----------------------------------------------playing in new york city:

WonderWheel. (its name explains it all)

Interesting juxtapositions. Coney Island with the amusement rides, the crowded beach, and the housing projects behind.

Mermaids of the Nile drinking beers.

yesterday was Coney Island's 25th annual Mermaid Parade. Lots of fun. Hot dogs, nachos, ice cream, the beach, the boardwalk.
PS i love mermen

we went earlier last week to Bryant Park to watch Annie Hall. the park was packed and we couldn't really see the screen from where we were but it was great anyway. Sarah brought a blanket. Tom brought wine and crackers. Laura brought frozen grapes. i really enjoyed soo much the feeling of just sitting on the ground, in the warm night air, with the bright city buildings towering above me, and having great conversations with my friends.
other great things i've been doing: Design Museum, El Museo del Barrio, eating in the Meatpacking District, karate classes with Sense Aziz, shabu-shabu in Korea Town

-------------------------------------------------- my experiences at work:

on Wednesday the 2oth we had a graduation celebration for all students entering, moving up a grade, or leaving TRUCE Fitness. it was a great time. well, the first 1.5 hours were rather rough because a bunch of us were in this teeny hallway, without lights, without ventilation preparing plates of lasagna and garlic bread and forced into listening to R.Kelly's 'The World's Greatest' on loop for the entire time. no joke, R Kelly on repeat for 1 and 1/2 hours. but once that infernal song was turned off and the program started it was great. dance, karate, rap, step, a fashion show...the works. it was a great way for all the kids to be recognized and celebrated. i think it was a real success. and then it ended with a dance party that i will probably always remember. it happened so suddenly. someone mumbled something into the microphone and all of a sudden everyone was up moving chairs and frantically folding up tables. the music was on and the floor was immediately packed. the teeny tots got onto the stage and worked it. these kids had soo much rhythm. but the dance moves they were doing (of course just emulating what the older girls do) were incredibly sexual and suggestive and i was a bit shocked to see little kids dancing like that. but everyone else was saying how cute they looked....so i dunno. the middle school kids were also dancing, forming circles, showing off the latest dance step. of course i couldn't resist. and i was dancing, having a good time, getting into it and then one of the girls (who is actually such a sweetheart) came up to me and just started laughing at me, right in my face. ouch!..... it was a blow. i consider myself a good dancer, and i always feel that dancing is too fun to feel insecure about but at that moment the "white man can't dance" stereotype felt like it must be true....and for a while i felt so rhythmless, uncool, and.......white!

the reason why i write about this rather hilarious dance incident is because i feel that it is a perfect example of what has been most challenging for me at HCZ. the biggest challenge i've faced at work is getting used to being a minority and in a different culture. of being misunderstood sometimes, and always sticking out. having different mannerisms, different clothing style, different community experiences etc. the challenge is feeling out of place and yet refusing to change myself. and i sometimes want to do something to fit in a bit more. maybe act a bit more tough, maybe pretend i don't know certain things, maybe act like i have less money, maybe use some slang words, maybe talk less about how much i enjoy learning and reading and school., etc. BUT i have made a promise to myself to be me no matter how strange or dorky or whatever i feel. and all the times when i act like the intelligent, caring, silly person that i am, the girls and staff i work with respond really positively!!! changing myself would be selling the kids short. it would show them that its not ok to be yourself.
its funny because the girls i will be working with this summer are middle schoolers that are grappling with that exact issue. feeling the pressure to not be different. they feel the pressure to be tough, sexy, cool, not intellectual etc. i feel the best way i can learn from them and have them learn from me is by being 100% myself and proud.
so i'm gonna get on that dance floor every chance i have and shake my little white girl butt and hope that my girls will be proud to do the same in all aspects of their lives.