Late nights...

Something I have discovered about myself:

Late night + catching up on Grey's Anatomy = EMOTIONAL ASHLEY

(I may or may not have shed a few tears while catching up on the last few episodes of GA. That is the one TV show I will occasionally watch. I don't always catch it on TV. In fact, this is the first TV I have watched since getting to LA... which was about a month ago.)

I can...

do hard things.


Thank you, Hannah. (...and four other amazing friends, to whom I am quickly becoming attached.)

Blew my mind

I just finished an excellent book. It took me a while, but I finished it. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend reading "Life of Pi."

It blew my mind.

Once I finished, I went back and read the first half of the book over again. It is necessary if you want to fully understand the book. This book really makes you think - I love that. It is a "mark worthy" book. I'm very much a book-marker. If I like a line or a word, I will highlight or underline it. My copy of this book is covered in markings.

I think my favorite chapter from the book is this:

"I can well imagine an atheist's last words: 'White, white! L-L-Love! My God!" -- and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, "Possibly, a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain,' and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story."

This chapter won't really mean anything to you unless you read the book.

Read it. "It will make you believe in God," said Pi Patel.

Nothing stops a bullet like a job...

Nothing stops a bullet like a job is an interesting tagline for a business. But this isn't just another profit-producing business.

HOMEBOY Industries is a company that "assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education."

I saw a lot of tattoos and piercings today. I clutched my wallet a little tighter, not knowing what to expect.

I was wrong.

I heard about HOMEBOY Industries through my boss - she recommended their cafe, "Homegirl Cafe," so my colleagues and I took a lunch break in downtown LA. We found the bright yellow building that houses more than just the delicious, alternative cafe. It houses a bakery; they produce their own silkscreen and embroidered merchandise; there is a charter high school on location to help youth gain their education; job development, case management, tattoo removal, mental health counseling, and curriculum and legal services are also offered.

Our waitress was absolutely beautiful. She had one half of her scalp almost shaved, with two interlocking hearts shaved on that side, and the other half was hanging long past her shoulders. I asked her what the story is behind HOMEBOY Industries. She explained that Father Greg Boyle started the whole program. "Homeboy Industries traces its roots to “Jobs For A Future” (JFF), a program created in 1988 by 'Fr. Greg' at Dolores Mission parish. In an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Fr. Greg and the community developed positive alternatives, including establishing an elementary school, a day care program and finding legitimate employment for young people. JFF’s success demonstrated the model followed today that many gang members are eager to leave the dangerous and destructive life on the “streets.”

In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg launched the first business (under the organizational banner of JFF and Proyecto Pastoral, separated from Dolores Mission Church): Homeboy Bakery with a mission to create an environment that provided training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The success of the Bakery created the groundwork for additional businesses, thus prompting JFF to become an independent non-profit organization, Homeboy Industries, in 2001."

I devoured my "YuYu" sandwich. Turkey with dulce de mango and chipotle, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mayo, on a beautiful roll. The presentation was half the experience. The service couldn't have been better.

After a financial crisis, HOMEBOY Industries had to lay off 300 employees and close its doors, after 23 years. We saw cameras and reporters outside of the restaurant while we were eating. I wish HOMEBOY Industries all the luck in the world. They deserve it.

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Garbage Girl

I tried getting a man's attention today.

He walked past me and waved his hand in my face.

He stopped, turned around, came back toward me. I got a little nervous.

He held out his hand and motioned for me to take whatever it was he was holding.

I took it.

It was a couple crumpled pieces of paper.

I looked at him with a confused look on my face, and then he pointed.

Where did he point?

The garbage can.

I am now the garbage girl.

Glamorous, huh?

Russian singing

I spoke with a Russian lady on the street yesterday. She didn't understand English very well, so I spoke slowly.

After I was done talking (and after she signed mi petition) I told her I know a little Russian song. Her eyes got a little wide and she smiled. I looked to my left and then to my right and thought, "What the heck, Ash. You don't know this lady; you'll never see her again, you might as well sing it to her."

So, I sang a song to a Russian lady on a street in California.

Song:
Poost vsegda budyet solnsya
Poost vsegda budyet nyeba
Poost vsegda budyet Mama
Poost vsegda budu yah!

Yes, I blushed a little bit; she clapped and spoke to me in Russian. I didn't understand what she was saying, but I smiled and she pinched my cheek.

Sus Bolsas

This was my job today:

[Disclaimer: I only memorized these lines out loud. I have no idea how to spell the words... be patient with me.]


Ahem...

"Hola! Puere firmar mi petition?"

"Por que?"

"El Gobierno quiere quitarce o gravar impuestos en bolsas plasticas y papeles. Puere firmar mi petition decir el gobierno que las personas en esta area no quiere pagar mas por sus bolsas?"

[Insert "firmar" here..."]

"Muchas gracias! Buenos días!"

*Grunt* and walk away.

Direct translation of the above conversation:
"Hi! Will you sign my petition?"

"For what?"

"The government wants to put a ban or tax on paper and plastic bags. Will you sign my petition to tell the government that the people in this area don't want to pay more for their bags?"

[Insert their signature here...]

"Thank you! Have a good day!"

*Grunt and walk away.* [Yes, it's the same in Spanish as it is in English.]

[Now that I type it out in English, it sounds kind of repetitive. Oh well. I think most of the signatures I get with my Spanish are just pity signatures. They're trying to shut me up by just signing the dang petition.]

One lady liked me and my Spanish so much, she yelled at me, "NO HABLO ENGLISH!" and waved her hand in my face to get me to go away. Oh well - it isn't every day she gets to hear such a lovely German-Spanish accent.

I am now trilingual.

I warned you

Darling roommate:

I warned you.

You vacuumed.

Then you vacuumed "it" up.

You screamed. We screamed...

And then laughed till we almost cried.

I love us.

Love,
Me

San Jose/San Fran

What is this, you're asking? Jicama salad. I ate this interesting goodness on Tuesday night in San Jose at a fancy restaurant located in Santana Row. (A fancy outdoor mall in San Jose.)

Last night about midnight, I rolled back into Los Angeles. Hannah, Amanda and I were pooped after a super long week of working up in San Jose. (We also did a little bit of playing in San Francisco.) We worked very long days and drove a lot. It was totally worth it. We were successful in our purpose in going to San Jose, which was to fight a bill against a toy ban in restaurants. Duh. Who would ban toys? The county supervisors will vote on Tuesday to decide whether it will become an actual ban - our work was to try and stop it. We'll see if it happens.

We ate out a lot because we were staying in a hotel without a kitchen. I don't think I can eat out again for a while. I'm sick of eating out. I did, however, ate my first meal of fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Thank you to all the friends who were there who supported me in that venture. I actually enjoyed it. I'm not usually a huge fish person, but the cod wasn't too fishy. (Ha ha ha, pun definitely intended.)

I sure loved the drive up there and back. California is so beautiful. We drove through the country and a few vineyards and a mountain pass. Woo! I love that I grew up in the northern California area - so gorgeous.

Here are a few pics of the week. I love the people with whom I work - we have a really awesome group.

Fisherman's Wharf! I LOVE this place.

A store just for me.

Lisa, Amanda, Abram and Eric... four out of the six interns. Hannah was lost at this point... we later grounded her from going off by herself. :) 

The walruses at Pier 39.  (They're calling you Amanda and Hannah...)

The six interns... we rock... [Special thanks to Mr. Woahn for his super photography skills.]

 

Coconut Juice... chunky style

I worked on Saturday. I was in front of a Seafood Market trying to get Phillippino people to sign a petition. The manager of the market was extremely kind and supportive to our cause. Half way through our time, he came out with three cans of "coconut juice." He said we probably wanted something cool to drink since it was pretty warm outside.

I cracked the can open and took a little sip. The reaction I had was to bite. I don't think it is a usual reaction to bite when I'm drinking something, but this time I did, because there was something to bite. I bit. It was kind of chewy. My eyes got really big [out of fear] and the manager watched me started to laugh. I looked at him with kind of laughing eyes [I really didn't want to offend him if I threw up,] wondering what he was feeding me, and then swallowed. I looked in the can and saw small white chunks of coconut floating in my coconut juice.

I laughed. He laughed.

Coconut chunks in my coconut juice. Go figure.

Trainers

Today at church, a girl got up and told a couple stories about horses. [I got the hint that she is super into horses.]

She then compared God to a horse trainer and said that, "He is the ultimate human trainer."

Hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Trash "Assessment"

I got to help clean up the LA river yesterday. For any of you who are from the LA area, you know that the LA river isn't really a "river." Ha ha. It isn't much of anything.

As part of my internship, we were "loaned out" to help do some trash assessment for a couple of the environmentalist groups that were there.

I'd like to make something clear: I had a blast. It was a really interesting process. However, when I say trash assessment, we weren't just looking over the trash that was being brought up and disposed. We took every 5th bag that was brought up from the river, ripped it open, dumped it on the ground and organized it into piles. [Some piles included: glass, plastic, metal, clothing, foam...] They were basically wanting to get an idea of the trash that is littering the LA river. So, I played with litter yesterday. Yay!

Interested to know what we found?

Litter was [but was not limited to] the following:
Boxers, plastic bags, blankets, cans, candy wrappers, shopping carts, foam cups, bone, and a few more random things.

Oh, and a cucumber. We put that in the "other" pile.