Week One, Check

I have been in Buffalo for one full week now and what a week it has been! I'm getting used to the alarm system on our house and the street parking and I'm learning how to get around slowly but surely. We had a busy Orientation schedule which included getting aquainted with the West Side, the downtown, and yesterday we hit a few key spots on the East Side, which is predominately black. (The West Side, my neighborhood, is very multicultural and the home of many refugee families.)It was exciting to think about the African American Heritage here and the part that Buffalo played in the Underground Railroad given its proximity to Canada. I look forward to learning more about that.

I have had a few opportunities to experience the multiethnicity of the West Side-- There is a Karen church which has just started meeting in the church attached to the rectory where we have been meeting and we were able to be at part of a Wrist Tying Ceremony that they were having. The Karen people are primarly from Burma and Thailand and there are many Karen refugees in Buffalo. We weren't able to stay very long, but it was very cool to be welcomed in and to see a piece of their culture.
My second cultural experience was today when I decided to attend a Spanish Salvation Army church which meets around the corner from my house. It was wonderful. The service was predominately in Spanish, and mine is admittedly a little rusty, but they had a translator and the people were so welcoming! It was humbling to be the outsider and to not understand very well.

I start my placement on TUESDAY, not Monday as it is Labor Day, but I'm excited!