Baby shower!

Hitting full term next week, so I thought I should bid the necessary farewells lest the unexpected happen before the EDD. Brought a cake and some gifts to the Salvation Army yesterday to thank the wonderful people there, but was instead surprised with a baby shower! As with all such parties, I am usually very paiseh and socially awkward, but thankful to be blessed by this bunch of people whom I have been inspired by in the past year. Ed the man was not around because he had been ill so it was such a pity!

31 days :O

Lieutenant with Elessandra

Cake made by the Lieutenant. Funny pacifiers and stuff on it!

God's Army

"To you it is just a piece of paper as a placemat, to them it represents their dignity."
Ed Herzberg, Salvation Army Case Worker

Went to the soup kitchen on a rare Friday afternoon (they are usually closed on Fridays) for a volunteer's appreciation lunch. The place was done up wonderfully by Alexandria and team, and chef Mariano prepared a wonderful (seriously) spread of food. I had thought twice about going for the lunch, since I thought it might be a little weird, but it turned out to be a wonderful decision!

Sat at a table with Lori, Carol and Rebecca, and made friends with some NYU Social Work majors Esther and Tara - They hosted a benefit party just this past Christmas. The food was incredible. Lieutenant and Ed gave speeches and some volunteers came up to share about their experience. Lori became emotional sharing about her 1.5 years of volunteering. Have utmost respect for the lady!

Serving at this soup kitchen certainly does not require much skill. Anyone can put plates on a table and pour juice. But the wonderful friends that I've made and are continually inspired by have been far more than what I expected to gain from this experience. From learning to serve dignity together with the meals, and the weekly reminders of what it means to show God's love and blessing with those who may be less privileged, this lunch was a show of how God has used this ministry to bless us as volunteers. As my baby belly begins to show more, I've had many guests also come up to me to say nice things and have mini-bets amongst themselves about how far along I am in months haha.

There are still many things that I don't understand about homelessness in NYC, and I would honestly say that I definitely am still guilty of being wary of those who I encounter on the streets. Thankful that SA has taught me how God's love is the equalizer for all who are broken, and that His House is open to all who are hungry. :)

Lieutenant giving her speech

Grilled asparagus, fried rice, rack of ribs (!!!), prawn penne in magic sauce, wedges (!!!), sweet potato pie, bread pudding :)

Ed's speech

Ed the Man! (And my half sleepy fat face)

Mind your language

If you think our medical social workers had it tough, it is 323981209381 times harder as a community case worker here in NYC.

Once upon a time, when I first volunteered at the soup kitchen, the big guy E himself sat me down to tell me about the goals, mission and vision of the kitchen. He told me about the people who came through those doors into the dining hall, and waited to be seated at one of the five large tables. There's the homeless, even working people, anyone from the streets of NY that are all invited for a hot meal and drink. But E told me about a special group of people he couldn't let in. At that time I was puzzled. "Couldn't let in?" I asked. E then explained that for the sake of the others who come to dine in peace, he cannot let in people who (in his own words) "can't keep their heads up" or "can't share a table with another human being". Thoroughly puzzled, I just took his word for it.

Today it happened. I finally saw for myself what E meant by "can't keep their heads up". Probably drugged out or drunk, this man sat himself down at the table, and literally fluctuated in between episodes of consciousness with intermittent mouthfuls of the tuna salad in front of him. M had been kind to try to wake him up. Once, twice. Then she left it as such. But someone happened to bang the table his head had been resting on, and suddenly he decided to wake up and got mad. Spewing a string of vulgarities at M thinking it was her who banged the table the man stood up and looked as though he was about to become aggressive. E quickly came to her rescue.

"Mind your language, Sir!" E had raised his voice.

And then the man summoned up all the spit he had in his mouth and spat straight into E's face. He walked across the hall shouting and knocked over the water and juice jugs, flailing it into a couple of people minding their own business on the other end of the hall.

I'm never coming back here again! He yelled.

I saw the look on E's face. He was strangely calm, and wiped his face clean. He then went to apologize to those who had gotten wet and arranged for someone to mop up the mess. And back he went to allocating seats to those who had just arrived.

This kitchen that I go to twice a week is a lovely place. The people who come to eat just about come everyday. Its the same guys - the guy who wears a new funny hat each time (he told me where to buy them), the big tall miner guy, the quiet Chinese guy, and the skinny man with spectacles who always gives way to others although he is waiting for seconds.

After all the hoo-ha, a number of guests waved to E to say, "Hey man sorry E. You're doing real good things for the people here. Sorry you had to deal with that." And I think that made E feel a little better.

Social problems plague every city. We say that we don't have homeless people in Singapore, but poverty never leaves us. We are found wanting in so many ways - physically, emotionally and spiritually. And then there are people like E who dedicate 40 years of his life to serving the poor and needy, and have to deal with shit like this. Truly an inspiration. Should give him a hug some day.

Getting by

Today was an interesting day.

Got a long distance call from Dr A in Geneva to discuss some work that needs to be done. Felt more settled after about a month of bumbling around and got down to work. Skyped with my mum (who said I looked sick) and then headed off for the usual volunteering at the soup kitchen. Today's food was spaghetti and meatballs! Plus a bunch of scones and dessert orange, best menu I've seen so far. For the first time today, I encountered one of those guests whom Ed had previously told me about. He was upset that we could not provide foil for him to bring his plate home and started shouting in the dining hall. I was kind of worried for Ed that he might become violent and lay hands on people, but Ed knew better and was very firm and handled the situation well.

Mental health awareness is a big thing here in NYC. I recently had a chat with D and E, and the big question of how do homeless people become homeless? came up. To be honest, the simple answer of "drugs, mental illness, breakdown of support" was an insufficient answer. But I guess with 46 years of doing social work behind his name, I've gotta take E's word for it. It hadn't occurred to me how big a part mental illness played in the grand scheme of poverty. I had put most of the blame on drugs (federal law states that you are only prosecuted if you import more than 1 ton of marijuana). It amazes me how Americans are well educated and highly concerned about mental health, with many people taking up a second degree or diploma in order to go into the field of helping others. A friend from church whom I've grown close to has a big heart for this group of people and I have utmost respect for that.

I attended my first pilates class today as well. When the instructor entered the room, and I saw this middle aged lady with less-than-toned arms and a little tummy to boot, my immediate judgmental self went oh man, gonna be some fat wobbling class! But gosh was I completely wrong. The instructor was waaaayyy more flexible and has really strong abdominal muscles. Not much achieved for a first class, but for sure I need to do more crunches :x

Here's a random bunch of photos. :)

So what have you been doing?

Probably the most asked question I've encountered thus far. After my uncanny encounter with explaining unemployment to an American, I've taken to saying that I'm currently on extended vacation, which seems more palatable to the NYC culture.

Times flies! Already a month and leaping into September. August was a good adjustment into angmoh Land and exploring. Apart from doing some exam prep, sideline research work and courses, I've also been spending time volunteering at the Salvation Army soup kitchen, which prepares and gives out hot meals to the homeless. It really does not require much skill, but I was surprised at how much work goes into feeding about 160 people every single day! Initially there was a glut of volunteers (summer holidays) and work was easy. But then came Fall and everyone was back to school and work, leaving me to take on much more! Salute goes out to the guys who do this everyday for years on end, despite all the hard work and some crappy patrons who clearly take advantage of the goodwill. Volunteering does leave me with many questions though, some of which I'd love to chat with Ed the head social worker about.

Have also had the opportunity to read. I'm not much of a reader really, but on a hot summer day, it's nice to cuddle up post-shower in aircon and feed on some literature. Catching up on years of the lack of reading, and have managed one book a week thus far. Checked off a couple of NYTimes best sellers - The Checklist Manifesto, Being Mortal, Freakonomics, Blink, Conversations with LKY and now onto the late Oliver Sacks The Mind's Eye (not very enjoyable actually).

Now that the summer slumber has sort of worn off (I hope), I think things may start to change with classes and grand rounds beginning again. Fingers crossed, may it be a fruitful Fall! :)