Vietnamese food tragedy!

My very favorite restaurant in the whole world burned down yesterday. :(  

I have such wonderful memories of LATE night food runs while at Rice, after-a-bad-day-teaching unwinding, and dozens of hours of laughing and talking with friends over spring rolls, pho, and vermicelli bowls.

I religiously visit every time I go back to Houston.

So I am of course joining the chorus of people hoping that they re-build!

Thinking of you, wonderfully grumpy people of Mai's!!!

(image location)

Four Generations of Greatness

While I was visiting YES, a little bit of magic happened. For the first time ever, we were able to get four generations of amazingess together in one room. Katie, on the far left, was my mentor when I was a first year teacher. She made my life bearable, provided endless support, anecdotes, advice, and more than anything, gave me an example of what a truly great teacher looks like. Not only is she phenomenal at her job, but she loves the kids with every bit of her, and watching her showed me what really matters in teaching. The next year, I had the chance to be a mentor, and my little precious Pears (middle right) came to YES. Now, she didn't quite need the mentoring that I did because she became a master teacher after something like 3 weeks in the classroom (no lie, she's a phenomenon), and in truth, she took care of me MUCH more than I ever took care of her, but we definitely passed on the legacy of fabulousness and love that Katie started, and we turned into team Best EVER. Then my little one grew up and now she has a mentee of her own, my grandbaby Cara (far right). This was my first time meeting my grandbaby, and I couldn't be prouder. :)

A new building for YES Prep Public Schools

On my last day in Houston, Victor and I went to visit the school where I taught for two years: YES Prep North Central. When we pulled up, I was absolutely stunned to see the progress they have made on the compound. I teared up to see that it looks like a real school. When I started teaching, the school was in its 3rd year of operation, and we only had a warehouse for a building. My second year teaching we moved to the current location - we bought the building from a church - having a real building was the ultimate luxury, and slowly over the first year, we made it into a school...

While I was in Malawi this year, I was heart-broken to hear that large portions of the building had been destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

HOWEVER - it turned out that the hurricane was a blessing in disguise, because it forced renovations on the school that otherwise may not have been made for years... and the final result is amazing - it is a school as nice as any I've ever seen.

I don't believe, and those at YES don't believe, that buildings mean much when it comes to education. In fact, they don't mean anything really. We were ranked an exemplary school while we were still in the warehouse. Its the dedication of the teachers, the administration and the parents that make this school successful - but the building makes things easier, and it is a testament to the success of the school, since the money to build the building has all had to be fundraised (as a charter school, the capital costs are not paid for by the state.)

It was wonderful to see that the teachers who put in such insane hours to make a difference will now have an amazing building to work in every day, and that the students who attend YES will spend their days in a school building that they can be proud of, especially considering it was they who helped build it.

If you want to know more about YES and its vision for providing an excellent education to all children, regardless of academic background, email me or check out their website:
www.yesprep.org

Working at YES was one of the best and most defining experiences of my life.

Houston

On New Year's eve, I flew to Houston to be with Victor and his family for a few days, visit with my beloved friends, and give my final report to my Sponsor Rotary Club, who financed and supported my travels in South Africa last year.

Vic and I are getting pretty good at this long-distance thing... and I've found the perks... the biggest one is that reuniting is AMAZING. While I was in town, we took an afternoon and walked around Rice Universitity's campus, just like old times. It was so surreal to be back on campus, and it brought back a wave of memories and nostalgia.

Here are Lanese and Elisa - 3/4 of our Bible study group (Come to think of it, I'm not sure that we ever studied the Bible, but that's a side point)

We had an impromptu salsa night, and met up with another set of Rice friends. This is Jean-mark and Suzanna, such an adorable couple. Kudos to Vic on taking this picture, it is one of my favorites.

Here I am waving my hands around and giving my Rotary Presentation. It was one of the first times that I gave one without a powerpoint, so I winging my talk (and the more I wing, the more I wave, just ask my former students). My club, the Galleria Area Rotary Club, is one of the most gracious I have ever been to, and giving my presentation there was a reminder to me of their amazing support and dedication. They literally changed my life by sponsoring me to go to South Africa, and I am forever indebted to them and grateful for them.

More reunions ensued the rest of the trip. This is Jen, one of my old roommates and one of my heroes.

Elisa and I went to Ecclesia together. It was both of our first week back, as Elisa just returned from Kenya a few days before I got to Houston.
And this is one of the reasons I love Ecclesia.
Vic's best friend, Jose-Miguel, had a birthday while I was in town. This is JM and his wonderful girlfriend Alesha at the sushi restaraunt where we celebrated.
After dinner we went to hear Andy Vargas play. Andy is the singer for Santana.

Most of my time in Houston was centered around food. I had an entire list of meals that needed taken care of, one of which were GIANT blueberry pancakes at Buffalo Grille. Here are the remains:
I shared the pancake experience with three of my dearest (who you may recognize from pictures from South Africa - they came to visit in June). Kate and Rachael:
And, of course, the Best Ever herself, Pearsy:
We left the pancakes and went over to Rach's house to play Rock band (more on that later). We invited along Victor and one of his friends Bonnie (whom I LOVE), and it turned into a full on randomly amazingly fun day/evening event. Here are Pears and Rarthur jamming hardcore at Rarth's house. Watch out American Idol.
Victor rocked it out too:
Here's the whole group after dinner that night.

Next Steps

Here is my itinerary for the next few weeks:

• Nov. 23 - Nov. 27: Grahamstown, SOUTH AFRICA - Finish thesis, start PhD applications, say goodbye to my home of a year.
• Nov. 28 - Dec. 7: Lamu and Mombasa, KENYA - bask on the beach and swim in the Indian ocean, drink things out of coconuts and pineapples with the lovely Elisa!! and Jeannie!!
  
