Day 26: "Coincidences are God acting anonymously."

I got my official sleep attack out of the way early today, conking out in the car en route to work for over an hour, even before I had read my morning sonnet. Today was my day in the office with Vera, and the first time in history when I ended up working later than Papa!!

In the morning, I organized files and prepared cover sheets for a number of employment-related papers, before starting to compile an intern roster and edit another article for the Annual Report. I had forgotten how much I love working at a desk! Of course, field work is unmatchably exciting, but I also appreciate the simple charm of filing, typing, and organizing. In addition, I talked to Melva Williams from SBY's Teen Outreach Program (TOP) about helping her to develop curriculum which would integrate life skills awareness into social studies lessons at D.C. public schools. This should surely be an interesting assignment!

For lunch, I went out with ma sista Jess to Banana Cafe & Piano Bar, a Latin American restaurant which is on the same street as Sasha Bruce. What followed was a beautiful conversation about (nearly) everything under the sun, from our life philosophies to the nitty-gritty of our social lives. Talking to Jess is always so refreshing, and today I even got to hear some of her poetry! I won't attempt to paraphrase any of it here, but, as always, I am so darn inspired by her. As we walked back from our wonderful meal, we saw two vehicles which had the 113, my lucky number, somewhere on them. Jess must bring me good luck!

Back at the office, I discovered that the computer I had been using was locked, and I couldn't access the documents on which I had been working this morning. Luckily, retyping the intern roster didn't take long, and I should have time to re-edit the article tomorrow. Before leaving, I stopped by the office to ask Jim what he thought of my article for the Annual Report. He seemed to really like it, and has submitted it to Executive Director Debbie Shore for review.

I will miss my colleagues while I'm in Brazil, and I look forward to seeing them in a few weeks! I am immeasurably grateful for my experience thus far at Sasha Bruce. Working here, I feel myself becoming kinder and more aware everyday.

Home after listening to a great new single ("Altogether") by my classmate Chloe Angelides on the Metro and a hauntingly lovely song by a flute player live at the station, I went for an invigorating jog. Even more invigorating, perhaps, was my subsequent phone conversation with Dashell Laryea, an incredible FRIEND of mine. I prattled on and on about my job while Dashell gave me some nice esoteric gap year reading suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Fair Chance, the organization with whom Dashell did his Senior Project in high school, has worked closely with Sasha Bruce, so Dashell was familiar with SBY's programs!

I now plan to check the weather for the week and start packing for BRASIL -- lalalalalalalalaaa!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8K3yuKMGEw

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