Furlough Fridays? Wake up Hawaii!

An item that has been in the news the last few weeks has completely gotten my ire up…  I actually had a very interesting conversation with my friend Scott about it today as we both wen to undergrad in Hawaii and were able (as students of Political Science) see some of the Hawaiian governments not so finer moments…. Well this one takes the cake!  It is an issue regarding the education system in Hawaii, yes for you who have heard it is in fact the dreaded and highly idiotic furlough.  So here are the facts…  Hawaii is struggling under a $1bn debt and they are trying very hard to find ways to cut the budget.  Well what came to mind, hmmm the education system? Yeah that was what they decided on.  SO they have instituted 17 furlough days in which students and faculty in public schools have to stay home.  This is supposed to alleviate the debt.  I have no doubt it would cut costs dramatically but it seems as if it would not be a good idea to hold children back from their education.

Why you ask is this not a good idea?   Well Hawaii ranks 47^th out of 50 states on average math and reading scores of 13 year olds.  I would think that it would be most important for these students to be in school learning, instead of playing video games at home.  It is estimated that 171,000 students will be staying home on these furlough days.  What happens with these children?  Their parents are scrambling to find childcare for them as they can’t very well miss work (also losing money) to stay with their kids.  So the government will be saving money while the parents will be hit hard by the furlough.  Also another issue among the families that are struggling to get by is that their children will not be getting the government subsidized lunch.  So again parents have to find a way to feed their children on furlough days.

This is a growing problem as the floundering government there aren’t any private sector groups able to supplement what is lacking solely funds Hawaii’s education system.   Hawaii’s public school overall are really bad, now some are better than others but with the statistics from above you can see that they are not good overall.  There are some wonderful private schools on the island which parents can send their children to at a very high tuition.  So the average families who are affected most by the furlough do not have a choice.  It further divides the people living on the island between rich and poor.  The richer/more well off families are able to send their children to private schools that will prepare them for college while the students sitting home on furlough are falling further and further behind.

I do not have a solution to the problem of Hawaii’s huge deficit but I am sure that they could find a way to cut back on things that do not affect this many people and stunt Hawaii’s keiki (children) from thriving in a highly competed and highly education country.

I am sure that I left things out but it would be best if you referred to the information on the Internet, I have included a link for one of the many articles…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/21/hawaii-schools-fridays-furlough this article has some explanations and reasoning for furlough Fridays.

www.honoluluadvertiser.com also has lots of updated information on the furlough Fridays that may be useful to understanding what is going on.

 

Olympics Fever!!!

So for all those who know me… know that I am an OLYMPICS FANATIC!  I eat sleep and breath the Olympics every two years that is goes on.  It doesn’t matter whether it is the Summer or the Winter Games, I am glued to the TV no matter what!  So naturally the push for the Summer Olympics to be in Chicago in 2016  has caught my attention and being that today is the day that the voting opens I am naturally watching the proceedings quite closely.

 The lead up to this day has been quite out of the ordinary because of the intense tie that President Barack Obama has to Chicago.  This has certainly brought much more light to the situation.  The Summer Olympics have not been held on American soil since the 1996 games in Atlanta.  I remember the epic US Ladies Gymnastics that took the Gold with Kerry Strug’s heroic Vault and I remember the diving and the swimming and all the rest, hoping and praying that the US metal count would go up!  I still remember the excitement as it was a first for me (not sure of the history maybe the first time in my immediate recollection) that the Olympics were that close to me.  I mean Milwaukee isn’t close to Atlanta but it might as well have because we could watch all the events live!  The last time any Olympics has been on US soil was in 2002 for the Salt Lake City Winter Games… I still felt that Olympics feeling.  So in short the US is long overdue for an Olympic Games and though it is far down the road it would be worth waiting for! 

 Many countries in the past years had been faltering financially under the pressure of bringing the games to their home country.  The much anticipated return of the Olympics to its originally home in Greece turned out to be a quite costly endeavor under the threat of the games being relocated just two years before the games were supposed to take place.  Money is a huge factor.  Venues have to be build or updated depending on what is already in place as well as the Olympic Village and other venues that are necessary.  The thing is that the current economic struggles world wide might be enough to make a country not want to host but the 2016 games are a good ways away… enough, hopefully to allow for money to be raised and so forth.  Though with as much money as the Olympics generates once the actual event begins far justifies the time and money spent to set it all up.  The visitor flooding in from different countries as well as different states can make all the difference in the world.  Perhaps this is the boost that the US needs at this juncture!

 The prospect of bringing the Olympic Games to Chicago in 2016 has the endorsement of the President, the enthusiasm of the first lady and heck… they even got Oprah.  The IOC would be wise to strongly evaluate the Chicago bid for 2016 because with all the buzz it is already generating here I am sure it will be unforgettable.  All Olympics for me are unforgettable but perhaps this will allow me to finally get to volunteer for or even attend an Olympic Games and bring a little home country pride into the mix.  It will be interesting to see how this vote plays out!

 

A Day with Julia Child

Julia and I sharing a pleasant afternoon in her kitchen!

