Monday, January 15, 2007

Weekend by Numbers

1) I've just started a new service learning project with my students about child labor. We watched a video about Iqbal Masih, an amazing child whose life ended far too soon. My students were appalled by the story and have responded in a way that has resulted in the most exciting phase of my teaching experience thus far. While discussing the project with a friend on the way to soccer practice, I learned that she has travelled to many developing countries and seen child labor firsthand though her focus as been more on women's issues. She described to me helping women in India attain small business loans, travelling through Africa to assist with health education, and much more. I find myself feeling fortunate once more to have found friends with such a depth of experiences. They open up my world in incredible ways, and show me opportunities and possibilities outside of my very focused daily life.

2) Yesterday an old college friend called me out of the blue. Neither one of us could remember the last time we spoke, but it was no matter. We talked as if we had just spoken yesterday. I am excited about the events taking place in both of our lives, and amazed at how strong connections can remain, even when so many miles are between us. Just like my friend described above, this friend has inspired me in countless ways.

3) A little less inspirational, but nonetheless extremely important: Dancing. Saturday night was a birthday celebration of a close friend of mine at the Copacabana. Before leaving, I was tired and actually not looking forward to leaving my house in the rain. The party started at 11:00, and I felt ready to go to bed about three hours earlier. However, once we got there, I had a blast. I usually hate going out to clubs, but a night dancing with the girls has left me on high for the rest of the weekend.

4) Today I wanted to blog, but couldn't choose one focus. I asked myself, "Can you really mention the shocking story of Iqbal Masih with the lightheartedness of dancing to hip hop?" Reading back over it, I'm still hesitant. But I think that the blog is supposed to be representative of my life in general, and this is it: a strange balance between working on a huge project with my students educating other about child labor, reading the amazing book about Ward 57 in Blood Brothers by Michael Weisskopf, going out dancing, playing soccer, watching bad tv shows on E!, trying to make the perfect guacamole, going through old photos my mom sent me, and all the other daily activities of varying levels of importance. The things on my mind don't follow the same arc, and they don't have. So for today, I'm abandoning the theme for the blog entry. I hope you can forgive me...

No comments: