"Life or Something Like It" (horrible movie by the way)

Well friends, I had this lofty goal of somehow communicating individually with all of you, and telling you what I was up to, and finding out how you were doing, but... let's face it: that's just impossible. I will still attempt to send letters and cards by mail as much I as I can, but in the meantime, I thought I would finally get around to posting. I'm trying not to become one of those people who only communicates via one Christmas/holiday card a year, but if you do end up getting some kind of "seasons greetings" from me in your mailbox, know that I still deeply respect you, I just haven't had the chance to send anything else.

Now on to my life in short form: At the moment, I am in Edmonton, Alberta, sitting on the computer at my parent's house, trying to stay warm. I'm currently living with them again after a 5 year absence, and I have been here since I got back from Egypt in June. It's been interesting, being "home" again, but interesting in a good (if challenging) way. My parents are pretty relaxed and always have been, so I've not felt restricted, but it certainly has been interesting to be living with a mom, a dad, and a sister, after living with friends since high school.

After arriving back here in June, I did a little travelling, spent some time with friends, attended some weddings (although sadly none of yours) etc., and in July I started working at a little place called "The Mustard Seed", which has kept me here until now, and will keep me here at least until summer 2008. TMS is, to put it in dictionary terms, an "inner-city humanitarian organization." It used to be called a "street church", but thankfully has changed its name, due to the negative connotations (particularly in terms of evangelism) that have been associated with that type of term. We have evening meals, a clothing bank, a Food Bank, recreation activities (baseball team, bingo, karaoke, art class, "Hockey Night in Canada"), afternoon and evening drop-in, and so on. Essentially it's like a community centre, and it's located in the inner-city - the "ghetto" if you will - so the community is made up mostly of those who operate on a lower income scale than the rest of the city. My official position is "Volunteer Development Coordinator", but I find that I do a little of everything, and I'm loving it. I came on temporarily in July to fill a 6 week opening, but ended up becoming invested in the people and the place, and I'm still here, 6 months later.

TMS has had its own learning curve and set of challenges, but really, I would highly recommend the "ghetto" to anyone trying to continue the processing of the ME and the issues encountered there. One of the most fascinating things for me has been to observe the parallels between the inner-city community and the Egyptian community, and the similarities between the issues faced by each. If we talk about Western imperialism messing up matters for those in the ME, we can definitely talk about it messing up things for those on the lower end of the social scale in Western countries (I think about this especially in regards to Native Americans/First Nations, who unfortunately make up at least 50% of those living in Canadian "slums").

I've been lucky to work with a lot of great people, who have a lot of great vision for what "change" looks like, and how we invest in the inner-city, as opposed to just shoving money and donations of used clothing at it. I've had my frustrations with the broader community and their attitudes towards the people I've come to know over the past few months, but I've also seen plenty to be hopeful about. Sometimes I think that working at a place like this goes against my socialist tendencies, but perhaps I'm becoming more of an anarchist anyways (particularly in regards to the current Canadian government).

I didn't imagine last June that I'd still be in Edmonton at this time (I thought I'd be back somewhere in the Middle East) but things didn't work out like that, and that's been fine with me. I don't intend to stay at The Mustard Seed (or in Edmonton) much past next summer, but in the meantime, I'm happy to be here.

I hope you're all doing well, wherever you are, and whatever you're doing. CONGRATULATIONS to all those who have gotten married over the last few months (wish I could have been there!) - I'm celebrating for you from a distance. Good luck to those of you who graduated last year, or are looking towards graduation this spring - leaving school is sad, but outside the campus bubble is a great place to be (not that I don't miss the bubble sometimes...). And hooray for those of you who are thinking about returning to the ME - beaucoup blessings and maybe I'll see you there in the next couple of years.

Cheers and much love always,

-Dena