A few months ago my mom bought me the 40^th Anniversary copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  I have always been obsessed with Julia Child, I used to watch her show on PBS any time it was on.  I wanted to be her.  I also in the last year have been preparing for the release of the movie Julie and Julia by reading JC’s My Life in France, which chronicles the writing of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and I recently read Julie and Julia.  I have now seen the movie twice and I can’t wait until it is released on DVD, I LOVED IT!  To culminate this interest I decided to cook one of the recipes.  I chose to make Coq au Vin or basically chicken in wine sauce as my first ever recipe from this hefty tome.

I had to go on a hunt to buy a flame-proof casserole, which took me to the kitchen store Sur La Table where they sell all kinds of kitchen gadgets and the most beautiful orange La Creuset Dutch Ovens as far as the eye could see.  But those can run upwards of $300!  So I got a cute red Emile Henry Casserole with a matching lid.  As I was paying for my French Import casserole dish the guy working at the store asked what I was going to make to christen the dish.  I replied emphatically “COQ AU VIN!” He said, “well aren’t we ambitious!”  It was kind of snotty!

I was sort of taken aback by this because I began thinking “am I crazy!?!” I had been kind of NERVOUS for the two weeks leading up to this event so that didn’t really help.  I felt like  I needed some kind of divine intervention or something.  James kept telling me to channel Julia.  Well I couldn’t call her so I did the next best thing… I went to where her spirit lives.  I went to her kitchen at the Smithsonian American History Museum and sat there for 30 minutes!.  I carefully studied every gadget, pot, pan and pot holder that she had in there.  I saw the famed blowtorch as well as her fright knife.  I soaked it all in.  It was as if she was taking to me going.  “You can do it Cecilia, you can do it!”  Actually being there made me cry a little bit because it was all so exciting.  I think that I always associate Julia Child with my Grandma Mulder because she watched it all the time too and I kind of wished she could be there with me.  I actually think that Grandma was there in spirit along with JC and they were both inspiring me to make my coq au vin!

Julia's Fright Knife mostly used on her show for comic relief...

So I went home and began preparing for Saturday’s Coq au Vin experience.  Abi and I went shopping Saturday morning and got everything except the chicken, which I wanted to pick up fresh at the Eastern Market.  All was set… so we (Abi, Ryan, James and I) went home to start the process.  I began cooking at about 1:30 and finished at 5.

View of Julia Child's Kitchen from her Cambridge, MA home

The most exciting part was when I had to set Cognac on fire;  in the interest of safety I thought it would be best to flame it on the balcony.  But the pan was too cool so the cognac would not light and in the end we had to take the chance of lighting it on the stove.  SUCCESS!  The fire was contained and it burned a brilliant blue.  I had to constantly shake the pan to get the flame to subside.

Another funny tidbit is that JC said I needed 12-24 onions (no joke!) so I figured 14 would be about right.  So I went to town chopping them and ended up with a mound of onions just like in the movie!  I think JC just wanted me to hone my knife skills and test my gumption because they were POTENT!  The only thing is that there were so many that they didn’t fit in the pot!  I ended up using about ½ of the mound.  I guess we will be having onion soup!

Failed attempt at lighting the cognac on fire on the balcony!

It all came together and I made some boiled potatoes with parsley to go with it.  I used Beaujolais in the sauce so I served Beaujolais to compliment the overall flavor.  I did it up French style starting with a Kir Royal, which is Champagne and Cassis and we finished with Cognac (left over’s that weren’t flamed).

Well it must have been good because aside from the surplus of onions there were no leftovers!  We were all so excited to eat that we forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but if you would like to read about the process, check out http://saucyandbossy.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/guest-post-coq-au-vin/.  This is my sister and brother-in-law’s food blog where I guest posted.

So the moral of this story as JC would encourage, have strength in your convictions and be fearless and all will turn out tastily.  I enjoyed my bonding time with Julia and now I will start planning the next recipe…  I think casing my own sausages is going to be on the horizon!

I am Cecilia Kocinski-Mulder, Thank you and Bon Appetit!

 

As a woman in politics, do you have to look busted to make a difference?

This entry is purely to make one ponder…. It is not a slam on anyone this is just an observation.  I will start with a disclaimer that I do respect many of these women for their contributions to paving the way for me… a woman in politics…  So now with that being said I will get to my point…

In light of the recent release of Forbes list of the “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” as well as the appointment of Justice Sotomayor, my friend (and fellow “snark”) and I had a running dialogue and it kind of snow-balled into this question… “In order for a woman to be successful in politics does she need to look ummmm… busted?”  For those who may not know my lingo (though I am pretty sure it is self explanatory) to be BUSTED is like the epitome of not looking great.  For those familiar with my grading system of unfortunate, tragic and the recently added FATAL, this goes beyond that grade but in a different way!  These ladies are snappy dressers (in most cases) they are just looking worry worn of late… and who wouldn’t with the long hours they put in and the issues they come face to face with on a daily basis!

So in assessing the line of women that the US has turned out it makes this question painfully clear and it makes me WONDER!  These observations are not in any specific time order it is just a flow of consciousness that my friend (for the rest of this he will be Snarky) and I discussed.  My interest as well as the interest of some of my friends was peaked on a hotel visit we recently had where there was a flat screen plasma TV and we were watching Hillary Clinton on the News.  UM WOAH!!!  The sight made “Snarky” burst out with “Eek, Hilliary Clinton in HD=BUSTED!”  It was true the poor woman was looking pretty rough. You know that whole thing about how many years a president ages while in office, perhaps in hindsight for her it was best she wasn’t elected!

