MOVING!!!!

Finally, finally, FINALLY!!!!! So, I tried not to complain on here about how nasty Chinatown is, but it's gross. I don't know if you remember hearing how the Chinese government launched a campaign to curb public spitting before the Olympics (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,403921,00.html), but I didn't fully appreciate that story until living here. People hack and spit all over the sidewalk. They wipe their nose pickings on the glass entry way door of our apt building. They wipe them on the hand rails and anything else that happens to be around. I seriously began to wonder if there's some sort of cultural thing that makes spitting a sign of good health or something because the amount of spit and goobers on our sidewalks is wretched. It is one filthy neighborhood. Plus my Chinatown apartment still has no heat, even though NYC law mandates landlords provide heat from Oct 1-May 31. Today it's fine, but this past week was pretty cold and this coming one is supposed to be even colder.

However, this week I move! HALLELUJAH!!! And Friday I fly home to Atlanta to load a truck and help Rach drive up here with our remaining possessions. We're trying to sell most everything we own, b/c apartments here are sooooo much smaller than the space we had in Atlanta. We'll be living in a "3 bedroom" (which really means 2 bedroom with an extra nook) with a friend (Katie) in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. If you know Brooklyn at all, this is near Fort Greene, which is not too far from Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. We're definitely on the dividing edge between awesome/hip and kind of sketchy, which is what we can afford without feeling frightened. I'm sooo excited! There's a grocery and a laundry mat right below us, laundry in our building, trains are close, a cute thrift store around the corner and Pratt Institute (of art and design) on the next block--which means art supply stores and fun artwork right next door. BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) is very close and word on the street in Manhattan is that they have better performances than you can find in Manhattan now, b/c space is more affordable out there and so that's were the major talent has gone. Have I sold you yet?
It's tiny but fabulous. And I haven't seen a single wad of spit on the sidewalk there yet. :D
(Don't be deceived if you think these rooms look large. That living room/kitchen is only 6 ft wide at it's widest.)

At work, things are chugging along. My Supervisor was out of town this week, so I got to co-lead the group on Wednesday with another first year SES. I really enjoyed it and thought it went well, but man did it take a lot of energy! I was really amazed at how much it took out of me. I felt like my brain was on overdrive, trying to process everything said and unsaid in words and body language, but remaining a calmly present guide. Holy Moly! Surely as I develop more skills and theory, this won't take so much out of me. The hospital work is going well, too. The system is very different and this hospital that is at least twice the size of Northside has only 2 staff chaplains (Northside had 6 staff chaplains, an SIT (that's what I am), and approximately 5 residents and 5 interns. There are no residents in this system. They got rid of that program in exchange for starting an SIT program (which they call SES and SCPE). It's just very different and though we hope to see patients within the first 72 hours of arrival, it's really not possible for everyone to be seen. I enjoy my site, though. I am well. Hope you are too!

It's been a while. I've been very busy with work and classes, but today I finished assembling all of my written work for my Readiness Consultation. The consultation means that several supervisors (folks who have already accomplished what I'm trying to achieve) review my skills, theology, ability to be present in the moment, etc and then they write a report detailing how ready they think I am, or what areas I need more work in, for progressing in my program. They get a binder full of my materials and on Nov 12 they get an hour with me to pick my brain and emotions. I'm actually feeling pretty confident about it. Ultimately, they can't kick me out, they can just point out what I need to work on--and that sounds pretty helpful.

So, today, as I was traveling to my office to work on my binders, I stopped at the green market in Union Square and found my family!!! (Just kidding) But I did find the Stokes Family Farm truck. I'm a big enough dork that I actually called my dad to see if there was any way these were my relatives. Turns out, no. The family farm is in New Jersey, and our relatives are in Maryland--they've spread out, but not to Jersey. Bummer :P


The Green Market is wonderful. I may have mentioned it on here before, but it's basically all local farmers who drive in to sell their own produce, flowers, herbs, homemade sausage, pretzels, home spun and dyed yarn... have I sold you on it yet? It's fabulous. I bought a homemade tiny sugar free apple pie there today and a pint of no sugar added pear sauce. :D

And, finally, I managed to get all of my work completed and mailed off to my committee members...