Review

So, what happened this summer?  We managed to skip all that.

Glad you asked.

IJM brought 16 interns to headquarters, ranging in age from 19 to 38.  It was challenging and it was heavy; it was thrilling and it was invigorating.

At IJM HQ there are sixteen cubicles in two parallel rows of eight known as "Intern Row."

 

Check out the view from my desk!  There were hardly words, folks...hardly words.  Sometimes workmen would come out onto that roof to tinker with all those contraptions.  We passed many an hour narrating the conversations we assumed they were having.

This was, for most, our indoctrination into the world of cubicles and 9-5 stints.  The transition was successful, though not without hiccups: a makeshift hop scotch board may have been laid in duct tape on Intern Row,

and general insanity may have ensued when meetings ran long and walls began to close in.

We got out of the office together, too, and were known to be seen around Capitol Hill at places like Good Stuff Eatery (please feel free to airmail me some of those herbed fries)

and Friday evening Jazz in the Park.

ROAD TRIP

IJM's Five Weeks for Freedom Tour kept us busy.  Fifteen ordinary people gave up five weeks of their lives to bike from Mobile, AL to Buffalo, NY.

They followed the trail of the Underground Railroad as they raised awareness about modern day slavery and abolition.  (What would the world be like if one child from every kindergarten class in this generation wanted to be an abolitionist when they grew up?)  The tour included a stop in Columbus, Ohio at Ohio State University, and the interns road tripped there.  We stopped in Pittsburgh both ways, where we stayed at Ngofeen's apartment.  When we woke the first morning morning we had a few hours before we were expected in Columbus, so we rented kayaks on the Allegheny River.

First we went through paddle training.

Then we went up the river.  Tim and Ivan were stellar paddlers.

The view was beautiful!  We went under a few bridges like this one.

HyeJi and I decided that Tim and Ivan weren't getting quite the cardiovascular challenge they'd desired, so we hitched a ride.

Nerves were frayed by the end of the trip.  Exhibit A:

DINNER

Toward the end of the summer IJM President and CEO Gary Haugen and his family hosted the interns in their home for dinner.

It was scrumptious.  The Haugens were gracious to field two hours' worth of our questions on life, love, and Dostoevsky.

CONCERT

Somewhere along the way, those of us with musical backgrounds got roped into giving an end-of-the-summer concert.  This performance included everything from didgeridoo and violin to guitars and Selah renditions.  First, though, came rehearsals on street corners.

Here's a sample:

What we're giggling over and passing around is a phonetic spelling of Selah's Swahili rendition of "Pass Me Not, Oh Gentle Savior," scrawled by yours truly on a post-it note.  When Clariee in Steel Magnolias proclaimed, "Weezuh!  You have the handwritin' of a serial killuh!" she was thinking of me.

Resemblance?  See it?  James is totally the next Gary Haugen.













THIS SUPPOSEDLY HAPPENED AT SOME POINT

But I have little recollection.


ALL IN ALL

It was the best summer of my life.  If someone you know is interested in interning for IJM, send them here!