Music, Man! April 24, 2010

The hills are alive, with the sound of music! This week was awesome, both work wise and in my personal life. I whipped out some excel workbooks and Foundation wide guidelines that received rave reviews. YES!!! (Written with sarcasm). No seriously, it was a great work week. And, our new website  was launched. www.fimrc.org. It’s SOOO much more credible looking than our old one, thank God!

But Friday night was WAY better! I know I mentioned before that I am crashing at our Administrative Assistant’s house and that her husband is a musician from Ireland. Naturally, they have TONS of musically inclined friends and I was lucky enough to see some of them perform last night! I want to pass on their names because they are all trying to make their way but if you could hear them sing, you would be as confused as I am as to why they aren’t being featured on mainstream radio all the time! They are AMAZING!!!

Lili Anel: A mix of jazz and folksy-country, this woman can WAIL! I don’t know why she uses a microphone because she most certainly doesn’t need it with her Tracy Chapman-like roof penetrating voice. On top of all that, she is funny and a great song writer.

John Conahan: The lights go down in the club except for a single spotlight on the microphone. A chubby, young guy who looks like he volunteers at civil war reenactments during his free time steps up to the mike. “Poh black Mary, she never did no wrong…” Confusion runs through the audience. Is this average joe really singing soul music? The rest of his band joins him and the next thing you know he is pounding on the piano, singing the blues. His sound is PERFECT. I’m not even exaggerating. I’m mesmerized. Two minutes later he is cracking jokes and has the audience in hysterics. He’s on I-tunes so check him out to see what I mean.

After all that we were walking home and popped into an Irish pub where Enda Keegan (another friend of John and Dorothy) was performing. And before you know it, John is on stage with guitar in hand putting on an impromptu concert of his own. Both guys are AMAZING singer/songwriter/guitarists and both are well-recognized and respected in the Philly music scene.

Ah, if only everyone in the world could be exposed to live music at least once a month…

Oh, on another topic, here are some cool websites I wanted to share with people. www.hulu.com – free, almost commercial free television programs and movies; www.jango.com – free, personalized internet radio (similar to Pandora but without a listening limit – I think?); www.woot.com – daily specials on products. Think $250.00 for an Acer Netbook with EVERYTHING on it.

That’s it for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Yale April 20, 2010

This weekend was a bit of an adventure. My boss was heading to a conference at Yale University in New Haven, CT and invited me along for the ride. I figured, “What the heck! Might as well!” The trip itself took 6 hours rather than the 3 everyone told us it would take (google mapping sucks) but once we got there, I was in heaven! The campus is GORGEOUS!!!! I felt like I was becoming more intelligent just by sitting in the buildings.

There was a bit of craziness. I hitched a ride on a city sanitation worker’s golf cart while on the hunt for nylons and scared my waitress at a Thai food restaurant by drinking an entire pitcher of water due to the spiciness of the food. But other than that, it was a pretty chill weekend.

Oh, and, I heard Jeffrey Sachs speak about the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals. According to him, if every American forked over $33.00 a year, everyone in the world could have their basic medical costs covered. He even had the math to prove it! It’s disturbing really. Makes me want to read The End of Poverty but I already have two other books on my plate. Books…What a luxury!

Fish Town April 16, 2010

I’ve been at the new job for 2.5 days now and my eyeballs feel like they are burning a hole in the back of my head. So many databases to learn! So many emails! But I love it, I really do! Little by little I am learning more about the job and being assigned more and more responsibilities. So here they are…

Manage, expand, and document the Micro Health Insurance Program keeping in mind the goal of one day publishing a book about it; Help manage the budget for the Central American region (El Salvador, Costa Rica & Nicaragua) and Peru; Maintain active working relationships with 12 volunteer chapters and coordinate donations of medical supplies to the clinics; Help coordinate the Ambassador program; Travel throughout the Central American region to support the staff of the various clinics during peak volunteer season.

This may not make sense to anyone and I would direct you all to the Foundation’s website except that it is in pretty bad shape right now. We are getting ready to launch a new website so I’ll let you know when it’s up.

The exciting news is that after sending me to El Salvador on the 27th, a few weeks later they are sending me to Nicaragua to help with a volunteer mission there! Managua, linda Managua!

In the meantime, I am enjoying Philadelphia and Fish Town, where Dorothy, our VERY hospitable administrative assistant is letting me stay in the garret of her row house for the next couple of weeks. Here are some interesting pictures from this unique neighborhood.

 

Random Thoughts April 14, 2010

1. Looking out the window at the pouring rain as we taxied into the gate I immediately realized that contrary to what popular television would have us believe, it is NOT always sunny in Philadelphia.

2. Philly has some very artistic graffiti and its a lot like El Salvador. Lots of tires, toxic waste barrels, and rusty looking stuff laying about.

3. I read my official job description today and it included “Maintain diarrhea calendar.”

4. In Philadelphia they list the calorie count right next to the price in ALL restaurants. Did that stop me from eating a 300 calorie burger? No Will that stop me from ordering my Dunkin Donuts small coffee with cream and sugar tomorrow morning? I’ll leave you to answer that one on your own.

In transit to Philadelphia April 14, 2010

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and food. Game night and Nancy’s with the Salas clan; Brookfield Zoo with Julie; Lincoln Park Zoo and the best falafal sandwiches EVER with Kate; The Dance Experiment with UofI buds; getting lost in Chicago at night in a scary neighborhood and Giordano’s with Sarah; a puppy photo shoot, Nerts, and Passaro’s with Jennie; Taco Extravaganza (!!!), Rice Krispie Treat bunt cakes and Banagrams with my family… 

It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone…again. 

And now, 15lbs heavier than I was when I came home in February, I am on a plane, making my way to Philadelphia for two weeks of training for my first full-time w/benefits job in my (almost) 29 years of life. I called my employer last night to check in and with a jovial laugh he said, “I’m still working on your housing and job description, but, no worries! We still have 15 hours before your plane lands!” And the funny thing is, I’m not worried. Not one bit.