trying to define justice today.
good to have 9 hours on the road tomorrow and think about this.
philly, see you soon!

return to the stroll

i'm away from kensington and chinatown.
it feels like home and i've quickly readjusted back to the slowness of the midwest.
i still think about the rowhomes and subways and high population density.
travel always consists of space and time.

eternal perspective is hard.

supposedly justice is sexy these days.

but, sometimes it's really tough and overwhelming.

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on a different note, marilyn was cleaning off some graffiti today. some idiot tagged our esperanza mural. anyway, it was an interesting sight to see, and makes more sense after learning that it was marilyn's daughter and son-in-law who painted the mural. mama bear is upset and not gonna stand for this crap!!!! with utmost graciousness, of course.

meeting a true philly native

i've been meeting lots of people who are new to philly, people who have been here less than 10 years, and people from the burbs. most of the patients i work with are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. a lot of these patients are from north philly and have that north philly flavour.

maureen wins the prize for most philadelphian, though. she is a young mother of two. i met her on wed at church's kids' camp. she was sharing about her life, and how her brother's family was in a serious car accident earlier that day. so it's been difficult dealing with the trauma.

aside, (what takes the cake is that) her grandmother owns the bar that is in the 'rocky' movie. and her grandmother was in the movie. that is super philadelphian!

life nights at liberti

been helping out w/ wednesday 'life nights' at church in fishtown. it's like weekly vbs for kids 5-12, trying to provide a safe place for kids in the neighbourhood.
i learned from one of the moms that there aren't that many kids under 12 in fishtown. so maybe that's why turnout has been low.
anyway, today a new kid came, he's 4 and a half. never been separated from mom before. mom was walking by, saw the sign, decided to check it out and thought it would be good for son to learn some independence and practice for preschool coming up this fall.
he was sooo cute with dimples. kinda sucked that all the other boys were 10 and up. but they were welcoming. his mom stayed with him about 15 minutes then sneaked out while we were trying to distract him with games. the moment he realized she was gone, he was on the brink of bursting into tears. it was kinda a special moment. like weaning. growing pains. what's best for him even though it hurt.

yesterday my 4 yr old girl went crazy and would not cooperate.

we discussed how 4 years old is kinda like graduating from being a baby to a 'big kid'. so, it's really a toss up whether the kids will cooperate or not.

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when i was 4, i started piano lessons and was going to this preschool called 'the child's place'. i remember being very self-aware, but at the same time having some mild behavioural issues.

race role reversals

i never read the news, but have been looking up news on these stabbings since it's so close to home. what's more interesting is reading the comments that people leave. calvin calls them 'internet trolls' - people who want to make a point but then leave all these holes for other people to make opposing points.

so the police didn't have a good description of the suspect stabber. just that he ran away with a female and toddler. someone opened up the discussion with
"i WONDER what he looked like"
then response of:
"you want to say he's black? just say it!"
followed by:
"there are a lot of puerto ricans in this area!"
blah blah blah.

but what i found interesting is that people were saying the media makes more of an issue if it's a white on black crime versus a black on white crime. i would have thought the opposite. but maybe if 'white on black' is more rare, then it's bigger news and can create a bigger uproar in a majority black city.

i guess there are pros and cons to being the invisible asian here.

more on life in kensington:

i work 40 yards from the allegheny stop on the blue line.
today at noon a man was stabbed on the westbound train platform. he was sent to temple hosp and in critical care.

i can see the station and the trains from my 6th floor window. when i take the train home, which i usually do, though today was an exception, i wait at that platform.

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this morning i walked into devotions 5 minutes late. berry was sharing her story of grace, and also that she's leaving esperanza for another position closer to home, to avoid her 2 hour commute and to spend more time with her children. it was a difficult decision. and when i walked into the room half the people were crying.
one of those devotional days.
anyway, i only caught the last bit, but she shared the difficulties of commuting and returning home to her hungry children. and witnessing things such as an accident on the freeway 3 cars ahead of her, and knowing that it could have been her, had it not been for God's grace.
i remember that day when she came to work. she seemed a little in shock, but i didn't realize it had impacted her so much.
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there is tragedy all around. but really it's grace that sustains me.