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Day 263 – Faith P.

Posted in Alcohol, Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2010| 4 Comments »

For any Spanish speakers out there, you can see a news report on the Year of Giving by Spain’s CUATRO. 

Jazz in the Garden happens every Friday night in the Summer at the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden. (photo: Reed)

For today’s recipient we go to downtown Washington, DC on a Friday night to Jazz in the Garden; a free concert series featuring an array of jazz artists performing a range of styles—from swing to progressive to Latin—every Friday evening in the summer at the National Gallery of Art’s sculpture garden.  Picture a beautiful outdoor setting with people relaxing on benches or blankets with picnic baskets while the sun sets and delightful music plays in the background.  I was sure to find someone to give my $10 to here.

I found Faith, a 30-year-old government worker, standing next to the reflecting pool.  She was on a date, but was kind enough to take a few minutes to learn about the Year of Giving.  “I’m going to use the money to either buy some drinks tonight or possible some gelato,” she said as I placed the ten dollars in her hand. 

Faith is planning a month-long celebration for her 31st birthday and calling it Faith Fest. (photo: Reed)

I asked if I could ask her some questions.  “Sure, what do I care?  My life is an open book.”  I learned that Faith is originally from southeast Arkansas although she later moved to Little Rock.  More recently she lived in Madrid for three and a half years until moving to DC about a year ago.

She is pretty funny.  Most of her responses were witty and made me laugh.  She told me about the previous person she dated.  “I was in a charity auction where guys bid on you to raise money for the charity.  So he kept bidding on me but somebody else won.  He later asked me out though.” 

She is a people person: part social networker part organizer.  “I have never seen a city more into happy hours to benefit random causes,” she says referring to DC.  She’s right, it seems that every charity and nonprofit in DC, with the exception of maybe Alcoholics Anonymous, has a happy hour once a month to raise awareness and money for their cause. 

Speaking of occasions for imbibing, Faith mentions that her birthday is October 23rd and this year she is planning Faith Fest – a month-long array of celebratory events in honor of the occasion.  I think that is a great idea, why limit it to just one evening.  

Spanish Eyes (photo: Reed)

I sensed a bit of an adventurous spirit in Faith and asked her to share the craziest thing she has ever done.  “Oooh…” she said cooling herself with a bright red Spanish style fan, “that would be impossible for me to confess to you if you are going to put it on the internet.”  She did share with me that she biked 500 miles across Spain from the Basque city of Irun along the famed Compestela trail to Santiago de Compostela. 

As we were getting close to the primary election here in DC I asked her who she thought would win the mayoral race.  She said she felt that Vince Gray would win.  She was right too.  Last Tuesday voters went to the polls and ousted current Mayor Adrian Fenty as the Democratic nominee. 

Her date left some friends to come over and say hello and check out what was going on.  After all, I was photographing the girl he was on a date with, so I can understand his curiosity.  About the same time a security officer came by informing us that the sculpture garden was closing and that we needed to exit.  On our way out Faith told me that she and her date were heading to dinner at Brasserie Beck, a great Belgian restaurant/bar.

Before leaving the couple I asked her if there was anything that she needed or wanted that YoG followers could help her out with.  I got an interesting request.  “Well, I have this Argentine leather coat that got left behind in Madrid and I would love it if someone would be willing to bring it to me here in DC.”  So, leave Faith a message here if you or someone you know will be traveling from Madrid to Washington and willing to pick up the coat.

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Day 262 – Rusol A. & Iman N.

Posted in Savings, Unknown, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 18, 2010| 1 Comment »

[Tonight] I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.  Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.” – President Barack Obama, Aug. 31, 2010

In March of 2003 President Bush ordered US troops to invade Iraq in what was called Operation Iraqi Freedom.  About the size of California, Iraq has about 31 million people.  Since 2003, many citizens of Iraq have been killed, displaced, or listed as missing.  I met up with two young Iraqi women on Day 262.  Meet Rusol and Iman.

Fountain at Dupont Circle (photo: Reed)

Sitting on the edge of the fountain at Dupont Circle the girls talk and laugh with one another like any other 21-year-old girls in the US.  But I learn that these girls have lived a very different life than many of their peers here in DC.

Both originally from Baghdad, Rusol has been in the US for one year and Iman two years.  Iman, a Sunni, came here because her father, a former officer in the Iraqi military, started receiving threats from terrorists.  Rusol, a Shiite who lives with her mother and sister, also moved here in search of a more safe and stable society.  “There are no more beautiful places in Baghdad,” they said.  They have all been destroyed.  Life is very different than what they remember before the war.  “It used to be very safe there.”  Despite all of this, they are both quite unhappy here in the US.  “Living here is a little like jail,” Iman says.  “People just work all the time.  Before I came here I thought the US was very fun and lots of parties, but it has only been work, even on weekends, and no parties.”  Rusol agreed, “It’s not like what we would see on TV.”

Although they are both working now, it took some time.  “It’s hard to find a job here since we are still learning English,” Rusol says.  On this day they had both just finished their shift at their nearby job at a restaurant.  Rusol, an attorney back in Iraq, says that she would never tell her friends back in Iraq that she is working as a waitress.

People of Iraq

Day 262 was September 2nd which is in the middle of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn until sunset.  This month-long commitment is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality.  I could tell the girls missed celebrating Ramadan like they would in Iraq.  They told me that when the sun sets during Ramadan, nobody is on the streets.  Everyone is inside.  “It’s a good time for dating,” they say.

I was curious about how dating was different for young Iraqis.  “Dating is not public,” Iman tells me referring to the fact that although quite common it is generally not welcomed by parents.  “My mom used to tell me that if I wanted a boyfriend that I should marry him.”  In spite of this, they told me that most young people do date.  They, however, said they were in the minority and didn’t have boyfriends.

I asked them what they are going to do with their five dollars.  

“I’m going to keep it,” Iman said.  Rusol didn’t know yet what she would do with it.  They said that although the Year of Giving would not be something that you would probably find people doing in Iraq, it could happen.  “Especially after the war. Nothing is strange now, you can see anything,” Iman told me.

Something that really struck me was that both girls said that notwithstanding the insecurity and potential dangers of returning to Iraq, they preferred to move back.  This made me so sad.  They have not integrated into society here and made friends.  Sometimes I think it is really hard to make friends here in the US.  Especially for adults. 

As we come to a pivotal point in the future of Iraq I wonder if things are any better there today than seven and a half years ago.  Although I have the utmost respect for all the military service men (US, Iraqi and other nationalities) that have served their respective countries there, it doesn’t sound like things are “better.”  So many lives have been lost.  Almost 5,000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.  I have heard numbers from 151,000 to over a million.  The girls estimate was closer to a million.  My cousin made two tours in Iraq and thankfully he is safely back home in Tennessee now, however, I am sure his service there came at a cost to him.  

What do you think?  Are things better there today?  I would love to hear from some people in Iraq.

If there are any Iraqi women in the DC area that have went through this difficult period that Rusol and Iman are going through and would like to reach out to them, let me know and I can try to connect you.

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Day 257 – Jessica R.

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

Live music at Nanny O'Brien's (photo: Reed)

I met up with my friend Kimon for dinner in Cleveland Park.  Afterwards we went over to Nanny O’Briens to have a couple pints of Guinness.  

I’ve been to this place several times…used to go there on Tuesday nights for trivia.  It’s a no frills neighborhood pub that has straightforward service and live music some evenings.  This night there was a pony-tailed man strumming the guitar to typical sing-along type bar songs like Brown Eyed Girl and American Pie.

In the front of the bar there are these two little secluded tables that are tucked away on each side of the door.  They look like a nice romantic place to sit and have a chat with your loved one.  I noticed a young couple that were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the bar.  The carved out window nook lends itself to that feeling I think.  Would it be rude and insensitive to go and interrupt this beautifully peaceful moment?  Who knows, but I was about to find out.

