Another Week Down

It's a Boy!:
So, upon leaving the school earlier this week, my team leader had a surprise game for us to play.  As we rounded the corner, we ran smack-dab into a Superman piñata.  With each hit, out poured yummy Starburst candies, and eventually, a balloon.  This was not just any ordinary balloon.  (Coli can never quite be straight-forward with us.)  It was, in fact, a little blue balloon that said, "It's a Boy!"  Umm...who's pregnant?!  After we realized a piñata is probably not how she would tell us she's pregnant, we switched gears.  It turns out, we have a new teammate, and it's a boy! 

This could be very good for our team, given that we've been a team of 8 girls and 1 boy since partway through Catalina.  (Two of our male team members got voted off the island about half way through.)  So now, our token guy, Chris, has a buddy.  His name?  Kristopher.  Thankfully he goes by his full name.  We met him that night at dinner, but have yet to work with him.  He's waiting on his paperwork and fingerprints to go through before he's allowed at the school.  But we're all excited!  He was previously on an FMT team (Fire Management Team), but decided that the work wasn't for him.  All of the FMT team members just had their final fire drill test, and I guess he just decided it wasn't what he wanted to do. 

Introductions:
So, tonight we get to introduce him to the first grade teacher that I mentioned in my last post.  That's right, she's having the team over again for another dinner.  The crock-pot has been going all day, and she's dug up some old board games from when her boys were young.  It's not quite the wild night everyone was imagining for a Friday, but how can you turn down such a sweet lady?!

This is actually quite convenient, considering the food hall is being evacuated tonight.  Bug bombing again.  They also just re-bombed my building.  Scabies is persistent!

Life After Americorps:
My teammate, Lindsay, has fallen in love.  With a city.  With San Francisco to be exact.  She has fallen in love so much that she has already checked into apartments to rent in August, possible grad schools, jobs, and roommates.  Roommates...  I am one of those possible roommates.  My original plan for the year following Americorps was to teach abroad after spending about a month or so back home.  She is determined to delay that by about 9-12 months, though.  She has already found me some potential math tutoring jobs, education positions, and an affordable 2 bedroom apartment.  Hmm...  Haha.  We'll see how this goes.  Life changes so fast!

My Guitar:
This is a subject that I maybe don't want to get myself started on.  This is what happened:

About 2 weeks ago, my guitar dropped from the cubby that I keep it on. 

I frantically searched it over but found no cracks. 

The bug bombing happened, after which the rooms need to be ventilated.  Thus, the air temperature changes.

Wood expands and contracts.

Guitars crack open.

If you don't know me well, then you might not know how much this would upset me.  The night I saw the damage, and it's not minor, I looked up 3 guitar repair shops in town.  Upon calling them the next day at lunch, I realized how incredibly expensive fixing a guitar can be.  I can get a free price quote, and I will before I leave the convenience of having a project in Sacramento, but I can't do it yet.  I put my guitar in the closet so I wouldn't have to look at it.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss. 

On a lighter note, the teachers at the elementary school stepped right in to help.  They wrote out directions and drew maps to the nearest guitar shops, and one even offered to lend me her son's (since he doesn't play it much anymore) to hold me over.  I didn't take up their offers, but I was tempted to.  It's still playable and sounds ok right now, but I'm afraid to aggravate the wood futher. 

Last Night's Team Meeting:
At our team meeting last night, we all agreed that this project is going by SOOO much faster than our first one.  It's amazing how much more pleasant the days are, and we as team mates are, when we have a warm bed to come home to at night... complete with carpet and electricity.  Also, the days go by much faster when working with children, as opposed to hacking down weeds on the side of a mountain.  The majority of the team is a bit hesitant to find out what our next project is going to be.  We're afraid of another Catalina.  We all thought we'd be ready to leave the city by the time this spike is over...  Granted, we have a month left, but I really don't see us itching to leave the fun and comforts we have here when the time finally comes. 

