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And so it goes...
I am not a poet, nor a man who is good with the pen. I generally hide my feelings, but on occasion let things get to me. This morning my abuelito took his last breath. I am not really sad though, and I don't find that strange. I think this maybe the case for several different reasons. One, that if I live half the life of my abuelito I know I will have lived a great life and would not want anyone to morn my loss, but celebrate my great life. Another reason is that he leaves such a legacy on this planet, lives that he touched, family that he raised, and differences he made. I will always continue to see Enrique in my father; his strength, his wisdom, his caring, it all lives on....
Death is a strange thing, but it does not mean the end of someone. It just means the end of new things for them. It means now they are a memory, and with my abuelito his memory is a great one. He touched many lives, raised a great family, and saw more things then anyone would of ever expected from a little carpenter from Oruro, Bolivia.
I am even happier now that he got to come to the USA for one last time. He saw his two American great grandchildren, which means the world to me that he met Novali. More importantly that she met him. Here are two pics:
Abuelito: Novali is introducing her toys to him. This was in July in Chicago. | 
Abuelito and Abuelita playing with Valerie. |
I don't know what to write. There will be no funeral here in the USA for us to attend. I wrote a little about him in a blog two weeks ago. Miguel also wrote something great about him on Abuelito's last birthday. Those two stories can be found here: edit: I just added two more
Miguel: Don Enrique: 03.25.2003 - Ciao Enrique: 09.17.2004
Sam: For Better or Worse: 09.03.2004
Andres: A Picture: 09.17.2004
My abuelito was an eccentric man, I know you might say most older men become that way, but he was a little over the top. If you read Miguel's story you know that abuelito always carried a small pencil and notepad in the pocket of his shirt. Remnant of his carpenter days I am sure. Well either way, my dad sent him as a gift a few years back some polo shirts. However there was a problem, the shirts did not have pockets! Fortunately the shirts where a little long for abuelito (he is not even 5 foot tall), so he took them to his tailor and had pockets cut from the extra material at the bottom. His shirts now had a pocket for his pencil and notepad, but when untucked had a pocket shaped hole at the bottom. Classic Enrique Centellas.
Thanks to everyone for their support during this hard time.
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That's More Like It
Well the welcome flags are down... gloves are on... time to work folks. The parade of meetings is getting longer, but no longer the welcome wagon, now it's the, "What are you gonna do about this?" Wagon.
So what is rolling in on these new wagons?
Wagon #1 - This past weekend a fraternity decided to not follow the party rules really well... and when things got out of control did not feel it was their responsibility to get it under control. Hum? Got to love these simple miscommunications.
Wagon #2 - A sorority violated a Panhellenic Unanimous Agreement... that means... infraction, which equals Panhellenic Judicial process, which implicates me in more work and forms, and guess what, yep, more meetings.
Wagon #3 - I had to watch a video about how to safely drive a big van. Boring. It was a nice break in my afternoon though. Next week I get my driving test... to be officially certified. I don't mind this wagon so much. No pun intended about the wagon/van thing... ah.. nevermind.
Wagon #4 - COB. Continuous Open Bidding. So if a women, signs a bid with a sorority, but never gets fully initiated, she can drop out, and has to wait one full year before trying to join another group. Now... the records for who signed sorority bids are split into two different folders (Formal and COB), and I need to cross check those with a list of women entering recruitment this fall to make sure they are eligible. And guess what... I do not get even one full day to check... Agh.
For those who think I might be annoyed with these issues... think again. This is why I went into Greek Life... excitement! Something new, everyday. Call me crazy, but I love it.
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My Work
Yesterday was very hectic. Meetings all day... Rho Gam Coordinator, Sigma Nu Consultant, Sigma Nu President, Theta Chapter Advisor, got some weekend Campus Safety Reports, and a long afternoon meeting with my boss. All in all a very productive day, which ended with a Tea Reception at the Delta Gamma Lodge. Very fun.
My Office
So people have been asking about my office. I have a great corner office with four huge windows. I have a brand new Dell PC with a huge flat screen LCD monitor. I have lots of space and a chair for the people who come in and meet with me, and room to pull more chairs in. I have a huge grey filing cabinet in one corner... very scary looking... and even scarier when I look in there at the piles and piles of stuff.
My Desk, I rarely put on the lights because of all the sun light. | 
My Mac and my K-Kup (refils for just 50 cents). |
I am still working on getting more stuff moved around and files organized to my liking. I got my order of supplies and desk accessories today, so this afternoon I will square them all away.
The BBQ
The Greeks had a BBQ Friday and I had a great time. In between the fraternity houses there is a great open space for them to host programs. All the groups get along really well and the event was a lot of fun. Free food, good DJ and even more new names for me to learn!
The weather cooperated for us and everyone had fun. | 
The food line was always long and the burgers were tasty. |
The Fraternities
Albion has six fraternities and they all belong to the NIC. Unfortunately there are no NPHC or NALFO groups right now... but hopefully soon we can remedy that. The history of Greek life here is very old and I love reading about how the groups got started here. They all have houses owned by the school, the buildings are all the same, just different furniture and letters on the outside. I think they have a very unique set up which works very well for them. Let me introduce you to my groups:
Delta Tau Delta. The oldest, founded 1876. | 
Tau Kappa Epsilon. The youngest, founded 1926. |
Sigma Nu. Founded 1895. | 
Delta Sigma Phi. Founded 1917. |
Alpha Tau Omega. Also Known As the football team. Founded 1889. | 
Sigma Chi. Home of their sweet heart song. Founded 1886. |
The guys have been great so far. I know we have a good future ahead of us, and I am excited to be a part of it.
Later this week I will introduce you to the sororities.
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Updates
My abuelito is not doing well...
Work was very busy today, meeting after meeting. Tonight off to a Tea Reception at the Delta Gamma lodge.
I updated Novali's website. Hope these pics cheer people up: Novalí
I will try to write more tomorrow.
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