Why can't I be there?

The beauty of this Motor City season has been the utter surprise. There was no real hope of spring, and no chance of a letdown come the summer. This wasn't the Red Wings or Pistons or Michigan football -- teams that carry expectations like rucksacks. The Tigers were a baby left in a blanket on a doorstep, thrilling with every coo and smile and crawl and wobble. So the city was happy with a winning team, delighted with a contender, giddy with a playoff clinch, and downright dizzy with a win over the almighty Yankees, who will never ever know the wonder of an impossible pennant.

The economy may be bad, and the auto industry may be struggling, and the Lions may be winless, but for a good hour Saturday night, a slab of pavement in Detroit was the happiest place on Earth. The Tigers had given a town its most unforgettable two weeks ever.

The party went on Saturday night, in the lot outside Cheli's, and in the parking structure outside Elwood's, and everywhere in between. And even when Adams went quiet again, well after 10 p.m., there were still two kids hanging on that fence.

Waiting.

Waiting in Palacagüina just isn't the same.

"Today, the league. Tomorrow, the world."

I got home today just in time to turn on the TV and watch the bottom of the ninth inning of the Tigers vs. Athletics game. This is just too good to be true. My host family was a little weirded out to see me jumping in the hair, yelling "Walk off home run, walk off home run!!!!!" but they can think what they want...the Detroit Tigers are in the World Series!

My New House

I finally found a house and moved in two weeks ago...finally. It's essentially a square, concrete structure with a dividing wall in the middle. On either side of the dividing wall are two rooms. Of the four rooms I've made one into my bedroom, one into a kitchen, and one into a living room type area (the other I'm reserving for the hammock I plan on buying). Unfortunately, the house doesn't have indoor plumbing which means I have a latrine in the back and I have to store water to use in the kitchen in a big barrel. It's certainly inconvient, but you get used to it.

The house is a bit of a fixer-upper. Along with being covered in cobwebs when I moved in, the repair work that has been done in the house reminds me of the classic student house in Ann Arbor. Everything is done haphazardly by people that probably shouldn't be doing the repair work in the first place. The owners here don't always have the money to do an effective/professional job, so they let their son, uncle, aunt, or whoever else do the job with whatever's available. That means, I have a light switch that is at ground level, a repaired crack in the wall that is already beginning to crack again, and a closet that is made out of old, rotting wood. But, like that old, shitty college couch that upon first site is deemed too gross to sit on, after a couple days of use the dirt, cobwebs, and faults become your own and you're comfortable with the filth. So it goes with my house and after a couple days of cleaning and repairing the house feels like my own...even if I still have a long way to go.

My first job has simply been to buy the requirments to actually live and cook in the house. Without a Target down the street, this job is much more difficult. I've been all over town questioning people and meeting people in search of tables, chairs, dishes, mattresses, etc. In many respects it's been a two week long Spanish vocabulary session where I'll realize I need a screwdriver, for example, and then walk to the hardware store to describe what I'm looking for. Have you ever tried to describe the word "hook" without also knowing how to say "to hang"? It's hard!

Besides the Spanish, outfitting my house has been a cool experience mostly because it's so different than what I would have done in the US. Everything I've bought has come from a twenty or so block radius. Besides the help of a truck to move a bed and a refridgerator I've made all my purchases on foot, walking from store to store. Need a table? Go to the carpenter's house and give him the drawing. He'll have it done in a week and will transport it to your house in the basket of a vehicle that can best be described as a tricycle. Need a plastic basket? Go to the park where a man has 1980s pickup truck filled with everything from socks to sheets to plastic hampers. It's kind of a Target.

So, after a few weeks of working and buying, I finally got all the things I needed to start cooking this week. This means I'm now on a healthy diet of oatmeal and bananas which is just what the doctor ordered after a lack of fruits, five months of rice and beans, and something fried at every meal. It's beautiful to be able to eat when you want, what you want, and how you want it. Now, if I could only find a Taco Bell.

First Month at Site

I was waiting to update my blog until after I had found a place to rent, but I'm still waiting, and as this marks the first days of my fifth month in Nicaragua, I decided to update anyway.

Things have been going really well. After the first two weeks, things started to pick up a bit more and since, the days have been moving quickly. My work in the schools involves three sections of around 50 students at the institute and one section of 18 students in the more rural school. Right now, I'm mostly observing and helping out the three different teachers I work with, but I plan on starting to teach more formally within the next week or two. I did have the chance to use a class period to introduce myself which was a nice way to break the ice, and since then, the students are a lot more willing to talk to me and I've really enjoyed the classes. Among the questions I've been asked are "What does 'son of a bitch' mean?" "Do you have a girlfriend/how many?" "Have you been to Yankee Stadium?" "Why are all North Americans tall?"

Besides my work in the school, I still hang out a bit at the youth group building. This past weekend they had a small party which I can best describe as a middle/high school dance. The dance floor, at any given point, was filled with five to six couples dancing (certainly not enough to make me feel comfortable dancing) , and several people around the outside watching. It has been my experience at parties that no matter how many people are dancing or how much I don't want to dance, I am asked, pleaded, expected to dance. This party was no different, and as most of the kids there were students from my class, my entrance onto the dance floor was met with shrieks and screams, followed by all eyes on me for the remainder of the song. Thankfully, my site mate was there to share the spotlight a bit.

My housing search has been a frustrating process that still isn't over. There's been a range of issues that I've run into that disqualifies a certain house (too expensive, too close to loud church, no latrine, broken shower, etc.), and unfortunately, I think I've seen just about all there is to see to rent. There are still a couple of houses that I'm waiting to hear back from the owners, so I still have hope to be back on my own after living with a family for four months (try it, it's hard).

As much as I'm ready to have my own place, my family here is really good. My best friend is my four year old cousin who is ready to play when I wake up and when I'm ready to go to bed. He competes for attention with his four month old brother and I, at times, seem to be the only one he can win over. Otherwise, the house is comfortable, the food is good (I'm actually use to beans for breakfast), and the rest of the family is great.

Though my first two weeks went by rather slowly, things have really picked up. Already, with a couple of meetings in Managua scheduled for September and October, I feel like I don't have much time until the school year ends. I hope I can find a house before then!

I'm a Volunteer

After eleven weeks of training, we were finally able to swear in as Nicaragua 41 Small Business Volunteers. I can't say that I felt completely comfortable leaving the schedule of training, but we were all ready to start our service as the end of training was a bit repetitive and we were all looking forward to being closer to living alone.

Week 10 was spent in Niquinohomo. Our last week we had some classes, but really it was a chance to say goodbye to our training families and towns. I was definitely looking forward to moving, but it was hard to say goodbye to my family and friends in Niquinohomo. My family had a goodbye party for three of us, complete with a piñata and every kid on the block, and my mom wouldn't let me leave without at least two plastic bags for my trip and my new town. I don't think I convinced my family that I could indeed wash my own clothes and cook my own meals. When I told them I could do both, it was always met with skeptical looks, so I assured my mom that I would call with my address so that at least she could send me the bread she bakes every Saturday.

Our last week of training was spent in Managua where we had many of the creature comforts we had been missing. Think: air conditioning, McDonalds, Burger King, movie theater. It was a comfortable "vacation" from our normal living arangements. On Friday of our last week, we swore in as Volunteers. It was a real nice ceremony with our training families, Peace Corps staff, US Embassy representative, and Nicaraguan government representative. Several people spoke before we sang both national anthems and took the Peace Corps oath in both Spanish and English. At the end, we were official volunteers.

I spent the rest of the weekend in Managua before leaving for Palacaguina. There were four of us that were able to take the same bus north which was nice to have some company for the three hour trip. Especially since as we approached our towns we were all pretty nervous. I was glad I had the opportunity to visit before arriving, but it was a scary thought that I was really on my own now in my new town. I got off the bus, got my bags and that was it, I was in my town where I would spend the next two years.

Though I've been going to the school and trying to stay busy, my first two weeks have been pretty slow and I anticipate the first few months to be the same. My primary job will be teaching in two schools. The Nicaraguan school year ends in December, so the first few months of my service are designed to give me a chance to get to the know the town, the schools, and my students (and in many cases learn Spanish) before having to formally teach. In January/February I'll begin teaching a junior achievement type course to the equivalent of 11th graders. Until then, I get to observe in the schools and give "charlas" to the students I'll teach in the coming year.

I'll also be working with a youth group that a former volunteer started. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing with the group, but right now I go to the meeting place just about every night to play ping-pong with the kids who are all around 14-18 years old.

