Rains! Finally...

After 81 days without any precipitation, a dry stretch that ties for fourth place in Tucson's officially recorded history, the skies opened up about a week ago. And since then, it feels like we've been getting rain, and thunder, and lightning, almost every day since. On the fourth of July, for instance, the four of us were over at the Mennonite's house when the downpour began. Jen, Erin, and Kaitlyn ran out and danced in the rain (I'm sure they'll post some pictures soon). Later that evening, we went on their roof to watch the amazing sunset, the gorgeous storm as it receded over the Catalina mountains, and, eventually, fireworks.

Yesterday the rains were accompanied by strong winds. But Tucson didn't get an incredible dust storm like Phoenix did. Here's a video of that storm, also called a "habub."

The Phoenix airport closed for about an hour and cars stopped, but as far as I know it didn't cause any damage or injuries. Pretty amazing, though!



A counter-example

Though a large part of the reason why I'm doing JVC is because I want to make a better world, I admit I often wonder if that is possible. Sometimes it seems like our current way of living is so entrenched that it's permanent, unchangeable. This feels most hopeless to me when I realize that it's my own habits I need to change, yet I am resistant to doing so. Habits which make my life easier seem especially resistant to change. For example, being able to think of virtually any item as trash and throw it away without so much as seeing a landfill is a habit deeply established in my affluent, Western psyche. Changing habits such as these are hard, especially when I'm tired and doing dishes and considering how much easier it would be to trash this plastic bag instead of washing and reusing it. Another common example is the car. I know that cars produce harmful pollution, but that doesn't stop me from using one. It makes life easier.

However, counter-examples exist out there, examples of people and societies that somehow have overcome the "easy" excuse and are making real changes. One counter-example I came across last night in the New York Times. The headline pretty much explains it: "Across Europe, Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy." In the car-dominated United States, transportation policies that favor pedestrians, mass transit, or bicyclists at the expense of cars often feel symbolic more than substantial. Sure, you can paint the bike lane any color you want, but woe to anyone voting for a policy that would lengthen a driver's morning commute. In contrast, read what's happening in Zurich, taken from the article linked to above:

As he stood watching a few cars inch through a mass of bicycles and pedestrians, the city’s chief traffic planner, Andy Fellmann, smiled. “Driving is a stop-and-go experience,” he said. “That’s what we like! Our goal is to reconquer public space for pedestrians, not to make it easy for drivers.”

When I read this, I thought something like "What? How does he get away with that? Don't the car companies hunt him down, or sue the city, or corrupt him with bribes?" (I apologize to anyone who has worked for a car company, I'm sure you're not all bad.) Apparently, he - and Zurich - gets away with it.

Cars still feel like a Goliath in the U.S.'s economy, but suddenly riding my bike or taking the bus to work feels less like a sacrifice and more like a habit I'm willing to freely adopt.

It's hot here!

Saturday already, and another week that just flew by. Here are a few photos from the week.

Most recently, Erin's dad helped us set up a shade-cloth for our garden. Thanks, Bruce!

Earlier today I went on a bird-watching expedition with her dad, too. He picked out a spot he had heard about from the local Audubon society. So much water! I had no idea this existed in Tucson!

Earlier in the week it reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit on my bike ride home. Only a week or so until the summer monsoons!

Last weekend our house went wine-tasting in southern Arizona, along with the Mennonite volunteers and some JVs from Phoenix. It was so much fun! I had been wine-tasting before at nice supermarkets, but never at an actual vineyard. Amazing, too, that people can grow grapes out here.

And not to be overlooked, last weekend Jen made these yummy pretzels from scratch. Twice.

Gaaaaaahhhh

This is the thermostat in our house, and the big number is the actual temperature in our house. We called our landlord and apparently with all the smoke in the air from the fires in Arizona, the filters in our air conditioner need to be replaced more frequently. Oh well, now we know. Hopefully the problem will be fixed within a few more hours, but right now we're enjoying the cool air of Starbucks, once again.

Also, I made tea this morning, hot tea, which Erin pointed out doesn't make much sense given the circumstances. Old habits die hard, I guess.

