Will Work for Beach

I’ve mentioned it before, but IC continues to be an interesting juxtaposition of incredibly serious subjects at work and incredibly laid-back weekends in the sun.  I can’t see this non-profit being headquartered anywhere else in the US.  I think everyone would lose their minds without all the surfing, swimming, and tanning.

I know my multiple trips to the beach every week go a long way in clearing my head.  It keeps me energized in my work for IC and it’s helped me sort through leaving Greece.  I’m not sure why, but there is no happiness for me quite like the happiness that comes with sitting in the sun, with my feet in the sand, and waves crashing in front of me.  Needless to say, it’s been a happy summer.

Rebels and Florals

Life at IC continues to bring plenty of new experiences and opportunities.  I still absolutely love what I’m doing, particularly the part of my job the requires pouring over news article after news article.  I know that makes me a bit of a nerd, but I embraced that about myself a long time ago.  Obviously, the news I’m pouring over is related to the Lord’s Resistance Army or the situation in northern Uganda.  Yesterday was a pretty active news day for IC and I thought some of you might be interested.

David Matsanga, the leader of the LRA peace delegation, released this press statement on behalf of Joseph Kony and the LRA.  The only word I can use to describe it is ridiculous.  It provided a good hour of entertainment at the office.  Particularly notable are points 17 and 18 that refer directly to Invisible Children and the head of our work in Uganda, Jolly Okot.  (Spoiler alert, I’m apparently working for a CIA backed non-profit.)

Honestly, I think the fact that IC has grabbed the LRA’s attention says a lot of positive things about their work.  Basically, if Kony is upset with you, you’re probably doing something right.  I tend to be a pretty cynical person but working for this group of people has really taught me that when people put their minds to it they actually can change the world.  Between my work in Athens and my work in San Diego, I’ve become more and more convinced that accepting the status quo is not only unnecessary, it’s wrong.

And lest you think I’ve lost the ability to have fun entirely, here’s a photo of me playing dress-up in a San Diego thrift store.  I forget, am I turning 25 or 15?

And We’re Back

Sorry to those of you who have been waiting for an update for a while.  I considered stopping once I left Athens but enough people have been asking about California to convince me it’s worth starting up again.  (As a side-note, it’s convenient my blog title has nothing to do with Greece because now I don’t have to change it.)

So, I’ve been in San Diego for about three weeks now and I have to say, the reports on perfect weather 24/7 are highly exaggerated.  I’m told the area is currently experiencing “June gloom”.  Translation, I’ve seen more hazy, gray days than sunny, blue ones.  I’ve also regressed about five years in my living situation.  Remember those fun days in the dorms when you shared a building with so many people you weren’t even sure of the exact number.  You know how every once-in-while you think it would great to go back and relive those days.  Well, don’t forget to add overflowing garbage cans, continually sticky counter tops, and cold showers to your day dream.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like the people I live with…all twenty to thirty of them.

At this point you’re probably thinking I’m regretting my decision to spend my summer in an intern house on the west coast.  Really, I just started off with the negative so you’ll have some context when I say I absolutely love it here.  Working at Invisible Children is every bit as rewarding as I had hoped it would be, probably even more.  I’m getting a lot out of what I’m doing (which has been a lot of grant editing and news summarizing) and I’ve met a lot of interesting people while doing it.  IC is just a very unique environment.  Imagine your stereotypical surfer; now image that person discussing micro-finance.  Yeah…it didn’t work in my head either until I saw it.  It’s an office of twenty to thirty-five year-olds who are very serious about their jobs and their mission while somehow maintaining a relaxed southern California atmosphere.

Like I said, I’m loving it.  I’ll even take the overflowing garbage cans, sticky counter tops, and cold showers.  Oh, and I have managed a few days at the beach.

And Now For Something Completely Different*

So the end of my time with Nea Zoi has arrived.  Tomorrow, it’s back to Chicago.  I still have plenty to process related to my time here.  It’s been a challenge in basically every way.  For those who are interested, feel free to ask me questions and be prepared for some rambling answers.  I’m very excited about the future (both Invisible Children and graduate school) but this experience is one that will linger.  Thanks for following along as I’ve made my way through these past six months.  I can’t wait to see all of you again.

Goodbye Athens.  I’ll miss you.

*You didn’t really think I’d make it through six months without a single reference to Monty Python?