For the most part, I've had a much easier time easing into the town than I had anticipated, and things are going really well. My Spanish surely isn't great, but I tested out at a fairly high level considering my entry level, and I'm much more comfortable with my ability. Partly, I'm simply more comfortable going through my day and only understanding a certain percentage of what's said to me, but it gets a little better each day and I can generally fumble through most conversations. The next test will be finding a house to rent and actually understanding/writing a contract with the landlord. I envision no problems with that task.

I had planned on posting the pictures of my training town while I was in Managua. Unfortunately, two weeks before getting to Managua, my camera was stolen while I was eating lunch during a training session. I have a few pictures that I had saved on a jump drive, but the rest were lost. As for pictures of Palacaguina, I hope to borrow a friend's camera for a day to take and post some pictures online.

The Worm Woman of Kalamazoo and IKEA

I initially hated IKEA as I first visited when I lived in London and anything in/around/about London I hated. But, since they built a store within the Metro-Detroit region I've been slowly growing to like the company.

Now, after receiving this link from a former professor, I think I have to love them. Commercial scale vermicomposting! I wonder if Ingvar Kamprad has read Natural Capitalism.

Site Visit

I'm not really sure that I could have gotten a site that I wasn't excited about because I really didn't know any of the sites and I didn't have too many specific things I was looking for. So, I went to Palacagüina (ümlaüt-ville) expecting to like it, and after spending a week there, I'm reading to move in.

We travelled from Managua to Palacagüina on Tuesday morning. The ride is 3-4.5 hours depending on the bus you take (school bus or Greyhound), but it's an otherwise really nice trip through the mountains (especially when along the way you hear The Scorpions hit, The Winds of Change). I travelled with the sub-director of one of the schools I'll teach in, and when we got to Palacagüina he was able to show me around. This was, of course, after we stopped and took a break at a friend's house where we watched the Michael Jackson Thriller, Billy Ocean Get out of my Dreams, Get into my Car, and Gloria Estefan Rhythm Is Gonna Get You music videos. Yes, with the school buses and music, it could be 1985 here.

Anyway, Palacagüina is a small town with around 3,500 people that live within the central city and 15,000 people within the entire municipality. It's a lot cleaner than my training site and has a bit more to offer wtih a couple of restaurants, three internet cafes, a "gym", etc. All in all, for a small town, it has a lot more than most. It's about 20-30 minutes away from the department capital which is a larger city with anything else I would need, including an actual grocery store, and it's an hour to an hour and half away from Esteli, the North's largest city.

The family that I'll live with for the first six weeks is also really nice. The house is smaller than the one I live in now, and it's a lot more basic with concrete walls and a "tile" roof. We have electricity and running water, but the house only has a latrine and my shower is a brick structure with four walls and a door that works well for the short women in my family, but only covers me to my upper chest. The short shower stall makes for a great view of the house kitchen or looking the other way, a great view of Nicaraguan mountains.

I'll be teaching at two schools. One school is within the central city and has 2-3 sections of third year students (it's basically the equivalent of sophomore year in high school) and the other school is in a small rural town about 10 km outside of the city. I didn't get to spend too much time at the schools, but the directors and the few teachers I met seem really nice (they all spoke slowly which is really all I ask) and happy to have me. I also met the coordinators of a youth group that was started by a former volunteer and that I might do some projects with.

Three nights isn't a long enough time to get a great impression of any place, but as first impressions go, I'm really happy with my site. As much as I enjoy being around my training group and having an English outlet, I'm looking forward to having more time and space at my site. And, though I feel like I could still go through months of Spanish classes, I think I'll more quickly learn the language once I'm at my site and surrounded by it all day.

Palacagüina and Parasites

We've been really busy the last few weeks, so I haven't had the time to update. But, a lot has happened and we're almost done with our training period, which is exciting and frightening.

My training group finished our youth group project a couple of weeks ago when we spent three days working with our group and students from two local schools cleaning the main street of Niquinohomo. The street really did look a lot nicer when we were finished, but it was completely trashed again within two days. That was a little discouraging, but without trash service or waste baskets within our town it's hard to fight. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun working with our youth group as most of them are around my age. It's also helped my spanish along.

