Alternate Career Meme

My friend Ali has a fun meme up on her blog: the A and K Alternate Career Meme.

The basic idea: "If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?"

This is a great way to daydream away a long flight or drive...I went a bit over five choices, so the ones that didn't make the final cut are listed as well.

1. Fashion designer. Shoes, handbags, anything to do with fabric and pleated leather. I'm a terrible seamstress but I love to delegate!
2. Wine taster and critic. Besides the joy of testing new (and old) vintages, it would use my creative writing talents to their limits. My favorite part of the Wall Street Journal as a child was the wine column (yes, I read it as a kid--I thought that it was the ONLY daily paper! Apparently my parents weren't fans of the NYTimes or USA Today). Nutty, blackberry notes with a hint of Tuscan soil...
3. Creativity Consultant. There are so many people who need a bit of a boost!
4. Chef at a fancy fusion restaurant...or sushiwoman...or a chocolate/pastry chef. No explanation needed, I hope.
5. Editor. I'm obsessive about finding errors and adore my red pen...it's such a rush to be able to take something that was good (or really really bad) and prod it along until it's even better!

What didn't make the cut?

Host of "What Not To Wear" for a day. Or a personal shopper.
Jewelry designer. I'm already doing that, a little.
Writer. I hope to be, you know...
Singer for Cirque de Soleil. In college, I actually looked at their job application process but desisted because of the lack of health insurance. I guess I don't have the temperament to run away and join the circus.

Thanks Ali, for this great daydreaming excursion!

Embalmed Cheese

Would you eat it?

Trival things learned while watching television. Apparently natural cheese makers in the 20th century petitioned for processed cheese to be labeled this way. Kraft must be pretty happy that they're not forced to sell "Cheese Whiz-Embalmed Cheese Spread!"

Another nugget of cheese trivia: some of the most boring jobs in the world must exist in the food industry. Case in point? Mozzarella pizza cheese measurer. The job description? Hold a ruler in one hand and a fork in the other and stretch the cheese until the "last strand breaks." This has some utility, to someone, because I just watched a man who is paid to do this explain his job on television. This new knowledge will come in handy some day, I'm sure.

Guess what showed up in the mail today....

Did you say visa?

That's right! My passport is safely back in my hands, with a hand-stamped visa that's good for another year of being a student in Rio de Janeiro.

Whoohoo!!!

Stranded in Austin

There's bad weather in Dallas, no seats to Chicago, and even if I made it to Chicago, no flights leaving for Indiana. So I'm staying put, hoping that the weather will clear enough to open up the Dallas airport. That way, I could spend yet another day with my sweet college friends before heading home...

There's sun in Austin though. As if that's some sort of consolation.

Where, oh where are my friends with helicopters and personal jets?????

The Highlights

Austin, Texas

Cute little girl: Mommy, mommy! Come meet the lady that spoke to us this morning! She taught us about Brazil."
Mother: What did you learn?
CLG: That it's a horrible place!

Well. Oops. So I maybe need to put some more cheerful pictures into my Brazil slideshow, because that was one thing I did NOT want to communicate to the children's groups this morning! I spoke to two groups of children at my supporter's church today. It's really hard to talk about street ministry without mentioning drugs or sex, but I did it!

This church is really amazing. They have a great children's ministry and really focus on missions, on getting the children to see that ministering to other people isn't something that is just reserved for "special people." They asked great questions and were super attentive during my presentation, and afterwards, they all laid hands on me and prayed, which was extremely touching.

I was also blessed by getting to kneel (to take "real" Communion) on the St. Francis pillow, which has special significance for me, as Francis and his life have had a strong influence on my understanding of missions, life and the Gospel.

I'm staying with some friends here who are just too hospitable and wonderful. What blessings!!!

Dallas, Texas

Playing with my best friend's adorable baby girl. Her first word? Happy.
Hanging out by the pool, having deep discussions over cards, and sharing fantastic vegetarian fare.

New Jersey

Spending time with my family, meeting cousins and their children (some for the first time!) and eating really great seafood.
Having my nails done by a cute woman named Park.
Spending time with my old friend Ted and his family; a late-night jam session and then singing with him at my grandparents' church.

Pennsylvania

VIsiting Hershey, PA with my grandparents and a women's club...singing on the stage of the Hershey Theater.
Zipping through the forest on ziplines and a scary swinging bridge for my grandmother's 73rd birthday party.
Having fun and secret laughs with the two Philipino women who were staying with us for a couple of days.

A Haiti Update

They DID have tacos.

