Weekend Happenings

Due a class cancellation, my weekend started Wednesday night. So after dinner at Red Robin with Ryan, later that night I went out with David and Justin to Chris’ to watch the Naruto movie with him and Donna. To be honest, the movie was okay. I mean it was still a blast to watch, especially the wicked fight scenes, but parts of the plot just seemed weak. Besides, that snow princess was pretty insufferable.

Friday after work I went with Greg to watch Star Wars Episode III. R2-D2 is still my hero. It was pretty good (minus the awkward love scenes) and really tied it all together. I was curious to see how this one would turn out in its ability to lead into Episode IV, but the ending was perfect. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan but it was a fun watch. Afterward I went shopping downtown. Later that night I went over to the girls’ apartment to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events and eat brownies. And while the characters of the kids in the movie were pretty awesome, it was a bit too much on the creepy side for my own taste. Jim Carrey frightens me.

Saturday was filled with Street Fair debacles. However, despite the afternoon’s disappointment I managed to eat an apple dumpling and make myself a candle holder before walking home in the rain. Much thanks and <3s to Ryan for walking up to watch the Capoeira with me…the Capoeira I was unable to later locate until it was over :/.

That night we went out to a wine tasting at Stephanie and Sarah’s place that totally rocked. (See Ryan’s blog). It was a really great night out with good friends, good food, and great (red) wine. They really went over the top in planning this thing. The level of detail was awesome. There was even a table with little cups of colored beads to make your own wine glass markers! It was an awesome Saturday night.

On Sunday morning I volunteered at a soup kitchen for the first time, just a few blocks from my place. The experience was pretty cool and I was just blown away at the people there; the whole operation was like a well-oiled machine. Everything from table setup, to food prep, to how you dry cups had its own procedure. Nothing went wasted; even the plastic silverware was sorted and rewashed. In two hours, the number of people who had been served neared 500. While standing in awe of the entire crew, I learned that they had been doing it for thirty-seven years. The most impressive were the young people there, a fourteen year old girl with a pink shirt scurried back and forth with her clipboard making sure no volunteer hand was left idle. A kid in the kitchen, hands racing to dry each newly washed item threw orders to the new college student volunteers to make sure that things were getting done right and getting done quick. Whether it was the man in charge of issuing blankets, pouring chocolate milk, or stacking down chairs, the whole thing ran like clockwork.

When given our assignments I was at first a little disappointed that I got table duty rather than the “smile and scoop” job I had envisioned but soon was glad of it. It was awesome to weave in and out of the tables and just serve. The table conversation was intriguing and I often found myself drawn into it. So it was neat to be part of their meal, answering lines of “How’s it goin’ sistah?” and “You understand our Spanish, don’t you?” And while there was the ocassional scuffle, things were pretty tame. I guess it was more I didn’t know what to expect and the result was pretty moving. Was taken aback at how many of those I was attempting to serve would ask me if I needed any help as I balanced my tray of cups, garbage bags, placemats, utensils, napkins, and sugar. Of course it’s not all warm and fuzzy-feeling, like when you see the kids come through with their parents. But it was a good experience. If interested, it goes on every Sunday and they take volunteers anytime from 6AM-2:30PM.

After the soup kitchen it was off the Street Fair again to meet up with Jules, Will and Pril. I had $4 Pad Thai and mango lemonade. I listened to a band play for a bit til it started to rain again and walked home pondering the weekend’s events.

Last but not least, I went to church that night for their multi-cultural mass. Parts of the service were celebrated in Tagalog, Spanish, German, Indonesian, Italian, as well as English. At one point the pastor asked everyone to pray the Our Father aloud in your native-tongue. And while mine is English, it was interesting to hear all the different languages of the people around me dominate the room. I was particularly inclined to go this Sunday because I had heard that they were starting the service with a celebration of the Filipino tradition of Flores de Mayo, a nine-day festival that I considered my favorite time of year when I was younger. That is a story unto itself. However, the simple five-minute flower procession that took place threw me headlong into nostalgia of novenas, folk-dance practice, and mass production of lumpia.

That was my weekend. Now it’s Monday. This week:

[] Democracy and Economic Development Paper Due
[] Institutions and Economic Destiny Paper Due
[] International Trade Problem Set Due
[] Economic Growth Midterm