A Day in the Life...: The Week of the Interviews...

I had five different interviews for different internships this week, which was insane. After consideration, it came down to the Chaplaincy or The Arc. They are very different in what they would demand,but I think that either place I will be completely happy with and learn a lot from.
So, Monday after my interview at San Francisco General, I waited for Barrett to be done with her's. Since it was Martin Luther King Day, many things were going on in celebration. We headed downtown to the Yerba Buena Center (downtown off of Market St., where many major museums and memorials are located). We originally wanted to go to the African American Museum of Diaspora, but the line was outside and around the corner. We decided the Contemporary Jewish Museum would be fun, so we headed across the street. We decided to j-walk instead of go to the signal, just seeing a woman on crutches do it. But, with our luck, as we waited on the median, we see that it is a cop car coming down the street. He stopped on the road and both of us were thinking "Oh, shoot! We are going to get fined!" He pulled out his intercom and began talking, saying "Now that's not safe, but just go ahead." Haha how embarrassing...

When we eventually made it to the museum, we were really glad we went. They had a Curious George exhibit up, which was really neat. I had no idea about the stories behind the children's books and that H.A. and Margaret Reys (the authors) were such unique and interesting people, living in such a desolate time. They actually lived in Nazi Germany and patterned books like "Curious George Escapes from the Zoo" after their experience escaping from the Germans. In addition to their interesting lives, their artwork, though for children's books, is very impressive and whimsical.
Now I'm no romantic, but one section of the exhibit had a collection of New Year's cards they had sent out every year to their families and friends. Each year they had drawn a different scene or object that represented something about their year. They often put little characters to represent themselves in it too. My explanation doesn't do it justice, but it was heart-warming. I was amazed at how much this husband and wife were able to live with such joy in such a difficult time. Simply from seeing the exhibit, you could tell that they absolutely belonged together and that as long as they had each other and their art, they were not simply content, but truly happy.
The Museum also had an exhibit set up in honor of the day and Barrett and I were able to listen to some Jewish music sung by people like Billie Holiday or the Jackson Five.
After my interview on Wednesday, I decided to walk around Union Square, since it was nearby and I hadn't been there in five years, when I last visited. I walked past the St. Francis, which holds a huge history with the city that I wasn't even completely aware of. Another thing that I was thinking about when I walked by, was the last time that I stayed there. I was probably 9 or 10 and distinctly remember certain things, like standing outside the hotel, in the cold, waiting for the trolley with my family. Who would have ever guessed that ten years later, I'd be living a couple miles away, and working just on the other side of Market Street? It's funny where life takes us and overlaps, isn't it? It is also amazing how much my perception of the city has changed from living here versus visiting five years ago. I had no idea how small, yet how diverse this place is. I didn't even know about the different districts and had never even seen parts of town that have come to be my favorite places about the city. At this point, everything is becoming familiar, but none of it is losing it's charm. If anything, I'm becoming attached and things become more and more charming everyday.

The Saint Francis Hotel in Union Square.

Here is going out one night for ice cream sundays at Ghirardelli Square.

This was at the Recology Art show. I believe I mentioned the Recology center in a previous post,but in case I didn't', it is the trash and recycling center for San Francisco. This "house" was made entirely from recycled materials.