A Burmese wedding and Jen's Spanish aquisition

Mañana es nuestra final clase de español, y estoy triste. Aprendí mucho pero la clase ha pasado demasiado rápido!

I have learned a lot over the last 3.5 weeks, considering I could barely say more than "Hola! dos cervezas por favor" on day one, I can now make my opinion known (albeit with a smattering of French thrown in) on topics such as: do you believe that there is life on other planets? do you think we will find a cure for cancer, and why? and: in your opinion, who was the best president of the United States (the fact that I'm not American didn't offer any respite from the latter question)? I can also count to a 999,999,999 (theoretically at least), name parts of the body, parts of the house, get through customs, and describe landmarks in Mexico city! Oh, and order some food to go with my two beers...

It was an eclectic class (two sixteen year olds, one whose fingers were glued to her cell phone texting the whole class; two women my age including another Canadian; and an older piano teacher who was so enthusiastic that she would often yell out other people's answers before they could), but I think it was well worth the money, and has hopefully launched me towards a future fluency (or at least proficiency) in Spanish.

Now if I could just get my French up to fluent...
In other news, last weekend we had the opportunity to attend a Burmese wedding. A coworker of ours was getting married to a fellow resettled refugee who he had started dating back in the camps in Thailand. While it may not have been punctual (which I am not one to criticise), or that organised, it was a wonderful celebration with a large portion of the IRC office, and the IRC Burmese community present. There was, of course, some excellent food there too!

I can't believe that it is almost August! Brent and I have been in San Diego for nearly 3 months. We are still waiting for the date of our immigration interview, which we are hoping may be scheduled for September. August will go quickly as Brent and I will both be working full-time at IRC until our trip to Vermont at the end of the month. Even though it is for only 4 days, we're really looking forward to the trip, and the chance to see Brent's extended family and celebrate his Grandpa's 90th birthday.

The day after our return to SD I'll be starting my job at the Peace Institute, and we just learned of another surprise - my sister Lindsay will also be arriving that day for a visit! Yay!

Well I think that's all for now. Hope you're all well, and we look forward to hearing whether any one else might have plans to head to So(uthern)Cal(ifornia) in the future.

Hasta luego!

El Desfile de los Homosexuales

In some ways it was like any other American parade...

And then in others it was not...

As you can likely guess, this weekend marked San Diego's Pride Parade/Festival weekend, and being in Hillcrest, we had front seats for the whole rainbow extravaganza. It was a roaring good time, with much love, laughter and fun to be had by all.

Brent and I joined the 225,000 strong crowd to watch the parade (the 5th largest in the US). And while there were both scantily and decadently clad men, women, and a range of combinations thereof,

the best part for us was the widespread support given to California's new same-sex marriage law, and an emotional opposition to a proposed ban which will be on the November ballot in California. More than 100 couples walked through the parade carrying signs inscribed with the years of their monogamy - 8 years together, 12 years together, 27 years together, 35 years together, 42 years together... etc. The majority were over two decades, and gave a clear message that same-sex couples were living in marriage-like unions, and had been doing so for decades. Those that had been able to marry proudly inscribed the dates of their marriage on their shirts or placards.

People of all sexual orientations, races, backgrounds, and ages seemed caught up in the supportive, affirming atmosphere. It was definitely one of the most entertaining and fun parades I've ever seen!

However, when my Spanish teacher asked me what I was doing on the weekend I tried to say, yo voy a la... Pride Parade? Always eager to have us say everything in Spanish, she searched for the correct translation for my weekend activity, and finally concocted: "yo voy a el Desfile de los Homosexuales."

I don't think that's exactly right, but it had the class in stitches.

Otherwise, things here are good. Busy with lots of work, from which we try to recuperate on the weekends by heading to the beach!

Wishing you all a good week,

Jen & Brent

My dream job

I don't have my dream job yet... but I am now one step closer!

Last week I went to an interview at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice (IPJ) to be considered for a Peace Writer position, for their 2008 Women PeaceMakers program... and last night, (now last week since this post is taking so long to complete), I found out I got the job! The Woman PeaceMakers program selects 4 women from conflict zones around the world who are doing exceptional work in the area of peace and/or justice in their communities (at a local, national or international level). The women are invited to the Kroc Institute for an 8-week residency of lectures, workshops and an international conference, in which the women all participate. One of the primary goals of the program is to document the stories of these women, and their struggles for peace. To achieve this, the program pairs each of the 4 women with a Peace Writer - someone who interviews them extensively, helps them prepare their presentations, coaches them on public speaking elements of their residency, as well as accompanies them for the duration of their time in San Diego. Most importantly, the Peace Writer is tasked with writing her partner's story in an article which will be published at the end of the program.