Our second class at the school was two weeks ago. I taught to the same class which made it quite a bit easier than the first time. My second class was definitely a lot better than my first. My Spanish was a bit better and I was more prepared for the environment.

We also had our second language interview. Basically, you talk with one of the language professors for 10 or so minutes. The conversation is recorded so that when the interview ends two people are able to listen and critique your Spanish ability. My first interview wasn't much of a conversation. It was more me blurting words (and by words, I mean colors) and the two or three phrases that I knew. Needless to say, my second interview was much better. I was graded at the intermidiate level which means I can carry on a simple conversation and "get by." I certainly don't feel all that comfortable with the language, but it has gotten a lot better since I arrived, and the interview helped remind me how much I have improved, even if I have a long way to go.

In other news, this past weekend I woke up on Saturday morning running to the bathroom. I then spent the morning in the bathroom and the rest of the day in bed without energy and with a fever. Sunday, I woke up feeling alright and Monday I was back to normal for the most part, but I learned on Tuesday that I have a bacterial infection and two types of parasites. Pleasant, I know. Truthfully, I feel fine now...it sounds a lot worse than it is. Anyway, I took some pills last night to kill the parasite and for the next three days I have antiboitics to take. The worse part is that it has made me a lot more conscious of what I'm eating and how it's prepared. This makes it a lot harder to eat anywhere in Nicaragua. I haven't had much of an appetite lately, but slowly it's returning.

And...we finally received our sites. For the next two years I'll be living in Palacagüina. We got a list of possible sites two weeks ago and then we had an interview with our boss to explain our preferences. We had to wait a week before finding out which made for some good speculation amongst the trainees. It was a little unnerving the night before knowing that someone else was deciding where you'd live for two years, but I didn't have much of a preference in sites. Beyond Niquinohomo and a few other towns, I really don't know much about other cities and regions of Nicaragua, so it was hard to decide where I wanted to move based on a short paragraph description. Palacagüina sounds good to me.

The town is in the north of Nicaragua, in the department of Madriz. The entire town has around 16,000 people with 3,500-4,000 people within the main city and the rest in the surrounding rural areas. It's the first time that a business volunteer will live there, but there's been a number of health and environment volunteers, and I'll have a sitemate from the health sector. I'll teach in the city school and also in a small rural school outside of the town, and apparently there's several other NGO's that work within the city.

On Monday I leave for a week to visit Palacagüina, giving me a nice chance to get to konw it a bit more before moving there for good. The following week we return to our training towns for our final week of Spanish and technical classes before spending our final week in Managua before swearing in as volunteers and moving onto our sites. The last few weeks are really busy with finishing everything up before training ends.

Other thoughts: How are the Tigers so good and why do I have to miss this season? I can't wait to move back to this. I'm jealous of all that went to Bonaroo. Why isn't anyone going to Nashville for the 4th of July?

Comments

Thanks to everyone that has posted comments so far. I can't quite explain how fun it is to hear from people through email or through this blog, but going through a day only communicating in Spanish is tough, and when I'm able to escape to the internet to enjoy an hour in English hearing from friends and family really is cool. Thanks.

Also, congratulations to Brent Carr on his new job in Houston, Texas. I hope it's not EECS related.

"Teaching" a class

Since my last update, I managed to "teach" a class and travel to Nandaime for a volunteer visit.

As part of our training, we are required to give three or four lessons at one of the local schools in Niquinohomo. The trainees are able to pick the lesson and the class lasts 45 minutes. Easy enough in English, but in Spanish it's another story. If you could hear my Spanish you would laugh at the thought of me teaching a lesson on self-esteem in front of 45-60 sixteen year olds. To add to the problem, the classrooms sit back to back in one building with thin walls and lots of windows, allowing lots of noise to pass through and students to sit outside of the classroom whistling, talking to students in class, and laughing at the instructor.

Other than the environment my class actually went fairly well considering my language ability. We played two games that took up most of the time period and my speaking part was generally scripted out. It also helps that the students are interested in you (at least the first time) and are willing to listen to what the gringo has to say. But, it was scarry getting in front of a class and trying to teach in a second language. I have a lot more respect for the foreign GSI's that I had in college. Brent, give them a break in your next class. It's not easy.

This past week I visited a volunteer in Nandaime, a city about an hour away from Niquinohomo. The visit was for us to get an idea of what it will be like working in the schools, working on secondary projects, and living on our own. It was also a nice break from our training routine and language classes.

