We arrived back home on Monday, and since then I’ve been catching up at home and actually sleeping!
The first thing I did was meet my favorite professor and best friend for lunch. My best friend, Justin, and I are here:
And my professor (fondly known as DC) is here:
We all do Model UN at UNC Charlotte. While DC is the driving force behind the entire thing and does more work than anyone I know (and is the most modest person I’ve ever known), we are a student-run organization. Our leadership core consists of five positions- President, Vice-President Internal, Vice-President External, Secretary, and Treasurer. Two years ago I was VPI, last year I was President, and this year I’m serving as VPI again. Justin is serving as President.
The President is in charge of overseeing everything, and is ultimately responsible for everything. The Vice-President Internal (VPI) is in charge of everything education-related. This means that I teach two club sessions a week, assist with two class sessions a week, organize and run simulations and other university-related events, organize and facilitate community work with local high school Model UN teams, and organize and facilitate community work with universities that request our help. The Vice-President External (VPE) is responsible for all external organization, which includes all travel organization- a large responsibility, since we sent over 50 students every year to over four conferences in at least two different continents and three different states. The Secretary keeps up with our minutes and communication, and our Treasurer keeps track of money (we have a budget of over $50,000).
My meeting with DC and Justin was to first say hello after seven weeks, and to distribute pressies. Second, though, was to organize the coming year before it begins on August 18.
We had lunch at 12:30 and stayed until 3:00, and it didn’t feel like a day had gone by. You know you have good friends when you can be separated for nearly two months and, when you first see each other again, it feels as if no time has passed.
I don’t know if they read this, but it was a very happy lunch and I was extremely happy to see the two of them again ❤
On other days, I made horchata for the family, which is delicious and we now keep a pitcher of horchata beside our pitcher of sweet tea. I also introduced them to Colombian salad, which they liked, but nearly poisoned them with arroz con leche because I didn’t realize that sweetened condensed milk could even go bad!
One day this week I’ll post an horchata recipe.
I also finished reading “The Other Wes Moore,” found on Amazon here, which is about a Rhodes Scholar named Wes Moore who grew up in the same area and almost the same situation as another man named Wes Moore, a convict who is now spending life in jail. It focuses upon the importance of family support, the education system, and how a few differences in a child’s environment can ultimately define a life. Though it sounds cliche, it’s quite a good read and I highly recommend. I know that it’s often used as required reading in many inner-city schools. (If you’re a teacher, it also comes with an accompanying reading guide).
