My thoughts post-Hotel Rwanda screening.
- Life is short.
- People are suffering.
- Those who aren’t suffering like to ignore those who are.
- I want to adopt – preferably orphans who would otherwise be overlooked.
- I’m sickeningly ignorant about Africa.
The following quote in the movie took my breath away. I won’t soon forget it.
“The West, all the superpowers – they think you’re dirt, you’re worthless. You’re the smartest man here. You could own this hotel, except for one thing. You’re black. You’re not even a nigger. You’re an African. They’re not going to stop this slaughter.”
I’m reminded of a quote that I read everyday for three years during French class.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me –
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)
I’m getting pretty settled – minus my room which still needs some help.
I’ve put in somewhere between 90-100 resumes….whhhyyy won’t anyone call me for an interview?!
Living near Nick is beautiful. Last night he had to work late so I brought a basket of food I’d made (lasagne, salad & strawberry shortcake) to the shop. We had tea lights and the computer monitor as lighting.
Today I came down to UW Milwaukee for a non-profit career fair that has proven to be a waste of time. Another dead end. :::sigh:::
So today is my last day in town, or Oregon for that matter. Tomorrow, bright and early, I’ll start making my way towards Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I’ll be living with a distant relative until I leave in September for England.
Nick and I have been dating for seven months, and now we’ll finally be able to both be in the same time zone, as well as the same city – what a concept! I can’t even express how excited I am. But in the same breath, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that moving is also sad because of all the great people I’m leaving behind.
Tomorrow evening I’ll be picking him up at the Boise airport - he’s flying in to drive the rest of the way with me. I’m slowly but surely checking off items on my long “to do” list.
My summertime adventure in the Midwest is about to begin… 
After reading RegularGoy’s entry on immigration (which I highly recommend), I was reminded of a section from Chris Rock’s stand-up routine from Never Scared – which I thought was hilarious, so here is a tamed down version of it:
Bush lied to me, they all lied to me. “We’ve gotta go to Iraq, because they’re the most dangerous nation on earth. They’re the most dangerous regime on earth.” But if they’re so dangerous, how come it only took 2 weeks to take over the whole freakin’ country? C’mon - you couldn’t take over Baltimore in two weeks.
Now when the war started, it was kinda great, it brought out a lot of patriotism. Patriotism’s beautiful. But slowly but surely, the patriotism turned into hatriotism. You’d see on the news, all of these weird white guys getting overly patriotic - with their flag hats, flag drawers, freaking flag pickups, sayin’: ”I’m American man, I’m American, screw all these stupid foreigners.” And I thought, “Man… calm it down.”
Ya see, there was a lot of accepted racism being tossed around when the war started. People would say:
“I’m American man, I’m American, screw the French!” – that was cool.
“I’m American man, I’m American, screw the Arabs!” - and even that was cool.
But then they went to:
“I’m American man, I’m American, screw all these illegal immigrants!” and then I really started listening, because I know Blacks and Jews is next!
I was thinking, “Any day now… that train’s never late!”
Lately (as in about a year) a thought has been nagging me. Why is it that when powerful church leaders disagree, church splits often result? Why can’t we have all-out theological brawls, and then move on – whether or not an agreement is reached?
Today when people hold differing opinions it becomes very likely that a new church, or even denomination will be created. There is no unity in Christianity today.
I’ve been thinking – what a powerful statement it would make if churches and denominations began merging, rather than splitting. What prevents this from actually happening? Pride, greed, and religiosity.
Update: I did email him and express my condolences. I admit – that simple act has made me feel much better.
Tonight as I scrolled through my email I noticed my history professor had sent me a message. He was supposed to turn in my final grade last week, but when the time came and went – the Registrar contacted me, so I dropped him a line letting him know that my graduation depended on it. I wasn’t prepared for what he would write back to me.
Of course I had no idea and it was like a knife through the heart. I had just bad-mouthed him earlier today to the Registrar – I was trying to explain that I did have enough credits to graduate…. if only my slow professor would get my stupid grade turned in.
I am selfish and heartless. I never once thought that the delay was legitimate – I only thought of my own needs. And after my Dad died, I constantly encountered people who only wanted to talk about themselves… sometimes I felt like screaming, “I hate you! Don’t you people understand that my world has just stopped?”
I have become the person I hated. What a disgrace.