But lets look at Hills’ record.  She has risen to great heights over the last few years and she has worked her way up to the position of Secretary of State.  Also she put up a good fight for the Democratic nomination but just fell short.  On a brighter note, however, I was looking at pics of Hill from her recent trip to Africa, I don’t know if the African heat or if the State Department didn’t send her hair dresser but she was looking a LOT BETTER.  She looked more relaxed and actually happy, but this is purely a side note!

We brought up many examples of this thought process BUT one that is a real doozy is… JANET RENO!  I really don’t think any explanation is required as to the level of BUSTED-NESS that that woman had.  I would see her on TV and think to myself, BOY I would not want to mix it up with that lady!

Also slightly less busted are two women who came to mind: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the newly appointed Justice Sotomayor.  They are not that bad looking but when they are having a dog of a day… WATCH OUT!  Albright was highly successful and well-liked in her post and Sotomayor clearly wouldn’t have made it to her post if she wasn’t good at what she does.  She is also quite young so she will be around for a while.

SO now there are two very interesting examples of women politicians who are not busted. No lady politician discussion would be complete without out “favorite” former VP candidate Sarah Palin… She somehow rose through the ranks of Alaska’s government to her recently vacated post of Alaska’s Governor.  Now I don’t judge the people of Alaska as I don’t judge the people of Minnesota for electing Jesse Venture… hmmmm… but I don’t know what they were thinking!  Thus equally puzzling was her being chosen as McCain’s running mate in the recent election.  In this case I think the choice was made because she was a woman and she had a family.  The void of Hills not being nominated was trying to be filled by the Repubs and apparently Sarah Palin was the best they could find… ummm… ok…  Now I think it has been proved to us that that DID NOT WORK OUT!  Further it seems to have to have set her career on a bit of a downward spiral… who knows what is next is next for her… hopefully not politics.

This last non-busted woman that I would woman that I would like to point out is a woman who has actually been successful but she has been linked with a problematic administration.  For those who guessed it, you get 10 imaginary CECE POINTS…. CONDELEZZA RICE.  She didn’t look busted and “Snarky” went so far as saying she was good looking.  I will take his word on that one.  Also she is very a very strong political mind BUT when you hitch your wagon to GWB things don’t bode well for your popularity.  So, unfortunately for Condi she ends up in the not-busted/unsuccessful category.

SO… when you are voting perhaps take this into consideration, often times its the the BUSTED ONES who are successful.  But in the cases of the non-busted ladies you may find a diamond in the ruff and it turns into a matter of timing!  Also to all the semi or busted ladies in politics (perhaps sometimes myself) keep working at it who knows how far you can reach!!!!

 

UN Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust

On this day of January 27, it has been a day of remembrance of the atrocities of the Holocaust.  I count myself among the fortunate people who were able to participate in the fourth United Nations Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust.  This day was established in 2005, which then marked 50 years to the day since Auschwitz/Birkenau were liberated.  So the UN sets this day aside to listen to testimonies of survivors in order to remember those lost lives.  I was greatly determined to attend these events to bring honor to my heritage.

The day’s events began with a Memorial ceremony to be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.  There were so many people at the UN when I got there that they let me go into the staff entrance since I had a UN pass.  I was able to bypass the long line of visitors to the UN who were hoping to attend the events of the day.  The line to get into the UN was all the way to the gate.  There must have been some 500+ people in attendance as I go the last ticket to sit in the Trusteeship Council Chamber and many others sat in Conference Room 4 and watched the events on live stream video. These people were all coming together for the opportunity to honor those who were involved in the Holocaust whether it was themselves or family members.

