Educating Ruiz

Greetings from Brooklyn,

Exciting news in the Connors household (no, not that news, Mum): Natalie has secured a fantastic position with Thomson Reuters in Times Square. Her role is senior design researcher for the financial and risk division. Natalie explained to me what her role entailed but I must admit I was concentrating on a hilarious commercial on YouTube. As a result we may have to take a trip to Ottawa, Canada to transfer our visas. 

In our quest to increase our cultural capital we ventured to the Museum of the Native American. It was a fascinating day as we were exposed to the music, custom and relics from various tribal backgrounds across the Americas. We were fortunate to see a 2000 year old duck decoy that was made from reeds that was used for hunting by the Cherokee tribe. I was really struck by the Alaskan tribes display. The artwork there was amazing and the detail and intricate carving into ivory had to seen to be believed. There was also a display on the various tribes from Peru. The display was characterised by a plenty of nudity, violent art and barbaric rituals. It really explained a lot about Natalie.

We also stumbled across the National African Burial Ground Monument in the Financial District. In 1991 during construction of an office block, human remains were discovered. This led to further investigation and the discovery of the remains of an estimated 20,000 African slaves. The political wrangling required to transform the site into a historical, sacred site is detailed and was amazing to the say the least. It is described as their Ellis Island by one notable advocate. One display that reinforced the enormity of the slavery was where there was a 400lb/180kg barrel that you had to push up a ramp to replicate loading a ship. I did it fairly easily and was proud of myself for such a Herculean effort. I was then brought back down to Earth by Natalie who said that at age 35 I would have exceeded a slave's lifespan by five years and that most male slaves would have been doing this from the age of ten. Natalie attempted the task but could not complete it. I wondered why we were receiving such withering looks while Natalie was attempting to move the barrel, and retrospectively me taking off my thong to provide "encouragement" on Natalie's backside was a touch insensitive. I did tell Natalie that I believe in authentic learning experiences.

We are preparing for the arrivals of our mothers in less than a fortnight which should make for a memorable experience. We are stocking up on blood pressure medication and alcohol. Once we have confirmation from our mothers we will attend to their requirements.

Until next time.
Connors