I started a story today...

...on a family of Burmese refugees.  A family of 7 were reunited with 3 other family members, who have been in Allentown for a year now, a week ago.  Today is the day they all started moving in together, and the first day I met them.  I was a little overwhelmed with the fact that so many people were moving in, with the help of their case worker and an intern from Catholic Charities, and the fact that they didn't speak English.  Eventually, they hope to house 12 people in the house, when they are able to bring a set of the family's grandparents over.  It's been a while since I've been this excited about a story... I wish I had more than just a couple weeks to work on it.  The family is so sweet, and I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my time in Allentown with them.  

Sportsfest Day 2

So after this game, I go to get the team rosters.  One team's roster consists of only numbers.  Anyone watching the game could've figured that out.  Then, as I'm captioning my pics of the team that did have an actual roster, there are two girls with the same number.  Who does that!

Sportsfest

Make-A-Wish

8 year old Ashari was diagnosed with leukemia in May of 2008, and had her wish of a shopping spree granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  She was picked up in a limo and taken to King of Prussia with her parents and older sister.  Ashari shopped at Best Buy, Toys 'R' Us, and the King of Prussia Mall, where she went to Build-A-Bear, which was her favorite stop, where she got a pink leopard cat that she named Princess.  

Dalai Lama Protestors

The Dalai Lama visited the Lehigh Valley this past week, and following shortly behind him was this group of protesters.  The protesters consisted of Shugden Buddhists, who worship a deity of the name Dorje Shugden.  The Dalai Lama has banned the worship of this deity, leading to a lack of religious freedoms in the country of Tibet, which is why the Shugden Practitioners are protesting.  

Next to the Shugden protesters, was a small group of Chinese Lehigh University students, who were also protesting the Dalai Lama for a different reason.  The students said that although Tibet is a part of China, the Dalai Lama's actions treat Tibet as if it has nothing to do with China.

Lastly, a young man waits for the second Sunday session of the Dalai Lama's lecture outside of Stabler arena by doing yoga.

p.s. one of the protesters thought I was from the Tibetan press...which is funny to me.

Union and West End Cemetery

Girl Scout Troop 6678, Home Depot's volunteer group, Team Depot, and Properties of Merit repaint the iron fence at the Union and West End Cemetery, which is the only cemetery in the United States that holds the remains of both Union and Civil War soldiers.

Tour de Pool

Little Lehigh