Familiar place, faces and spaces

Maya Angelou, unshakable and eternal champion of literature among other things, once noted that "the ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned".

I am home in Washington state after nearly six months of life in northern Florida. I feel optimistic, energized and ready for what's to come. The details of the unraveling and eventual collapse of my relationship will not be found here or any other place on the internet; if you want to know something we can talk. All I can say is I learned a lot, I sincerely hope she did as well, but there's still plenty to learn. I'm grateful for the highlights of the last year but I need to get on my own feet before I can confidently and completely contribute to a serious relationship.

The Pacific Northwest will be home for quite some time. I have no plans of leaving for any extended period of time and am committed to the area and the next page. Interestingly enough, that next page will include a fair amount of writing as I have resumed the process of composing an outline for what will become a book. Fortunately Seattle has some good publishers so I'll be trying to get in touch with them when I have finished the first manuscript (probably not until January or February).

As for work, my goal is to obtain my medical interpreter certificate. Florida helped me to learn that social work in a residential home is not for me. I still maintain a solid fidelity towards social services, especially with the Latino community, and I hope to achieve that with the interpreting. Only time will tell if interpreting is to be a career but I also have discovered I want to teach. It would have to be Spanish or social studies so if I return to school for my Master's degree the most productive route would be to study Bilingual Education or simply the Spanish language. For now, work and saving is the priority.

My volunteer aspirations have not faded, if anything they've been enhanced. I am still in contact with the non-profit organization in Atlanta that I've been helping translate video segments for their documentary about the internal displacement issue in Colombia. You can check out their website and watch the trailer at www.giveusnames.com Another project that is starting to take shape is something I'm trying to do with my alma mater, Pacific Lutheran University. The idea is to convince the Department of Hispanic Studies to pursue a study abroad program in Colombia. Obviously these kinds of things have to be initiated by a faculty member but the department has informed me they will meet in the next few weeks and will discuss the possibility. I've been collecting letters from people with unique experiences with Colombia including but not limited to former PLU students, academic personalities in four countries, people with diplomatic ties to Colombia, non-profits and a few others. I'm trying to throw the bait at them, we'll see who bites.

For the time being I'll be living at my parent's house in Gig Harbor with hopes of getting an apartment in Tacoma or Seattle area as soon as I'm able to get a small financial cushion under me. Thanks for reading. Lots to be done..time to get to work.