I'm not sure if it's the project, or where I'm at personally, but I realized last night that Americorps is starting to mean something to me.  It's more than just a way to serve and travel.  Although I'm sure I haven't seen the depth of it, I can tell that I'm getting close to my team.  I'm also growing as a person, although my stubborn pride doesn't always want to admit it.  College and student-teaching did a lot for me as an individual, more than Americorps has done so far, but I can't completely disregard what has happened while I've been out here.  First of all, I've never not been able to get home easily.  Does that make sense?  When at college, I was only an hour's drive from home.  And when I was in Peru, I was never more than a month away from flying back to WI.  I'm realizing that this trip is definitely valuable to me as a stepping stone to some of my future teaching abroad plans. 

Oh, future plans...

Free for the Weekend!

A Quick Shout-Out:
I have to start off by saying how wonderful it is to receive care packages!  Thanks, Madre, for all the necklace, shampoo, chocolate, and spices!  :)

There's Something about First Grade Teachers:
A certain first grade teacher, whom we will refer to as Mrs. H, decided to treat my ENTIRE team to dinner and a movie on Firday night.  She has a cousin who works at the theater in town, and was able to get us in for free!  The funniest part, however, was her plan to hook one of us up with one of her two sons.  It was hilarious.  As soon as we got there, she welcomed us, introduced us to her two boys (who are in their early thirites) and then conveniently disappeared for about 20 minutes to go pick up the pizzas.  The boys offered to get it (a bit overwhelmed by the 7 girls randomly appeared in their kitchen), but she insisted that they stay and visit with us.  Dinner was wonderful, and funny.  Mrs. H is one of those incredibly positive, genuine, funny older ladies.  And her two sons were quite a pair.  When it came time for the movies, she once again conveniently skipped out.  Her sons were to be our companions.  We saw The King's Speech, which was actually a heck of a lot funnier than I'd expected it to be.  I honestly don't think I could compare that movie to any other than I've seen before...maybe to Chocolat with Johnny Depp, but that might be stretching it.

Now let's skip to Saturday:
Saturday was beautiful!!!  The sun was shining so warm that I actually fell asleep out on the grass for a while.  My team played softball, I learned some Spanish by listening to a few lessons on my ipod, I played a little guitar, I got a few mosquito bites, and overall, I enjoyed the great outdoors.  Now, I have to be honest...there's a reason (besides the gorgeous weather) that we spent most of the day outside.

The reason was a little infectious issue known as Scabies.  Ewe.  Yeah.  So, apparently one of the other teams on campus started noticing a rash on their wrists, etc.  And then, I think I've mentioned this, there was the fact that some of the students at the school I've been working with exposed us to scabies.  Eitherway, scabies became an issue.  So, it was decided that our entire dorm building should be bombed.  Yup. From beginning to end, it was a five hour process.  Food, dinnerware, and toothbrushes had to be stored in our airtight mini-fridges to protect them from the harsh chemicals.   

Needless to say, my entire team will be going to the clinic tomorrow after school to get a prescription cream as a preventative measure.  Then we will be washing all of our bedding and clothing in hot water.  At least it's not lice, or bed bugs. 

Trying to Feel Pretty:
So, when something like a scabies outbreak occurs, it is pretty easy to feel gross and scuzzy.  Thus, I bought my first ever tube of lipstick.  Six of us girls decided to go out to dinner downtown and we were gonna look sharp!  It turns out, we found a Lebinese place, complete with tapestries on the ceiling, mats to sit on (instead of a table and chairs) and DELICIOUS food.  Oh yeah...and a belly dancer.  Hah!  The highlight of the night was definitely getting a free lesson with my teammate, Ali, from the belly dancer in the middle of the restaurant!  It only seemed right to end the day with dancing, given that us girls had begun the day with an hour of Zumba at the gym down the street.

I Almost Forgot!:
I have to admit a guilty little secret: I finally gave in and bought the Twilight book.  I was vehement about not being one of the millions of Twilight girls, but curiosity finally got the best of me.  My team made a pitstop for me at Walmart and I sheepishly bought the first in the Saga.  (FYI:  I like it.  I was up until 12:30 - while my roommates were out at the bar - reading my juicy teenage novel in my p.j.'s.  It's moments like those that I feel super cool.) 

Eitherway, just as we were pulling back into the parking lot, I got a text from a friend about meeting the next morning at 8:30.  What?!  Oh yeah... I had agreed to doing an ISP (Independent Service Project) on Sunday.  Oops.  Good thing she texted me. 

