Dear Theresa,
So, 10 weeks later, here you are. You know Detroit just a bit better now, and have done much of what you set out to do. You have built a rapport at the farmer’s market and are even going out for coffee with one of the other vendors this very week. You have Voices mission statement memorized and could recite it without a beat. You have talked to more people within the urban agriculture sphere than you have ever imagined, and after all of this, you still feel as if you need more time. More time to meet people, to interview, to spend at Hope house, to be in the garden. 10 weeks doesn’t seem like nearly enough time now.
You have had a far better experience here than you ever could have imagined. You wake up each morning excited to go to work, no matter how early it is, and much of that can be attributed to Naim. When work is play, it barely feels like work at all, after all. Spending the summer goofing around with him has been an absolute blast, and you will be sad to leave. This experience would not have been the same without him: encouraging you to step out of your comfort zone and preform poems in front of people you just met, eat things that you would never find in a grocery store, notice everything going on around you instead of just the things that impact you personally, take time to take naps in the middle of the day, and practice your Spanish. Overall, you have learned more from him than many other people you have interacted with, and DCBRP made that possible.
You are incredibly grateful for this amazing opportunity and wish it didn’t have to end so soon, but you will be back, no doubt about it!