A shot from outside of Jessica and Jonah enjoying a drink at Nanny O'Briens in Cleveland Park, DC. (photo: Reed)

Jessica is a 28-year-old human rights advocate.  She mainly focuses on Sudan, Burma (Myanmar) and the Congo.  Originally from New York City, she moved to DC about a year and a half ago. 

She and her boyfriend Jonah were killing some time before heading over to the Uptown Theater to see Inception.  Opened in 1936, the Uptown is a historic art deco theater featuring just one screen.  Sadly I haven’t been there yet to see a movie.  Shame on me!

I learned that Jessica used to live on an island in Southeast Alaska.  “It was interesting.  I was friends with this one guy who had dodged the Vietnam war by paying people off with homemade baked wheat bread,” she went on to say.  Odd…what would make you think to do that?  Hmmm…I don’t want to go to Vietnam.  What can I give these people that will keep them quiet?  I know, I’ll bake some bread, wheat bread no doubt, and give it them.  At least they were quiet I guess while they were eating the bread right? 

Jonah and Jessica (photo: Reed)

I definitely felt like I was intruding and felt bad about that.  I tried to be as quick as possible and let them slip back into the moment where they were before I interrupted.  His scotch and soda looked almost done and she was finishing up a gin and tonic and they were getting ready to head over to the theater.

“I think I will treat myself to a really nice coffee,” Jessica says referring to the $10 that was on the bar table.  Wow…ten bucks must buy a hell of a cup of coffee!

I grabbed a few photos, thanked them for their time and told them to enjoy the movie.  

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Day 110 – Ed D.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2010| 4 Comments »

The Year of Giving received so much attention yesterday due to Liane Hansen’s report on NPR Weekend Edition.  I got about 3,500 hits and 75 messages yesterday alone.  So many touching stories from you about how you somehow relate to one of the recipients or have been moved by my own commitment.  I hope that you know that your letters and stories mean a lot to me.  I am slowly responding to your emails.  Please keep sharing…together our collective stories and efforts make a difference. 

Many of you asked how my job interview went on Friday.  Thank you.   I think it went well…but I won’t know anything for probably a week or so.

Did you read the article that was linked at the end of Alex’s email yesterday; interesting research on the contagiousness of kindness.  I don’t have a controlled study like they had to conduct their research, but my unscientific data shows the same results.  It’s powerful.  Have you found yourself catching the bug?  If so, please drop a note here and share what you are doing to spread kindness.

When I ended up at a small gathering at my friend and former work colleague Daniel’s house I was introduced to Ed.  One of the nicest guys I have met.  His easy demeanor and sense of humor strike me immediately.  I asked if he would accept my ten dollars.  He said sure. 

Originally from Colorado, Ed is a “self employed contractor, carpenter, tile setter” specializing in renovating kitchens and bathrooms.  Although he does all kinds of work, he has a special interest and talent in working with full round log timber frames.  He got started after he completely remodeled his own log house in Colorado 16 years ago. 

Well there was more interesting things about Ed.  He is a motorcycle aficionado, lists skiing and glass blowing among his hobbies, and was an exchange student at the University of Tampere in Finland.  I was an exchange student in both Mexico and Spain and have also been to Finland almost 30 times.  It’s funny the similarities that you can discover when you take time to speak to a stranger.

I shot some video of Ed.  He talks a little about his work and interest in building homes as well as what he thinks of DC.  He was extremely open about himself and spoke to me about coming out that he was gay.  Now 45, Ed only came out 8 years ago when he moved to DC.  When I asked him if there was anything that he could use help with that I could post on my Lend a Hand section, he laughed and said “you can help me find a partner!”  So new territory for the Year of Giving to serve as a “match-maker” of sort.  Ed shares what he looks for in a partner.  If anyone wants to meet Ed, please shoot me a message with some information about yourself and I will forward your message on to Ed.  Who knows…maybe he will contact you!

As for the $10.  Ed was heading to see a band at the Black Cat and said it would end up getting spent there most likely.

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