1…

Something very strange is happening in my calendar right now.  It looks like this: May 4th – Nea Zoi Staff Meeting, May 8th – Dress Fitting with Amber.  Those two events are separated by several countries and a very large body of water, but in my calendar it’s just the difference between Monday and Friday.  I guess what I’m saying is, it’s weird, and a bit intimidating, for me to be scheduling things back at home again.  It’s not just because the trip will mean packing, airports, and jet lag.  It means I’ll be walking back into things that have felt very far away for quite a while now.

In my head, life back home has sort of been on pause while I’ve been in Athens.  Like when you’re little and you try to imagine your parents’ lives before you were born.  They were probably just sort of sitting around waiting for you to arrive.  Going home, all the changes that have taken place will become real.  In my head, Reunion still meets at Jabays, Steve and Kaylin aren’t parents, Steph isn’t pregnant, Kyle isn’t married, Aurora has just started college, and my grandfather is living in New Jersey.  I know none of these things are true but it feels like they should be.  Everyone should be sitting right where I left them, like the furniture in my room.  (My furniture is sitting right where I left it, right Mom…)  Obviously, I don’t actually expect this to be true, but catching up on six months of changes will take me some time.  So try to tolerate what I’m sure will be several comments like, “It is so weird that x,” or “I just can’t believe y.”

I’ve gotten a lot better at dealing with transition and change.  I’ve even come to enjoy it, but it’s a process for me.  Currently, that process involves a lot of long goodbyes and talking through the things I’ll miss with people who appreciate them. I’m into closure (much to the dislike of some of my friends here). Once I get home, the process will involve talking about what I’ve done and what you’ve done while I’ve been away.  That way, how I feel about things back home will catch up with how things actually are back home and life there will become normal again.      

2…

Ok, so my countdown is a bit off but I’m about two weeks from my departure date.  This past week has been a great celebration of Easter (which was a week later here).  A candle light service at midnight and lunch with the family of one of my coworkers made for a great day.  (Apart from the part where they set the roasted goat’s head right in front of me, definitely not a moment I regretted my vegetarianism.)  On Monday evening I headed to Crete.  Wandering around the harbor and walking along the beach may not be the best way to get yourself excited about leaving Greece but it was a good opportunity to relax and spend time with some of the friends I’ll be leaving.

It’s very strange to think that this chapter of my life will be over so soon.  In a lot of ways, life here just seems normal now.  I think it will be a while before I realize that I won’t be coming straight back.  You may have to excuse some wandering verbal processing as I adjust to being back home.  Overall though, I feel ready.  I’m going to miss the people here like crazy but that’s inevitable.  I’m excited about being home, seeing everyone, and heading on to the next step.  By now I think everyone has heard that I’ll be starting grad school at Northwestern in the fall but I’ve added another stop on the way before that.  I just found out I got a summer internship at Invisible Children I had applied for a few weeks ago.  I’m very excited to go work with them.  It’s a great organization that works with the victims of the LRA in northern Uganda.  I think I’ll learn a lot in my time there and it’s the perfect fit between Athens and grad school.  Of course it means moving to San Diego for two months but somehow I think I can handle that. 

So, for now, I’m planning for the transition back to the States and savoring every moment I have left here in Greece.  Oh, and I have one requirement for my return to the Chicago area: Warm weather only.

3…

It’s hard to believe but I only have 3 weeks left here in Athens.  The time has flown.  I’ve gotten to see and do a lot that I don’t imagine I ever would have experienced had I not come.  As my departure date draws near, a lot of people have asked how I’m feeling.  It’s a mixture of excitement and sadness really.  I’m going to miss a lot of people here and being a part of Nea Zoi.  At the same time, there are a lot of people back home who I’m very ready to see again.  Early on, I did a pair lists about what I missed about home and what I loved about Athens.  I thought I’d do something similar now that I’m looking back instead of forward.

Why I’m Sad to Leave Athens

5) Real feta

4) The Acropolis at night

3) Getting everywhere by metro or on foot

2) Three hour coffee by the sea

1) The friends I’ve made

Why I’m Excited to Go Home

5) Deep-dish pizza

4) The Art Institute

3) Smoke free restaurants and bars

2) Sundays at Reunion

1) Seeing you!!

