Wal-Mart Protest and Unite Against the War on Women rally

First off, happy May everyone!  Can't believe it is May.  I feel like I just arrived in DC, and in a few short weeks, I'll be heading back to Illinois.  DC has been a great time.  So glad that I moved out here, and I can definitely see myself moving back out here in a few years.

Last week was both slow and busy at NOW.  Right now a lot of staff and officers are on vacation, because our annual conference is at the end of June, and they will not be able to take off when it gets closer.

On Thursday, we did partake in action with local workers' groups.  We have never been big fans of Wal-Mart since we don't believe they give their associates enough benefits.  Therefore, when allegations of Wal-Mart bribery in Mexico surfaced in the New York Times, we were all over it.  We, along with ally groups, protested a Marriot Hotel, because Arnie Sorenson aka Mr.Marriot is on the board of directors for Wal-Mart.  We are asking that Mike Duke and Rob Walton of Wal-Mart step down as well as stop construction of Wal-Mart stores in DC until a full federal investigation has taken place.  Needless to say, the protest got pretty intense.  Never have I seen so many security guards.

Anyways, this past weekend was also the Unite Against the War on Women Rally.  Rallies were held in 47 locations across the nation.  My boss spoke at the one in DC.  The DC rally had an array of speakers that ranged from men to women to transgender people to Catholics, atheists, and people of other faiths.  I truly enjoyed the rally.  It was upbeat and inspiring, and nice to see what you are working for.

Blahhh

Hellooooo everyone!


Sooo last week, not too much happened around the office, other than the fact that it was really busy. There really isn't much that I can say about the past week. Oh, there was this client who came in who didn't speak English, and I instantly panicked. I'm always very nervous about using my Spanish skills in real life situations! All of our volunteers who speak Spanish were in meetings, but I managed to maneuver through the conversation (haha)! On Saturday we had this volunteer appreciation event, which included pizza and cake! So, I was excited about that! Well, I need to get back to work, so I will talk to everyone soon. Have a good week :)

Woah!! Hey-oh! New layout for the Blogg... I am not exactly sure how to feel about this.... or how to use if for that matter...

On to the residency... Things have slowed down considerably as the approach to the end of the intern program at New America. I helped screen the new interns, and I have to say, I do not think I would have stood a chance to getting a spot at NAF for the summer had I never worked there. The competition is incredibly rough, especially during the summer.

One of the things that contributed to the smaller workload is the release of Peter's new book. It has been very exciting seeing how everything comes together. He is scheduled to travel extensively to promote the book-- he kicked off with the cover story of Time Magazine. Pick a copy if you get a chance, it is fantastic article... I am pretty sure he will be on John Stewart to promote the book as well..

Welp! Until next time!!

INSPIRE summit!

Hey everyone!

I've been so bad at this blog lately... my apologies. Around this time last month things started getting crazy. My sister came to visit, then another friend came and we did some traveling around Scandinavia, and then my research got hectic. I'm actually writing this from the Illini Union, as I'm currently on campus for the INSPIRE summit, a conference between Swedish universities and UIUC. Yesterday morning I gave a presentation on my research, so I've spent the last couple weeks in Sweden preparing intensively for that, and flew onto campus last weekend. Being back is strange, but pretty exciting. This Sunday, I'll be on a plane back to Stockholm!

The conference has been amazing. Last night I elbowed my way into the VIP dinner, where I ate fancy food with the U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Chancellor Wise, and the Presidents of three Swedish universities, among other really interesting attendees. I talked up CLP to lots and lots of people.

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my residency, but I'll update more extensively (with pics!) very soon!

I love reading about everyone's awesome semesters! Excited to see you all again. If any of you are on campus this week, let me know!

Mel

Happy Monday!

Last week was amazing! Sunday was our last training of the year, and to my surprise, all of the graduating seniors were honored and congratulated. At the end we all reflected on our experience with LIFT, and it actually got pretty emotional. It was all bitter sweet because so many of us won't be returning next semester, including one of our supervisors! Thursday was our LIFT-Chicago Annual Benefit, and I was the only intern invited (shhh, don't tell anyone) Haha. It was really nice, and I got to meet the founder of LIFT. It was held at this place called Salvage One, which is like the coolest venue ever, seriously! Aside from the awkward mingling, the food was great and I was excited to get dressed up! Saturday we went to a Cub's game. The tickets were donated to us, so all of the volunteers were invited and so did our clients who were super excited! The seats were perfect, the weather was great, and the Cubs won! Soo yea, last week was cool. Hope everyone has a good week! :)

Pictures from the event. Don't be lazy, click the link! (=

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liftcommunities/6950015328/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liftcommunities/7096090517/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/liftcommunities/7096090739/

White House Garden Tour

Thanks to Helen I was able to get a tour of the White House gardens this weekend.  Jenny and I were both able to go and bring friends.  I actually saw where the president plays basketball.  Well, the court was enclosed by evergreens, but I like to think I saw where he plays.  It was truly a fantastic day complete with my first ever vegan meal, which wasn't half bad.

This past Tuesday was Equal Pay Day so I attended two events for that.  Then on Wednesday, I attended a fantastic panel at the Wilson Center that focused on women's leadership in the Middle East.  The speakers were from Oman, UAE, and Egypt.  The panelists were successful business and diplomat leaders in their countries.  I also attended a briefing on VAWA, Violence Against Women Act.  Futures Without Violence sponsored the briefing that focused on the health effects of children exposed to violence in the home.  Not only do these children suffer short-term effects like asthma or bed wetting, they are more likely to suffer from obesity,  depression, and chronic heart failure.  Children who live in abused homes live in fear; therefore, their bodies are constantly in fight or flight mode, which puts more stress on their body and brains.  The temporal lobes of their brain, which control emotions, do not fully developed, because their brain stem is working overtime.  Therefore, America will save money if it reauthorizes VAWA, because we will not have to pay for these long-term effects.  

Easter Egg Roll!

Hey y'all! I've been bad about blogging, but I'm back and I can hear all of you cheering. Yeah.

Work's been amazing. Life outside work has been amazing. I did the Easter Egg Roll. It was pimpin. Otherwise I have no idea what to talk about that would be appropriate to talk about. So here are some pics.