets me draft up layouts of rooms. I almost figured out how to create what almost looks like a couch on it. Is my interior design dream slowly developing some kinda seed? I hope so! Otherwise, it might have never been a dream to begin with. Which would be incredibly sad.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Good Internet means More Stories: LA BOCA
So sorry it has taken me forever to blog!
My trip in Argentina so far has been full of ups and downs, with new experiences every single day, big and small. Like what I would think life should be like back home but for some reason is not percepted to be so.
For the sake of my Spanish blogs too, I will try to list out all the places so far that I have been to in Argentina as well as some key experiences here that I hope to never forget:
La Boca
Meeting my classmates at Plaza Italia was a challenge. We all want to save money on phones since you have to keep recharging your minutes here at a kiosko which was always annoying since we had large bills all the time, but really.....communicating with not super high speed Internet and limited phones was a challenge. We ended up waiting for a classmate for an hour and even miscommunication along the way. But while we waited at Plaza Italia, I took a picture of a plaque that had been broken . . . we speculated it was from the activist / advocacy activity from the night before. Anyway, I especially liked the word "La Resistencia" chipped off of the rest of the plaque. Seemed very ironic to me as we stood in Plaza Italia . . . (and I would later find out that some Argentinians have different definitions of irony, sarcasm, and yes, even jinxs.)
Spanish, er, Castellano which is the specific language spoken in Argentina, is definitely not like English culturally.
TANGENT! Anyway, we took an hour long bus for the first time where I spoke with another fellow student on politics or Argentina (which we knew very little about), and politics at our own University. Basically, we get along very very well by analyzing why other people do not, and how we ourselves add that fire. Nothing stupid about that! It was an intellectual conversation on the autobus "collectivo", in some very well versed Spanglish with sporadic periods of "umms", "errs", and giggles.
LAST TANGENT! We saw the famous La Boca during a class trip. The weather was slightly gloomy and about to rain, but whatever, we do not care because it is an awesome trip! When we went I was really excited to see all of the colorful buildings, even though I would have preferred to see them when it was sunny as a nice contrast to the already freezing cold Argentinian weather (because I am from SoCal, and there is not such thing as freezing cold in SoCal so this is my definition point for it).
La Boca was a very tourist area as I had read in many tourist publications. Street performers were willing to perform in the cold for a speculating audience, but more so for some tips that they well deserved, as Tango is not a dance meant for 40 degree F weather. But me being a tourist and not caring, I took the following pictures and videos in my 2-Dimensional TravelChannel tv moment come to life! It was evident that La Boca had been historically a place of colonization, merchant labor, artistic creation, and tourist attraction. I wish I knew more about the history of all these places but I will have to edit that in later. All I knew was that we were impressed with the Google images coming to life in our 10 minute introduction to La Boca, which quickly ended as hunger hit for the 15h time and we sat down for pizza with olives. I do recall having an interesting conversation with the woman of the restaurant, talking about churros and fruits popular in Argentina different from Mexican culture, as well as cultural differences between the Recoleta culture compared to laid back culture of the North and South of Argentina. Hearing different perspectives definitely hit me for the first time in La Boca, which is always great for the weary traveler.
After that I went on the bus and I fell asleep, almost falling asleep on some old guy, and then we took a cab back home since we were still not use to the bus system and not inclined to get lost for the 10th thousandth time.
I tried going to a phone store to buy a phone, but of course, the miscommunication made it difficult to even understand that I had to wait for them to open the door and they were in fact, open for business, with closed doors for weather. Interesante . . . and in my sadness I wandered to discover an adorable cafe called Tea Connection for the first time. And in my fascination and boredom, I took the following pictures and videos.
2 Items ordered worth remembering: Apple Tart with Costa Rican cinnamon Ice cream, and peach rose tea. Take that CHA.
After waiting forever like a stupid American to pay the bill, I walked around Callao Street to find an activist march! Finally! There were a lot of marches going on at this time, where spectators bang pots and pans and trucks drive by and honk like crazy in solidarity. The real passerbyers take their empty water bottles, add a few centavos, and shake away to add to the noise of the night. It literally looked like a block party, I felt like I had reached the promise land, OH . . . HAPPINESS. See the following videos for proof:
Once I got home, I reported my encounter with the other side in fascination to my family, in which their unimpressed and somewhat distateful expressions indicated this isnt a favorite dinner subject, as my host brother joked that these were the "rich activists". Oh the disappointment. I would later explore what he meant in more detail later on in the week.
As for the Spanish, the entire first week was difficult since I barely spoke anything, and the family isn't very patient with trying to understand AND speak English all the time. I understand, my head hurts from speaking and translating Spanish!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
First Impressions
Buenos Dias!
I have been in Buenos Aires for about 4 days total now, and it has been the most bittersweet experience.
First of all, being in a new city like Buenos Aires is an adventure and a pain all its own. I have been lost many times in the city, and it really sucks when trying to get to class. The bus system here is way better than Irvine, yet it takes a while getting used to and many parts look so similar. . . But! I do get a chance to see more when I am lost. And when I do get lost without any meaning to be at any place in any time, I feel more alive than I have ever felt in the past year. Its so urban, and classic at the same time. In Buenos Aires, the city is divided into multiple regions, in which I live in Recoleta. Recoleta is known as the Second Paris, or the French side of Buenos Aires. It is really fancy, and I live right next to a shoe store where I purchased my first leather boots with flojos! I hope to bring this style to the U.S. But Recoleta also has museums, parks, and theaters! I have yet to explore, and I cannot wait to experience the fancy-ness of this side of town.
My homestay is lovely. It seems to come out of a very Elle-decor kind of design, very white and bright inside with white soft furniture and summer florals. Last night was my host mom's birthday, and the whole family came to celebrate and greet her. It was such a pretty sight, almost from a movie because of how fancy everything looked.
Costs are high currently in Buenos Aires. Utility bills have tripled starting from two months ago so energy conservation is necessary. In its regular form, this apartment is like the size of a house, and feels very homy, just like my old house before. I heard shouts and chants from the rallies and marches below, closer to Plaza de Maya with the long-awaited for truck drivers protest yesterday. The expected count was 150,000 people. It is interesting hearing both sides of the issue here, and Argentinian politics are probably one of the more confusing ones for me because of this, but it has more perspective.
When the night is quiet and I am in my room, painted green with a weird painting of two Argentinian prostitutes from some kind of bougie age, I miss everyone greatly. I think of the my work, and how we were so lucky to be working with the people that we do, especially since many Argentinians are actually more updated with Hollywood celebrities than any American I know! I miss my boyfriend of course, and here I love to talk about "mi novio". But I miss my family too, it is not the same without them this summer. I have felt frusteration and stress in many ways here, but I have also felt the most amount of growth within a short span of time, and self-discovery in that, wow . . . I really am a princess! I suck at being spontaneous and adventurous in places where it does not even need to be sought out for, but its right there in front of you! I hope to improve this soon.
My classmates are great and very supportive. I was talking with one of the girls in my group, and we talked about some of the things we have gone through in the past. She told me when I am scared, to challenge that pain I went through before into a fighting force for present fears! And she said that we are much stronger than we think, and we really do not need to seek out any form of medicine or healing, but it is more about what is inside ourselves, and this can be fostered by anything as long as we do what we love and have no regrets for the decisions we make.
And with that, I will go on with the day, hopefully more organized, but more positive too. We are going on a trip to La Boca today as a group, I am so excited! More updates on that! Until then, Ciao!
I have been in Buenos Aires for about 4 days total now, and it has been the most bittersweet experience.
First of all, being in a new city like Buenos Aires is an adventure and a pain all its own. I have been lost many times in the city, and it really sucks when trying to get to class. The bus system here is way better than Irvine, yet it takes a while getting used to and many parts look so similar. . . But! I do get a chance to see more when I am lost. And when I do get lost without any meaning to be at any place in any time, I feel more alive than I have ever felt in the past year. Its so urban, and classic at the same time. In Buenos Aires, the city is divided into multiple regions, in which I live in Recoleta. Recoleta is known as the Second Paris, or the French side of Buenos Aires. It is really fancy, and I live right next to a shoe store where I purchased my first leather boots with flojos! I hope to bring this style to the U.S. But Recoleta also has museums, parks, and theaters! I have yet to explore, and I cannot wait to experience the fancy-ness of this side of town.
My homestay is lovely. It seems to come out of a very Elle-decor kind of design, very white and bright inside with white soft furniture and summer florals. Last night was my host mom's birthday, and the whole family came to celebrate and greet her. It was such a pretty sight, almost from a movie because of how fancy everything looked.
Costs are high currently in Buenos Aires. Utility bills have tripled starting from two months ago so energy conservation is necessary. In its regular form, this apartment is like the size of a house, and feels very homy, just like my old house before. I heard shouts and chants from the rallies and marches below, closer to Plaza de Maya with the long-awaited for truck drivers protest yesterday. The expected count was 150,000 people. It is interesting hearing both sides of the issue here, and Argentinian politics are probably one of the more confusing ones for me because of this, but it has more perspective.
When the night is quiet and I am in my room, painted green with a weird painting of two Argentinian prostitutes from some kind of bougie age, I miss everyone greatly. I think of the my work, and how we were so lucky to be working with the people that we do, especially since many Argentinians are actually more updated with Hollywood celebrities than any American I know! I miss my boyfriend of course, and here I love to talk about "mi novio". But I miss my family too, it is not the same without them this summer. I have felt frusteration and stress in many ways here, but I have also felt the most amount of growth within a short span of time, and self-discovery in that, wow . . . I really am a princess! I suck at being spontaneous and adventurous in places where it does not even need to be sought out for, but its right there in front of you! I hope to improve this soon.
My classmates are great and very supportive. I was talking with one of the girls in my group, and we talked about some of the things we have gone through in the past. She told me when I am scared, to challenge that pain I went through before into a fighting force for present fears! And she said that we are much stronger than we think, and we really do not need to seek out any form of medicine or healing, but it is more about what is inside ourselves, and this can be fostered by anything as long as we do what we love and have no regrets for the decisions we make.
And with that, I will go on with the day, hopefully more organized, but more positive too. We are going on a trip to La Boca today as a group, I am so excited! More updates on that! Until then, Ciao!
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