This has nothing to do with Co-Op.

And everything to do with mi familia.  I love my family.

This past weekend I took a much needed trip home to visit my parents, eat with my parents and hang with... my parents.  And my two wonderful, adorable and intelligent cousins too!

The older I get the more I realize that my family is THE BEST. I don't know what I would do without.  We have the best conversations together.  We laugh and yell (like in a talk really loud kind of way).  We smile and discuss.  Sometimes even tickle and tackle, all in good fun.

Now, that I'm older I'm able to socialize with my parents in a much different way.  We have real grown up conversations.  For example this weekend we talked about our well and the well water we drink.  We talked about pull tabs and even bought a few (we didn't win).  We talked about life, growing older, traveling and people.  I had so much fun basically doing nothing.  Just enjoying my wonderful parents.

On Saturday, we went to the Minnesota State Fair!  I haven't missed the fair once in 21 years. I definitely wasn't about to miss it this year.  The fair was filled with food on a stick, power washers and trailers, dippin' dots, dancing and my favorite, my cousins :)

Ella and Tate came to the fair just to hang out.  I have not seen them in sooooo long and it always makes my day visiting with them.  Joking with them.  I just love them.  Ella and I went in the haunted house.  Surprisingly, it was scary.  I have not been in the haunted house since I was about ten when I peed my pants.  Now, 11 years later, I sucked it up and tried it again!  I probably wasn't the best one to accompany my eight year old cousin.  I was most definitely more jumpy then she was.  Half way through she looked at me though and trembled, "Abby, will you carry me!"  I chuckled, imagining what I must look like carry this long, not so much a child anymore, through the haunted house.  It was soooo fun though.  The look on her face as we exited the haunted house made my night!  She was so proud.

After a few breaths, Ella, Tate and I made our way to the River Raft Ride.  The whole way there they joked with me saying, "Don't worry Abby. You're not going to get wet!"  Tate repeating over and over, "Don't worry Abby, you're not going to get wet!"  I only half believed them.  Tate got soaked on the first wave.  The wave hovered over him gulping him in it's attack.  He was soaked.  I was just smiling, thinking I made it out of this one.   We made it through the whole ride when suddenly we make our last turn and I get sprayed directly in the back my a hidden fountain.  I was soaked.  They were just laughing.

O, the fair.  The Minnesota State Fair.  The best in the nation.  With my family, cousins, and soooo much great food.  What a splendid weekend.

Ella, Me, Tate after our collapse!

Mi Madre con los primos :)

Me and Mr. Tater Bug

All Women.

This week the work at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been filled with hard, manual labor!  And I mean, not wimpy tasks, but what some might call a mans job.  I helped my manager put up a fence, like one of those silver chain fences, not easy. (Thank goodness for the rachets)  I built a shelf, with cubby holes, helped put up wall decorations, almost moved a small shed (keyword, almost) hauled old shelves out of a classroom, put up a shade tarp to cover a little sandy area that reminded me much of the movie holes and used a screwdriver and hammer babyproof a classroom.

A man's job, pffff.   Five remarkable women have been hard at work putting together a childcare center that is going to be built, decorated and designed with love.  TLC.  For the last month the IRC's First Things First department has been working hard to fill out licensing applications, restructure their curriculum for adults, put in place a more structured center for infants and toddlers and make the program the best in the U.S. or at least San Diego.  

The adult First Things First program is in place to teach refugee parents to learn English.  It starts with the very basics, like how to hold a pencil, what a piece of paper is, moving on to the alphabet and slowly but surely short phrases.  The program is phenomenal!  To make it even better there is a childcare supplement.  The parents can drop their children off while they attend school, that way their children are in a safe zone learning English basics and being looked after by the best staff evaaa!

Next week is our licensing inspection which is why this week has been filled with the real stuff.  Good, hard, labor.  And lots of laughs, giggles, stories, and sweaty women working together to complete the first things first.

Fro-yo to the rescue.

I just got back from Yogurtland because I had yet another craving for yogurt.  Fro-yo to be exact, my guilty pleasure.  While standing in line at the cashiers, I saw a young gentleman in a TC hat and an SDSU shirt.  Naturally, the first thing I thought was hmmm... this man must be from Minnesota.  I always get excited meeting a fellow Minnesotan in a foreign place.  Yes! California is still a bit foreign.  So I spoke up in a jolly mildly high pitched voice, "Hey, are you from Minnesota."  He awkwardly put his head down and whispered "yup."

"Me Too."

He didn't care. He took his change and rushed out the door. 

Weird.  Most Minnesotans are friendly to the extreme.  I just don't know what happened this time.

Nonetheless, my Fro-Yo was delicious :)

International Rescue Committee

A brief introduction to the organization I chose for my second Co-Op experience!  Very Very rewarding.

http://www.theirc.org/irc-a-glance

Namaste to all and to all a good night!

A love affair with Julia Roberts.

No. I did not actually have a love affair with Julia Roberts, but I bet it prompted you to read further :)

I just returned from watching the movie Eat. Pray. Love. Sad to say it, but that movie, the divine scenery and language of Italy, the serene peace and chaotic beauty of India, and the calmness and solitude in Bali have urked my hands, my mind and my soul into writing again.  Now my fingers move at lightning speed.  Thoughts bump into one another flying around in my head and my liver is smiling (line from the movie).  Not only my liver but my inner being is smiling because finally I found the passion to update my blog again.  It has been two months since I have written.  How sad!

I have been to Minnesota, Stamford, New York, through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California in that time.  I have seen the Rockies, blue rivers, desolate desserts, sharp rocks, thick clouds and vast landscapes since then.

I am now living in San Diego.  I arrived here five weeks ago to begin my second Co-Op, thanks to Northeastern and my parents of course.   Surprisingly, this transition has not been as smooth as my other million.  In my time at Northeastern I have moved a lot.  Almost every six months for the past four years.  I enjoy seeing new places.  Diving into a different culture, lifestyle and routine.  San Diego has been completely different than all of my other experiences though.  I have struggled more, which I believe is good. Not necessarily to fit in, or meet friends, but more so to find peace within myself.

I do love it.  This city.  Don't get me wrong.

Now that I have seen this movie and began to reflect I am feeling a bit better and more ambitious.  I am excited for what life has in store for me and the new opportunities that I believe will arise.  For a moment or rather a month, I lost sight of the positive direction my life was headed and got wrapped up in well, other thoughts.

More to come, on my Co-Op job, life experiences, and the friends who are currently shaping my life!

This blog, writer, bloggest, friend, hija, chica, lady, amiga, or just Abby is back in action!