The Drive:
It took 2 days to drive from Sacramento, California to Green River, Utah. Under normal circumstances it would have taken a day, but driving a government van means you have to play by a lot of rules. We stopped the first night at a hotel and casino set up that still allowed smoking in the hallways, and had an entire wall of mirrors in each room. It was...classy. Or maybe it wasn't. You can decide.
The drive itself was a bit strange. We have our 15 passenger van and a mini van (to bring to tools in) and only four drivers. In Americorps, drivers are only allowed to drive for two hours before they are made to switch as a safety precaution. BTW, I am one of the drivers now. I was trained over the transition in Sacramento because one of the drivers broke her ankle, and another lost her license. As a result of having two cars and only four drivers, I spent exactly half of the road trip behind the wheel. Once we got past all of the snow and mountains in the Tahoe area, the scenery was similar to what you could expect to see driving on the moon. It was very flat and bare. And at one point, the desert was so flooded out that all you could see was water, starting at the edge of the highway, and reaching out as far as you could see.
Our Greeting:
I am driving the lead van when we finally pull off the highway and make our way to Green River. As we approach the end of the exit ramp, we notice a group of guys all piled into the back of a pick up truck, singing, dancing, and waving American flags. Oh boy. This place is starting of a bit strange. We try to avoid them and pull around them, but they block our way. We reinspect the scene, and begin to wonder if they are there to greet us. Are they the people we'll be working for?! We decide to take a gamble and follow them as they parade us through town. We end up at the Community Center, where they hop out of the truck and formally introduce themselves. Wow. This is going to be interesting, haha. We enter the Community Center and have a brief greeting and introduction. We go on a walking tour around town (there's no need for cars here...it's very small) and have it explained that most buildings aren't what they say they are...in fact, most buildings are empty and completely run down. We make it back to the Center and are immediately put to work. We haven't put our bags in the house yet...we haven't even seen the house. Yet, here we go to pick up the students from school and run the after school camp. As soon as the kids get fed and sent home, we are asked to attend a Habitat for Humanity Ground Breaking Ceremony. Immediately after this, I am asked to go to the Habitat for Humanity board of directors meeting, since I will be one of the key people working on the house in our two months in Utah. So I go directly to another building for a meeting that lasts about an hour. The meeting ends in prayer...in my government uniform...yeah. Anyway, I'm contemplating how random the day has been, and how exhausted I am as I make my way home. I walk through our front door, ready for a shower and bed, but that's not in the cards just yet. As I walk past our living room, I notice my entire team is playing cards with two very well dressed men. Mormon missionaries. Apparently they come by the house every Tuesday night and hang out for a bit. Huh. I decline joining the game of rummy, take a shower, and pass out on the top bunk.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Time to Play Catch Up: Spring Break
So, I have not been very good about keeping up with my blog. The next few posts will cover the highlights of the last 3 months.
Spring Break 2011 (Back in April)
Location: San Diego
We had four days off for Spring Break. A couple teammates decided to go home, a couple had family and friends flying out to visit them. The rest of us decided to rent a hotel in San Diego together. Actually, the original plan was just for Lauren and I to get a hotel room. We decided to save money and get a room in the beautiful Little Italy section of San Diego. The thing is...we got a room called the "Cozy Queen." It is called this because the room itself is hardly bigger than the one queen bed that fits in it. There's a good chance the bathroom was bigger than the room. Either way...the Cozy Queen became home to five of us girls for the four day weekend. Good thing we all get along well. ;)
...I just wrote out the entire description of my Spring Break experience, and then thought better of posting it online. It'll have to suffice to say that it was incredibly fun. You'll have to ask in person if you want the details.
Spring Break 2011 (Back in April)
Location: San Diego
We had four days off for Spring Break. A couple teammates decided to go home, a couple had family and friends flying out to visit them. The rest of us decided to rent a hotel in San Diego together. Actually, the original plan was just for Lauren and I to get a hotel room. We decided to save money and get a room in the beautiful Little Italy section of San Diego. The thing is...we got a room called the "Cozy Queen." It is called this because the room itself is hardly bigger than the one queen bed that fits in it. There's a good chance the bathroom was bigger than the room. Either way...the Cozy Queen became home to five of us girls for the four day weekend. Good thing we all get along well. ;)
...I just wrote out the entire description of my Spring Break experience, and then thought better of posting it online. It'll have to suffice to say that it was incredibly fun. You'll have to ask in person if you want the details.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Music in the Forest
The Hills are Alive...With the Sound of Music:
3 songs completed
1 song on the way
Lindsay and I are on a roll!
I'd mentioned that I wanted to practice playing guitar with others...not just strumming by myself. She was inspired by this, and came back from Christmas break with a harmonica. And so it begun.
The first song was made after work one day. I decided to play guitar. She decided against a nap and brought her harmonica out to meet me. Song number one, her lyrical baby, was based off of a text message in her inbox. I threw some chords together that fit in the key of her harmonica, and the rest just fell into place.
Well, it fell into place with a lot of late-night coffee and an inspirational setting that helped us. We decided that going out into the forsest to write our music was a good thing for two reasons: 1) inspiration 2) we would hopefully not drive the rest of our team crazy this way.
We decided partway through writing this song that we needed to get more coffee. Also, we were a tad bit freaked out listening to the wolves not too far off on our left. As we started walking down, guitar in hand, we heard an animal barking/howling back on our right. This was not okay. Naturally, we took off running. Let me say that it is not easy to run with a half cup of coffee in one hand and a guitar in the other. If I'm being honest, I'll admit to the fact that I almost peed my pants, as I imagined the spectacle of us trying to run in this state, screeching and hollering all the way, terrified of our impending doom.
Song #2:
Song number two branched out of the key of G. One could say it was a slightly more joint effort on the lyrical side. Partway through making this one, we once again decided that it was necessary to make another pot of coffee. We went back to the cabin, made another pot, warmed up our cold hands, and then started to head back to where we left our instruments and notebook. It's much scarier walking into a dark forest, than sitting in it as the sun set. Well, we found our spot again, and lasted about another 20 minutes until we got too freaked out. We decided to head to a spot infront of an unused cabin that had a flood light out front. As we worked a little longer in this location, a mysterious car pulled up directly infront of us. It then backed up next to another cabin, and a man emerged. Now, it's late at night. He had to have seen us, but didn't greet us in any way whatsoever. Thus, once again, we were freaked out.
We decided to run (more gracefully this time) back to our cabin. Then we got curious. We decided that spying on him was a good idea. Unfortunately, we're not very good spies. He spotted us, most likely heard us laughing, and then watched us run away from the trees we were hiding behind. We decided to end our night in the music hall, with only socks on our feet, sliding on the wooden floor. The windows we skidded towards reflected our jittery, caffeinated excitement. There's nothing like feeling like you're in middle school again.
Song #3:
The third song was a much more somber activity. We decided that since we've both been to Ireland, we needed a song that reflected our time there. I'm not quite sure that the storyline behind behind the song has anything to do with our experiences there, but it does have an Irish feel to it. A bit of a haunting, Irish feel.
Last But Not Least:
Our next creation will hopefully be more nature-related. We're thinking that living in a cabin in the woods, and doing our detox will help us tap more into our natural/earthy side. We'll see.
The Excitement Spreads:
My teammate, Lauren, has jumped on the proverbial bandwagon of music as well, and decided to buy a banjo. Yep. No experience with one, but don't worry - the banjo she bought off ebay comes with an instructional dvd. I need to tune it for her soon... The goal is that by April 16th we will have a few songs put together for the whole team to play. April 16th is the date of the local "Fiddle and Barn Dance Competition." Once we heard about this, there was no turning back. We have people on the banjo, harmonica, vocals, guitar, and spoons currently.
The Cherry on Top:
Orpheus, one of the guys we work for, is a composer. As of recently, he is the composer of music for video games. Over the years, however, he has done just about everything. He caught wind that we are a musical team. And just what does he have at his house...the house that we're visiting this weekend? A recording studio. Yep. And he's gonna record our music. Haha. We're kinda excited.
3 songs completed
1 song on the way
Lindsay and I are on a roll!
I'd mentioned that I wanted to practice playing guitar with others...not just strumming by myself. She was inspired by this, and came back from Christmas break with a harmonica. And so it begun.
The first song was made after work one day. I decided to play guitar. She decided against a nap and brought her harmonica out to meet me. Song number one, her lyrical baby, was based off of a text message in her inbox. I threw some chords together that fit in the key of her harmonica, and the rest just fell into place.
Well, it fell into place with a lot of late-night coffee and an inspirational setting that helped us. We decided that going out into the forsest to write our music was a good thing for two reasons: 1) inspiration 2) we would hopefully not drive the rest of our team crazy this way.
We decided partway through writing this song that we needed to get more coffee. Also, we were a tad bit freaked out listening to the wolves not too far off on our left. As we started walking down, guitar in hand, we heard an animal barking/howling back on our right. This was not okay. Naturally, we took off running. Let me say that it is not easy to run with a half cup of coffee in one hand and a guitar in the other. If I'm being honest, I'll admit to the fact that I almost peed my pants, as I imagined the spectacle of us trying to run in this state, screeching and hollering all the way, terrified of our impending doom.
Song #2:
Song number two branched out of the key of G. One could say it was a slightly more joint effort on the lyrical side. Partway through making this one, we once again decided that it was necessary to make another pot of coffee. We went back to the cabin, made another pot, warmed up our cold hands, and then started to head back to where we left our instruments and notebook. It's much scarier walking into a dark forest, than sitting in it as the sun set. Well, we found our spot again, and lasted about another 20 minutes until we got too freaked out. We decided to head to a spot infront of an unused cabin that had a flood light out front. As we worked a little longer in this location, a mysterious car pulled up directly infront of us. It then backed up next to another cabin, and a man emerged. Now, it's late at night. He had to have seen us, but didn't greet us in any way whatsoever. Thus, once again, we were freaked out.
We decided to run (more gracefully this time) back to our cabin. Then we got curious. We decided that spying on him was a good idea. Unfortunately, we're not very good spies. He spotted us, most likely heard us laughing, and then watched us run away from the trees we were hiding behind. We decided to end our night in the music hall, with only socks on our feet, sliding on the wooden floor. The windows we skidded towards reflected our jittery, caffeinated excitement. There's nothing like feeling like you're in middle school again.
Song #3:
The third song was a much more somber activity. We decided that since we've both been to Ireland, we needed a song that reflected our time there. I'm not quite sure that the storyline behind behind the song has anything to do with our experiences there, but it does have an Irish feel to it. A bit of a haunting, Irish feel.
Last But Not Least:
Our next creation will hopefully be more nature-related. We're thinking that living in a cabin in the woods, and doing our detox will help us tap more into our natural/earthy side. We'll see.
The Excitement Spreads:
My teammate, Lauren, has jumped on the proverbial bandwagon of music as well, and decided to buy a banjo. Yep. No experience with one, but don't worry - the banjo she bought off ebay comes with an instructional dvd. I need to tune it for her soon... The goal is that by April 16th we will have a few songs put together for the whole team to play. April 16th is the date of the local "Fiddle and Barn Dance Competition." Once we heard about this, there was no turning back. We have people on the banjo, harmonica, vocals, guitar, and spoons currently.
The Cherry on Top:
Orpheus, one of the guys we work for, is a composer. As of recently, he is the composer of music for video games. Over the years, however, he has done just about everything. He caught wind that we are a musical team. And just what does he have at his house...the house that we're visiting this weekend? A recording studio. Yep. And he's gonna record our music. Haha. We're kinda excited.
Becoming One With Nature
So, things are getting a little crazy in SoCal...
Yes, two of my teammates and I have decided to do a detox. A 3 week long detox. More or less, we've gone vegan on steroids. Unfortunately, we decided to do this the day after we went grocery shopping. Thus, there isn't much to eat.
There is a signed agreement on our cabin wall. You see, this is no ordinary detox. This is a bet. If anybody cheats, we will end up doing the other people's chores (cooking and cleaning) for the last two weeks of this project. If all of us bail out, we will be doing the cooking and cleaning for the only guy on our team...motivation enough.
Today is day two. There are 19 more days. Currently, I miss showers the most. Food is a close second.
The Rules of the Game:
no smoking
no alcohol
no coffee
no meat
no dairy
no saturated fat
no unnatural sugar
no deoderant
no shampoo
no conditioner
(of course no makeup, no perfume, ...nothing.)
Yes, two of my teammates and I have decided to do a detox. A 3 week long detox. More or less, we've gone vegan on steroids. Unfortunately, we decided to do this the day after we went grocery shopping. Thus, there isn't much to eat.
There is a signed agreement on our cabin wall. You see, this is no ordinary detox. This is a bet. If anybody cheats, we will end up doing the other people's chores (cooking and cleaning) for the last two weeks of this project. If all of us bail out, we will be doing the cooking and cleaning for the only guy on our team...motivation enough.
Not wanting to be too negative, we did add a section onto the agreement of things that we could, and should, partake in. Alicia, the maker of this agreement, and googler of the detox plan, has entitled this the "Life Enhancement Section." As suggested in this portion, we are to:
exercise for an additional 45 minutes a day
meditate for 10 minutes
write
think positive thoughts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Camp Cedar Glen
The Drive:
The drive, which was supposed to be a nine hour commute, turned into a 15 hour ordeal. This is because we had not only our 15 passenger van, but we also had a cargo van...that we shared with three other teams. Those other teams were not going to the same camp, by the way. Americorps law says that we have to stop every 2 hours to switch drivers. So, during one of the transitions, my teammate, Ali, and I decided that we would take the cargo van for a shift. We got into the van, set the mirrors right, and then looked around the gas station parking lot to find that the other vans had already left us. Great. We looked down and saw a pile of directions, containing about four different packets with varying destinations. With not much else to go on, we assumed that we would be following the directions that were on the top. Why not, right?
So, we take of on our little joyride, and everything goes as planned. About an hour and a half into it, I get a text from one of my teammates asking which exit we're by. Um...exit? We left the highway about a half hour ago, and are currently going about 15 mph down a winding mountain road. I quickly call her and ask where she is. They're still on the highway. I asked where exactly we were supposed to be going, because we were just about to Ramona, CA. Turns out, we were doing just fine. But the rest of my team took about a 30 mile detour because they missed their exit. So Ali and I had some time to wander around this lovely little town. We found a music shop with all sorts of fun intstruments, and a pet store with rabbits, turtles, and turantulas! Eventually we found an Americorps van at a gas station. Not our team, but one of the vans we were supposed to be caravaning with. We went over to the grocery store quick, and eventually met up with our team and made it safe and sound to camp.
Our sponsor, Jason, seems like an nice guy. I was liking what he had to say about the camp until he got to the wildlife aspect. Turns out there are black bears, mountian lions (a momma with two babies), wolves, coyotes, turantulas, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ticks, and of course the black widow spider. This wouldn't be quite as unwelcome for me if it hadn't been for a dream I had three nights ago that involved me being mauled by a mountain lion, bear, and wolf. Actually, in my dream, there was also a tiger. And I was in Alaska. And I hid from the wolves in a mini fridge. It was obviously the only safe place to go.
First Day of Work:
Right off the bat, I was on a chainsaw. And apparently will be for the next two weeks, minimum. Wow. So...by the time I made it to lunch, I was already able to feel my arm and back muscles every time I attempted to bring my sandwich up to my mouth. All I have to say is that I'm going to be ripped by the time this is done! Or maybe just incredibly sore. I'm already rocking a sunburn on the back of my neck. And the camp is built into the side of the Vulcan Mountain Range. This means that everything uphill. My cardio system will also be rather impressive by the time I leave here two months from now. I am quite excited to go to bed.
But it's not all bad. It's a major step up from Catalina Island, infact. First, we have a heated cabin, with an indoor kitchen (no more cooking dinners over a campfire!), and showers. And, in my opinion, it's prettier! I enjoy greenery and trees...two things Catalina did not have much of, that Camp Cedar Glen does. We even have a little babbling brook running right down through the middle of camp!
The drive, which was supposed to be a nine hour commute, turned into a 15 hour ordeal. This is because we had not only our 15 passenger van, but we also had a cargo van...that we shared with three other teams. Those other teams were not going to the same camp, by the way. Americorps law says that we have to stop every 2 hours to switch drivers. So, during one of the transitions, my teammate, Ali, and I decided that we would take the cargo van for a shift. We got into the van, set the mirrors right, and then looked around the gas station parking lot to find that the other vans had already left us. Great. We looked down and saw a pile of directions, containing about four different packets with varying destinations. With not much else to go on, we assumed that we would be following the directions that were on the top. Why not, right?
So, we take of on our little joyride, and everything goes as planned. About an hour and a half into it, I get a text from one of my teammates asking which exit we're by. Um...exit? We left the highway about a half hour ago, and are currently going about 15 mph down a winding mountain road. I quickly call her and ask where she is. They're still on the highway. I asked where exactly we were supposed to be going, because we were just about to Ramona, CA. Turns out, we were doing just fine. But the rest of my team took about a 30 mile detour because they missed their exit. So Ali and I had some time to wander around this lovely little town. We found a music shop with all sorts of fun intstruments, and a pet store with rabbits, turtles, and turantulas! Eventually we found an Americorps van at a gas station. Not our team, but one of the vans we were supposed to be caravaning with. We went over to the grocery store quick, and eventually met up with our team and made it safe and sound to camp.
 |
| The little bunny at the pet store in Ramona. |
The First Night:
Our sponsor, Jason, seems like an nice guy. I was liking what he had to say about the camp until he got to the wildlife aspect. Turns out there are black bears, mountian lions (a momma with two babies), wolves, coyotes, turantulas, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ticks, and of course the black widow spider. This wouldn't be quite as unwelcome for me if it hadn't been for a dream I had three nights ago that involved me being mauled by a mountain lion, bear, and wolf. Actually, in my dream, there was also a tiger. And I was in Alaska. And I hid from the wolves in a mini fridge. It was obviously the only safe place to go.
First Day of Work:
Right off the bat, I was on a chainsaw. And apparently will be for the next two weeks, minimum. Wow. So...by the time I made it to lunch, I was already able to feel my arm and back muscles every time I attempted to bring my sandwich up to my mouth. All I have to say is that I'm going to be ripped by the time this is done! Or maybe just incredibly sore. I'm already rocking a sunburn on the back of my neck. And the camp is built into the side of the Vulcan Mountain Range. This means that everything uphill. My cardio system will also be rather impressive by the time I leave here two months from now. I am quite excited to go to bed.
But it's not all bad. It's a major step up from Catalina Island, infact. First, we have a heated cabin, with an indoor kitchen (no more cooking dinners over a campfire!), and showers. And, in my opinion, it's prettier! I enjoy greenery and trees...two things Catalina did not have much of, that Camp Cedar Glen does. We even have a little babbling brook running right down through the middle of camp!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Never Cry Wolf Rescue
An Amazing ISP:
So, I have to do 80 ISP (Independent Service Project) hours to graduate from this program; 100 if I want to get the "Presidential Award." Today marked the last of my 100 hours! And let me tell you, today was fascinating!
There's this place about 10 minutes from base called, "Never Cry Wolf Rescue." The reason why it took us a full hour to find is because it is in someone's backyard. Right. You would expect a place with wolves to be out in the country somewhere. No. This place, home to 8 wolves, is located in a residential neighborhood...in a cul-de-sac, actually. The wolf-dog hybrids are here because people who kept them as pets didn't realize what they were getting themselves into. These animals don't do well in an apartment. The retired sheriff who runs the place actually did a rescue before we got there this morning, and technically has 9 animals there for the next few days. The latest addition is actually a dog, not a wolf. It was tied up in a junk yard. The owner thought he had a wolf on his hands, but it was in fact just a large husky. Next to the actual wolves, though, this dog was tiny! The guy who runs the place doesn't mind whether it's technically a wolf or a dog, he just wants to save its life. You see, any animal that's classified as a wolf, whether it actually is or not, is euthanized once taken to a pound. 
His way of handling these animals is to "ask" them to do things, but never to force them. There's a policy of respect that wolves follow, and so he'll never make them do something they don't want to do. If he brings them to a school, but they don't want to come out of their kennels, then they simply don't leave their kennels.
One cool story that he told us was about how he finds them a new home. He used to take the animals to downtown Sacramento 
Our role there today was to help fill in some of the holes these animals dug...but quite honestly, that only took about a half hour. The most important thing that he wanted us to do was to help "socialize" them. That meant cuddling with them and petting them, and more or less, having an amazing day. What an experience! The random stuff like this is part of why I joined Americorps...three days ago I had no idea that I'd be
So, I have to do 80 ISP (Independent Service Project) hours to graduate from this program; 100 if I want to get the "Presidential Award." Today marked the last of my 100 hours! And let me tell you, today was fascinating!
There's this place about 10 minutes from base called, "Never Cry Wolf Rescue." The reason why it took us a full hour to find is because it is in someone's backyard. Right. You would expect a place with wolves to be out in the country somewhere. No. This place, home to 8 wolves, is located in a residential neighborhood...in a cul-de-sac, actually. The wolf-dog hybrids are here because people who kept them as pets didn't realize what they were getting themselves into. These animals don't do well in an apartment. The retired sheriff who runs the place actually did a rescue before we got there this morning, and technically has 9 animals there for the next few days. The latest addition is actually a dog, not a wolf. It was tied up in a junk yard. The owner thought he had a wolf on his hands, but it was in fact just a large husky. Next to the actual wolves, though, this dog was tiny! The guy who runs the place doesn't mind whether it's technically a wolf or a dog, he just wants to save its life. You see, any animal that's classified as a wolf, whether it actually is or not, is euthanized once taken to a pound. Beyond saving the lives of these animals and trying to find them a new home, there are two or three wolves (the ones that he lets roam around his house...yes, actually inside his living room and kitchen) that actually go into schools and nursing homes to serve therapeutic/educational purposes.
His way of handling these animals is to "ask" them to do things, but never to force them. There's a policy of respect that wolves follow, and so he'll never make them do something they don't want to do. If he brings them to a school, but they don't want to come out of their kennels, then they simply don't leave their kennels.
One cool story that he told us was about how he finds them a new home. He used to take the animals to downtown I have to admit, I was super nervous when we first showed up. Literally, the second we walked up to the fence area, one of the wolves straight up jumped over one of the fences into another enclosed area like it was nothing. Um... Yikes. They howled a bit at us, and paced back and forth. Within minutes the guy had opened the gate and walked us in. Oh. My. Gosh. These are powerful animals. And I had just witnessed how little the fences did to separate us from them. It straight up jumped over the barbed wire fence without even needing a running start. And yet, here we were, actually walking into the fenced area with them. By the end of the day, however, I felt so peaceful, and a bit sad to leave. They were actually pretty darn social and cuddly, especially little Eddie.
Our role there today was to help fill in some of the holes these animals dug...but quite honestly, that only took about a half hour. The most important thing that he wanted us to do was to help "socialize" them. That meant cuddling with them and petting them, and more or less, having an amazing day. What an experience! The random stuff like this is part of why I joined Americorps...three days ago I had no idea that I'd be nuzzled by a 200 lb wolf.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day
Nothing Gold Can Stay:
This is my last week with my students. We'll be doing custodial work at the school next week while the students are on vacation. That means that this Friday will be our last day with them. I sat up last night making construction paper valentines for each of my students, and it started to hit me. Sometimes you forget how much love you have inside of you until a bunch of squirrelly, germy, adorable children pull it out of you. Without a doubt, there will be students that I think about 20 years from now, and wonder where they're at. I'll wonder if they ever became the veterinarian or artist they wanted to be, if they moved out of The Compound, or if they remember me... The end of this week is going to be hard.
I still am not sure what I want to do for my students in terms of a going away celebration. Nothing seems good enough for them. But then again, I think they'd appreciate almost anything. My simple little valentines elicited about 100 hugs today from my third graders.
Also, some of my students were so excited that it was my birthday today, that they told their brothers and sisters, and thus word got around to the whole school...and I was serenaded with the Happy Birthday song about 10 times today. So cute. Until the students guessed that I was either 16 or 80. Huh.
A Valentine From a Second Grader:
One little girl in my second grade class sheepishly gave me a Valentine. She walked over to me and handed me a folded up piece of loose leaf paper. It had a J on the front.
I opened it up and saw that it was decorated in crayon with a heart, my name in bubble letters, and a rainbow. Then in pencil, there was a picture of us playing together, and then a note:
Oh my gosh. Heartbreaking.
To break up the sappiness just a little bit though, one of my third grade boys ripped up my valentine right away and said that he just didn't want it. Haha, oh boys...
Some Other Updates:
Did I mention yet that my team is back down to 9 people? We apparently can't hold onto the guys on our team. Kristopher, our newest member was only with us for about a week. I swear we don't bite that hard! Apparently his paperwork wasn't going through quickly enough to work at the school with us, and Americorps didn't want him just sitting around waiting, so they switched him to another team doing environmental work.
Also, this last Saturday was the first time in my life that I have ever gotten up at 4:30am for a job. On the weekend. Well, ever, technically. We had an independent service project, working a run that was happening in town. Besides getting up freakishly early, and being freezing until the sun rose, I had the joy of watching a bunch of people jogging with their dogs. Now I kind of want a boxer. Kind of a lot.
Also, also, my guitar is in the process of being fixed! :) I talked to the guitar shop today and they said that things are going smoothly, but that the wood bending and gluing process takes a while, so it won't be ready til Wednesday. Unfortunately, given my work schedule, I probably won't be able to pick it up until next Monday. Either way, it's being fixed!!!
Thanks:
Thanks so much to all of my family and friends for the sweet birthday wishes...and to Madre y Padre and Grandma and Nat and family for the birthday cards/packages. Perfect timing...that made my day! :)
Nat and Mom, you might like a song I've been listening to lately: There's Hope, by India Arie. It's a good one. Possibly the next one to learn on my guitar, once it's back in my hands.
This is my last week with my students. We'll be doing custodial work at the school next week while the students are on vacation. That means that this Friday will be our last day with them. I sat up last night making construction paper valentines for each of my students, and it started to hit me. Sometimes you forget how much love you have inside of you until a bunch of squirrelly, germy, adorable children pull it out of you. Without a doubt, there will be students that I think about 20 years from now, and wonder where they're at. I'll wonder if they ever became the veterinarian or artist they wanted to be, if they moved out of The Compound, or if they remember me... The end of this week is going to be hard.
I still am not sure what I want to do for my students in terms of a going away celebration. Nothing seems good enough for them. But then again, I think they'd appreciate almost anything. My simple little valentines elicited about 100 hugs today from my third graders.
Also, some of my students were so excited that it was my birthday today, that they told their brothers and sisters, and thus word got around to the whole school...and I was serenaded with the Happy Birthday song about 10 times today. So cute. Until the students guessed that I was either 16 or 80. Huh.
A Valentine From a Second Grader:
One little girl in my second grade class sheepishly gave me a Valentine. She walked over to me and handed me a folded up piece of loose leaf paper. It had a J on the front.
I opened it up and saw that it was decorated in crayon with a heart, my name in bubble letters, and a rainbow. Then in pencil, there was a picture of us playing together, and then a note:
You are the best helper ever. I don't want you to go. I hope you can come again. Because I had a dream about you and it was about... you came to my house and we had so much fun together. But now your going I don't think that I'm still going to have dreams. But I will still remember you. I will miss you. Happy Valentine's Day! Please don't go!
Oh my gosh. Heartbreaking.
To break up the sappiness just a little bit though, one of my third grade boys ripped up my valentine right away and said that he just didn't want it. Haha, oh boys...
Some Other Updates:
Did I mention yet that my team is back down to 9 people? We apparently can't hold onto the guys on our team. Kristopher, our newest member was only with us for about a week. I swear we don't bite that hard! Apparently his paperwork wasn't going through quickly enough to work at the school with us, and Americorps didn't want him just sitting around waiting, so they switched him to another team doing environmental work.
Also, this last Saturday was the first time in my life that I have ever gotten up at 4:30am for a job. On the weekend. Well, ever, technically. We had an independent service project, working a run that was happening in town. Besides getting up freakishly early, and being freezing until the sun rose, I had the joy of watching a bunch of people jogging with their dogs. Now I kind of want a boxer. Kind of a lot.
Also, also, my guitar is in the process of being fixed! :) I talked to the guitar shop today and they said that things are going smoothly, but that the wood bending and gluing process takes a while, so it won't be ready til Wednesday. Unfortunately, given my work schedule, I probably won't be able to pick it up until next Monday. Either way, it's being fixed!!!
Thanks:
Thanks so much to all of my family and friends for the sweet birthday wishes...and to Madre y Padre and Grandma and Nat and family for the birthday cards/packages. Perfect timing...that made my day! :)
Nat and Mom, you might like a song I've been listening to lately: There's Hope, by India Arie. It's a good one. Possibly the next one to learn on my guitar, once it's back in my hands.
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