Setting Things Ablaze

Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you-it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you...Hopefully, you leave something good behind.-Anthony Bourdain

It's amazing how fast your life can change. Two weeks ago I was still in the small town of Libby, Montana, packing for a year in Manchester, England. I then spent eight days in Chicago, engaging in discussions about topics of varying degrees of intensity. Now, I am in Manchester, England. I am living with two nuns, Sister Jean and Sister Lynfa. Sister Lynfa has been out of town since I got here, so I haven't met her yet, but Sister Jean is very nice. They make wine, and they are going to teach me how to make wine in a week or two. One of my fellow YAGM's, Izzy, is staying with me for a few days because her hostess is out of town, and yesterday Paul and Mark, a couple from the church where Izzy and I will be working, came by with their friend Caroline and they took us to brunch, and then they took us to the Gay Pride Parade. I've never been to a Gay Pride Parade before, but it was really fun. Manchester knows how to throw a parade. This morning we went to church at the church where we will be working, and met a bunch of new people, and one of the ladies from church came over after church and made us lunch, which was delicious. The people at church are all very nice, and welcoming. I think I'm going to LOVE this. Now, if I can just convince the two very large, very unwelcome, spiders to leave my bedroom, that would be lovely.  

Seek Those Who Fan Your Flames

Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
Through which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which
Christ blesses the world.-St. Teresa of Avila


This is it folks! The day, the very day that I have been waiting for for months, is here. I have already said goodbye to some of my new friends, and later today, I will be headed to England, along with my new friends Allison and Heath, Annie and Izzy and Rosina, Danielle and Katie, Sarah and Sarah, and Grace and Molly. Tomorrow morning, Grace, Izzy and I will land in Manchester airport, and we will all begin this next phase of our lives. I have gotten to know these people pretty well over the past few days, and I am so excited to share in this journey with them. I know that some people often wonder where exactly are the young people in the Church? Well, today, 93 of us are heading to eleven different countries around the world, to live in relationship with people of cultures different than our own, in order to get to know them, and to live with them in community. So yeah, we, the young people of the Church, we are out here, and we're doing something real.

Fire within Me

Life is short. Do stuff that matters.-Siqi Chen

In two days, I will be getting on a plane headed to Manchester, England. I've been preparing for this for months, but it hasn't felt real until now. The last few days have been a whirlwind. Right now I am pretty exhausted and emotionally drained, but it's all going to be worth it, because in two days I will be headed to Manchester, and it is going to be a year full of laughter, and community, and new friends, and maybe some hard times and sadness and exhaustion. It will be an adventure for sure, and I am looking forward to every moment of it. This will probably be my last blog post written from the United States, my next one will most likely be written after I get to England and settled in a bit. I am SO READY for this.

Fire Burns Brighter in the Darkness

She new she was playing with fire. And fire inevitably burns. No matter how beautiful it is when it's burning, it always leads to destruction in it's wake.-Smriti Brar

Today has been a pretty intense day. A large part of our discussion centered around race relations. That's a difficult topic for a lot of people. As a girl of mixed race, I sometimes feel like I don't have a voice. A lot of times, especially in the past year, if someone said something offensive about people of color, and if I said anything about it, I was told that I was being oversensitive. So a lot of times, I say nothing, because a lot of the time, I don't feel heard. I don't feel like my opinion matters, but it's not even just about race.

People are prejudiced against all kinds of things. Skin color, appearances in general. Sexual orientation. Whatever. I have written similar things before, and some people might be like, "Jasmine, get off of your soap box, you're beating this into the ground." That's the thing though. If people would stop oppressing and persecuting people who are different than they are, these things wouldn't have to be beat into the ground. Because, like it or not, black people, white people, Asian people, Irish people, gay people, bisexual people, transgender people, Muslim people, Jewish people, Hindu people  and all other people, we're all people. We all bleed red, we all have heartbeats. We all want to be loved, and we want to be accepted for who we are. We want other people to get to know us before they decide whether we are worthwhile or not. We all want to and deserve to be treated like human beings, with dignity, and respect. We need to stop making generalizations such as all (insert group of people) are (insert negative or positive characteristic). Because not everyone of any certain group of people is the same. We are all human beings, we all have good things about us, we all have flaws, and within each group of people, there are good people, and bad people. You can't just decide someone is a terrorist just because they are Muslim, because, some Muslims are terrorists, but a lot of them are not terrorists. So, yeah. We all bleed red, we all have heartbeats, we are all human beings and deserve compassion. 

Light the Fire

Light the fire, in my soul.

Fan the flame, make me whole.

I don't know where I've been.

Light the fire in my heart again.-Light the Fire-Bill Maxwell

The last few days have been kind of a whirlwind, but in a good way. Saying goodbye to my family, coming here to Chicago to this orientation, being together as a group of 90 something people again, reconnecting with the people that I met in April, getting to know my country group, talking with people that have served in my placement before and people that are familiar with my placement, getting so much information thrown at me. It's kind of exhausting. And overwhelming. But pretty soon, I'll be in England. It's going to be an awesome year, and also challenging, and it is all going to be amazing. I have never been more excited for anything in my life. Let's do this!