Una Nueva Amiga

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

In college I interned in the Immigration Services Department of the International Rescue Committee assisting refugees with various immigration applications and helping them settle into their new lives in Charlottesville, Va. My favorite family was from Burma. They had a young child named Sa Pwa Nan who would terrorize our office by carrying around the welcome bell and ringing it incessantly. For some reason, though, when she saw me she would calm down. I don't really know why; I couldn't communicate with her because she didn't know English. She was probably just scared of the BFG. It was even harder to get her to smile, but when she did she lit up the room....

If you remember, a couple weeks ago I wrote that in the fall I wanted to start having lunch down at the Malibu Labor Exchange once a week in order to get to know the day laborers and practice my Spanish. Well, last Saturday when I dropped sandwiches off at the MCLE I decided I couldn't wait until the fall; I told Oscar, the manager, that I would come on Tuesday. So today I made two lunches and drove over to the MCLE at noon.

When I got there, Oscar paired me up with a lady from Peru and we went outside to a picnic table to eat. Just to be safe, I'm not going to use her name. Until recently, she had been working as a nanny for nearly 10 years. She came to the MCLE to look for new work; I'm pretty sure she didn't come to the MCLE expecting to share lunch with a guy like me, but I think she enjoyed it. She was very patient as my Spanish started coming back to me. We talked about her family and previous life in Peru and why she came to the U.S. It turns out that she taught Spanish grammar when she was still in Peru, so she was the perfect person for me to have lunch with today. At one point she asked me what I'm studying at school and I told her that I'm studying Immigration law. She got nervous and looked away for a moment. I couldn't understand everything she said about her immigration status, but from what I could gather her legal status is questionable. She said she would have to go back to Peru in a few months if she isn't able to find any work.

Despite the fact that she seemed a little worried at first about my involvement with immigration, that fear was quickly diffused. I told her about my work downtown at an immigration defense firm to assure her that I wasn't out to get her. We got to laughing when I told her that in 10th grade I accidentally told my Spanish 2 teacher that her dress was "fea" in front of the entire class. "Fea" means ugly. She got a kick out of that.

I opened with the story of Sa Pwa Nan because I love connecting with people and being a friendly face. If I helped my new amiga from Peru forget about her struggles for an hour then my time spent at the MCLE today was worthwhile. It was such a pleasure practicing my Spanish, helping her with her English, and getting to know her story. I'm excited about what these lunches will teach me and where they will take me.

While I was at lunch today the interim executive director happened to stop by the office trailer. She came over to the table to inquire about what we were doing. She really liked it and asked me if I would help her plan a fundraiser in the fall for the MCLE. We'll be trying to put together a showing of "A Better Life" at Pepperdine's undergrad campus with the director, Chris Weitz. I can't wait to help.

It's been a great summer so far learning about immigration law through working at the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman two days a week. I've received a lot of good feedback and I've been placed on really interesting assignments, including research, motions, and applications for citizenship and adjustment of status (green card). The other days I spend working for Judge Einhorn. I've met with Asylum Clinic clients and researched about domestic violence in Guatemala. Right now, the other research assistants and I are helping Judge Einhorn draft chapters for a book about the basics of immigration law for criminal attorneys whose clients get picked up by immigration officials through the Secure Communities Program. It's really interesting stuff. I'm extremely privileged to be working for Mr. Shusterman and Judge Einhorn; they are both well respected professionals in immigration circles. Mostly, though, I'm glad to be working in immigration law this summer because I get to interact with people who have amazing and sometimes quirky stories. It certainly doesn't feel like work.

HOORAY...

I know I said my next post would be about my work this summer. That will come soon, but in the meantime here's a short post about the USA v. Mexico Gold Cup final. We went to Barney's to watch it, and look who we found:

What an awesome dude. Doesn't have much to say, but a nice guy nonetheless.

The scarf I'm wearing is from Rijeka, Croatia. It was fun to put it to use; obviously not American apparel, but the red, white, and blue were good enough. At halftime I added an American flag around my neck and went downstairs to get a drink. When I was down there I ran into three Mexico fans who were equally decked out. We made a bet about who would win, and since the game was tied at the half it seemed like a pretty fair bet. Forty five minutes and 2 Mexico goals later, I went back over to their table. They couldn't believe that I showed my face. We shared a drink and they told me about their pick-up games. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it out to the pitch with them.