• Dec. 7 - Dec. 14th: Arusha, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam TANZANIA - look at Mt. Kilimanjaro (no climbing), meet up with crazy Denver people who DO climb, bask on the Spice Islands.
• Dec. 14th - Dec. 15th: Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA - stay with the wonderful family of Estelle, eat my last South African meal, say goodbye to this amazing country.
• Dec. 15 - Dec. 17th: International skies - sleep, watch movies, journal, eat airport food.
• Dec. 17th - Dec. 30th: BURLEY, Idaho - love on my family, my childhood friends, and my home town, sleep, have ridiculous amounts of Christmas cheer, finish PhD applications.
• Dec. 30th - Drive to Denver
• Dec. 31- Jan 5th: HOUSTON! Love on my amazing Houston family (best people in the world), snuggle with Victor and his family, celebrate new years, give my welcome back presentation to my sponsor Rotary club.
• Jan 6th - Jan. 11th: DENVER - bother/love Catherine and Peter and John and Meredith, avoid their dogs, look for somewhere to live, go to lots of meetings.
• Jan. 11th - March 23rd - JERUSALEM: attend Hebrew University, work with Human Rights NGO (tba).

Phew, that kind of makes me tired to look at, but that's my amazingly ridiculous reality for the next couple of months. If you are in any of those places, block me out a meal or a cup of tea, I am so anxious to reconnect with my loved ones.

Helping Houston After Ike

While I was in Malawi, I received news that Houston had been hit by a serious hurricane. The results were fortunately not as bad as it could have been, but yet for many, were still devastating. Many of my friends and former students are still without power, and many, many have sustained serious damage to their homes. Even the school where I used to teach has received serious damage. My heart goes out to everyone there as they pick up the pieces after the storm. I wish I was there to do the same.

Below is a letter from Chris Seay, the pastor of the church I attended in Houston (Eccelsia). The people of Ecclesia are a phenomenal bunch - the members there are much more than just a group that gets together on Sundays - as a church body, they are a relief organization, community mobilizers, social justice pursuers, and much more. Being part of that church body truly changed my life and taught me what it means to live my faith. I have seen first hand how they mobilize the community and provide for all of those in need without condition. If you, your organization or church is looking for a way to help, anything sent toward Ecclesia would quickly reach those who need it most.
(pictures taken from bbcnews.com and nationalgeographic.org)

www.ecclesiahouston.org

Chris’ Letter:

My Brothers and Sisters,

I am not sure how clearly the national media is telling the story of the devastation in Houston and Galveston, but I can tell you that the rare combination of a massive storm that filled the Gulf of Mexico and the fact that it struck Houston and Galveston ( a combined population of close to 5 million people) has created a disaster of immense proportions. The majority of the city is still without power and clean water and almost everyone has some kind of damage to their residence or business. Houston, which became known as a city of generosity and hospitality after Katrina, is now experiencing what it is like to be on the other end of that kind of generosity.

Ecclesia is thrilled to be able to represent the broader church as a source for light and love to so many hurting in the devastation of this storm. We will continue to need teams skilled in debris removal, demolition, and construction for much of the coming year. If you are willing to send a team, we will work to provide lodging and logistical support for your teams. We are longing to have brothers and sisters that will demonstrate the love of the Liberating King as they help families in a time of dire need. In addition to those that will come and labor alongside of us, there are some immediate financial needs that would help us to serve the region and share the hope of the gospel. There are three areas of immediate needs:

1)Relief Support - any donations to relief support will go to purchase chainsaws, tools, food, van rentals, water, generators, temporary employment for relief coordinators, and necessary items to support relief teams. We are estimating the immediate need for relief support to be more than 25,000 dollars. If you are able to purchase any of these items in your area and have them delivered to Houston, this would be preferred over local purchasing. However both can be accommodated.

2)Financial Relief – for those suffering financially because of loss of property and income, we would like to offer a short term assistance package. For countless families and individuals struggling to make it financially before the storm (hourly wage employees, immigrants, and single mothers), the last week has often been devastating. We hope that the federal government will improve in their response time, but the church is able and willing to fill this gap. If you would like to give specifically to this package we will distribute the following on your behalf. In the case of single mothers we intend to double the assistance.
$150 Mortgage/Rental Assistance
$100 Grocery Card
$50 Gas Card
$20 Basic Toiletries
Gospel of John (VOX)
We will attempt to continue or begin a long-term relationship with all assisted families and will offer this assistance to as many as possible.

3) Taft Street Coffee as a House of Hospitality - You may know that Taft Street Coffee (the coffee shop owned and run by Ecclesia) is rated each year as one of the top 3 coffee shops in the entire city. This morning we had our power restored and would like to re-open the shop as a site for those still without power. We estimate that over the next three weeks many would benefit from a centrally located house of hospitality that offers air conditioning, a free lunch, coffee drinks, Wi-Fi, phone service, children’s play space, and spiritual support. If you would like to sponsor the food and operational costs to run Taft Street Coffee as a gift to the community, we estimate that cost to be $850 per day.

If you have any questions you can contact me (Chris@ecclesiahouston.org / cell 713 539-9201) or our Mission Pastor John Starr (john@ecclesiahouston.org / cell 832 630-4267). I am grateful for the love and support of the entire church to my beloved City.

In Service to The Liberating King and His Kingdom,

Chris Seay
Pastor – Ecclesia Houston
2115 Taft
Houston, Tx 77006