As the weather gets hotter, so many things are in the works at DFA as they transition from finishing up the school year and moving on to summer cohorts. DFA is also a bit hectic as a few staff members prepare to move on to new things and chase after new dreams. Some people are being trained and getting accustomed to what will be expected of them, while job listings are being posted to replace others.
As usual I have learned more this week than the previous weeks. I am becoming more comfortable with the other people that work there, and my summer objective is starting to materialize. We’re now making concrete schedules for the summer program and I’m even getting my own time slot to interact with the students! But the larger portion of this week has been finishing data entry. As I conclude that portion of my project, I am anticipating the new, more personal portion of this summer adventure which are the interviews that I get to conduct with the students. Angela has been talking to me about this from the first day and now it all seems to be becoming real as she plans to introduce me to the students on Monday.
This week hasn’t been all work though. The Green Garage held a summer intern lunch a few days ago where we talked about the Green Garage as a whole and the space that it provides for companies working to better the community in various ways. My favorite part of this lunch was when we visited the El Moore, a hotel owned by the same people who created the Green Garage. This hotel/apartment building, along with the Green Garage, are mostly made up of recycled materials. And let me tell you this hotel is beautiful. While the building and the lobby area uphold an old-timey look, the cabins on top of the building are relatively modern (but I assure you, parts of the cabins were recycled as well). I tried not to let my love of the architecture overwhelm the history that Tom (co-owner of the Green Garage and El Moore) explained to us as we were shown around.
While we looked around, I couldn’t help but look out at the skyline from the top of the El Moore and search for buildings that I recognized. I searched for signs of Detroit that looked familiar to me, but while I stared at the sole landmark that I knew (which was the Motor City Casino), I thought about the goal that I’d made for the summer. The goal to explore Detroit. Which in some ways I had been achieving, and in other ways I had been ignoring. For the past few weeks, I’d been exploring the top tourist destinations when what I really want are the hole-in-the-wall places that only real Detroiters know about. But we still have 7 weeks left (I think) and I plan to make the best of it.