Everything turned out fine, and I can now say I am an expert at weeding flowers.  I worked for 5 hours straight at digging grasses, and who knows what else out of 15 rosebeds at the Rose Gardens.  Yeah.  I think I'm pretty good at that now.  Actually, it was a pretty nice day, and I can't really complain about spending it outside in a park in downtown Sacramento.

Venting

Stream of Consciousness:
Today I feel overwhelmed.

All of my students need my help.  Let me say that again.  All of my students need my help.  There isn't one who wouldn't benefit from a little (or A LOT) of one-on-one attention.  They need tutoring, they need mentoring... they need both. 

And how in the world are you supposed to decide which students are the lucky few to actually get it?

Maybe it should be the ones who are bold enough and driven enough to call out for my help?  But what about the shy ones who don't have the confidence to admit they need it?  What about the "trouble" kids who distract all of the other students?  They desperately need guidance and discipline and love.  But what about the average children who always gets overlooked?  And let's not forget about the really bright students who are bored and need to be challenged or they might become "problem" children themselves.

Seriously.  How are you supposed to choose?

Happenings of the Day:
One of my students came to school today with dog pee completely covering her uniform sleeves.  A CPS (Child Protective Services) report was done today for this girl's sister due to suspected abuse.  I'm guessing that both girls should probably have a report done.  Maybe I'm just being negative. 

Also, three boys in my afternoon class beat up a fourth boy from my class during lunch recess.  During third recess one of the girls from that class punched another boy from that class in the face.  That happened about 45 minutes after I pulled that same girl out of class because she was sobbing because she couldn't fit her legs under her desk.  Did I mention yet that the school doesn't have the resources to have P.E. class?  There isn't even a gymnasium in the school. 

At least my afternoon class got to go to recess.  My morning class had to sit quietly with their heads on their desks for the entire lunch recess because of an issue we had in the morning. 

Can you keep all of that straight?  I can hardly figure out how to coherently write it all down.

Trends and Speculations:
A few teachers mentioned a trend that they've noticed in regards to the worsening student behavior.  Keep in mind that this is just speculation and a definite generalization, but I had it explained to me at lunch that this happens every month.  Towards the middle/end of each month, the behavior gets worse and worse.  ("Just wait till the end of the month!" they tell me.)  Why?  Because many families (as a generalization) have a hard time managing money.  And by the end of the month, most of it is gone.  This translates into a few things: 1) More stress and chaos at home.  2)  Less food.  And thus, the children are more frazzled and respond by acting out. 

What to Do About It:
While driving home in the 15 passenger van today, these thoughts ran through my head.  I hardly talked to my teammates.  We're all a bit overwhelmed.  But what's the point of bringing it up?  Any suggestions anyone might have, we already know.  There's no magic solution.  I don't want to hear suggestions.  I just want to vent and recognize this harsh reality.  No one can actually provide an answer to these dilemmas.  And I don't want to hear opinions that will only make me more frustrated.

After arriving back at base I decided I could really go for something delicious.  A note on comfort foods: I know better, but I did it anyway.  Yup.  I bought a few yummy treats from a nearby shop, which I consumed on the walk back to base.  And I managed to consume 60% of my daily fat allowance within that 3 minute walk.  Great. 

But not to worry.  My appetite was quickly cut short when my roommate showed me a google image of scabies.  Why would she do this?  Well, three of my teammates are currently at the clinic.  One of the students they have been working with has scabies.  Guess what - that students got it from his brother.  Guess what else - I was sitting on the floor next to his brother for about an hour and a half this afternoon working on math.  Huh.  I'll let you know if I notice any bugs laying babies under my skin in the next week or so.  I figure it'll be pretty noticeable.  Just maybe a little itchy.

On the Bright Side:
My students may be a lot to handle, but while talking to my afternoon teacher, we both agreed that at the end of the day, they're incredibly sweet and warm-hearted.  It may feel like we're hearding cats sometimes, but they're adorable cats.  In all honesty, there's only one or two that I'd hesitate to say that about. 

Also, one of the teachers may be able to work her magic and get everyone on my team a free movie theater pass!  And let's not forget the thoughtful mother who made fruit jello for our entire team as a completely unexpected thank you gesture.

Also, Also, it was sunny and warm out today.

Also, Also, Also, my padre sent me a really encouraging text today.  Perfect timing.  :)  Thanks Dad.  Thanks to my entire family, actually.  I've always appreciated you and known you were great, but my roommate and I were talking this evening...  If we had the families of some of our less-fortunate students, would we have the inner-strength to pull through it and rise above?  I will never actually know the answer to that question, because I do, infact, have an amazing family.  My family and friends are so encouraging, and supportive, and caring, and kind, and thoughtful, and intelligent, and helpful, and accommodating, and patient, and giving, and warm, and attentive, and hard-working.  I love you all.  I appreciate you so much.

MLK Day

A National Day of Service:
Today began at 3:45am.  Yep.

My roomie's alarm clock rang bright and early at quarter to four in the morning, and I fought to stay asleep until at least quarter after four.  At last, I had to get up and take a shower.  Today was a big day!  Americorps NCCC celebrates National Days of Service such as Martin Luther King Junior Day.  My team contributed by beautifying a public/charter (a bit of a contradiction if you ask me) elementary school in a rough part of town.  The surrounding neighborhood is full of German Shepherds, Bull Dogs, and a freakish amount of Chihuahuas.  I will admit that I was a little uneasy sitting outside the fenced and chained up school for the hour and half that we did (the rest of our sponsors weren't quite as prompt as us) in the pitch black before the sun rose. 

The school's name is PS7, not overly creative.  Despite it's bland name, and sketchy location, it's actually one of the top performing elementary schools in CA!  Posted on banners infront of each classroom is that particular class' projected graduation day...not from elementary school or from high school, but from a four year college.  Starting in kindergarten they have parents attending college scouting and planning forums.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  The school itself was in rough shape, however, and the city of Sacramento felt that it was important to show the students and staff the respect they deserve by helping maintain the schoolyard and by doing a deep clean of the classrooms and cafeteria. 

My team, one other Americorps NCCC team, about 75 employees from a local health care company (that takes care of patients who have  no health care plan), and a few families of attending students showed up to help.  By the time it reached noon and we were wrapping up the project, we had already put in an 8 hour day! 

Here is a video of our work:  (The mayor Kevin Johnson...a former sports figure of some sort...and a ton of tv news crews kept us company.  Apparently we were at one of the more glamorous sites!)

http://www.kcra.com/video/26520442/detail.html

Needless to say, I came back to base and took a nap before doing P.T.  My team actually tried out P90X and got our butts kicked by the really questionable fitness guru guy who runs the workout video.  It was pretty entertaining.  Most of us actually stayed for a non-mandatory round 2 in which we worked our abs pretty intensely. 

Once that was over, I have to admit that I took a second nap for the day.  Then made dinner, and now here I am...about to go to bed.

I don't do early mornings.

A Pair of Brothers

The Boys:
I have two sweet little brothers.  One is in my morning class (3rd grade) and the other is in my afternoon class (2nd grade).  These boys, like many others, have had some very tragic experiences already in their young little lives.  I will call them Sam and Jon.


Sam is in my morning class, and for some reason is constantly getting in trouble.  I can't quite figure out what he's doing wrong sometimes, but nonetheless, he is often being scolded for something.  I've decided to help him stay on task and encourage him as much as possible.  He is so incredibly affectionate, and loves hugs.  He hardly lets go sometimes. 


His younger brother, Jon, is the complete opposite.  He actually doesn't talk.  He can, but he doesn't.  Not in school at least.  I've been told that he talks at home and that he has one friend that he'll speak to at school, but that's about it.  He is always on task, and is doing pretty well in school.  I just have no idea what his voice sounds like.  My teammate, Lauren, has gotten a high five out of him, but I have had no such luck. 


Their Story:
I don't know much about these boys, but I do know this:  They witnessed their dad being shot and killed about a year ago.  My heart is broken.  They handle it so differently, but they are two incredibly sweet boys.  I am so sad for them.  It can't be expressed.


Many Stories Like These:
They are not alone.  One of the girls in my class is displaying both behavioral and learning disabilities.  During a meeting with her mother, it was discovered that her skull was fractured as an infant.  A straight answer as to how it happened was never uncovered.  When the mother was asked if the little girl was on any medication, the response was, "yeah, sometimes I give her two white ones in the morning."


And let's not forget about the other little girl who lost her mom tragically (I don't actually know the details) a few years ago.


Or about the little boy whose dad came in the other day.  His dad paid more attention to me and the other students than to his own son.  The boy had lost something and was falling behind in school, and the dad just sat at a computer while I helped  the student search his backpack and desk.  No support.


Or the student who randomly told me at recess on Friday that, "one time, my dad had a real gun so he could protect me and my mom."

Or the student who attends school quite infrequently because the aunt who is taking care of him (or maybe she's the mom, or grandma...it's a confusing situation) is suffering from such severe depression that she can't get out of bed to go to work and take him to school some days.Or the other time when a little girl was crying silently at her desk because she was hungry.  Thank goodness the school provides a breakfast option.  We got her to the cafeteria quick.


The list goes on and on...

Falling in Love with an Elementary School

My Mornings:
My mornings at the school start with my "before school post" which is currently in the computer lab.  Now, I realize that I'm in California, but it does, in fact, get quite chilly here.  The children could use somewhere to go during these chilly mornings besides the over-crowded cafeteria, so I spend about a half hour supervising the computer lab, where students can play educational games and stay out of the cold. 

The main part of my morning is spent in a third grade classroom.  (For confidentiality purposes, I will use all fake names when referring to school-related adventures.  Also, there won't be much for pictures, so I apologize for the bland posts.)  This school focuses pretty darn exclusively on reading and mathematics because it is a school with a struggling population, and the NCLB act effects it pretty heavily.  Therefore, my entire morning is math.  This has actually been pretty fun for me (go figure, given that I have a math education degree).  I can't decide which I enjoy more, teaching the math lessons to the whole class (which I've been able to sneak my way into doing a few times) or pulling students out one at a time to focus on their abilities more individually. 

The class tends to adopt a negative tone, so I've made quite an effort to spice it up a bit.  First, I was able to get students up infront of the class more, by having students show their answers, and then call on the next person and so on.  Also, I was able to incorporate hangman (the fun game where you try to guess a word or sentence) as a form of math review, where students can only guess a letter once they have answered a math question correctly.  I've also made sure to have the class clap for each student who is brave enough to answer a question.  Supporting each other is important, and I'm not sure it's focused on as much as it could be. 

Recess is super fun, playing jump rope, red light-green light, and basketball.  I played tag the first day, which was a huge hit with the students (probably because tag is against school policy...oops.)  The school has a rule of "keeping your hands, feet, and objects to yourself."  This rule is important because the students tend to get violent and out of hand if they play any sort of contact sport, including tag.  To prove this point, four of the students in my afternoon class came back from third recess with ice-packs because they couldn't refrain from attacking each other. 

My Afternoons:
After eating lunch with my morning class, I spend about 20 minutes getting some adult interaction in the teachers' lounge before heading over to my second class of the day.  This class is a group of second graders.  And it's a zoo! 

This teacher organizes the day so that, once again, I am just in time for math class.  The teacher has worked it out so that every day I take 4-5 students to the back of the room to get more individualized help and attention.  This is VERY needed.  I would say there are only about 5 students who don't desperately need extra help.  However, there is only one of me, and there is only one actual teacaher, and there are only so many hours in a day. 

I have a question that I could seriously use some advice on: how in the world do you explain what 20+1 is?  Or how about what the next number after 27,28,29 is?  Because I have one student who desperately thinks it's 90.  No matter if it's the 20's you're counting through, or whether you're in the 50's.  On a similar note, how do you teach how to read a clock?  The hour hand point to the actual hour, but the when the minute hand points to 3 it actually means 15...and sometimes the hour hand is inbetween, and even though it might be closer to 4 it could still be something like 3:45...  Oh my gosh.  I have no idea how to make these ideas click for the students.  It's frustrating and hilarious and absoultely mind-bending at times. 

Anyway, this group of students is actually known throughout the entire school for how wild they are.  They are absolutely precious and adorable, but discipline is not a word that they know.  The teacher did find a fairly effective way of helping them calm down after lunch recess and third recess, however.  He has the lights off, gentle music on, and has the students put their heads on their desk for about five minutes (or however long it takes to get them settled) before he starts class. 

Then afterschool, there is a program called Masters that I help out with.  I work in a room with my teammate Sara, and a Masters employee, with about 20 second and third graders.  This works out pretty well since I have some of them in class, and know what is expected for their homework.  I sit at the second grade table and work with four boys.  And let me tell you, it is a BIG DEAL when one of them sits in each other's chair or touches someone else's pencil.  I can't tell if my time there is used more for homework help, or interpersonal conflict resolution.  Eitherway, they are some seriously adorable little boys!

Overall:
PT in the morning makes for some long days.  And I have to say, time works differently here in AmericorpsLand: the days are long, but the weeks are quick! 

Day 1 of Project 2

School:

Today was my first day at Woodlake Elementary School here in Sacramento!!!  The kids are super cute and all of the faculty and staff were very welcoming and supportive of us today.

Woodlake Elementary School, like many in CA and across the nation, have gone through some major budget cuts in the last few years.  This means that they have had to cut back on some of the fun stuff.  What I mean by that is they don't have any gym class, extra curriculurs during lunch or after school, music classes, or art projects for the students to participate in.  None.  As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, they focus almost their entire day on Math and Reading.  That does not make for a fun day for a bunch of kindergarten through sixth graders.  In addition to cutting back on programs for the students, a large percentage of the faculty and staff have been laid off, resulting in less teachers, which in turn causes larger class sizes.  Let's not forget that that clearly leaves the school with no room in the budget for any classroom aides.  Thus, Americorps is here to help out with classroom management, tutoring, and reintroducing the fun activities that make kids want to come to school in the first place. 

Beyond all of this, the teachers have been thrown for an extra loop in the past few years-the school has been redistricted and a new population of students have entered the classroom.  The school building itself is situated in a nice neighborhood with cute little houses that have tons of character.  This is not where the majority of the students come from, however.  The majority of the students are bussed over from "the projects" just across the river.  According to the report we got from the school, 94% of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, 32% are homeless, 40% are transient, and 30% are English Language Learners (with the primary languages being Spanish, Russian, and Ukranian).  Despite all of this, many of the parents and teachers are super eager to help their students.  One of the faculty members was telling me today about how they used to have a bunch of the mothers volunteer their time as aides throughout the school day.  Unfortunately, many of the fathers have been laid off, which has forced the mothers to take paying jobs instead.  It was actually a father of one of the students who went through all of the paperwork (and there's quite a bit!) that made it possible for Americorps to come and help in the first place.  This is a very exciting opportunity, because my group is the first Americorps group to come and work at this school!

As a whole, the school has given me a very fun, bubbly, and upbeat first impression.  And it's incredibly diverse!  50% of the students are Hispanic, 25% are Black, and the rest are a combination of Ukranian, White, and Hmong.  I have to say I'm super excited for this project!  And I know that no matter how tough a day might be, I have four walls and heat to come back to at the end of the day...and that's not something I was able to say while on Catalina!

On a completely different note:

I called Grandma today!  The day after her birthday...oops.  She's doing quite well though.  After I got off the phone, I thought to myself, "Why haven't I done this before?  She's super fun to talk to."  Also, "why don't I do this more often?"  So, I made a new resolution: to talk to grandma more.  It's such a strange thing that I've never really called just to chat with her before.

The Return to Sac-Town

So, Christmas Break was awesome...lots of good quality time spent with my loved ones!  And I have yet to update you all on the highlights from Catalina.  But first comes first...yesterday.

Yesterday was Travel Day:
After finishing packing, I drove Mom and myself up to the Green Bay airport.  That was my last chance to drive for the next 7 months!!!

Mumsie and I had a surprisingly tasty lunch at the airport, and then hung out for a while before I checked into security and hopped on the plane.

Let's back up a sec...
I realized the day before my flight left that I still hadn't figured out how to get from San Francisco (where my plane was landing) to Sacramento (where I actually needed to be).  Huh...  So I hopped online and found a few options, made a few phone calls, and jotted down a few notes.  Turns out that the train tickets aren't worth buying early since the seats aren't actually reserved, so I just focused on getting down the train company info and hoped that it would all fall into place once I landed.

Ok, Back to the Travel Day:
I managed to only have a duffle bag and backpack, and I have to admitt, it's SUPER nice to not have any checked baggage.

