Life Update 07/08!

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, as I am making a new life transition, I wanted to take an opportunity to update you all a bit with where I'm at! The last time I wrote an update like this, I was graduating college in 2006, about to head to Australia for YWAM and Indonesia for Humanitarian Aid work. Well that came and passed, it was an amazing trip. Incredible people, sights, new cultures, personal growth, and of course, great surfing. Not a bad way to spend the last half of 2006.

In early 2007 upon my Aunt Wina's invitation to intern at Women's Empowerment, her Microfinance Non-profit, I moved to San Diego! Within the first week, I couldn't help but think it was meant to be as I acquired 2 new jobs in addition to my internship... :) First with Community Housing Works doing community development and also as a part time server at Jose O'Reilly's a Mexican-Irish restaurant.

I've stayed in pretty much the same routine since. Well, I wouldn't quite call it a routine... some highlights are... a month long trip to Europe, hiking the Swiss Alps with my Mom, Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles and visiting friends in the UK, France and a school in Spain... A couple triathlons, French classes, fun little trips to LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, WA State, WA DC, Costa Rica, and of course Tijuana for tacos and churros! I've made some wonderful friends and learned a lot of life lessons. I'm so grateful for my San Diego family who've not only embraced me but taught through example the definition of hospitality and graciousness.

Soooo, you're probably wondering by now... What's NEXT? Well, after getting my BA in International Business and Latin American Studies, my thirst for education was all but quenched. After much deliberation of programs and places, I finally accepted admission to the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. (www.iss.nl). I will be earning a MA in International Development-Poverty Studies and Policy Analysis. After being so fortunate to have studied in North America, Latin America, Australia, and China, I determined Europe would be the next step in my quest for global citizenship!

I'll let you all know how it goes. The program runs for 1.5 years, until December 2009. After that, all I know is I will be getting a job to pay off my student loan... as far as where/in what, well... I'll let you know as soon as I do!

To help you in that process, I FINALLY started a blog (should have done this years ago, alas!) You can check it out at: http://weavingworldcitizen.blogspot.com
I am going to try to keep it updated with photos, adventures, and the awesome things I'm going to be learning along the way! Keep in touch, I will miss all of you, but know I am only an email or IM away.

Love, Peace, and Unity,

Ruth :)

P.S. Not to sound cheesy, I feel like a recording artist making acknowledgements at the end of a CD... nevertheless I really want to let you all know how grateful I am to have you in my life:

Thank you Mom and Dad for your neverending solidness, support, wisdom, and inspiration. To Becky and Stan for being the best bro and sis a girl could have, from bargain shopping and makeovers to surfing and taming east timorese monkeys, we ALWAYS have a good time, love you guys! To Aunt Wina and Uncle Gary, thank you thank you thank you for being like second parents to me in my time in SD, for astronomical hospitality- from fun family dinners to a bed to sleep in, I will always look back so fondly on my time here with you guys. To Steven Luke and Kathleen for welcoming me into your lives and friend circles when I knew no one down here- I''m so lucky to have you guys! Cooommme to Oktoberfest and I'll return the favor ;). To all my extended family- Grandma Cox, Grammie, Grandpa and Grandma Pierce and all my amazing Aunts, Uncles and Cousins- thank you so much for your support and positive, affirming attitudes, I love you all dearly! To Ando and Carisia, thank you both so much for embracing me into your lives and letting me explore San Diego and share my life with you both- you're very special people and deserve the very best! Thanks to all my awesome coworkers from CHW and Joses, you guys have made work more than enjoyable, the best for you too! To Community Housing Works, especially Patti, Carmen, and Heather, thank you for embracing me and letting me express myself within your company, it has been such an encouraging and warm environment to grow and learn. To Marydol- thank you sooo much for your camraderie and support in our work at Solara, I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with, we've got to keep in touch :). To Shigeo- thank you for your unconditional love and acceptance, you've taught so much about love and how to treat others, you are amazing! To Abby, Karen, and Janelle you girls are the best and even though we're separated most of the time- our girls weekends will never be! To Simon and Dakotta you guys never fail to inspire, make me laugh, and help me see things a little differently- thank you for your sustained friendship! To Kristinita LOML, keep on living the dream girl, someday we will have our community garden/yoga studio/peace center! To Jean, Dr. Downing, and Dr. Wong- thank you so much for the letters of recommendation you so generously wrote for me- for those and the invaluable wisdom you've passed to me in my internship/classes, Thank you very much! To God, who I've yet to begin to understand, thank you for the lessons, heart, and hope. To everyone else, for touching my life in the myriad ways you each have, THANK YOU! You all deserve the best, and I love you all very much!

Inspiration

"Oxygen" -Willy Mason

I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.

On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.

I wanna see through all the lies of society
To the reality, happiness is at stake
I wanna hold up my head with dignity
Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
I wan't to live beyond the modern mentality
Where paper is all that you're really taught to create
Do you remember the forgotten America?
Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
That look around to all the people you see,
How many of them are happy and free?
I know it sounds like a dream
But it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night
I know it's hard to believe
But it's easy to see that something here isn't right
I know the future looks dark
But it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.

On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.

If i'm afraid to catch a dream
I'll weave your baskets and i'll float them down the river stream
Each one i weave with words i speak to carry love to your relief.

I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.

On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew