"Honored Guest, Jess Engle"

So I invited my Dad to come and be a guest in Colman's class for Monday, so he could see parts of my internship and what I'm up to.
We rode into DC Sunday afternoon, and Dad went to the Dance Place event with us. No one in the house knew what this event was going to become until we got there. We hung our coats up and were told to take our shoes off, for the floor is danced upon, and dirt isn't a fun thing to roll around in.
Steven and Laura introduced themselves, and we then warmed up with an interesting episode of Musical Chairs, where, rather than fighting over the last chair and the latter being kicked out of the game, chairs were removed, but everyone in the group had to figure out how to situate on the chairs so that no one was left off of them. We did this until there were three chairs left, and there being fifteen people, we somehow did, although I couldn't see the finished product because I was in the middle, with Jess on my left and LIndsay on my right, standing on top of the chairs, and and Christa was right across from me.
We then had five chairs in the middle of the floor, and Steven had several volunteers rearrange the chairs into positions where one chair had power over the other chairs, and talk about what the chairs would say if they had a cartoon bubble. Then people were added to the chairs, and the chairs were arranged in different manners. This was an interesting proposal, because not everyone wanted to volunteer, and a couple times, other people were volunteered. I volunteered myself. (Later I heard that Jessica and Andrew were feeling sick, and Corrie had just broken up with her boyfriend, which explained why they didn't have any energy or interest to add to the discussion.) We then did an initiative where we all walked around the room not looking at each other, and then Steven told the room certain instances to look at others, to look, then look away, or to not make any eye contacts. One was if you identified as female or male, and made eye contact if you identified with one and vise versa for the other. We also did if you identified as a person of color, or not. It was an interesting introduction and good processing point. Then they preformed their dance. It was about interracial marriage, and how this was an issue, it was a dispute in the fifties, and was illegal until a couple fought it in court. And still last year, there were couples that were denied their marriage licenses because the judge thought that their children wouldn't be able to be established in society. The dance was modern and interesting, with flips and hand stands and lifts and the emotion was raw. The first movement of the dance was with a Therimin, using the motion and the dance to make a sweet combination of dancers movement and the sound made by the instrument to dance to. It was the best combination of music and dance, and the closest it could ever be intertwined it seems. The second dance used the words of someone talking about recent issues in interracial marriages, and the third one was complete verse from Steven and Laura dancing at the same time.
Afterward, we were separated into groups of five, and told to make sculptures of oppression.
Our group did me, Emily, and Corrie in the middle clutching our knees to our chests, and Andrew and Doug surrounding us, looking down on us. Fetsum, Christa, Lindsay and Bryan had all of them except Bryan lying on the floor stomachs down, while Bryan was standing next to them. The last group, which included Jess, Alana, who is an intern at the Dance Place, Sanj, Dad, and Jodibeth (Doug's wife), had Dad on the floor with Jodibeth and Alana's foot on his back, and Jess was sitting on Sanj's back.
We were asked to interpret and then show a sculpture of equality. Our group pose for a family picture (taken by Emily), Fets' group sat in a circle playing a game of "Down By the Bay", and Dad's group all held hands and leaned out away from each other, achieving balance. They asked us to combine the two, going from oppression to equality, and to add dialogue.
Ours:
Corrie: "I don't know what to do."
Emily:"I think I can get up, but I don't know what they will do to us."
Doug: (ultimately corny) "Let's take a picture."
[after moving to take photo]
Me: "If you guys come more to our level, we can take a better picture."
Emily: "Cheese!"
Everyone else: "Cheese!"

Dad's group:
Jess: "Can someone get me coffee?"
Sanj: "I would, but you are still using me as a chair."
Jess: "Oh, sorry."
Jodibeth: "Did you hear that they hired another man in the department?"
Alana: "Who needs more men?"
Dad: "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

Bryan's group:
Fetsum: Hey, Bry, would you mind helping me up?
Bryan: Sure.
Christa: Fetsum, could you give me a hand?
(after everyone is standing and still holding hands,)
Lindsay: Let's play a game.

After this and more discussion, we were given sheets of paper and told to write down what this project moved in us, and then we were finished and headed back to the house. Dad and I had walked there, and we walked back.

