two weeks of crazy

Oh loyal readers, I have SO much to tell you! My first couple weeks in the East Bay area have been wonderfully busy. Let me give you the low down about my job...

So as many of you know I am working for a non-profit clinic called Native American Health Center. This clinic has many satellite clinics throughout the Bay. My home base clinic is called 7 directions. The name comes from a belief in Native American culture that beyond the traditional 4 directions of N, S, E, and W, they include a vision toward the heavens (up) with feet planted firmly on the ground (down), and the heart from within looking forward. Cool right? Also, did you know that the Bay Area has one of the highest Native American populations in the country? I was surprised to...Anyway, my clinic is in a predominantly hispanic neighborhood of Oakland called Fruitvale. Street signs and store fronts are all written in spanish. Taco trucks, fruit stands, and pastelerias line the streets (and continue to tempt my thin wallet)! The area is plagued by an abundance of poverty, and drug and gang violence. My commute to Fruitvale takes about 45 minutes from my house in Berkeley, but so far I'm oddly enjoying it. I walk about a mile to BART (bay area rapid transport), and after about a 20 min ride I walk another mile to work.

More specifically, NAHC has a few school-based health centers. SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! I LOVE the concept. It's genius really...where else can you better give kids health care than at school where they go everyday? The clinics provide free care and services for both students and families, who would not be able to access it otherwise. Healthy kids (mentally, physically, emotionally)=a better learning environment. In a couple months NAHC will open another clinic at United for Success Academy (http://ousdms.ousd.k12.ca.us/ufs/site/default.asp). Don't let the word "academy" fool you...it is a public school for grades 6-8. The middle school consistently underperforms on state mandated tests, and 92% of students are on free lunch. My job as a health educator, specifically is to facilitate health education programs along with a co-worker, as well as serve as a medical assistant once the clinic officially opens. I get to lead my own peer-health and leadership education group of little rugrats, too, so send some teaching tips my way! This definitely makes me nervous, but I'm so excited to interact with these kids and get creative.

My first encounter with the kids of United for Success was at school registration. NAHC needed parents to fill out consent forms for the new clinic, check immunization records (which hasn't been done in the past...WHAT!), and collect emergency contact info. It was utter chaos to say the least. Think 450 kids, each with a latino entourage of extended family averaging about 7 people, and all of them in your face bantering on in rapid spanish. haha. My spanish has already improved and I am pumped that I get to use it each day. Beyond all these logistics of filling out forms and presenting records, I got a better idea of the population that I will work with this year. Many (I'd even venture to say most) parents spoke zero English, and a number of them could not read or write. Some kids even struggled with English, and had translate for their parents. Beyond the spanish, some parents only spoke indigenous languages from Guatemala or Mexico. Quite the interesting dynamic...and a lot of stress to put on a child to communicate with the outer English-speaking world to their parents. It was certainly a lot to take in.

At this point, I find myself having a hard time connecting with my students. I am privileged to be white, upper middle class citizen, and I'm trying to relate to these kids who have already suffered with more than I can imagine...from abusive parents and rape, to drugs and severe learning delays. I'm astounded by how open they are with their personal lives. Many have never even left the city limits of Oakland. They break my heart, but warm my soul with their resilience to keep going and holding on to that dream to be successful. Hmph.

On a lighter note...here are some things I have learned/seen/discovered while in Cali.

1. Hippies are everywhere...along with their babies, who they also give dread locks.

2. Law students are pretentious pigs, and I will avoid law students and lawyers at all costs (I apologize to anyone this may offend)

3. An establishment that is a chinese restaurant by day, hip hop and dance bar by night makes for a great drunken evening, and even better stories.

4. People can live in trees.

5. People do not jaywalk.

6. living on a budget gives me a headache.

7. one word....yogurtland aka frozen yogurt heaven. a self-serve frozen delight for only 30 cents an oz! even i can afford that!

8. you can smell pot on every street corner and see people smoking on the streets...slight culture shock for a midwestern gal.

9. by working in fruitvale, i have grown accustomed to and even enjoy latino rap. ayayay daddy yankee!

10. i'm starting to catching on to local Oakland gangsta slang. y'all be lookin' HECKA FINE!

11. many of my coworkers are very spiritual, for a lack of a better word. i consistently hear lines like "ohhhh gurrrrrlllll, I am lovin' your energy!"

12. it is doable to live on 100$ a month (says the girl who could easily drop that in a day)

....love you all.