The volunteer I stayed with had a fairly large house with two rooms and a porch in the back. The two rooms had nothing except his bike. A bed sat in the middle of his porch and a plastic chair sat in the corner. That was it. He had a broken sink and a toilet that semi-worked, but nothing else. I slept on the floor with a small sleeping bag and a jacket as a pillow, and we traded the chair back and forth through the three days. Despite the living conditions, the visit was pretty cool.

On Monday we rode bikes on dirt roads into the country, crossing two or three rivers and stumbling upon different trails. I haven't seen much outside of the small towns I've visited, so it was cool to see a completely different environment and landscape. Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at the school teaching classes and meeting his students. It was cool to see the actual class and subject that I'll be teaching in a few months.

I learned a lot spending a few days outside of training. Mostly, that it's going to be hard moving to a new town without the safety net of other volunteers within your site. Finding housing, projects, friends, etc. will be a tough task to complete on your own. Especially after establishing a home in my training town. I've become comfortable with my town, my family, and my friends (despite my spanish). It'll be hard to leave and adjust again.

This next week we're busy with our youth group and another class at the school. I'm staying healthy (somehow I didn't get sick after eating trash food and drinking tap water for the weekend) and happy.

Nicaragua Week 3

Week 3 and things are starting to get to be more of a routine. My spanish is still fairly bad, but I'm a little more comfortable with my family and my town. Through the last week, some notable events:

As part of our training period, my group of trainees in Niquinohomo are required to work with a youth group on a project within the town. Our first meeting was last week, and it marked the first time that we had to give a presentation in Spanish. For the most part, our parts were scripted out and rehearsed, but it went fine, and the group was more than patient and helpful.

We will continue to meet with the group for the next 8 weeks, working on a project that they decide to do. So far, we've been lucky, as our group has shown interest and done a lot of the work by themselves. Considering our Spanish level, we're grateful for their initial ambition.

Last weekend I went with family and friends to San Jorge, a town on Lake Nicaragua. All 23 of us rode in the back of a UHaul-type truck, sitting in lawn chairs, for the hour or so long drive. The beach was fairly nice and was surrounded by two volcanoes in the distance, making it a nice spot to spend an afternoon.

I also was attacked by a dog this past week. At my house, I essentially back up to a compound-like area that holds four or five homes for the entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents). In the middle of this compound is four or five dogs that either roam around or are chained up on trees, sinks, cars, etc. During the day, the dogs aren't a problem and I'm free to walk around the place. As night falls, however, a family member walks me through the compound so that the dogs don't attack/bark at the unfamiliar face.

Anyway, I was walking back to get my dinner one night when I get to the area that the largest dog is normally chained up. I realize I'm rather close to this area and that it's beginning to get dark. At this moment, I see the dog charging from underneath a sink with mouth open and fangs showing. I jump out of the way, just in time for the dog to rip my pant leg but miss my leg. It was a scarry moment, but not quite as scarry as the sounds I heard coming from the dog as it was punished by an older woman after the poor dog had done what it was trained to do. The worst part is that I'm down to two pairs of pants...one of which currently has gum all over the butt after I sat in something on the circa-1988 school bus that functions as public transportation.

Other than that and a large unidentifiable bug on the inside of my mosquito net last night, things are fairly normal and quiet. This next week we continue with classes and on Wednesday I teach my first class at the local high school. How I will do this with my language ability, I'm not quite sure, but I'll let you know in a week. Next weekend we leave our training towns for half a week to visit a volunteer at site which will be a welcome break and a nice way to figure out what it'll be like after I leave my training town in 7 weeks.

Things I want: An afternoon game at Comerica Park to watch the first place Detroit Tigers.

Nicaragua Week 2

I typed out a fairly long review of my first two and half weeks in Nicaragua this afternoon only to have the computer bring up an error message when I tried to upload. Needless to say, I lost the entire post...welcome to the third world.

To summarize, I made it to Nicaragua on May 3 with 16 other trainees. Our first three days were spent in a really nice resort type hotel in Managua before we were sent to our host towns and families. Each town has three to four trainees, grouped together based on language ability. My group tested into the novice mid category which essentially means that we speak in isolated words, grunts, and phrases that only the most sympathetic ear can understand. The first weekend with my family was a lot of me saying ¨Si¨ to things that I didn´t understand.

