Hi all,
After 7 weeks on the job in the city, I thought I would have experienced most of everything. And I have experienced A LOT. And I’ve learned more through this job than any other job I’ve had. Chicken and waffles at Kuzzo’s, long bike rides on the slow roll, a smoothie in Hamtramck, a jazz band at Third Man Records, and some great friendships – a summer in Detroit has given me a lot of fun, and a lot to think about.
But Detroit has so much culture, history, and energy — that I soon realized it would take much more than 10 weeks to experience it all. But I think you don’t have to experience absolutely everything to get an understanding of what it means to be a Detroiter.
The one experience that really stood out to me is when we were on our way to the Detroit Fireworks a couple of weeks ago. We rode right the house of one of my co-workers at EcoWorks, and she invited us in. She originally thought it was just me and Sydney, but then the whole 10-12 person DCBRP crew basically invaded her house (and the only people home were her and her grandmother). We didn’t want to intrude and stay too long, but she offered us ice cream, cake, fruit, root beer floats — pretty much anything we wanted. So we stayed and made a little fiesta out of it. It was a great way to kick off a great night of food, friends, and fireworks.
Her generosity and kindness is something that I have noticed is present in so many places I have gone in Detroit. On a door-to-door visit for work yesterday, a family welcomed us into their home and offered us water and food for the work we were doing. I was astonished at their friendliness to just random strangers.
Also, the other observation I made is that my co-worker (who is 24), is living in a very quaint little house in Corktown, with a roommate, working at a non-profit — and loving life. I realized that trying to make an impact on the city CAN be a lifestyle and not just a summer job. She is so happy everyday and seeing how she is living her life made me much more comfortable in my work at EcoWorks, just because I know that people do enjoy this kind of work and it can become a career.
So although it was never in my mind (and probably still isn’t) to work at EcoWorks as a career, it motivated me to work harder and accomplish things at work because there are people there to carry on my work after I leave.
After leaving my co-worker’s house, we saw the fireworks and had an exciting rest of the night. That night was probably a month after we started, and it is the first time that I started to feel a little bit more like a Detroiter.