US - Mexico food system skit

Almost every day I enjoy working at the Community Food Bank, but some days are particularly enjoyable. Yesterday was one of those. For our monthly "skill-share" meeting in my department, a few of my coworkers shared an activity they had developed which educates people on how the issues of food, job security, health, and immigration are all related. It is an activity that they intend to package so that different groups can use it as an educational tool. Simply put, I thought it was stellar, and would have loved to have done this activity in a college class.

The skit/activity reminded me somewhat of a murder mystery dinner, where every person has a role to play and certain guidelines to follow. For example, I was a small farmer in the US, (hence the hat) and I earned my income by picking up corn one kernel at a time and putting it in a cup. The man in blue next to me was a large farmer in the US, and you can't see it in the picture but he got to use heavy machinery: a spoon. After each monthly cycle (four minutes) was complete, I would sell what I had harvested to the person representing Cargill, a corn buyer, and I would receive a subsidy from the USDA. I also had to renew my contract with Monsanto for using their patented corn seeds. If I failed to renew this contract, the person playing Monsanto could sue me for using their patented seeds without authorization. Lastly, I then had to purchase food for myself from the store owner, who was selling processed foods for a considerably lower price than fresh foods. Then the next cycle would begin. Though the large farmer was doing all right for himself, pretty soon I wasn't earning enough to buy even the processed foods, so I took out a loan to buy some equipment: a fork. At the end of the entire exercise I was in a lot of debt and barely breaking even each round. I also received a note from my "doctor" who said I had developed heart disease, probably as a result of all the processed food I was eating.

So far, an interesting exercise, but it was even more complex than this. The people in the background of the picture were on the Mexican side, picking corn, selling it to a corn buyer who would make foods and sell them to store owners. The black partition with pictures on it represented the border. After a few cycles, both sides regrouped and our facilitators explained what happened in 1994: the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. This removed some of the government assistance Mexico was providing to its farmers, and lowered the barriers to trade between the two countries. Also, border security was strengthened (represented by pushing the black partitions closer together). As a result of NAFTA, the corn buyer on the US side started selling her corn to Mexico for incredibly cheap prices, so much so that the Mexican corn buyer stopped buying her country's own corn at all. This, understandably, was hard on the Mexican corn farmers, and a couple of them talked to the "guide" who promised to, for a price, transport them through the partitions (read: border) to find a job on the US side. So there you have it: food system, immigration, economics - all represented in an hour-long exercise.

Ok, so I just read through my above description and have to admit that it's a bit confusing, even to me. Systems, such as the one around corn, are so complex and have so many different players and variables that perhaps they're almost too confusing to convey through text. Not impossible, but difficult. That's why I thought this skit was so brilliant, because it allows someone (like me) to understand something very complex in a manner that's, well, fairly easy to understand.

I like my job :)

Mujadara

Perusing old photos in my camera again, I found this one. This is one of my favorite dishes we've made in our house this year. It is so simple (lentils, rice, onion) but so tasty. The flavor comes from caramelizing the onions until they're brown and sweet. Erin, Kaitlyn, and Jen first came across this dish cooking dinner at Borderlinks, an agency in Tucson that organizes delegations of folks who are interested in learning about border issues. Later we began using it for dinner at our house. I'm sure there are multiple recipes for it, but the one that we used is from Molly Wizenberg's food blog, Orangette. She calls it mujadara, and says it comes from the Middle East. Anyway, it's delicious.

BICAS

You can see some more pictures of my casa's trip to San Diego on Jen's and Kaitlyn's blog. My stock of trip photos, however, was pretty much exhausted from yesterday's post. Which is why I'm digging through my camera to come up with today's photo of the inside of BICAS, or the Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage, basically a bike shop co-op. Hands down, one of the coolest places in Tucson. (I'm not sure why saying "hands down" makes it more emphatic, but that's the effect I was going for, so there it is.) The staff here do not really do anything for you, they show you how to fix a flat, change a spoke, true a wheel. For example, they'll give instructions as you peel off the tire, inflate the tube underwater, and search for the puncture that gave you a flat. And it's cheaper, too - only $4 per hour, plus extra if you actually need a new part. BICAS definitely has an informal, garage-like feel to it, with some old tunes playing in the background and a dozen or so folks around the shop with bikes in various states of (dis)repair. Less than a mile from our house, it's a place I love to visit, and when I'm there I always wish I went more often. Also, it makes me never want to take my bike to a regular bike shop, where my bike disappears into some "back room" and comes out again, repaired. But I didn't get to see it! What happened back there?!

