Board Room to Skid Row

This week I experienced quite a few different LA lifestyles, from the powerful board room executives to people who live in the streets and everyone (college students, artists, faculty, and even Mother Theresa) in between. A few updates from this short week at work at home...thanks for following!

Work

With just one more kid-less workday in front of us, Theresa and I were in turbo-prep mode at work this week. Besides putting the finishing touches on the office, we went to a board meeting on Tuesday, a Community Service fair at LMU on Thursday, and visited every Religion class at the Verb to talk to the students about tutoring. Visiting the classes at the Verb made me a little nostalgic for teaching.  I love teaching, so I’m really excited for Tuesday when we start Urban Compass! Even though it will be pretty different from having my own classes, I’m ready to go! At the meeting on Tuesday, I was finally able to meet many of the board members for Urban Compass. Everything from the drive downtown to the 25^th floor of a high-rise to the financial reports to meeting very high-powered lawyers and businesspeople was pretty of exciting. One of the founders of Urban Compass also sits on the JVC board, and he was headed to Baltimore this weekend for a meeting. He jokingly asked if we had any complaints for him to report – luckily we don’t!

Working the LMU service fair was another interesting day. Being a “recruiter” on a college campus instead of a student felt a bit odd and certainly made me miss BC. LMU itself was a beautiful campus – covered in palm trees, fountains, grassy areas, and of course, SUN.  After a very chilly morning in South Central, I was not anticipating the weather to be so warm (I guess I’m not quite used to this whole it’s-always-hot-and-sunny thing!) so I was a bit overdressed but nevertheless managed a slight sunburn on the back of my neck. (Although, in my extensive people-watching of the LMU students, I saw many a girl wearing uggs with pants when it was in the high 70s…really?! Even Miss-East-Coast wasn’t that overdressed.) During the fair, I was able to spend time with Maria, one of DK’s support people. She works in the Center for Service and Action at LMU and was running the show. I also ran into another JV, Colleen, who essentially has the same job I do but with another agency. Mostly, though, I enjoyed the people-watching spectacle at LMU.

Finally, to celebrate our now completed office (pictures below!), Theresa and I threw a very impromptu Open House/ Happy Hour on Friday afternoon. Theresa sent an email to all the Verb staff inviting them for drinks and snacks in our office to check it out. Many of the teachers walk by us every day and hadn’t even peeked inside since the renovations. It was a great way to celebrate the start of the school year…and also the last time we will be able to enjoy “happy hour” until June!

Theresa in her new office!

My office

Community

We've had a pretty busy week at home, too.  On Tuesday, we had another awesome spirituality night led by Julie. She just finished reading A Simple Path, a book about Mother Teresa. She designed a really cool reflection for us based on the different stages of the simple path. The basic gist of the ‘path’ is this:

The fruit of silence is PRAYER, the fruit of prayer is FAITH, the fruit of faith is LOVE, the fruit of love is SERVICE, the fruit of service is PEACE.  In reflecting on each of these stages, everyone shared different experiences and ideas, but we all come together to challenge each other and present new ideas. This was a particularly interesting reflection for us, who come together in this faith based program to do service, to pray and grow. I found it challenging that Mather Teresa’s path all starts with silence, because that is something quite difficult to find (or make) when we all live together in a pretty busy city and when we work long days. I’m sure many of you can relate!

On Thursday night, we went downtown after work to the LA Art Walk, a monthly event where art galleries, performers, and vendors come set up shop throughout downtown and stay open late. It was great! My favorite gallery ‘experience’ was one with blacklights, glow-in-the-dark signs, and some pretty serious techno beats. The kicker? The art was mostly religious images: crucifixes, paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe, images of Freda Kahlo, and a couple skulls…a very eclectic mix, to say the least.  There was also a Mobile Food Court: a parking lot full of food trucks – a huge trend in LA right now – of all different varieties (soft serve, Chinese, BBQ, subs, Mexican, hot dogs, crepes, Mexican-Chinese – called Don Chow – and more.) [Seriously, Dad, now is the time! LA is the place!]

On the walk back to the car, we were walking on the edge of Skid Row, a part of the city known for its poverty and homelessness. In two blocks, we probably passed a dozen homeless people camped out for the night. After a relatively carefree night out, it got under my skin that we just walked by these people on our way to our comfortable beds and luxuries only a few miles away. The truth of it is, though, that none of us had anything (cash, food) to give them. I brought this up to my roommates – what can we do when we can’t do anything? Here we are, spending a year doing service, but we are completely taken care of; we are housed, fed and insured.  I was frustrated, but I’m glad I was frustrated. I signed up for JVC so I could be challenged – so I hope to not let that frustration be forgotten.

Finally, a quote from my cousin, Rachel, earlier this morning:

"whenever i think of you out there i think of real world lol...7 strangers in a house"

Maybe Rach! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Real World but if they do service, have spirituality nights, and a chore wheel, I guess that’s us J