steve francis saves the day

haven't been able to volunteer to free arts (an organization here in new york that is dedicated to bringing the healing powers of the arts to abused and at-risk children) for a while. and last saturday, was finally able to. went all the way up to harlem to join some 50 kids work on "island castaway" themed arts and crafts projects.

was waiting on line to be partnered to a kid, probably the 12th volunteer there or so, when rosa, one of the event heads pulled me out of the queue. she tells me that there's this kid who doesn't want any part of the event and she then asks whether i wanted to be partnered with him, me being the "veteran" that i am. up for the "challenge," i gladly accepted.

nathaniel, the 9-year old african american kid i was buddied up with, sure enough wasn't enthusiastic about the whole day at all. i showed him the different projects we could do and still no signs of wanting to do anything. i tried asking him whether he played basketball. and he said yes. further, asked his favorite team in the nba, which turns out to be the orlando magic. favorite player, steve francis. finally i got him going a little there. so i thought. for when i showed him the other projects and asked whether he wanted to work on something, he answered with "i just want to sit down."

and so we sat at the wooden sailboat construction area with me hoping he'd do that project somehow (for who wouldnt want to do one). it was hard convincing him to do a sailboat at first but eventually he did. i came up with the idea of painting the sailboat with an orlando magic theme. and so we painted the boat blue and white, wrote orlando magic on the sides, drew blue stripes on the sail, and decorated it with a few stars and the number 3, steve francis' number.

after that project we even worked on another one. we made these foamboard cutouts of the word "magic" (instead of sea creatures as we were supposed to) and again decorated it with the number 3 and a blue and white basketball. he said he'd hang it right on top of his bed at home. the day progressed, and he had warmed up. he was even showing a displayed photo of him in the center taken when he was still 5 years old. and also of a recent painting he did which was hanged on the wall. and when rosa had asked natu towards the end whether he still regretted having come to the event, he said he no longer did.

the once "i dont want to be any part of this" kid had softened up and eventually enjoyed himself. and i, thinking that i was there giving of myself, end up once again actually gaining and learning more than i had actually given.

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very friendly staff at cuban resto

rest of the weekend: aside from the volunteer work, the weekend sure was filled with other diverse expriences. had my share of mingling with strangers—chitchatting with a staten island girl at pomme frites, one-one-one basketball with a thai-american guy from austin, texas, getting impromptu spanish lessons from a very friendly colombian waiter at a cuban cafe, giving the right directions (finally) to these tourists (this whole regular yoga thing must really be doing wonders with pushing me into treating people with kindness coz i couldve sworn cooper union is all the way up in the bronx but no told those folks its just a right and then a left).

ummm, ok. i'll just wait outside, thanks.

had my own share of "closed-mindedness" as well—found myself at a singles for christ prayer meeting (long story) which i thought was a little bit too over the top for me. JEEEZUS! PRAISE THE LORD!!! lots of fun taking photos of those "fanatics though", so awkwardness was well worth it (lots of emotion and conviction).

dip, newfound fondue cafe/bar

also, discovered a nice fondue place called dip and enjoyed the very nice melted-chocolate dipped treats (not to mention the bass ale and sauvignon blanc which i now realize is a no-no with chocolates). and rediscovered the joy of coming home at 2AM after a saturday night out, seeing the shitfaced williamsburg hipsters ride the subway home, some of them even puking. nice nice. but ENOUGH, there's a day to look forward to tomorrow. gotta sleep right now.