first christmas in the u.s.

today i was overwhelmed.

and overjoyed.

and uber grateful.

a few months ago i managed to "win" - i got one of my clients chosen for the ultimate christmas. a family contacted catholic charities and said they wanted to "adopt" a refugee family for christmas. one of my families, a refugee family from Chin State in Burma, was chosen to be their lucky adopted family. i helped them to create their "need" and "want" lists, all the while encouraging them not to expect to receive everything they were asking for! i had no idea what i had gotten them into....

this afternoon i went over to my clients' apartment, where i met the donor family, and their MOVING TRUCK. a huge garbage bag FULL of presents was dropped off - one bag for each person in the family. a box full of steaks was placed in the refrigerator for their holiday meal. my clients, a family of 5, had been sleeping on the floor until the donor family brought them bunkbeds. i was in awe.

this is my clients' first christmas in the united states. they told me that last saturday was the first time they had ever seen snow in their lives. the donor family's children and i then brainstormed all the fun things to do with snow and tried to explain to my clients what fun can be had with this weird white substance falling from the sky!

the mother of the family knows next to zero english. through giggles and holding back tears, she managed to say "i am very very thank you" along with several "merry christmas"es. it was PRECIOUS. she asked for each person in the donor family's name so that she could pray for each of them, because that was the only way she was able to thank them.

the family said they would wait until christmas day to open their presents.

when i went back to discuss their phone bill with them later in the afternoon, everything was already open :) ha! air mattresses, laptop, vacuum, clothes upon clothes, winter coats, mp3 players, playstation 3, and MORE. wow.

i am in awe of this donor family's generosity. they seriously just changed this refugee family's lives around. it was obvious that they were extremely wealthy, and perhaps buying all these presents to them was like dropping a few pennies on the ground for me and not picking them up. but regardless of this, that family really embraced what christmas should be about. i felt, and feel, truly blessed to have been a part of such generosity, and the sharing of such hope and joy.

merry christmas!

(...and now each of you should go adopt a refugee family! ha!)

cascanueces!!!

i just spent probably too long looking at my pictures from the christmas season of last year. at the time, i was really struggling to be away from home during the holidays, and strove to recreate every tradition possibly recreated whilst in mexico (including cinnamon rolls and red cake). i remember feeling very distanced from everyone at home, and feeling like it wasn't really christmas. but looking back, i think christmas time was some of my favorite times last year. i made new memories, did new things, and embraced christmas in a new way. i am grateful for my experience of christmas 2009!

one thing i remember that i did that TRULY got me in the christmas spirit last year was going to see Cascanueces (the nutcracker!). And again, as my mother and grandmother taught me to, i went to see the nutcracker this year.

my housemates, john and tina, and i got all dressed up, went out for indian food (yum!) and then headed to Music Hall downtown to see The Nutcracker. No version of the nutcracker will be as perfect as the one from my childhood at stranahan theatre, but i always enjoy it no matter what the differences are. it was QUITE the delight to see!

and the best part - as we were walking out of the show, we were greeted by a huge winter swirling snowy storm! this created a tense (at least for me) drive home, but it was seriously beautiful. so far it's been the one and only sighting of snow out in this hot land of kansas (it was 50 today!) i am very much looking forward to going home on thursday to a REAL winter wonderland.

in the meantime, enjoy a few photos of me and my housemates pumped for the nutcracker

arabic coffee

This morning i picked up new clients of mine to take them to apply for public housing. After having been in the United States for 3 months, these clients are now being passed to me - their new caseworker; clients in their first three months receive much more intense assistance, a sort of hand-holding-we'll-guide-you're-way-and-make-sure-everything-is-okay assistance. After three months, however, they are passed to my department, where we are able to offer them assistance (with a little less hand-holding) for up to five years after their arrival.

My new family is from Iraq, and they spoke a surprisingly good amount of English. Perhaps their daily half hour bus ride to DonBosco, where they receive ESL classes, has been benefiting them indeed. As they, and many other refugees, struggle to understand life in a whole new language, I too find myself pushed to learn new languages. On my van ride home for Thanksgiving I used an app on an iphone to learn several phrases in Burmese. For example "minglaba" is an often heard phrase around our office, meaning "good day" or "hello." I also chuckled as i learned the phrase "yay cho ba" which means "take a bath." we'll see if i ever learn that newly acquired phrase...

But today i got to learn some new words directly from clients. as i drove to work this morning i saw my first snow flurries since 2 winters ago. it was a delight. and i quickly learned the arabic word for snow, pronounced "filage" (like village, but with an "f"). When i ran into another Iraqi client living in the same building and i tossed around my newly learned term i got some strange looks and laughs.

after running here and there and everywhere in the "filage" with my new Iraqi clients, I was invited in to their home for some "Arabic Coffee" to warm up. Now, I do not like coffee. It is like eating liquid bitter dirt. gross. But of course I had to accept. i was served coffee in a tiny TINY mug, more comparable to the size of a shot glass, but all cute and with a handle. it was served on a little silver platter. an adorable little scene all around. but WOW. talk about the STRONGEST, most BITTER, miniature cup of coffee ever! i told them that there was no way i was going to be able to sleep tonight, even after a sip! (which might actually be true, since i'm awake at this hour still!) i struggled to get a few sips down before claiming i had another appointment i was late for...