I was seated in the middle of a group that were conversing in a mix of Yiddish and Polish, I was straining to hear what they were talking about.  They were sharing stories.  It seemed that many of those who were seated around me knew one another as well.  There was a great sense of community among the people in attendance here, whether they were Jewish or otherwise, we all came there for the same purpose and that was to remember.  During the ceremony a Cantor recited “Kel Ma’le Rachamin Ani Amin”, and at one point those in the Chamber burst out and joined in the recitation.  I had goosebumps…
The speakers that shared their stories were very compelling but one of them really struck me as her story was not of survival in Auschwitz or in a mainstream Nazi camp, hers was survival in the Romanian system.  Ruth Glasberg Gold described the chaos that encapsulated the Romanian camps.  She said that in many cases the Holocaust acts that were going on in her area have not been well documented and have not been widely recognized.  She has made it her goal to spread the word.  She talked about her family.  She was only 11 years old when World War II took on full steam.  Her family (father, mother, older brother and herself) were removed from their home and sent away.  The Romanian system really didn’t have specific camps to keep them in so they just marched the Jews for two weeks straight and those who couldn’t continue were basically left by the wayside.  Ruth said that when they were able to sleep for small amounts of time in barns and run down shacks along the way, sleeping among those who didn’t make it.  Finally when the Romanians were tired of marching them out they had them live in run down buildings, 20 people each.  Eventually diseases took hold on the people there.  Ruth watched her father die, then her brother and lastly her mother.  Soon everyone there was dead.  She said that she is often asked what made her go on and she said it was something her mother said.  Her mother told her that everyone living there would die but it was up to her to live in order to share their story and make it known, so future generations could learn from it.  And she has done just that.  She made a journey from Romania on a steamer headed for what she and many other Jews hoped would be a better life but were shipwrecked and interned for a year in a camp in Cyprus.  Then when she was released she made her way to start a new life in Israel and then made her way to South America and finally to America to spread the story of all those Jews who made it through and especially those who were not as fortunate.
There were other such stories as well, of relatives who didn’t make it or the fight for so many people’s survival.  This history is truly shared among all and by recognizing this shared history hopefully it will promote more peace and prevent Genocide from happening again.  This unfortunately has not been the case but perhaps soon these acts of Genocide will no longer happen.  The keynote speaker was Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau(a survivor himself).  He said that he worked to remember all those who were lost but that he has trouble forgiving what had happened.  This is understandable as he said that he could not forgive for losing his father, mother, on of his brother and countless cousins who didn’t make it.  The permanent representative from Israel, Gabriela Shalev shared her story as her parents came from Germany just before the war began but her grandparents stories were not yet discovered until years later and it was discovered that they came to their end at Auschwitz.
The reflection for today was about the choices that people were forced to make and this was seen through the most meaningful part of the day to me was the play reading that I went to.  I signed up to go and brought Abi along only knowing that the title of the play was Irena’s Vow, which was hosted jointly by both the US and the Polish Missions, with a reception to follow.  I was originally supposed to go alone but as Abi was in the city at her internship I thought it would be good to share in the experience with someone else as I figured it, like the whole rest of the day was filled with many things, there would be a lot of aspects to discuss.  I really wasn’t sure what the actually story was going to be about but I was preparing for a deep experience.

Irena’s Vow is the story of a Polish Catholic woman named Irena Gut (later Opdyke), who made a very risky choice during World War II.  The Permanent Ambassador of Poland called Irena Gut Opdyke an unsung heroine of Poland.  Her story is not widely known and this was a way to honor her memory.   She was a young blond haired, blue eyed Polish girl who worked at a Nazi factory.  She began working there with other Jewish people prior to the beginning of the mass killing of Jews.  She worked for a very important German Major and befriended another German man who was working on efficiency in the clothing factory.  Irena heard that there was a plan to kill all the Jews by a prescribed date.  She made the choice to tell her Jewish friends what was going.  They were skeptical at first as they thought with a last name like Gut, she was a Fraulein instead of a Pani.  She convinced them by relaying to them what she saw in the streets.  She said that she saw a woman with a baby pleading with a German soldier not to harm her baby.  The German soldier told her that she wouldn’t have to worry about that and took the baby and killed it and then to quiet the cries of the mother he shot her.  Irena was filled with remorse at being there and being too afraid to do something so she made a vow on that very day, that she would do everything she could to save the lives of those in danger.
This led her to develop a plan to hide 11 and then eventually 12 Jews.   By this time she was working as a housekeeper in the German major’s home and decided to do the unthinkable.  She hid the Jews in his cellar.  There were many close calls with people who were watching the house but she continued to take the risk of hiding the Jews.  So Jews were living in the basement while the Major was hosting parties for the Gestapo one floor above.  Another problem occurred when one of the women who was hiding with her husband discovered that she was pregnant.  The Jews decided that it would be best for everyone to abort the baby and they ask Irena to get the supplies that are needed.  She was met with yet another decision, as she is Catholic and that is against what her beliefs dictate.  In the end she convinced Ida to keep her child and now she was hiding 12 Jews and a newborn baby.
She was juggling so much and yet she hadn’t gone completely crazy.  She made many choices and she put herself in danger daily until the day that the Germans moved back out of the Polish town that they were in and she was able to smuggle her Jew through forest and into safety.  But in the process the Soviets labeled her as a Nazi sympathizer and put her in a prison camp.  She was eventually found by one of the Jews that she hid who was now working for the Soviets and he smuggled her to safety as she had done for them.  I think that this was the best element of the story because it is truly Karma at work.
This production will be showing in March at a small theatre in New York (not on Broadway) and Abi and I would like to go and see it all come together.  All that actors and actresses invoked so much passion into their characters, just in the reading of the play that we couldn’t help but to be transported to a different year and place and we too were helping Irena Gut in our own ways.  A very famous actress named Tovah Feldshuh played the role of Irena.  She brought such depth to the character and I feel truly embodied the very sole of this woman who made many difficult choices and juggled many things.  I was completely moved by it.
The first lady of Poland, Maria Kaczynska, told one of the organizers, that she would hope that when faced with that situation she too would have the courage to do what Irena Gut did for the Jews.  That is the thought that I have been questioning since I experienced her story.  It is easy to say (when you are not in that situation) that yes you would do what you could to protect those who are being persecuted but when faced with death upon discovering the truth would you still continue to protect them…
Many of these questions and thoughts had been going through my head throughout the day.  A lot of people on both sides made decisions and took actions based on what was expected of them.  Many Polish women and others who were in occupied countries worked with the Germans in order to keep their homes as well as keeping their families safe.   During the prayer service earlier they had also made mention in remembrance of the Gentiles who helped the Jews in the Holocaust and Irena Gut Opdyke is a solemn reminder or this.  Due to her efforts 13 Jewish people kept their lives and she kept her own as well, though at one point she said that she would give her life to continue to preserve the others.
I promptly looked up Irena Gut Opkyke on the internet and found much more depth to her story.  She wrote a book in 1999 just before her death to tell her story and to bring further awareness of the Holocaust despite some individuals who try to convince people that this event did not happen.  The book is called In my Hands: Memoirs of a Holocaust Rescuer.
This was a rather lengthy telling of my experience but I am trying to do my part to bring remembrance of the Holocaust in order to prevent further problems in the future and to hopefully promote peace.  I have always been sensitive to the events of the Holocaust but I know that I will hold this experience close to my heard for a my who help and I will continually be working to make the right decisions, which will often take me on the difficult path as opposed to the easy path and I urge others to do the same.