I live in Niquinohomo with my host mom, 7 year old sister, 19 year old brother, and 26 year old brother. Our house is fairly nice...it´s a U shaped house with a small courtyard type middle. We normally have electricity, and we have a flushing toilet, but we rarely have running water.

My days are busy and tiring. I normally wake up at 7am (although I rarely sleep through the night because of roosters, dogs, busses, etc. There´s an absurd amount of noise) I eat breakfast with my mom and sister, then I have language classes Monday through Thursday. Wednesday afternoons, Fridays, and Saturday mornings are spent taking technical classes with the other 16 trainees. We travel to various towns around Masaya where current volunteers teach us about teaching, Nicaragua, security, etc. Fridays are also the days that we´ve been receiving our vaccacinations...7 and counting, so far. After classes I eat dinner with my family and do whatever homework I have before retiring to my room around 9 or 10. I go to bed with my mind swimming in Spanish and English.

My Spanish is improving, I suppose, but it´s an uphill battle. You lose your personality when you can´t talk...it´s one of the more frustrating experiences I´ve had. I´m severely jealous of the trainees that came down essentially fluent. I´d give anything. So much patience is needed.

My town is fairly small, and although there´s an internet cafe, the connection is not always great and it´s rather expensive for our Peace Corps allowance. Now that I´m getting to know some other towns and the bus system, I hope to be able to update a little more...no promises though.

Things I want: a giant burrito from BTB (what´s the new name?), a budweiser, a wallow spot on the hoover couch, a tv to watch game 7 of pistons vs. cavs

20 in their 20s

Crain's Detroit Business just published their 20 people in their 20s making a mark on Detroit. It's really good stuff and makes me want to stay in this region for the next two years. What's so exciting about these 20 people is their commitment to stay in Detroit and their willingness to create the job they want or become the catalyst to change this region. Most exciting though and something I've thought about a lot, are the comments about Detroit as an opportunity. Detroit offers a young person the opportunity to quickly become one of the leaders that this region so sorely lacks. This opportunity does not exsist in Chicago or New York or any other more established city, and it's an opportunity that I look forward to taking advantage of upon my return. In the meantime, I wish all of these 20-somethings good luck. They are the reason I've become excited and will continue to stay excited for Detroit.

Peace Corps

"The Peace Corps invites you to NICARAGUA." Uh oh, it's finally arrived. My formal Peace Corps invitation marks decision time after a year's worth of pondering, questioning, and flip-flopping. And though I'd rather just get started with my service if I decide to accept the invitation, a May 1 departure date is frighteningly close and leaves little time to waste. So, inspired by Dan's law school post, I give you a rundown on Peace Corps/Nicaragua:

Nicaragua
Status: Second poorest country of the western hemisphere, distribution of income is one of the most unequal in the world.
Visit: Never
Family: None
Friendship: None
Weather: Tropical
Peace Corps Program: It sounds like I'd be teaching a Junior Achievement type course in local high schools and vocational institutes.
Language: Spanish
Language Knowledge: Minimal
Housing: Concrete or brick home with wooden doors and windows and a tin roof. Latrine and shower in backyard. Probably electricity and running water though both are prone to outages.
Intangibles: Sleeping under a mosquito net for two years, machismo, relatively "normal" food, short flight for most potential visitors
Prospect: Shit, I'm scared!

There you have it. Peace Corps/Nicaragua. What do you think?

And finally, because it's never to early to start planning, I offer you possible flight options for Spring Break 2K7: Nicaragua.

Detroit, MI to Managua, Nicaragua: $703
Nashville, TN to Managua, Nicaragua: $752
Atlanta, GA to Managua, Nicargua: $796
Denver, CO to Managua, Nicaragua: $705
New York, NY to Managua, Nicaragua: $702
Phoenix, AZ to Managua, Nicaragua: $668
Los Angeles, CA to Managua, Nicaragua: $578
Boston, MA to Managua, Nicaragua: $653

Quicken Loans Moving Downtown?

"I'm David Hall, President of Rock Financial." These ads, played over and over during Pistons games, would quickly move from the bottom to the top of my list of favorite advertisments on TV if David Hall plays any role in convincing Dan Gilbert to move his headquarters downtown. Please, Lord, let this happen! This rumor has been floating around for a few months, but to my knowledge this is the first time that Dan Gilbert has publicly said he is indeed considering moving downtown.

