CliffsNotes Quarterly

I’m back! Back to my blog and soon back on Pennsylvanian soil. I fly home tonight to spend the holidays with friends and family. Then I’ll return to Austin on January 1st and finish up my BVS term in mid-February, at which point I’ll be back in Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future. This will most likely be my penultimate blog post in the interest of being present for the rest of my time in Texas. And since it’s been three months since I last posted (and because I didn't renew my Wix premium subscription that allowed me to have enough storage to post as many pictures as I wanted), this will be an abbreviated rendition of the last 90 days.

Despite being far from many loved ones on my birthday on October 2nd, I felt incredibly loved and celebrated. Alice made me muffins and got me gifts, as did coworkers. I gathered with church friends in the evening, and they put candles in a stack of cookies and sang for me. And I received cards and birthday wishes from folks at home and around the world that left me feeling grateful for the life I am living. Oh, and a birthday armadillo made an appearance in the backyard!

My parents visited me in mid-October, and we had a fun-filled (and dare I say, excellently planned) time together. They got to see where I live, work, and worship and meet the folks I spend time with. And because they got a rental vehicle, we could visit places I hadn’t gotten to go before, including the quaint German town of Fredericksburg and San Antonio, the city of Alamo fame.  We ate breakfast tacos and Texas BBQ, visited museums and missions and markets, hiked and played disc golf, and just enjoyed being together. The only stressful aspect of the trip was the messed-up tire pressure in our rental car!

Two dear college friends, Ally and Olivia, visited me on separate weekends in November. It was sweet to catch up with them and show them around Austin.

My friend Nick moved to Minneapolis and is adjusting to a new job and new city.

The presidential election results were disheartening and unsettling. At work we have accelerated TPS, DACA, and work permit renewals and are trying to push forward with as many applications for other types of relief as possible before the new administration comes into power. It feels like an important time to commit to supporting and celebrating newcomers. I signed up for a Borderlands Peace Camp that will be put on by MCC from January 19-25 that will explore the realities of immigration from various perspectives and will involve traveling to El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. I am eager to meet and learn from other young adults who are passionate about coming alongside migrants.

At church, I preached a sermon on the calling of the prophet Isaiah and continue to assist regularly with singing and worship leading. I also attended a 4-part discussion on aging and death drawing from the impactful book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. The discussion was led by a former pastor at AMC who is currently a death doula (who accompanies the dying like a midwife accompanies those giving birth). I found it to be a rich conversation, especially hearing the stories and musings of older members of the congregation. The most exciting church-related news is that Austin Mennonite is bringing back an event called the Great Menno Bake Off in my honor! It is a baking competition based on the Great British Baking Show, and I will have the great privilege of being the judge :)

My friend Rachel and I went to a colorful Día de los Muertos parade in early November. She invited me to a concert by pop/R&B/gospel singer Tori Kelly which I enjoyed more than I thought I might. We attended the Austin Powwow, a gathering of indigenous peoples from across Texas and beyond. There were drum circles and dancing in traditional clothing, an artisan market, and food trucks with offerings like fry bread and “Indian tacos” (made with bison meat on fry bread). We also signed up for a tamalada at a local senior center. In Mexico it is traditional to make tamales for Christmas and a tamalada is a tamale-making event. We watched a presentation on how to make sweet tamales that have raisins and are colored with Kool-Aid! Since I rode the bus, I unfortunately couldn’t take any home to steam and try. I did take home some hot-chocolate-like champurrado mix though, which traditionally is consumed with the tamales.

I made a new friend, Laurel, at a salsa/bachata dance class. She’s from Texas, works at a law firm downtown, and shares a love of language. I spent Thanksgiving with some of her family members. We have tried our hand (or feet, as it were) at tango and swing dance classes and collaborated on several baking projects. We went to see the new Wicked movie (10/10 recommend) and got churros at an offshoot of the most famous Spanish churro spot, San Ginés. To get into the Christmas spirit, we drove to a Christmas tree farm so she could cut down her first live tree. We managed to fit it in the backseat of her FIAT convertible. The other night we checked out the Austin Trail of lights, an impressive, winding Christmas lights display in Zilker Park.

My community choir had two high energy performances of our 90’s music repertoire. Last week, we gave two Christmas concerts at the downtown library.

I’m still going to Zumba and slowly chipping away at trying foods from different Latin American countries. I had the most delicious empanada of my life from a Chilean food truck (it had a hardboiled egg inside!). The Dominican Republic and Haiti have been disappointingly elusive. I tried a Brazilian pastel (fried dough pocket filled with meat) that was yummy and doubled as a hand warmer.

Temperatures have been fluctuating between fall and spring, but since I’m used to sweltering there have been some days that feel chilly! I’m hoping not to freeze during my time in Pennsylvania!

I’m excited to be home for the holidays and wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Link to accompanying photos