 

A Well Crafted Intrigue

I have an exciting event to recount.  So for those who know me well, which is probably the only people who actually read this blog, know that I am not easily surprised.  I mean that it is not easy to keep a secret from me and then be like Surprise, Happy Birthday!  I really have only been surprised like two other times.  The first being, my surprise 16th birthday, which I really had no inkling of, way to go mom and the second was when Chez tried to surprise me for my 22 birthday by telling me that we were going to a European Art Exhibit at the Honolulu Academy of Art but instead she took me to this Korean BBQ place and let me tell you to this day I am disappointed that there was no European Art Exhibit.

So Clare (my roommate for those who are trying to keep score), told me on Tuesday, yes TUESDAY, that I should leave Saturday open from 7pm on.  I was like why and got a reply like I need not know until Saturday.  So as I am not one for surprises, I was trying to fast talk her until she came through with the answer but all I got was that she was going to drive me to the middle of nowhere and leave me for dead and that I had to be clean which I really only found out the night before because I think Clare was tired of hearing me ask.  I had mom going to trying to figure out what it could be.

I guessed that it could really only be one thing, a show.  Clare wouldn’t even tell me what type of outfit I was supposed to wear until 4pm the evening of the event. So here was my first clue, I was “required” to wear a skirt.  WELL!!!! I am sure that you all know that I am not exactly one for wearing a skirt.  SO yes, now we have me in a skirt awaiting the answer to this mystery adventure…

So Clare and I were dressed and it was time to go except that Clare made me wear earrings, would you believe it!  Earrings and high heels!  I just kept saying that I was hoping that we wouldn’t be walking that much because my feet wouldn’t have lasted very long…  So we got out long coats on because it is getting cold here and Clare had us get in the car.  Well that ruled out New York I guess.  SO I was still thinking that it was going to be a show because Clare had us eat before we left.  SO I thought OH we are going to SOPAC (which is the South Orange Performing Arts Center).  We got to South Orange and Clare stopped at the Wachovia to go to the ATM and then drove back toward South Orange Ave, right next to the SOPAC but instead of taking a left she took a right and then started driving back toward home, where she parked the car in the garage and then closed the door behind us.  So she said well we will be taking the train I guess!  SO we walked to Mountain Station.

This but the field wide open again as it was 7 and all the Broadway Shows start at 8.  So I said to Clare alright what show are we seeing but she just kept talking so more about Walruses and nonsensical things.  She just assured me that we couldn’t have to walk very far, when we go there.  On the subway, we bypassed 42nd street so I thought well no Times Square as it was already 8pm and it didn’t seem like Clare was frantic yet and she kept saying something about two modes of transportation once we got to the city.  But we got off at the Lincoln Center but Clare was like we have to find this bus.  Where is the bus.  I was like what the heck are we doing getting on a bus!  But then we came to the Lincoln Center and she started walking very matter a factly up to the buildings and the first thing that went through my head was “OH MY GOODNESS WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE TONY AWARD WINNING REVIVAL OF SOUTH PACIFIC”.  SO I said to Clare are we going to see South Pacific which is notoriously sold out for weeks and months in advance!  I guess I was asking that too much because Clare finally said no to that one.

But she walked directly toward the Metropolitan Opera House.  I was so shocked I didn’t even know what to think.  All I kept saying was an Opera so what are we seeing?  Clare still wasn’t telling me.  So we went to will call and picked up the tickets and then started walking our way up like five flights of winding stairs to the balcony and during this trek Clare just turned to me and said HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!  She actually managed to pull off the surprise, I was excited and I think that Clare was really proud of herself!  Well 10 points for Clare for surprising the most inquisitive person when it comes to possible surprises, I guess!

The Metropolitan Opera House was simply breathtaking.  It is all red velvet, in the carpets on the seats even on the bars in front of the seats which contained one subtitle screen per seat.  The ceiling in the Opera House ,so I read later, is made up of 18k gold leafing and the chandelier in there is composed of 50,000 Swarovski Crystals!  It was absolutely elegant.  The Opera was Lucia de Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, which Clare refused to read the synopsis of before hand so neither of us had any clue what it was about but that was the best part of it I think.

It was about a women who pledges her undying love to this man who leaves for a time on business without really asking for her hand in marriage, so what do you think would happen, the girl, Lucia’s brother made her marry this other guy for his own personal gain.  She married him thinking that he love was going out on her (as Lucia’s brother was intercepting his love letters) but she ended up stabbing her husband and then went crazy.  It was most unexpected!  She came out and head one of the best solos in a blood stained wedding dress where she kept yelling out and professing her love for her original lover Enricho, who also was thinking at this time that Lucia was learning to love another.