Switching Gears

Switching gears here. I'll get back to cooking expeditions in a bit. Something's been weighing on me so I thought I'd share.

I've heard the Jars of Clay song "Two Hands" before, but never paid much attention. This time, the song came on as I pulled into the parking lot at work today and I decided to sit and hear it out. One line simply says "I use one hand to pull You closer the other to push You away."

About two months ago I made a decision to live out my faith more purposefully, but over the last few weeks it's been a struggle. I finished Today Matters last week, and I'm halfway through C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, but I still feel like I've pushed and resisted disproportionately.

Listening to this song made me realize that I've cheapened my relationship with Jesus. I've taken Him in when convenient, when I felt like it, and, sadly, when no one else was looking. That's not how relationships work. In Matthew 16, Jesus says, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" That whole "losing your life to save it" seems foreign to me. It's tripped me up. I've been up to a lot of different things so far this summer that have brought fun and enjoyment and I've been distracted. It's time to start pulling closer to God daily. I'm ready.

Preview: I'm really excited to share my experiences so far working with Judge Einhorn and interning at the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman. Coming shortly.

Oh, this has gotta be the good life

Saturday got off to a really solid start. Patricia and I went to campus to make sack lunches for the Malibu Community Labor Exchange with Al and his family. I’d participated in making sandwiches several times, but before Saturday I'd never gone to the MCLE to drop them off. When we got down there, Al introduced me to the director, Oscar Mondragόn. I asked him a question about his background and he told me he would give me a “two minute” run-down of his life. A couple of minutes later, I found out that Oscar was a long-time friend of Cesar Chavez and a former Board Member of the United Farm Workers. Based on that information, I'm not sure that our ideologies are in agreement, but there is no denying that Oscar has admirably given his life to serving the less fortunate. When we were leaving Oscar told me to come back more often; when I’m back at school in the fall I plan on doing so. I want to bring a packed lunch with me at least once a week and talk with the day laborers and hear their stories. Many of them are Latinos so it will be good to practice my Spanish. On a more important level, the immigration status of many of the workers is questionable, so it will be good to get their perspective on issues facing immigrants in America. I’m really excited about this opportunity to serve, and, more importantly, learn and be challenged.

Fast forward to about 7:45PM. There were about ten people in our apartment hanging out and waiting to eat (side note: this was the first time we had a get together at our apartment). The zucchini and squash were almost done steaming. The Mac & Cheese had 10 minutes left in the oven when my mom finally called me back. Here's a gist of how the conversation went:

Mom: Sorry, I just saw your missed calls. Did you need something?

Me: Yah, I've been calling all afternoon

Mom: Was it about the dry mustard?

Me: Yah, I didn't use it because the recipe said it was optional

Mom: Oh no, Tim! I've never made it without dry mustard! (Strike 1)

Me: Too late now!

Mom: Did you make the sauce thick?

Me: Eh… kind of. Was I supposed to?

Mom: Yes! Oh gosh, Tim! (Strike 2)

Me: But I did remember to put the breadcrumbs on top

Mom: Did you dip them in butter first?

Me: No.... You didn't tell me to do that! (Strike 3)

After I hung up the phone I quickly melted some butter and spread it on top of the bread crumbs in a last ditch effort. Then, I gave everyone a warning that it might not be that great.

In the end, I guess I didn’t really make my Mom’s Mac & Cheese. But it turns out that Tim’s Mac & Cheese isn’t so bad after all. Everyone seemed to like it. Ann told me I should never have said that I forgot a few things because it tasted great; Brian licked the pan clean, if I needed any more confirmation.

After we finished with dinner, we went out to the patio to smoke some cigars before heading to the Promenade. Not a bad day.

Shoutouts:

- Sean: Thanks for helping me shred the cheese and spread the bread crumbs (even if we did forget the butter)!

- Meredith: Thanks for bringing the salad!

- Ann: Thanks for bringing cookies!

- Brian: Thanks for the cigars!