No customs issues.

No comment.

International Dairy Smugglers or, How many Americans does it take to make a Haitian grilled cheese sandwich?

My sister is en route to Haiti as I type. She and a large group from their church are going on a 10 day mission trip. They were only allowed to take one carry-on bag, as their check luggage was being used for ministry supplies, vacation Bible school props, clothing to give away, gifts for supported children, and lettuce, cheese and sour cream.

You read that right.

Lettuce.

Cheese.

Sour cream.

Over international borders, in checked luggage.

I thought this was illegal. On the customs forms, they're always asking if you're carrying agricultural products...

I'm dying to know if after the 24-hour layover in Miami, the contraband arrived without incident. They were already over-weight before they even got on the plane, and some of their bags were shipped directly on to Haiti...where I'm sure hungry screeners or drug dogs are having a heyday with the spoiling unrefrigerated dairy and the squashed packages of lettuce. But really, don't all the best food exporters send their delicate leafy vegetables out in duffel bags????

We've been cracking jokes about this for weeks. Our best guess is that they've got tacos on the menu. Though it's hard to believe that Haiti doesn't have lettuce or cheese or milk products that could substitute for sour cream. And why they planned Mexican food if the main ingredients were unavailable in-country is beyond me.

The answer to the title question??? We're still waiting on the answer. I'll update as soon as I hear from her!!!

Not really a meme at all...

What I'm thinking right now: That I wasted twenty minutes straightening my hair this morning. It's raining. I should have just taken another shower and gone out with fabulously wild hair...

Today's awkward moment: Went with my mother to work. She's got these hideous shoes on with grey dress slacks. I was giving her a hard time, when she found someone in the office to validate her fashion choice and introduced me as her "daughter who doesn't like her shoes." And I stood there and felt like the shallowest person on the face of the earth, faced with women who find those plastic nurse shoes and birkenstocks top of the line in shoe comfort and style. It's always awful to be put on the spot...and I like to think of myself as not-a-shallow person. But really, she wears these shoes in the garden. To spread manure.

Coming off the iTunes shuffle: something xylophone-y and symphonic from the album Takk. Sugar sweet and sad at the same time, it's a soundtrack for a remembered childhood.

What's on my desk: a translation of my article in the Cry, which needs to be done into Portuguese; a letter for our sponsors for the child sponsorship program, woefully overdue; even more overdue thank you letters to my own supporters; and a search for a new computer. I'm very sad about the changes Apple made for their new computers. They're sending me back to the dark side...

Wondering: How things are going in Brazil. Where J- ran off to, now that she's been gone for two weeks. If G- is still at the rehab center, and how he's handling it if he is. If my visa package made it to Chicago yet. If this counts as procrastination...

Which it probably does. Off to finish that to-do list...

Spencer

Ah, sleepy little town. I wonder how many other people walk through the drive-up ATM on any given day. The guy in a red 4x4 pickup truck looked mildly amused as I tried to work the machine from my 8 inches too-tall perspective(I'm not at the level of a seated driver, after all). My mother worried that I would need the car, but I'm unwilling to drive as long as Brazilian styles are stuck in my head. Accident waiting to happen...they don't even turn on their lights at night! But I don't need a car. I walk blocks and blocks in the city, sometimes crossing two or even three different bairros in one hike. In heels. And Spencer, with her "dangerous" two lane highway and mile or so of business district, is going to beat that? Doubtful!

It was nice to get out and walk a bit. I'm afraid I'm going to get quite sedentary in the States. Too much food, too little to do.

Not that I'm complaining! I've been looking forward to American junk food for a while. My sister made her famous chocolate chip cookies last night, which should be considered one of the world's food wonders...I'm loving them! But I'm already craving mashed garlic pumpkin and arroz a grega and a good piece of salted meat. What are the chances of finding a fresh pumpkin in Indiana in June?

I put my stack of visa documents together today; it's about an inch and a half thick. And I'm still missing at least one document, which I'll be getting today. I need a police background check...so it's off to the jail for me!

Creative Energy

My parents are having a hard time getting me to leave my jewelry supplies even for a home-cooked dinner!!! I'm burning off the stress of the past few weeks by being creative; my hands are busy and my mind can wander....here are the latest creations! All my jewelry on this page is made with silver findings.



These two earrings are made with a) carved carnelian knots, mother-of-pearl, and turquoise and b) red aventurine, mahogany obsidian, and mother-of-pearl.