*URGENT*

I received this email from the president of International Teams earlier today.  While it’s not directly related to what I’m doing here in Athens, I believe it’s critical to respond to the crisis in Darfur.  Spreading the word is the least we can do.  If you’re unfamiliar with the situation in Sudan, you can find some information here.

Darfur Emergency

April 1, 2009

Sudan has expelled 13 relief and humanitarian agencies that previously met 60% of the needs of displaced people in Darfur. Over one million people in Darfur could go without food within two months if new aid agencies cannot assist. An ITeams worker just returned from a four-day trip to northern Darfur. He reports:

“People are suffering in the desert and have nothing to eat or drink. They are searching for food, water, and shelter. They eat what few leaves they can find in the merciless desert. One of the displaced people told us: ‘I would rather die than see my wife and children starving and crying out for food and water’. In the midst of the difficult situation, God is at work, drawing people to Him. We met many believers during our visit. The people study the Bible, pray, and worship in their own languages.”

The Sudanese government is allowing Sudanese churches to help people in Darfur. We need to do everything we can to resource these churches for this purpose. Our friends in Khartoum have a strong history of serving the people in Darfur. They are well-connected to churches in Sudan, through which they can serve the suffering people of Darfur. They are trying to raise $28,000 to cover the costs of an emergency relief trip to bring wheat, dry milk, beans and sugar to the people of Darfur. As soon as the funds are raised, these supplies can be taken to Darfur. You can help!

1. Give a gift to our DARFUR EMERGENCY RELIEF fund

2. Pray for the people of Darfur and for those trying to help them

3. Spread the word about this opportunity to help

Having lived with people who survived the horrific, and all too similar, genocidal attacks in southern Sudan I can’t express how important this is to me.  I don’t care if you’re a Christian, a Buddhist, a secular humanist, or a worshiper of the Norse god Thor, we can and must do something.

An Afternoon at Starbucks

Sorry for the long pause.  To make up for it, I’ll tell you about one of my favorite experiences so far.  A few weeks ago I sat in on a meeting with my boss (Emma), the Director of the Human Rights division of the US Embassy (David),  and a member of the US State Department who works on foreign policy toward Greece (Adam).  Basically, the meeting was to give Adam an idea of the sex-trafficking situation in Greece.  We discussed Nea Zoi, the women we meet, and the circumstances they face.  It was a really positive time and I walked away feeling like, “Well that’s nice, these guys really seem to know a thing or two and care about their jobs.”  I should play it cool and act like I took this meeting in stride, but really I was incredibly excited to be a part of it.  It’s not everyday that someone as outside the DC circle as I am gets to take part in something like that.  Definitely a meeting/conversation I will remember for a while.  Oh, and to top it off, the whole thing took place over cups of Starbucks coffee.  Mmmmmm.

Great Expectations…Or Something

Perhaps I read too much but I’ve begun to identify with Dickens’ Mr. Jaggers, the shrewd lawyer who religiously washes his hands and face at the end of every workday.  In the novel, it’s described as cleansing himself of the business of the office and leaving it for the next day.  My own post-outreach hand washing ritual is mostly for cleansing in a more literal sense (I’m leaving it at that, if you want to know details I’ll tell you in person).  However, I do have a feeling of letting go as I go about it.

Trouble is, I’m not a shrewd lawyer in a novel.  And sometimes soap just isn’t enough.  For the most part, working for Nea Zoi has had a much smaller emotional toll than I expected.  I wrote early on about being comforted by the fact that someone is out there with these women and men offering help.  The majority of the time that thought is still surprisingly comforting.  Every once-in-a-while though, it just isn’t.

Monday night we were going along one of our usual routes.  This particular one is worked primarily by Eastern Europeans.  Neadless to say, I can’t really talk with them.  I was giving out tea and attempting some small conversation when I noticed a face that really struck me.  The girl just looked so grateful and yet confused that we were there, giving them something, not asking for anything in return.  Most of the women we meet are pretty hard, they have to be.  You don’t get a lot of real emotion from them.  This girl showed her raw emotional pain all over her face.  It’s not a look I’ll soon forget.  We offered her help, whether she accepts or not is up to her.  Regardless, I’ll be carrying her image around in my head long after I get back to the States.  I’m ok with that, I don’t want to wash all of these women away.  Some of them will stay with me and remind me of what I continue to have and of what they continue to need.