The next morning started bright and early at 6AM. We both got up and ate food, then headed out the door on time to get the the metro with minutes to spare (although I didn't actually look at my clock)
We sat on the metro, and I did my devotions, like I always do, until we got to Bethesda, then we walked over to the school, and went in the second floor entrance, because we were already a little later than I expected. We walked straight up to the fourth floor to the classroom where Colman was, and I introduced my dad to Colman, and then it began. Dad told some stories about stinky breath, rabbit poop in snuff, dog poop and teaching, and cranky old lady neighbors, and then Colman would include him in some lively discussion about Christianity, and threw in some animal rights. The first class was dead, as usual, although everyone was listening, that was for sure--there weren't any unattentive people, and some questions even escaped their lips--they asked about Mennonites, and what they were.
The second class was when some good stuff started coming. Dad and Colman had already had their initiation, and Colman was asking some interesting questions, and Dad was responding honestly--that he was unprepared and told him that he could talk to him about these questions over a cup of coffee (to which Colman replied, "Oh, you partake of the drug of caffeine?" and then Dad said, "Oh ok. so if I was having this discussion with you over a glass of water..." Colman: "as long as it isn't bottled water.") that he could discuss them with him further. Colman walked us to the Metro station, continuing to talk to Dad after it was over, although once out of the class room, he wasn't being a reporter getting the gasps from the audience anymore, and that was appreciated, because you could taste the stress in the air.
Dad and I rode the Metro back, and I could totally tell his mind was still spinning, and I helped him figure out his exit strategy from the city before I sent him on his way. We crammed a lot into the hours of 6AM-9AM.

Ambitious Ambiguity

I just spent an epic twenty four hours in Washington D.C., attempting to decide my future internship. It was intense, as I had to work to choice between several different internships before I even came to D.C. to interview.

However, that statement itself is ambiguous. I had assistance picking out my internship. One just clicked with my personality. In fact, it was less of an internship and more of a mentorship, and much more laid back and calm than any internship interview would be.

The guy that I rode to Washington D.C. with, Andrew, had two interviews, both of them pretty intense. The idea with internship interviews in D.C. with WCSC is that an interviewee would do research on the company that they are going to work with. I'm pretty sure that he had to do that. And more.

The hardship of my internship shadowing experience was the metro at 6:00 am. And also the fact that I was navigating D.C. myself. This went well, and I arrived at the first school before classes started. The person I was shadowing was supposed to come and meet me, but he never did, so I waited until second period to meet him. Then after that I attended the first class on Peace Studies (for me) of the day. It was informing. The school was large, but well-behaved. Reminded me of Streetsboro. But the point is, that is one of the good schools in the D.C. area. And then when the class was finished, there was another metro ride. This one was much shorter and I arrived, walked in the wrong direction a couple times, and then figured out where I was going, and arrived at the second high school. This was the exact opposite of the first school. There was a metal detector at the entrance, and I was asked for my I.D. (which I didn't have. Yikes!). Colman (the teacher which I was in the process of shadowing) told the entrance guard that I was with him. Probably mentioned I was from a school that promoted peace, because she let me in without any worries. The sign said, "Please remove all metal from your person before walking through the metal detector." So I went to go unscrew my tongue stud, but the lady told me that it was fine. There was security in the hall, and students openly swearing like sailors, but it wasn't intimidating. I'm not sure exactly why it wasn't, because I feel like that would be something that would freak me out. But I wasn't.

This class discussion was different. The class period was twice as long. But the discussion in this class was way more in depth than the classes at the "better" high school. I felt like the students had a better relationship with Colman at this point. That was when "Outliers" kicked in, and I was reminded that it's not the level of class that designates the students' abilities of learning, it's their drive to learn. I was impressed by this.

After that class, I was to eat lunch at any place close by. I had seen Whole Foods on my way in, and decided that it was where I wanted to eat. It was the healthiest grocery store in the country (?) or something, and then I walked to the back of the store, and I saw the buffet--there were three or four different buffet tables and too many options. I got some chicken curry, some squash and some beans, and then I went up to the register to pay. But when I was there in line, I realized (as I had) earlier, that my wallet was still MIA, and I thought I had enough cash in my pocket, but I was poorly mistaken. There were two dollars in my pocket but that was it. I was freaking out, thinking (insanely) that I would have to eat out dumpsters my first day in D.C. because I couldn't pay for the food. But the cashier said, "We'd have to throw it away anyway, so you might as well take it." So I did get to eat, which was wonderful.

Then I took a shuttle to American University and waited for the upper level class that Colman taught to commence. It was a two and a half hour long class, though, and I was cold, tired, and developing a headache (from stress maybe?) and when it finally ended, we had to wait for the shuttle, and then for the metro. I met several nice people. It was like being a commuter to school again, and my late evening Spanish class at UA. I may have gotten a headache from meeting so many different new people. Then I got back to the WCSC house, and scared the heck out of one of the residents who I had not met the night before. (I followed her inside). Then Andrew and I left, and we both talked nearly the entire way back, because we were just full of information and probably excitement, and caffeine. McDonald's. We got back at nine o'clock ish. I completely missed the Chem lab I was going to go to. But for the most part, it was ok.

I say Ambitious Ambiguity because I feel like my trip to D.C. was a little over emphasized, and added a little extra stress to my world this past week. I didn't get to run, besides indoor soccer, and I was stress half the week trying to find a ride, and then Emily found me one (thank goodness). Then there was also the stress of my chemistry exam that I didn't do amazingly well on, so it was just a big pile of things adding up even more.

But this weekend was rejuvenating, which was amazing. I was very content with the rest that I received, the friendships that were built upon, and the conversations that were held. I hope this next week isn't as bad.