I was getting less creative towards the end of the "photo shoot"-thus the Havaianas hanger! These are, from L to R:
garnet, peridot and lavender fluorite; rose quartz and green aventurine leaf; rose quartz and garnet.



L-R: Green aventurine and lavender fluorite; cultured pearl, garnet and peridot; rose quartz, amethyst and lavender fluorite with silver.



These are part of a set: cultured pearl, silver bead and lavender fluorite. The necklace is below, made with the same stones and hung on a silver chain:





This set is one I'll probably keep. The black beads come from my great-grandmother's collection. I think they're Czech glass. The mottled discs are sesame jasper and the fantastic wavy clasp (which you can't see in the picture...it is a heart-shaped toggle) is silver.



Gold-green cultured pearls and antique black glass beads.



A shorter version of those earrings above...red aventurine and mahogany obsidian.



Silver filigree with garnet bricks and a carnelian. These earrings remind me of Indiana autumns and the gorgeous purples and reds of the sassafrass and redbud leaves....

Visiting a friend at a rehab center

Last week, when I was still in Rio, and wildly freaking out about the lack of school documents and unpacked bags, I went with Ben to visit a friend of ours who has decided to leave the streets and checked himself into a rehabilitation program. It is located in the middle of nowhere, about an hour outside of the city. Neither of us had ever been there before. We left at 11:00 am.

The directions we received were classic:

Take the train to Central
Take the train to C--
From there, turn left and get a bus. Take it to the end of the line. Start walking down the dirt road. Walk through the housing community if you want a shortcut. Ignore the first white gate. Go in the second. Walk up the hill and there you are.

No phone number. We didn't even have the name of the rehabilitation center down right. This is the kind of crazy adventure that my friends used to get upset about. Going somewhere you've never been, with bad directions, no idea where you are, no phone number, knowing no one and with no idea when you'll be back. Recipe for danger...or adventure!

We made the first train, and the second. It was a long, hideously bumpy ride with not a second of silence, with all the vendors running through trying to sell nail clippers and chocolate (the Brazilian pronunciation of "Hershys" is appalling), fake toy snakes and lots of trashy newspapers. Getting off the train, we seek out somewhere with food. It's never a good idea to let me go hungry for too long-I get nasty. Low blood sugar issues. So we eat, which in hindsight, was a great idea. (I didn't get home until almost 8 pm...) The bus is easy to find. Rural buses are funny: the bus driver takes messages to pass on to neighbors farther down the line, chats with pedestrians, and looks at us like we've escaped from the zoo. Unfortunately. there isn't an "end of the line." It's a roundtrip bus...thankfully, we asked the bus driver before it was too late, and he let us off at the right dirt road.

I felt a bit like I was in Indiana or West Virginia. The dirt roads, the hilly mountains, the silence. Hard to believe that this is also considered part of the city! Everyone knew where the rehab center was, and it was, in spite of the directions, a cinch to find.

Our friend was thrilled to see us.

I don't have a lot to say about the center. As Ben put it, the visit was enough to scare me off drugs for the rest of my life. I never want to have to go to a place that is THAT B.O.R.I.N.G. Ever.

I left feeling so sorry for him and so excited to be getting away. The place had nearly no resources. There was a television that played worship dvds and some games. I saw a checkers set with the pieces salvaged from bits of plastic and bottlecaps. There couldn't have been more than five of the original pieces. Our friend indicated there were a lot of Bibles lying around, but not much else. One of the staff members liked animals, so he had some guinea pigs and a rabbit, in addition to two huge dogs. That was it. The guys would work around the place during the day, learning how to garden or fix things, or simply to keep their hands busy. But after the work was done, there was almost nothing. I could imagine, just from the few hours we spent there, how much of an eternity two weeks or two months would feel there. It was as if the afternoon would never end...just a steady stream of staring out into the distance, wishing that there was something that would break the horrid monotony....

I'm so proud of my friend. It is really hard for him there, but he's choosing the boredom over the excitement of the street. Because he wants a future. Because he knows there is more out there. Because he wants to do the right thing for himself and for his family. And that excites me.

But I wonder about the methods they're using at that center...

How would Jesus run a rehab center?

Sorry for the silence

I arrived back in the States yesterday and am enjoying making jewelry, wearing clean, machine-washed clothing and eating junk food at my parents' house. I am trying to rest up...these last few weeks were überstressful.


I'll be applying for my visa this next week and spending good quality time wiht my family. And then I'm off to visit grandparents and supporters. So, after I finish my serious procrastination on the slideshow presentation I need to take with me, the blog entries will begin arriving...