I could not stop laughing at this point because Clare is our CRAZY lady in this house and some of the actions of this red-headed Soprano who was the lead actress, reminded me of Clare’s actions sometimes.  So I whispered to Clare asking her if she auditioned for this role.  She of course, yelled at me!, well whisper yelled at me, it was really more of a look of death.  I just could not stop laughing!!!  She just kept whirling around in her own crazy little world.  It was your typical Opera, people died, the music was powerful and so forth.  I want to share with you my favorite section of a song… in the opera…
Verrano ate sulle’aure                Born by gentle breezes
I miei  sospiri ardenti                My ardent sighs will come to you
Udrai nel mar che mormora         Hear how the murmuring seas
L’echo de miei lament                 It echos my lament

I will now leave you with that thought.  I thoroughly reveled in my surprise and I think Clare was pretty proud of herself for her skills at deception.  It was a very big feat as she was not only able to get me into a skirt but also to get me to wear earrings and then to surprise me with this completely wonderful adventure and Clare can surprise me like that any time!!!

 

Fun in Boston and other Tidbits…

I had the opportunity this past weekend for some fun!  Yes, I actually took a whole weekend off.  I went up to Boston to visit Elysa and Marc to see their house for the first time.  I took the bus there, yes that would be the Greyhound, I travel in the height of luxury!  I didn’t take one of those Chinatown buses that Marc said flips over and has been known to start on fire and stuff.  I chose to take the good old Greyhound!  The bus ride was supposed to take 4 hours and 30 minutes but this one took something like 6 hours.  We couldn’t figure out where all the traffic was coming from and then we got to the Cape Cod turn off, I guess there were a whole lot of leaf lookers for the holiday weekend.

I feel that this would be a good time to share a little tidbit from before I left New York City…  All Marc wanted me to bring were bagels because he really LOVES them.  SO I was like I am going to be a good sister in law and get points by bringing him a bagel if not a half dozen.  I was busy in the morning so naïve me figured I could go out at lunch time in New York City and find a bagel to buy.  I went into my favorite deli, which is called Pinnacle Deli and Hot Bagels…. (so what do we think we could find there)!  So I walked in and there were baskets and baskets filled with the morning bagels.  So I was like GREAT!  I said to the guy could I have half dozen bagels.  He had to confer with his coworkers and they were like “No we can’t sell you these bagels.  There were sitting there and putting the bagels in these plastic bags.  So I said do I need to purchase a dozen because I would be happy to buy a dozen.  They said no only singles.  SO I said could I buy 6 single bagels.  Again that was a no!  I put my direst look on my face and then said I REALLY NEED THOSE BAGELS!  Still no.  Now I was going to buy a sandwich from there but I was so angry that they wouldn’t sell me one measly bagel so I left without my sandwich and bought some other good instead!  I left without a bagel in my hand for my brother in law.

I just want to say that I had such a wonderful time.  Marc and Elysa took me to New Hampshire (which was my first visit to the state) to go legitimate apple picking.  It was a really nice Indian summer type of day.  The colors were nice but the trees were not quite at peak.  I am anxious to see more colors as the fall progresses.  Fall has always been my favorite season, which is ironic considering that I have lived in a place that doesn’t have autumn for three years.  I am trying to make up for lost time, needless to day.  We picked about 26lbs of apples both McIntosh and Courtland and Elysa bought some Honey Crisps to go along with them.  I drank some delicious hot apple cider and the piece de resistance was the apple cider donuts.  YES you heard me correctly; they are donuts that are made out of apple cider.  It was the epitome of autumn!

The only sad part of the excursion was that I really wanted to buy a nice pumpkin like Elysa and Marc did (Elysa’s was 12lbs and Marc’s was a whopping 33lbs! yes you are reading correctly) but could you picture me hefting that pumpkin onto the Greyhound and THEN when I got back to NYC onto the subway and then eventually on to the New Jersey Transit!  It just would not have been logical, so it was fun being able to help Elysa and Marc pick theirs out!
I can safely say that we ate our weight in wonderful food!  All I have to say is that I finally got my Barbeque!  It took like over a year for me to get Blue Ribbon but the wait was well worth it.  I ate the North Carolina Pulled Pork, SHOUT OUT TO MY NORTH CAROLINA connection, CLARE!!!!!! Woo Woo!

Now a note about their new house, which they just moved in to in May.  It was absolutely lovely (and I am not just saying this because I am obligated, I really feel that it was great).  I think that the house fits their personalities like a glove.  There is plenty of space to be and the decorating and the color schemes that have been chosen really fit in.  It is nice because they just have cute niches in the house from Elysa’s knitting and reading room (technically her office but I call it her peaceful space) and Marc’s office along with a really bright and airy kitchen that will “serve” them well (no pun intended!).  It is just a really nice space for them to start their life together!

 

Meetings and Exciting Firsts!

Sorry that it seems like a very long time since the last time that I have blogged.  I have been a bit busy and I have been trying to get things in place.  I know that you all have been patiently waiting to hear the second installment of “Cecilia’s wild and wonderful adventures” (honestly, that is just a working title, that really isn’t what I am calling my life story, it is just what it feels like often time.  I am constantly running here there and everywhere with little to no break in between.

One of the biggest developments within this time of silence would have to be that I was finally issued my official UN grounds pass.  I have been waiting a really long time to get this and I finally conquered the lady in the NGO office to get the okay to get my pass.  This pass allows me to go into the UN when I feel like it and I can go into places and meetings that are off limits to the general public.  I am going to one such meeting on Friday.  This is a meeting to discuss the progress toward Eradication of Poverty.  For all those who want to join in the fight, Friday is actually the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  Through my research today, I discovered that the UN General Assembly established this day in 1992 to examine steps that need to be taken in the fight against poverty.

This is also important because it is the first Millennium Development Goal.  The Goal is to halve the number of people living in poverty and hunger by 2015.  It is important because conditions of poverty also affect many of the other Millennium Development Goals.  For more information of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty I encourage everyone to look at the link that I have included, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_for_the_Eradication_of_Poverty.

Last Friday, I got to use my pass for the first time.  Fr. E and I went to a meeting of the NGO working group on the Security Council.  I found out that he had to apply to be on this committee.  I think that there are about 25-30 members on the group altogether.  It was hard to tell if there were people missing or what, as this was my first meeting.  The working group goes around to the missions of the members of the Security Council to have briefings about what is currently going on in the Security Council.  This week it was at the UK mission with the British Ambassador.  The meeting started at 3:15 and we were greeted by a tea service as it was almost tea time.  It was really pleasant.  The British Ambassador was really informative.  I thought that it was a really positive experience because he was very welcoming to the NGO community and said that he was open to any suggestions that we might have and that he would take them under advisement.  I was happy to hear that, which was the polar opposite of what we experienced when we went to the US mission a few weeks ago  (the meeting at the US mission was separate from this working group actually, it was for an orientation that I attended).  We covered a variety of issues that are currently affecting the UN and which are being spoken about in the Security Council at great length (Darfur, Somalia, Iran among many other issues).  He spoke with openness and candor, which was again really refreshing to see.  I was supposed to have a meeting at the Italian mission today but it was canceled and rescheduled for the 27 October.  Unfortunately, I don’t think that I will be able to attend as it is a Monday.  But I will just have to see what might materialize, I guess.  Fr. E said that these things were not uncommon at the UN.  Meetings are made and meetings are canceled at any moment!

I think that is enough for the moment and please stay tuned for many more stories in the future!

Cecilia and her pass!

 

My First Week in as an Intern

As many of you have previously heard, I was asked to join the NGO Franciscans International for an Internship for the Fall Semester.  Seton Hall requires all the Diplomacy students to do an internship in the sector of our field that is most appealing.  The internship component is very important because it gives us a glimpse into the real world and more specifically what it will be like when we actually get started in the field.  A friend of my sisters, who works in the NGO field, got me in contact with the Franciscans International (which from now on will be referred to as FI for future reference) and despite not having interns for a very long time Fr. Elias agreed to take me on as an intern.

My main function as an intern is to educate the Franciscan community about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs from this point on).  The MDGs are a list of goals that were set forth originally by Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2000 that addressed major issues that affect the world.  These initiatives include 1) eradicating poverty and hunger, 2) education for all people, 3) gender equality, 4) maternal health, 5) combating HIV/AIDS, 6) Malaria and other diseases, 7) environmental sustainability and  8 forging global partnerships.  I will be making a power point presentation educating the Franciscans about what the MDGS are and what we as a community can do to help.  It would be sent out in one of the periodic mailings we send out to the community regarding the events of the UN.

Another component of what I will be doing with FI is sitting on a Committee for environmental sustainability.  Sr. Mary Theresa from FI is really in to the MDGs and she has worked for many years to get the Franciscans as well as other religious groups at the UN to exercise their rights of advocacy and lobbying to ensure that the people of the world come first.  Fr. Elias described Sr. MT to me as being ready to shower people with information but more often than now, she downpours!  But I think that working with her will definitely bring me many more opportunities to meet high profile people. If you remember when I emailed about my interview Sr. MT was the one who was saying that FI just had to have me and that if they didn’t hire me, she would let me in the back door!

Well with that background being said, this was my first week on the job.   Wednesday was my very first day.  I was planning on getting to the office by 10:00am because I figured that that would give me plenty of time to commute from South Orange, as I was not sure how long it would take to get there.  I got an email from Fr. Elias the day before telling me that there was an important meeting that he wanted me to attend at 10am exactly and that if I wanted to walk over with him, I should be in the office by 9:45am.  I planned for that time because I thought it would be better for him to take me there than for me to get lost trying to find the meeting or worse be late!  The meeting was with the “RUN” the “Religious at the UN”, aka; it was me in a small room with about 30-35 nuns and priests.  Boy am I thankful for all my grade school and high school training, otherwise this could have been awkward.  I was one of three interns and one of them is preparing for her novitiate and the other guy is interning in the fall and then taking his vows in December.  They were all VERY KIND and WELCOMING, of course, what else would they be!

I will describe the scene to you.  WE all sat in a circle and then we started the meeting by singing the first to verses of a HYMN yes you read that right it was a hymn sung by all a cappella!  Then we all recited a prayer, without prompting, one side of the room took one verse and our side the other!  Then we finished that portion with the last two verses of the song and AMEN the meeting could start.   It was a very interesting meeting of the Catholic orgs in the UN community.  They were discussing various issues most importantly, the MDGs.   Also they discussed the new President of the General Assembly for this year, His Excellency Manuel d’Escoto Brachmann of Nicaragua.  The members of RUN were discussing the possibility of sending him flowers or something in to congratulate him on his new post.  The reason that they are so interested in doing this is because he used to be a priest but was asked to leave due to some kind of political turmoil.  There will be more about this a little later.

After the RUN meeting, Fr. Elias and I talked a little bit and then he sent me down to try to get my UN pass.  Apparently this process is a bit of an initiation in to your NGO because it is a two-step process.  First, you must take a letter to this rather unfortunate woman who only has to stamp your letter allowing you to go to another place and get your picture taken and in a matter of seconds your pass is produced.  But Fr. E warned me that sometimes she has a sign that says my lunch is form 12-12:45 and in the meantime there is a line for the pass and she will come back right at 12:45 just to START eating her sandwich.  She just really takes the little power she has too seriously.  But ones you get passed this woman you are home free.  So my initiation was on!

With my letter in hand I went to the building.  It is a UN building so I had to go through a metal detector and get a 24-hour pass in order to enter.  Then when I got the sticker pass with my Drivers license photo scanned on to it, I approached the elevator.  This was not an ordinary elevator, you had to punch in your floor and it gave a letter A-H and you had to wait outside that elevator and it had several numbers programmed in and it only took you to those floors.  I arrived at the 14th floor and I followed the snakelike hallway and arrived at a reception desk.  I asked for the woman I was told to see and the lady at the desk, I assume she was the unfortunate woman because she kind of made a smacking noise with her lips and said what do you want?  Then she looked at my letter and made a rude look and started clacking on her computer about something and looked in a binder with FI in it.  Then said DENIED!  Not forever, just until October 6.  We kind of expected this issue because September is the month that the GA opens and they really don’t give out passes at that time because a lot of high governing officials are in town.  SO now I have to wait.  It was so close within my grasp and nothing!  Well since I couldn’t be initiated into the special UN pass bearing crowd yet, Fr. E. told me I could go home for the day.  I am so determined to crack that woman and now I have another chance to do so!

The second day was just about as exciting as the first. I arrived in good time in the morning and I started out by helping Sr. Gloria move some furniture in the conference room because the guys who installed the new lights didn’t put the furniture back in place.  Fr. E. hadn’t arrived yet so I started doing some researched for my project.  As soon as he came in, we filled out some paper work for my internship class because I had to turn them in and then Fr. E. installed me into my new office!  Yes you got it I have my very own office at FI!  Next week I will be getting a computer too and I already have a phone in there.  This may not be my permanent office but I will have one either that one or one down the hall that is not quite so vacant but at the moment this one is more cleanly!  They are hanging some things that they have around the offices so I am hoping that they will agree to hang this huge world map they have in my office.  I think that would be fun to look at all the time.

I had to sit in on another meeting today.  This time it was to plan the doings for President elect Manuel d’Escoto Brachmann.  We ordered 2 dozen yellow roses for him and they will be hand delivered on Tuesday, which is the official opening of the General Assembly, aka, his first meeting as President.  Also we are planning in the near future to arrange a meeting with him for not only the RUN organizations but also it will become my job to gather up the Quakers, Mennonites, Protestants, Presbyterians etc, to meet with the President and start a dialogue on poverty, Justice and the MDGs.  SO we spent much of the early afternoon talking to the kind people at the Permanent Mission of Nicaragua to the UN because that is d’Escoto’s home country.   We ended up faxing a request to the Deputy Chair to the Cabinet of the GA.  It was really exciting!  The meeting attendees were Fr. E.  Sr. Luciann from a different NGO and Sr. MT via conference call.  She said that she is almost retired so she does a lot of work from home!  It was quite a funny meeting because we in the office were all trying to stay on track and then Sr. MT would start reading some random article she was looking at on the internet and Fr. E was rolling his eyes.  We would bring something up and she kept saying have Cecilia do that, and then another thing have Cecilia do that, and then the next the same thing.  I was like geez what else is she going to have me do but it is well worth the experience.  I think I am a bit rusty on my planning skills it has been nearly a year since I have had to do it!

When that was finished we started laying plans to possibly meet with the new President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo, when he comes in the NY to visit the GA.  So we were on the phone again with Paraguay.

After the meeting I grabbed a bite to eat at this really great deli around the corner from the office.  Fr. E suggested it to me!  I went back to the office and did some more research and the Fr. E had to leave at 3 so I left as well but he decided that he is going to get me a key so if I wanted to continue working I could.  That is so exciting, they are trusting me with a key to the place!

With all these exciting things going on in the first two days can you image with is in store for me in the future.  I will let everyone know how this goes but on Monday I am meeting Sr. MT at the Church of the Holy Family for the prayer service to open the General Assembly.  The new Pres of the GA will be there along with the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.  There will also be a slew of heads of states.  There is a reception afterwards so I might be able to meet some pretty important people!  SO far so good with the internship and I am sure that I will have a lot more to report so stay tuned!

 

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