San Diego & Race

Kaitlyn and her family (minus a sister who is in Guatemala)

Jen and her San Diego Padres gnome she got at the baseball game

I'm feeling slightly under the weather today, nothing I hope a little tea and sleep can't fix. But I can't blame it on the beautiful weather we had in San Diego this weekend. Low 70s and sunny. Kaitlyn ran the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (her first!) and Jen ran the half marathon (her fourth!), and during the rest of our trip we saw the ocean, a huge park, and enjoyed the incredible hospitality of Kaitlyn's parents (thank you!) as they took us out for Thai food and ice cream. I'm still recovering from my long shift at the wheel last night, but all in all, a pretty good trip.

A hidden message

Our fridge does weird things sometimes, like freezing our food. It used to only freeze what was placed at the back, but a couple days ago Jen pulled out a pan of chickpeas that had been soaking and discovered a piece of ice on top. Not just any piece of ice, however. This piece, as you can see, pretty clearly resembles a horse, or - even better - a unicorn. I've heard of Jesus' face appearing on toast, but a unicorn out of ice? What does it mean?

Clouds

Yesterday my coworker and I from the Community Food Bank drove to Morenci, Arizona, for a health fair, about 175 miles away. Tucson has been having some interesting weather lately - upper 90s, but cloudy - and it was the same in Morenci. It was a long day at work, but a rather pretty drive. And some JT in the car helped, too. That's short for James Taylor, of course.

Starbucks

Now that Kaitlyn is done with work, we have no internet at our house. See, she needed a wireless modem for her work, and the school she worked at let her take it home. So we all had the ability access internet, one at a time, for emails, facebook, blogging, etc. But now that her work at the school is over, so is our internet access in our house. Well, I guess that's not quite true. Jen, Kaitlyn, and I still can get internet on our phones, but it's nice to use a full keyboard sometimes. So, here we are at Starbucks, catching up in the digital world.

Ouch

Trying to make orange zest out of orange peels - instead of whole oranges - leaves one's knuckles dangerously close to the grater, as I learned. Luckily, our house has the quite the supply of medical equipment, dating from the time Erin fell off her bike and cut her knee pretty bad. Thanks, Erin, for the bandage and the photo.

Sunglasses

Okay, maybe aviators don't need to be worn inside, but I've been using every excuse I can get lately to wear my new shades. My housemates have been telling me that I needed to get myself a pair after seeing me wear Jen's. Instead they got me a pair as a gift! Thanks, Jen, for the glasses and the photo.

Mt. Lemmon

This weekend we were lucky enough to have JVs from Los Angeles visit us. A group of us did a hike on top of Mt. Lemmon and discovered this great rock. We nicknamed it Elephant Rock. See it? More photos here.

Triskele

Cool tattoo, right? That's my friend Audra, and the symbol on her arm is called a triskele. We were at Barrio Brewery, one of my favorite spots in Tucson, and a spot where Audra and I have enjoyed good beer and good conversation a few times before. (And, I hope, a few times more.) Anyway, the triskele is one continuous line forming a triple spiral, and it shows up on some ancient Celtic sites in Ireland including at Newgrange. Like any well-planned tattoo, this one has personal meaning for her. I won't be able to explain the significance of it as well as she does, but she told me the interconnected spirals represent both eternity (it's one unbroken line) and the cyclical nature of life. There's a lot more to it than that, but I recommend asking her to explain it in person. Maybe over a beer.

Last day

Yesterday was Kaitlyn's last day of teaching at Santa Cruz Catholic School, and a student gave her a rose as a goodbye present. So cute!

Bike bridge

On my morning commute to work along the Aviation bikeway. A bikeway, you say? Yes, even conservative Arizona gets a few things right. (At least, Tucson does.)

