What's new in York, PA. Not too much. Let's see, I got a membership at the YMCA. I got more minutes for my phone so I can make more phone calls. I have been working like crazy. This job is actually really hard, but it's actually very rewarding. I've seen good, bad, and various things in between.

It's weird, I can't really talk about any of the work I'm doing in detail because it is all supposed to be confidential. So that leaves me with the ability to talk about my life outside of work in York. And, I don't really have much to say. I go to work every day, then I go to the Y and swim, then I piddle around until it is time to go to bed. It's kind of sad, yet I finally have time to do some of the things that I really want to do.

My mom sent me Harry Potter though, so my reading list has grown. I'm going to try to make it take me several days at least.

It's almost time for me to get back on a bus to go back to York, PA. The last 36 hours or so with Naomi has been great because I got to spend time in normal world and hang out with her and her adorable family. We listened to the Striking a Chord CD and she taught me how to manage all of Rhyhthm and Jews' important stuff. It's going to be so weird without her there in the group. I don't know what I'm going to do. Hopefully the others will continue to be great and they will grow into some leadership roles. I cannot do her jobs and my jobs both, so it's going to have to be time for some of the others.

Sigh, I do not want to go back to York, PA...

Thursday: 19 June 2003
On Wednesday, I went to an Amnesty International press release about their findings on detained immigrant children, and yesterday my boss suggested to me that I become a regional specialist on Argentina for Amnesty International. I always thought I would never be involved with Amnesty because they were too left/radical and because I didn’t believe in what they did. I doubt I have changed that much or that Amnesty has calmed down much; perhaps I am just gaining a better understanding of what it is that they do. Then again, maybe I don’t really know at all. I guess it’s high time I looked into it.

Almost a week of work finished, and I have been to York County Prison every day. The guard on duty during visiting hours knows me now. The highlight of today’s prison experience was speaking Spanish to a Romanian guy. It’s really sad – no matter how much I do, I’m not sure how much of an impact I am going to have in the lives of these people. Chances are, most of them are going to get deported anyway. This job could turn out to be really frustrating, but the experience will definitely be priceless.

I’m not sure which part of the experience will be more priceless, the job or the living arrangement. The woman I am staying with is a real trip. She is probably really lonely because she keeps trying to get me to go places with her and participate in her advocacy meetings. I’m not sure if she understands that after I come home from 8 hours of trying to help hopeless illegal immigrants I had just about enough advocacy. The worst part though is that she talks endlessly telling me useless details about thing I don’t care about in the slightest. Why on earth would I give a damn where here sister’s cousin’s husband grew was born. You may think I am exaggerating; trust me I’m not.

Yesterday she walked in on me as I was getting dressed after my shower. She let out this sort of shreak, and that evening she wanted to buy me ice cream to make up for it. I don’t know what to do about this woman. I don’t want to hurt her feelings by not wanting to hang out with her, but honestly she makes me sort of crazy. I know these may be harsh first judgments, but honestly I would almost always rather hang out by myself than listen to another York history lesson. York doesn’t have all that much relevant history; I don’t care if the Articles of Confederation were ratified here. Honestly, this woman makes me sad. She is lonely. She is depressed. She represents everything that I fear about a failed marriage and growing old single.

Today I went over to her sister’s house for dinner. I got to meet her 5 nieces and one nephew. Thank God they were more or less normal. I don’t know how I’m going to survive this place, but I know that if something kills me it’s not going to be the prison or the job – they are both just fine.

Friday 20 June 2003
Tonight I went to a diversity dinner where I spent half the time there trying to figure out if one of the members of the diversity group committee was a man or a woman. I had almost convinced myself that it was a man until she told me that she was a member of the Pennsylvania lesbian coalition. Turns out that three of the eight women at the dinner were lesbians; wonder what they think of me. Thinking about this group reminds me that the last time I had contact with testosterone other than my father and detained immigrants was almost a week ago. I mean, I have been in basic contact with some boys; the guy who prepared my apology ice cream was a guy. And there were those two guys who work for Amnesty, though one of them was openly gay. Those guys and my boss’s husband are literally the only boys I have really communicated with in a week now. My big excitement will be when I get to go to court on Monday and appear in front of a male judge. Don’t get me wrong, girls are fine, I just need a little balance…please…

So, the doctor’s row neighborhood association is having a mini war. Both my land lady and my boss live in this 4 block neighborhood; my landlady is a “Pennsylvania Dutch” who thinks she is modern and liberated while my boss is a woman originally from New York city who does spends half her working day at a prison and trying to find ways to work around the legal system. Needless to say they are on pretty much opposite sides of the issue at hand, and believe me, the issue is ooh so important. At the end of my block there is a church. Some men sit on the steps of the church, and apparently they bother passersby. There is also a house that recently went section 8 (welfare housing). This house is now apartments for what one member of the neighborhood association calls “transients.” My landlady refuses to repair the crack in her windshield (caused by the kids of the transients, who do handstands in the road) because she know that they will do it again, “on purpose.” My boss says “be nice to them and they will have more respect for the neighborhood,” but the rest of the community seems to believe that they “know a good neighbor from a bad one when they see them.” How fucking ridiculous and hypocritical.

