This week I felt like I was getting involved at work and finding a good daily rhythm. On Wednesday I sent more information packets to detainees and on Thursday worked my first shift on the hotline. The hotline is a service the Florence Project provides for people detained in Arizona to call and ask their questions and receive information about the asylum process. I used my Spanish to communicate with people over the phone, filling out intakes and answering their questions to the best of my abilities. The hotline is available from 1-4 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays which means I'll most likely have plenty more opportunities to help out in this way.
In an even more literal way, on Saturday morning the four of us (our MVS house) joined Andrea for a creek walk put on by Watershed Management Group, where she works. We learned about one of the rivers here in Tucson and had the opportunity to walk up next to it, take off our shoes, and walk around collecting mud between our toes. The water's not often very high in these rivers, but at this location a water treatment plant was pumping grade A cleaned grey water into the creek which allows for vegetation to grow in that area on a regular basis. WMG explained that this was a good thing for the native ecosystem and helps replenish the underground aquifers as water sinks through the soil along the river.
This week was also one of our most successful cooking weeks, partly because of the several generous invitations we had to share meals with members of the Shalom community and a fun food event called "Tucson Meet Yourself." As we continue getting to know one another we learn interesting things. For example, in Kansas, it's common to eat chili and cinnamon rolls together, a combination that Michaela eagerly shared with the rest of us. After the first bite, we were all won over regardless of its unfamiliarity.
Tucson Meet Yourself was a wonderful folklife festival with food from just about every country and ethnic group you could think of. We enjoyed some vegetarian pad Thai with fried rice, an egg roll, and fried bananas for our first course. After making a second lap around the festival we settled on Navajo fry bread for course #2. In addition to all of the food there were booths where vendors sold jewelry, paintings, prints, ceramics, honey, sweets, and other goods and things. There were also performances and while we were there we took in some Scottish dance and bagpipe music and a Filipino dance troupe. A wonderful way to get out of the house and spend a Saturday evening.
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