Considering the old Statler Hotel site and the old Hudson's site, I would prefer to see them develop the Hudson's block. Although a development this size on the Statler site would provide a legitimate anchor for Grand Circus Park, the move to the Hudson's block would really help finish off the Lower Woodward cooridor. Detroit has plenty of pockets of development going on, but nothing that seems to be completely finished. Quicken Loans, Compuware, Campus Martius, One Kennedy Square all within a stone's throw from eachother would create a truly walkable district and potentially fill in the remaining downtown Woodward storefronts.

This is really exciting, but I won't get my hopes up until I hear Quicken Loans official announcement.

Doug Rothwell Interview

This is a great question and answer session with the president of Detroit Renaissance, Doug Rothwell. Once again, I'm happy to learn that there's a lot of talented leaders thinking about Michigan's future. I'm excited to read his group's major recommendations to Kwame Kilpatrick, and there's a lot in his answers that suggests some good things to come. I particularly like that he mentions the importance of building the "urban core" and talks about Detroit Synergy folks embracing Detroit for what it is. The "edginess of Detroit and the grittiness of Detroit and the hardworking nature of Detroit" are certainly all traits that I've grown to love over the last year. The idea of building a "brand and an image" around these is exciting and although you'd take some of that edginess away when you have have politicians and CEOs building an "image," I definitely agree that Detroit's grittiness is something worth promoting.

Airport City

Airport City, a landscape of modernity and prosperity, has helped Detroit become the nation's fastest-growing big city and pushed southeast Michigan back to the top of America's best economic performers, a place it has not held in 70 years. The quality of life in southeast Michigan — which at the start of the century embarrassed bright young adults and drove them away — is now a point of pride keeping them around.

This is the vision of Wayne County's development director, Mulu Birru, and an exciting plan for southeast Michigan. As the article points out it has some serious obstacles in its path, but I think Birru has the right attitude when he says, "It's a big project and it will take a lot of consensus, a lot of cooperation and a lot of imagination to make it work. But it's all possible."

The Airport City vision and yesterday's conference "Where Do We Go From Here? at least let me know that the region's leadership is thinking about Michigan's struggling economy, though time will tell if Michigan is able to successfully transform itself and thrive or if it will be left to languish and struggle.

Pop City

Model D just launched the Pittsburgh version of their site, calling it Pop City. Like Detroit, Pittsburgh has to continually fight old stereotypes and tired perceptions to "break the bad news cycle." Often beating the Free Press and News in publishing development news, Model D is exceptionally good at highlighting Detroit's transformation. The neighborhood visiting guides are well thought out and well written and the features are always informative. I can't imagine Pop City will be any different...Pittsburgh enthusiasts will be excited with this new website.

I haven't formally visited Pittsburgh, but I have driven through and as Charley in The Perks of Being a Wallflower said, it really did make me "feel infinite." Driving through the tunnel and emerging on the other side in the heart of the city was one of the cooler drives I've done. A quick look through Pop City tells the story of very healthy city with a lot of cool neighborhoods and potential.

Pittsburgh’s Downtown remains healthier than those of many midsize American cities. Geographically and economically central, it absorbs a 41-percent daytime population surge, the fourth-highest among U.S. metro areas; what’s more, 48 percent of Downtown workers arrive by transit – and, over lunch, it can seem as if nearly as many are bargain-hunting at Kaufmann’s landmark department store.

Here's to a sister rustbelt, blue collar city and Pop City's success. Pittsburgh, you give me hope for what Detroit will become.

Chevy Camaro

Please come out with this car. I think if the production model looks like the Camaro concept that debuted at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show, GM will have a hit. My only worry is that it'll take a good two to three years to develop the car and get it into dealer showrooms. Regardless, retooling the Oshawa plant as a flexible manufacturing facility and saving close to 6,000 workers is good news.

Cultivating Community

Anyone wandering around the Diag this week should keep an eye out for the Cultivating Community banners advertising our benefit dinner. My efforts making these banners, though minimal, required more of a commitment in an extracuricular activity as a non-student than I ever made in my four years as a student (excluding water polo). That's pathetic.

Talk to Brent or I if you're interested in attending or learning more about the project.