While waiting in the security line in Green Bay (a bit teary-eyed as I waved by to Madre) I was watching the girl infront of me struggle to get her laptop out of her bag.  Except it wasn't a laptop.  She reached in her bag and pulled out the cutest, calmest, sweetest little dog wrapped up in a red sweater!  That was a nice pick-me-up.  Turns out there were two puppies on my plane!  And two screaming babies with dirty diapers.  Besides the breath-taking turbulence (it was a VERY windy day-the car door almost flew off when I got out the car that morning!), the flight actually wasn't that bad.  I was able to drown out some of the noises with my new ipod.  (Thanks Mom and Dad!)  It has a bass-boost option, which I quite enjoy! 

My connecting flight in Chicago was actually only 5 gates away (super convenient!) and I only had to wait about an hour until I boarded.  I was able to sleep on this longer flight and enjoyed some cranapple juice.  Yummy!  ...And I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of seasoned pretzels G-ma sent me away with.  Also yummy! 

This is Where it Gets Interesting:
Right when the plane was landing I decided it may be a good idea to check in with the guy sitting next to me and see if he was familiar with BART, the subway system I planning on using.  Turns out he had used it once before, but had little to no memory of where to find it.  He actually needed to find it again though. 

It also turns out he had gone to the same christian conference thingy in Kansas City, Missouri that I went to in high school. 

It also turns out he was really fun to talk to.

So he waited for me on the plane, since I had to get my bag from one of the overhead storage bins in the back of the plane (I may have overpacked my duffle this time around...  It was difficult to fit it anywhere).  Once off the plane we walked quite briskly until we found a sign for the BART subway system.  Chatting this whole time made talking a wee-bit difficult (he's a very fast walker!).  We walked where the sign was directing us, and then failed to find any more signs, or the actual subway itself.  He decided we were having these problems because his shoe wasn't tied.  Of course that's why.  So he tied his shoe (while I asked a security guard for directions) and then magically we went up a flight of stairs and found the airtrain that was supposed to take us to the subway.  :)  Success #1. 

Then we got off the airtrain and found a kiosk to purchase our BART tickets.  I, of course, bought a $20 ticket instead of the $10 I actually needed.  Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing.  We asked another helpful airport worker where to find our platforms, and she directed us to an elevator.  We saw that platform 3 (the one I needed) was on the third floor.  The only complication is that no matter how many times you pushed the 3 button, nothing happend.  Huh.  So, we pushed 5 and walked for a while until we found another helpful airport employee.  Turns out, we were at the right place.  Our platforms were directly opposite from each other about 10 feet away from where we were standing! 

As we parted ways, we decided to finally introduce ourselves. 

Him:  I'm sad our little travel adventure is coming to such a quick end.
Me: I know, it was fun!  Well, you're going that way though right (pointing to his platform)?
Him: Yep. 
Me:  Ok, well, it was nice to meet you.  I had fun.  My name's Jenny, by the way.
Him:  Gustav.
Me:  See ya!  (I ended with such a quick salutation because I didn't quite understand what he had said...I thought he had uttered some salutation in another language, not registering that Gustav was his name at first.  Haha, oops...)

So, we smiled and waved goodbye as we got on our trains.

Then:
I rode that subway a few stops until I had to change to another subway.

Then I wandered around and found another train ticket kiosk (an actually train this time!), and then wandered up some stairs, past a man smoking pot, to the platform.  Thankfully there was a group of college-aged people hanging out (since the train they were supposed to take the hour before mine broke down) and explained where the train would drop me off in Sacramento, and kept me company until the train arrived.

Finally I got off the train and found a taxi conveniently waiting to take me back to base!  The cab driver was pretty sure he knew where it was...  He kept asking which streets he should take though, which I was completely unable to explain.  His confidence was low since he had just given his GPS to a friend of his who needed to navigate his way around Napa Valley.

So, Let's Re-Cap:
1) Drive up to GB
2) Flight from GB to Chi-Town
3) Flight form Chi-Town to San Fran
4) Airtrain ride
5) Subway ride
6) Second subway ride.
7) Train ride to Sac Town
8) Taxi ride to base!

Once inside my little dorm room I turned up the heat and crawled into bed!  That was a long, but fairly up-beat travel day, thanks to my Korean-American travel buddy  (and the puppy)!

Today:
Today has been a fun reunion day with my teammates.  And a nice calm before the storm of Americorps meetings and such that begins tomorrow!