The Strip. It is interesting how the phrase conjures up two very different images in my mind.
On the one hand there is the Las Vegas Strip of my hometown, my childhood. A place that is simply all glamour and glitz. An example of American commerce at either it worst or best depending on who you are talking to. It is fleeting and inconsistent. Sure, the hotels and casinos stay the same (well, at least until they blow them up to bring in something new), but the people do not. A community of the random. A population of individuals simply stopping by for a quick vacation or random weekend.
Across the country there is another type of strip. The Strip District of Pittsburgh. A place also dependent upon exchange and people, but unlike the Vegas Strip, this row of being is not simply a place of transition but a way of life. Elderly men and their sons sit in front of coffee shops conversing about the Steelers and the random events of the week. Italian women pace behind tables full of desserts and set aside the best cannoli for their weekly customers. Young couples stroll up and down the street with cloth bags filled with fresh, locally grown produce.
The Strip district is place where people live not just visit. It has a heart that is rooted in community and celebrates life. One could argue that the Las Vegas Strip celebrates life. But it is a different type of life. It is a life that is dependent upon emotional highs and lows, and short-lived pleasure. Instead the Strip District builds up a community that is interwoven and involved. It is about contentment in the ordinary and the beauty of the common.
The Vegas Strip will always have a place in my heart. It is after all the place where I have spent high school homecoming dinners, taken visiting family and friends, and seen white tigers strolling down the street. Truly it is a place of magic and memories. However, it lacks the life of Pittsburgh’s Strip. It fails to capture the satisfaction that can be acquired by simply living and embracing the community around us.
Showing posts with label Kim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kim. Show all posts
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Anarchy at the library...
Complete chaos. That perfectly described my experience on Monday night when my internship supervisor (Rose) and I headed with 47 lovely refugees to the local public library. Prior to loading the massive school bus that would be taking us to our destination, Rose tried to describe bus and library protocol to the group using rudimentary English and other students as translators. The truth is no matter what she said or how she said it, nothing would have prepared this group (or me) for what laid ahead.
After unloading the bus and making sure no children were left on the bus (seriously with 30+ children on the bus it is bound to happen sometime soon), our massive group bolted into the tiny library thus producing the biggest commotion that suburban library had ever seen. Kids were running around grabbing books, DVDs, and coloring sheets from who knows where. More than half of them were scurrying back and forth between the children’s section of the library to their mothers who were chatting loudly at the library’s front desk to each other as they waited to procure their newest connection to American culture – a library card.
Despite the evening causing me to run around like crazy woman as I tried to set up e-mail accounts, Google Burmese soap-operas, find musicals on DVD, and make sure the kids were not going to give the children’s librarian a heart attack, it was truly a beautiful experience. Growing up I went to the library once a week and I love the opportunities, conversations, and worlds that were produced by its contents. It was truly wonderful to be able to connect these families to a place that has been such a large part of my life.
Moreover it was great seeing the families get plugged into American culture. From the popular children’s book When You Give a Mouse a Cookie to the Black Eyed Peas Elephunk album, these people who have been displaced from their own homelands were gaining the tools necessary to connect them to their new American life. Even the death glares the library’s other patrons shot at the group could not bring down the sheer joy I had on my face. How could you not love the beauty of the scene? Yes, the night bridged upon anarchy, but it was about people overcoming their past and carrying on their lives. It was simply amazing.
After unloading the bus and making sure no children were left on the bus (seriously with 30+ children on the bus it is bound to happen sometime soon), our massive group bolted into the tiny library thus producing the biggest commotion that suburban library had ever seen. Kids were running around grabbing books, DVDs, and coloring sheets from who knows where. More than half of them were scurrying back and forth between the children’s section of the library to their mothers who were chatting loudly at the library’s front desk to each other as they waited to procure their newest connection to American culture – a library card.
Despite the evening causing me to run around like crazy woman as I tried to set up e-mail accounts, Google Burmese soap-operas, find musicals on DVD, and make sure the kids were not going to give the children’s librarian a heart attack, it was truly a beautiful experience. Growing up I went to the library once a week and I love the opportunities, conversations, and worlds that were produced by its contents. It was truly wonderful to be able to connect these families to a place that has been such a large part of my life.
Moreover it was great seeing the families get plugged into American culture. From the popular children’s book When You Give a Mouse a Cookie to the Black Eyed Peas Elephunk album, these people who have been displaced from their own homelands were gaining the tools necessary to connect them to their new American life. Even the death glares the library’s other patrons shot at the group could not bring down the sheer joy I had on my face. How could you not love the beauty of the scene? Yes, the night bridged upon anarchy, but it was about people overcoming their past and carrying on their lives. It was simply amazing.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
more internship goodness
here it goes...
Last week I had my first couple of days at the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC). The branch of the GPLC that I will be interning for is the Families for Learning division located in Prospect Park outside of Pittsburgh. In the family literacy program, children develop language and literacy skills with the support of their parents or primary caregivers, who also have the opportunity to improve their own skills. This program includes the following four elements: adult education, parent education, intergenerational literacy activities, and early childhood education. This program can literally lift families out of poverty. What is especially exciting about this location is that it specializes in serving refugee and immigrant families who come into the Pittsburgh area.
Being the lowly intern that I am, I will have an array of responsibilities that include, but are not limited to:
- Providing Early Childhood Education to refugee children participating in the ESL program.
- Planning and instructing Interactive Literacy Activities during the Family Literacy Classes.
- Providing one-on-one tutoring to adults or school age children who are ESL students.
- Assisting in developing and maintaining collaborations in the community.
- Developing and instructing theme based managed enrollment mini classes to ESL adults.
- Participating in relevant professional development trainings.
So far I have only had a limited exposure to the site, but I am looking forward to the challenges and experiences that lie ahead...
Last week I had my first couple of days at the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC). The branch of the GPLC that I will be interning for is the Families for Learning division located in Prospect Park outside of Pittsburgh. In the family literacy program, children develop language and literacy skills with the support of their parents or primary caregivers, who also have the opportunity to improve their own skills. This program includes the following four elements: adult education, parent education, intergenerational literacy activities, and early childhood education. This program can literally lift families out of poverty. What is especially exciting about this location is that it specializes in serving refugee and immigrant families who come into the Pittsburgh area.
Being the lowly intern that I am, I will have an array of responsibilities that include, but are not limited to:
- Providing Early Childhood Education to refugee children participating in the ESL program.
- Planning and instructing Interactive Literacy Activities during the Family Literacy Classes.
- Providing one-on-one tutoring to adults or school age children who are ESL students.
- Assisting in developing and maintaining collaborations in the community.
- Developing and instructing theme based managed enrollment mini classes to ESL adults.
- Participating in relevant professional development trainings.
So far I have only had a limited exposure to the site, but I am looking forward to the challenges and experiences that lie ahead...
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