Tomorrow morning I am giving another Iraqi client a ride to an appointment, perhaps I will surprise and astound her with my newfound Arabic words :-) Cynthia, I might need your help soon so i don't sound like a goober trying to talk with them!

familiarity

this past weekend i was reminded of beauty and safety in familiarity. things are starting to feel more like "home" here in kansas city (well, not home, just more familiar i suppose), but a visit from a friend took me back to a place of joy and comfort.

my dear friend elena, who is currently a youth pastor in "nearby" newton, kansas (about 2.5 hours), drove over to kansas city to pass the weekend with me. what did we do? nothing much. just the usual - played tennis, tried to decipher life, and embraced fall in every way possible.

after she left saturday night to go back to newton i found myself to be extremely content and happy. not that she had left, of course. but that i had been reminded of how good it feels to be around someone who knows you, who you can be yourself around, and who is just familiar. i'm sure that my new housemates, coworkers, and friends, will one day become more of that for me, but for now, it was such a delight to have such a dear friend to simply pass a few hours with talking and contemplating life with.

here are a few photos from our weekend:

city tour

today i got an official tour of kansas city.
kansas city, missouri, that is.
a woman from rainbow mennonite is an official city tour guide, and she offered to take us newbies out for a spin to see the sights of kansas city missouri.

kansas city is known for 3 things...
1. fountains (on the list of cities in the world with the most fountains, kc is #2...rome is #1)
2. BBQ - i did try some official KC BBQ, pretty good stuff
3. Jazz - i have yet to head to 18th and vine to check out the famous jazz, but i hope to soon!

CLICK HERE to see the pictures i took on our tour!

"i'm sorry ma'am"

Me: "Hi, this is Natalie from Catholic Charities. I'm calling about a client of mine who has some medical bills that are quite large and we thought should be covered by you (Blue Cross Blue Shield)."
BCBS: "Yes, ma'am, what is your name?"
Me: "Natalie."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't see your name here on the list of people authorized to discuss this account."
Me: "Yes, I know, but I am the policy holder's case manager and am trying to help them figure this whole situation out."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but I am not able to discuss this account with you. is the policy holder there with you?"
Me: "No, he is not. But I was wondering if there is a form you could fax me for him to fill out giving me permission, or if you would have a Karenni interpreter available so he could verbally give his consent."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but he would have to call himself to request that paper to be sent to his address."
Me: "Well how is he supposed to do that when he doesn't speak any English? Can't you just send it to the address listed on the account so it would go to him anyways?"
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, we can't do that. he's going to have to call himself."
Me: "But he doesn't speak English."
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but he's going to have to call in and give me permission to speak with you about the account."
Me: "Well how is he supposed to do that when he doesn't speak English?"
BCBS: "Well we offer translators."
Me: "Great! Do you have a Karenni interpreter?"
BCBS: "I'm sorry, Korean?"
Me: "No, Karenni. K-a-r-e-n-n-i"
BCBS: "I'm sorry ma'am, but we do not"
Me: "Well then I don't understand. You won't speak to me unless the policy holder calls to request a release of information form or if he calls and verbally gives consent. But you do not offer services of interpretation for him to do that. So HOW is he supposed to do that?"
....silence.....
Me: "I just don't get it."
.....silence....
BCBS: "Well he could have a friend or someone call in on his behalf and request those things."
Me: "That's exactly what I'm doing right now."
BCBS: "i'm sorry ma'am but he is going to have to do that."
Me: "But you just said he could have someone with him call for him!"
BCBS: "Um....."
Me: "Couldn't I just call and pretend to be an interpreter or friend of his to request these things?"
BCBS: "No ma'am, it has to be him."
Me: "But how are you going to know?!"
BCBS: "He needs to call in himself."
Me: "Well then you need to provide a Karenni interpreter"
BCBS: "Um, let me ask my supervisor...."
....doodly dinging music plays as I'm on hold.....
BCBS: "I'm sorry for your wait ma'am thank you for holding. My supervisor says that we can provide a Karenni interpreter."

. . . FINALLY!

antioch park

Friday i happened across a beautiful thing ... Antioch Park. Situated in a little nook about 5 miles from my house, this park is full of lakes, paths, trees, and big open spaces. It is lovely. I spent a large portion of my afternoons both Saturday and Sunday at Antioch Park, trying to embrace fall, relaxing, enjoying nature, and reading. It was a delight!

Here a few pictures i took of the two (yes, only 2) trees i found that were not green i the park. autumn is struggling out here in kansas....but these two trees were at least beautiful!






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