And, my lovely liberated land lady would love to blame all of the world’s problems on our dear friend G.W. While I hate him as much as the next guy, it is both wrong and a waste of time to blame all of our current problems on him. When I was talking about how bad the situation for people trying to get legal status in the United States right now, her response was “well you know that it’s all Bush’s fault.” While the department of homeland security and the beefed up enforcement by the INS is largely on his initiative, can we please think for a minute about the people enforcing these laws. I am going to court on Monday to watch a Moroccan who has been here for years and has a mom and brother who are citizens get deported. He got picked up by the INS because he did a U turn and a cop pulled him over. Upon realizing that the guy had a foreign accent, the officer decided he better go down to the precinct. From Vermont, where the pick up occurred, this guy is now in Pennsylvania facing deportation. He is going to be deported for a traffic violation. This is not Bush’s fault, as much as I would like to blame it on him. I think we’ve become xenophobic, and that’s why we’re allowing Bush to do what he does. I know this is nothing novel, it’s just the first time I’ve been subject to it in such a first hand way. So, my pledge is…to stop blaming our shitty president for the bad things in our country; they can’t be only his fault.

In other news, I am going to Baltimore tomorrow to see Naomi. It will be a nice weekend away from the stress of the job and the annoying nature of my living situation. Thank god I really like this job, that’s all.

So I set this up awhile ago with the intention of writing a short story on it. That never worked out because I didn't have time and someone i know told me I wasn't creative enough to tell a simple bedtime story. Now that I find myself in the small humdrum town of York, Pennsylvania though, I have nothing but time. And who cares if I'm boring. Documentation has to be worth something in and of itself.

So, I have been here for two days now, and I'm not quite sure how I'll live the next 70 or so. I am living in this 200 year old home with a somewhat crotchety woman. I think she was looking for a replacement daughter not someone to live in her extra room. She has invited me to a million family activities and other community events with her. I am going to go to her Bastile day party though.

My job is in the living room of my bosses home and it is utter chaos. Everyone there is a volunteer, and tons of people come and go looking for the most random kinds of help. I've been to the York county prison two days in a row. On the first day, I watched probably 10 people receive deportation rulings before the judge finally decided to show some mercy on the guy we were there to help. Apparently being from Somolia will actually get you further than being a Mexican.

Today I went to translate Spanish. That's right. I guess that's what I get for saying that I speak Spanish. I actually have to do so. The case was a transgender who has been in the US for 10 years. He/she speaks pretty good English but not enough to explain how it was that she ended up in prison in Pennsylvania.

I also got started on my big long term project that will take me most of the summer. The case is of an asylum seaker from Africa who has been denied but is now waiting for appeal in federal court. All I have to do is prepare her brief. Have I ever prepared a brief? Nope? Do I even know what a brief looks like? Nope? But, this girl has no legal representation and no money, so whatever I can do for her is better than nothing? Did you know that Miranda doesn't apply to illegal refugees, at least not the right to an attorney part.

Tomorrow I am going to a press conference in Harrisburg given by Amnesty International. Something about the rights of detained children. I guess I'll find out more tomorrow.

What else have I done? Well, lots of people come into the office who dont speak English and I have to translate. I've done a bit of organizing because this place is literally a disaster zone that will eventually drive me crazy. The job is actually pretty interesting because I am going to get to do a TON of different things, many of which I would not have had the chance to do in a bigger office.

On a more personal note, the state of Illinois thinks that I do not understand the "severity" of my crime and therefore denied my request for driving relief. Not that it matters at all now. Next step, contemplating an appeal process. My personal frustration with the legal system coupled with some of the stupid things I have already seen thus far in my new job, make me unsure if I want to run from or change the legal system.

Anyway, I miss people already. Reality TV isnt cutting it, although I did manage to catch two fascinating shows: one based on parents getting to chose a date for their daughter, and the other based on woman competing for a man and a million dollars (though the man doesnt know that he comes with a million dollars).

Ok, more later.