Maya Quetzal

Erin, Kaitlyn, and I went out for dinner at a Guatemalan restaurant last night. It was delicious, and just fun to get out of the house. Do you know the song, "everybody's working for the weekend..."? Sometimes I feel like that. Especially lately. Wake up, work, come home, read, eat, sleep - that describes my recent weekdays. So a little change like going out to eat is a welcome treat.

Quote

It might be hard to read, but the quote on the picture above (taped to the back of my door) says, "To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself." The quote is attributed to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. I wrote the quote on a picture from a National Geographic magazine during a recent spirituality night I led where we wrote down quotes and posted them around our house.

Photo of the day

Not that I will be putting up a photo every day, but I think by posting a photo and a brief explanation instead of several paragraphs, I may start posting things more regularly. That's the new plan, anyway.

The hands in this photo belong to Jen and Kaitlyn, as they were braiding dough for challah bread which we brought to my coworker's Shabbat dinner Friday night. My coworker had talked for a while about how she would like to have friends over for Shabbat (she is Jewish). When she did pick a date, I was happy that she invited me and my housemates, and even happier that all four of us could attend. It was a fun night for Casa Nacho, and it was also fun for me to hang out with a coworker outside of work. Jen decided to provide the challah, a recipe which she had made once before. The bread turned out amazing. And I'm not just saying that because Jen will read this. It was deliciously flaky on the inside, with a dark chewy glaze on the top, and the braiding made it easy to pull off individual chunks. Yum.

to love and to be loved

I officially know what I'm doing after I'm done here in August! I heard back from JVC Northwest and so I'll be heading to Tacoma, Washington to work as the Farm and Garden Assistant to a L'Arche community. If you don't know about L'Arche, it's really, really cool. Here's a blurb about it from the L'Arche USA website:

"L’Arche communities, family-like homes where people with and without disabilities share their lives together, give witness to the reality that persons with disabilities possess inherent qualities of welcome, wonderment, spirituality, and friendship. 

Perhaps an extraordinary notion in our fast-paced and consumer-driven society, L’Arche believes that these qualities, expressed through vulnerability and simplicity, actually make those with a disability our real teachers about what is most important in life: to love and to be loved."

So that about sums it up. People with and without developmental disabilities living in community. The unique thing about L'Arche, I think, is that the idea of sharing life together is really, really embedded in the philosophy of the communities. Each person, whether they have a disability or not, is viewed as having something worthwhile to contribute, and part of the mission of L'Arche is to recognize those contributions. Here's another blurb from the website:

"Often people who have developmental disabilities are less preoccupied with competition and success than is typical in our society, and they may have a keen sensitivity to relationships and a gift for celebration and for creating unity. L'Arche believes that people with developmental disabilities have important contributions to make to others, contributions that help to humanize our society."

Man, whoever wrote for their website has a way of putting things beautifully. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this job. Sure, I'm a little nervous about the idea of working all day with people who developmental disabilities, but I've heard rave reviews from several people who have visited L'Arche communities. My housemate Erin has two friends who visited a L'Arche community and stayed there for three years.

Well. Even if I only stay there for one year, I think it will be worth my time. Here's what I'm thinking. I don't know yet what will be the next "big thing" in my life, like going to grad school, getting married, or finding a job that could eventually become a career. So right now I'm spending my time learning about myself, others, and the world. Wow, that sounded a lot cooler than what I'm actually doing. Okay, right now I spend my time trying to catch the bus, not leave the stove on, and find time to read. But in the midst of it all, I am learning a few things, actually. Like how to make butternut squash soup, which I have successfully done more than once here. Or that I'm a 6 in the Enneagram. Or that drawing faces on people's chins is a good idea. Always a good idea.

So, without a plan or a three-year law degree to guide me, I'm still doing what I would call exploring, meaning I have a lot of options of what to do from one year to the next. And for now, at least, I'm fine with that. Regarding next year, I think JVC is a good way to go, giving me some structure and stability and reminding me of important values, but giving me quite a bit of freedom, too. And I think working at L'Arche will be good, too. For one thing, I may never again be very close with people with developmental disabilities, but spending a year with them might forever change the way I understand them. For another, I will be doing something completely different - farming and gardening - than I have ever done as a job before. I think that after this year of mostly being in front of a computer at work, getting to be outside will be a welcome change. And, most likely, I'll be tired and sore after about a week. But still, I'm looking forward to it.

And, to leave you with, here is a waffle I made on Jen's birthday breakfast. I don't think I've ever made waffles before, so I'm pretty proud of this little guy.

Not yet, not quite

Last time I posted on this blog I said I would tell you, as soon as I know, where I am headed after this year.

And I'm so close to knowing! Here's what happened. I applied to JVC Northwest for an additional year, did three interviews, and was matched with a potential placement. Oh, what a good placement it is. I want to write about it. But I haven't heard back yet from my potential future supervisor if he wants me for the spot. So, I'm going to wait until it's definite before writing about it here.

Instead, I'll write about a new book I've been reading. A series of books, actually. A young adult series called The Hunger Games. I am the last person in my house to read these books, and at first I definitely didn't want to. The print is large, the final book came out just last year, and I didn't want to waste my time wading through three volumes of the latest cheap-thrill book fad. Right?

Wrong, as I learned when I stayed up until 4:30 am last Saturday reading the first book. Yes, these books will probably never be regarded as classics of American literature, but I recently read one of those, David Copperfield, and was underwhelmed. That's a book I had to wade through. In contrast, I have cried, actually cried, while reading The Hunger Games. I've also had a lot of fun reading it. And I have to admit I know exactly what Stephenie Meyer is talking about when she wrote (and it shows up on the back cover of the books) "even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it." I still have no desire to read Meyer's books, but in this I can sympathize. My housemate Jen has said she thinks I should choose books that I actually enjoy reading instead of books - let's see, my last one was All Quiet on the Western Front - that I choose because, to be perfectly honest, I want to be able to say I've read them. Well, not entirely. If they're famous books, I reason, there has got to be something worth reading in there, right? And often, there is. But it is a lot more fun to be totally riveted, wondering what's going to happen next, rather than wonder how many more pages I have to read until the chapter is over. I finished the third and final book today, and I started the series eight days ago, if that tells you anything.

But back to this potential new position. Since I don't want to reveal it entirely in case it doesn't work out, I'll just say that I would be outdoors. I would also be closer to home, which is wonderful. I've learned that the Northwest is, for me, home. Probably Oregon, specifically, but I'm not sure about that yet. All I know is that this year is the longest time I've spent outside of the Northwest, and even though I've loved it and Tucson feels comfortable and familiar and has grabbed my heart a little, I don't see myself staying here. In fact, if I had to bet now, I would bet that I'll end up in the Northwest. When that is, however, I can't predict. Probably not next year, even if I do move back for an additional year with JVC. The thing is, I still have the travel bug. I want to see new places. That's why part of me doesn't want to go back to the Northwest but instead wants to convince my friend David to quit his job so we both can travel around the world (disregarding, of course, the obvious: that I don't have much money after a year of volunteer service and still have student loans to think about). Luckily, there's enough novelty to this position - I would be doing something I've never really done before - that I think I would be able to reconcile these two desires. I would be closer to my home, to those I care about, to those who know me best. At the same time I would be exploring, not unfamiliar countries, but unfamiliar situations and circumstances.  and yet challenged by new situations. Perfect. Or, at least close.

So, I'll tell you when I hear back....

Parents and a birthday!

I'm currently sitting in Cafe Passe, one of my favorite coffeeshops in Tucson, listening to a really great solo guitarist playing everything from Bon Iver to what sounds like Brazilian music. A great place to update my blog.

In February I was lucky enough to have my own parents come visit! First we took a trip up to the Grand Canyon, which was absolutely beautiful because it was snowing there!

Then we drove back to Tucson and I got to introduce them to my house, casa mates, and the food bank. There was so much to see, and so many people to meet, but I tried to not overwhelm them (or myself) by planning too much. I had a great time with them. Some of the highlights for me were introducing them to Casa Mariposa, the intentional community we frequent on Wednesday evenings, showing them around the food bank's farm, and enjoying a delicious breakfast they made in our house. I love you two!

The week after they left, my house plus some of our other volunteer friends hiked Picacho Peak, an imposing rock jutting out of the ground about an hour north of Tucson. I had heard the hike was tough, but I was still surprised when we had to climb steep inclines using cables as supports. Gloves are definitely a good idea for this one.

And for my last installment in this blog, I recently turned 24 years old, and have had several small celebrations, which has been a lot of fun. My housemates - oh they know me well - bought me some beautiful greens and veggies from the local food cooperative. Swiss chard and purple kale. Delicious.

Also at work, my coworker Dulce got me an ice cream cake! I shared it with the staff.

So, as is usual around my birthday, I've been thinking more about my life. Is 24 young? Old? It depends on who you ask, I learned. Compared to my coworkers, I'm still fairly young, not even at the quarter-century mark. Compared to most of my volunteer friends, I'm on the older side of things, however. And to me, I'm wondering where the years went! Wasn't it just a little while since I was in El Salvador? Was that really over two years ago? Is it time I decide to find a job that makes me a living, or am I ok being the "old guy" doing JVC for another year? That's a question I've been asking myself recently, and I think my answer is, yes, I'm okay with that. In fact, I have reapplied for a second year of JVC. I won't be in Tucson again, that much is for sure. It was a hard decision, because Tucson is a great place, as is the food bank, but I finally decided I wanted to go someplace new. Where that is, exactly, I don't know yet, but I'll post it here as soon as I do!

Catching up to do

As I'm sure you've heard, earlier this month someone shot and killed six people and wounded several others at a Safeway in Tucson. This event was particularly eye-catching because one of those wounded, and (it seems clear) the target of the attack, was US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. I'll spare you most of the details of what happened, because I assume you would have heard about it on the news, just like my housemates and I did. Needless to say, I was shocked to hear the news. It was one of those "no way, is this really happening" almost-sick-to-the-stomach kind of moments. I was also angry, and I was sad. It was so incredibly unfair.

With all that said, it was amazing how quickly for me those emotions passed and life was once again normal: working, grocery shopping, house discussions, etc. However, I continued to check the news, and to see signs of the tragedy around the city. At work, my supervisors talked about how friendly and accessible Giffords was (some of them had met with her multiple times). At a church service I went to, the pastor and the congregation mourned the loss of an energetic and humorous church-member, one of the six casualties. I rode over to Giffords's Tucson office and was moved by the amount of signs, flowers, and people there. Some pictures of that below.

Contrast that tragic story with the uplifting one of Father Greg Boyle, who my housemates and I went to hear speak last night at Most Holy Trinity, our local church. He is a Jesuit priest who came to the parish of Dolores Mission in Los Angeles at the time when it had the highest per capital gang population of anywhere in the city. Over time, Greg and his parishioners decided that what would be best for their community would be more job opportunities. Not finding any "felony-friendly" employers (as he puts it), they decided to start one, Homeboy Bakery. Soon followed Homegirl Café and voilà, Homeboy Industries was born. Today, it has become the largest gang intervention rehab center in the US.

This is great, but what really touched my heart during his talk was how apparent it was that Father Greg loves his homies (his term, not mine), something that really seems to be missing from today's nonprofits and social service agencies. He talks about how "there will never come a day when I am more courageous than" so-and-so or how he learned everything important in life from these former gang-members. His attitude toward them is obviously genuine and not patronizing in any way. He started off his talk in a way that I loved, and it went something like this: "I imagine you're not here tonight to hear me talk, really, but because you want a kind of world where we have kinship with those people that right now seem so divided from us." Father Greg Boyle talked about how many divisions we have in today's world, because of race, because of class, because of fear. He said that Jesus was trying to get people to see that there's not an "us" and a "them," just us. It was amazing to hear these words from someone who seemed, by example, to really understand what they mean.

Anyway, he's a great storyteller (think Garrison Keillor), and I would highly recommend getting your hands on his book, Tattos on the Heart. Luckily, my housemates and I will have the chance to hear him speak again this weekend at our Re-Orientation retreat in California.