While it is only a 10-week position, it will be a great opportunity, and I am hoping that it could lead to further work with the institute. The minute we arrived on the campus for the interview I felt like a kid entering Disneyland; by the time I left I was so enamoured I was ready to trim shrubs just to call USD my place of work! However, I think the IPJ would be a better fit (I have yet to develop my green thumb). The staff's resumes include work on national peace negotiations, election monitoring and working with civil and political groups in conflict and post-conflict societies. A key area of interest for the IPJ also seems to be on women's rights as necessary components to peaceful and just societies. I am hoping the Peace Writer position will be an opportunity for me to learn more about the areas of peace building and peace making as a possible career. Sorry for going on about what may sound boring to many people, but this is what does it for me!

In other news, yesterday was a sad day as my parents finally left San Diego after an extended 2-week stay. We threw in a lot to their first trip because we wanted to ensure that they would come back! So from pro baseball games, vineyards, camping, beaches, and lots of shopping to symphony concerts and fireworks, we kept them busy! However, despite our best efforts, I think their highlights were buying and working on our car (Dad), and our local Market's wine specials (delicious $10 wine on for $2.99/bottle plus a 10% discount when you buy 6 bottles, for Mom)!

As you can see from the photos, we had a lot of fun (yes, Mom and I are riding Segways)! However, all good things must also end, so the folks are now on their drive back north to get back to Victoria, and especially Barclay! (For those who were worried, we continue to check their routes and they should be able to avoid the California wildfires). Which means Brent and I finally have to go back to work! I took time off while they were here, but on Tuesday my intensive Spanish class began, and I have now returned to work in the afternoon at IRC. It makes for exhausting days (including a full 2 hrs on, or waiting for buses!), but it allows Brent and I to meet for lunch every day and ride the bus home together, and I am very pleased to finally be learning Spanish!

Well, this post has taken me nearly a week to write, so while there is (always?) more to say, I think I'll sign off here.

Missing you all!

Adios!

Jen and Brent

Our baby (to be named soon)

Damsel in distress

Yesterday was not my day. It started after our morning run when I got locked in my 5'x5' bathroom for nearly 2 hours...

It all started when I went in for a 10min shower. When I tried to get out, I realised the bathroom door that normally sticks had now locked itself. Luckily, I was able to yell to my parents for help before they left on a walk (thank goodness they were visiting, or I could have been there till Brent got home!). They didn't know whether to panic or laugh, but eventually got it together to push, pull, jiggle, and heave at the door...unfortunately, it was all in vain.

A plan was devised to throw a hammer, screwdriver and some knives in the second story bathroom window so that I could jimmy it open from the inside. Even though the throw-into-the-window went off remarkably smoothly, the door was not to be jimmied. I slumped down on the toilet in defeat while my mother called the landlord's emergency number. Two fitness magazines and a self-pedicure later (i.e. about an hour) a very large man called Jose with a ponytail longer than mine took his turn at the door (saying that he had dropped everything when he heard there was a "damsel in distress") and after repeating all the jiggling and thumping my parents had already tried, eventually drilled out the offending doorknob and lock, and a good chunk of the door too. I was rescued with the only scars being a new aversion to bathroom privacy.

The day continued with an IRC meeting to take a 72yr old Iraqi refugee to an optometrist in preparation for eye surgery she will be undergoing on Thursday. It got interesting when we took her back to her apartment to record all her current medications for the surgeons. A bag full of empty prescription bottles turned into a medical guessing game as her case worker (who speaks Arabic) and I tried to decipher which pills she'd moved into non-child proof containers, which pills were which, which pills she had run out of, and which pills she was taking that her sister had given her (medical significance unknown and possibly dangerous to be taking with her other meds). Through this multilingual sleuthing we were also being harassed by the old woman's roommate (also an older Iraqi woman who only spoke Arabic) who had very bad varicose veins but was not wearing her support hose, and was experiencing a lot of leg pain. I tried to give what advice I could (varicose veins are a serious problem, you need to wear the hose, go see your Dr. again, yadda yadda...) but somehow the situation deteriorated to the two women yelling in Arabic over who had the more serious medical condition, and the non-IRC client following us out to the car to complain that we should be taking her to the doctor since she was in more pain and the other woman has a sister in town who could be taking her. Whew!

I was looking forward to a relaxing night, so we ventured back to San Diego to historic Old Town for a traditional Mexican/Californian dinner of rice, beans, Baja fish tacos, and very generous margaritas. The latter came in handy when I naively took a bite of Brent's sauteed jalapeno pepper, giving myself a nasty chemical burn on my lips and tongue. I downed all the water on the table, giving myself brain-freeze and a horrible stomach ache, before our server saved me with slices of lime and lemon to suck on. It was just not my day!

It's actually been a great week though- our first trip to the Zoo, my father's birthday, and his birthday present: a trip to see the San Diego Padres play the Seattle Mariners; but the big highlight for Brent and I was the purchase of our first car! After 4 days of searching we found a sporty '02 Mazda Protege 5 in great condition for a very good price (a half-price salvaged Prius was the next runner-up, but we're happy with our Mazda). I will bombard you with photos later. In the meantime, here's some pics of everything else we've been up to.

We hope our Canadian readers had a great Canada Day yesterday, and that our American audience has a fabulous 4th of July weekend.

Take care,

Jen, Brent, Lois and Peter