Life in Da Hood

"You love this town

Even if it doesn't ring true

You've been all over

And it's been all over you...

...What you don't have you don't need it now

What you don't know you can feel it somehow

It was a beautiful day."

-U2, Beautiful Day

I woke up to the sound of U2 rocking out on Fordham University's campus last friday, just two blocks from my apartment. Good Morning America hosted this EARLY morning concert that brought U2 to da Bronx! Here's a quick glimpse of the concert and my 'hood... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10yjNn315rI Kinsy is somewhere in that crowd, having headed to campus at 5am for the show!

....

It's a beautiful day, here in da Bronx....the sun is shining, snow is melting, and I'm heading down to NYU for a Bboy battle of the Ivy Leagues! That's right, Bboys from Harvard, Princeton, John Hopkins, Cornell, UPenn, UMass, Boston College, MIT and Columbia, in addition to teams from as far as Colorado and as close as Brooklyn Law School, are gathering TONIGHT in NYC for collegiate battles, 2 on 2 and 5 on 5!!! I have rallied some girlfriends and we will be making a night of it... out on the town for happy hour, then on to the seven HOURS of battles. Can't wait!!

As for my own breaking, I checked out a Hip-Hop class last night, at the 24 Hour Fitness just a few blocks from my apartment. It was THE BEST gym class I've ever been to. I was the only white girl in a class of big, buxom, boisterous black women, who know how to shake it. They were more than welcoming and had a good laugh before teaching me how to shake my "pom pom." I'm working on it. :)

Other news on the homefront... I GOT A JOOOOOOOOB!!!!!! Six months of applications have paid off and I will begin work on the 23rd of this month with the NY Restoration Project (NYRP)! Looking back through my journal (I write almost daily), I found...

Tues, Feb 17th: "Feel like I'm ready for a job. Feel comfortable. Ideal: secured job that starts in March, so I can rest easy on job search, focus on scholarships and be ready."

Wed, Feb 18th: "Call early from NYRP. Interview on TUES!!! Ask and you shall receive."

Amazing how events have unfolded here, in their own time, yet almost perfectly. Along with accepting the position with NYRP, I have also committed myself to NYC for another six months! This will be my first summer away from Coeur d'Alene...and I feel consolation. More time to explore this city and if anyone is heading out this way, visitor's are always welcome!

With a week to go before my job begins, friends are coming and going. Kinsy is heading to Nicaragua tomorrow morning to chaperone a Fordham sponsored trip!! Nils Rosdahl is bringing his journalism students to Manhattan for a journalism conference this weekend. (I've been reading a textbook that Nils gave me and am looking forward to sitting in on some of the seminars!) And MARIAH Rosdahl is flying in from Portland next week for her spring break!!

NEVER a dull moment in the Big Apple.

Wishing you a BEAUTIFUL DAY,
Hana T.