1st week in DC and 1st day of preschool!

this week has flown by so fast! I am glad to report I feel more settled, more familiar with my new house and job, but it still doesn't feel like I am living in DC. it still feels like I will be going home from this vacation soon. how about going home in one year?!

today was the first day of school!
here is the traditional "first day of school" picture my Mom requested!



these last four work days I have been getting our preschool classroom ready, getting acquainted with the school's operation and staff. (we played a mean game of softball at a staff retreat Tuesday! it brought back memories of the staff v. campers traditional game at Keola!) today I made five new friends, five cute little Hispanic girls whose mother's are enrolled in Mary's Center's English/computer classes. we had two great sessions together, playing with blocks, coloring different shapes, and taking a walk to the park! I am slowly learning how to communicated with these non-English speaking. I relied most on smiles, bright eyes, and willing hands to try to lessen the language gap. and these girls were so dear to me! at times they thought it funny when I was doing something completely different from their request. I frequently found myself laughing at our miscommunication. I so desperately wanted to be able to help right away. I pray that this situation won't be frustrating over time. overall, I feel that this job will bring so much fun to my life this year. I will definitely have many stories and pictures of all of my new preschool friends!

here are some pictures of my classroom!













as you can see, the room is overloaded with color and activities! I feel that this year will bring back my preschool days of coloring, make-believe, and silly songs. and what a year that will be! so fun!

I am working my magic as an artful teacher. (which is quite out of my element as I definitely did not have many, if any, art projects as a math major!) I made this game to help the kids recognize shapes and colors.



thanks for taking the tour of my classroom!

preschool teachers are very artsy

yesterday was my first day on the job! I will be serving at Mary's Center as an early childhood preschool teacher for bilingual students. I will be assisting a great teacher named Lorena who has worked at Mary's Center with 2.5-4 years old for a while. we spent an entire day getting the classroom ready for school to start on Wednesday. preschool classrooms are colorful! there is not only dull spot on the walls! there are huge spots of color and patterns in every section of the classroom, making my eyeballs at first freak out wondering where I should focus! not only will a colorful classroom fill my time at Mary's Center, I learned that preschool teachers do a lot of art projects. Lorena gave me several jobs to create new games for kids to work on learning shapes, colors, and patterns. I spent a whole hour cutting out circles of different colors, gluing them on to bottle caps. a whole hour! I am greatly looking forward to meeting the students and learning how a typical day feels. from the first day, I believe I will have a great time teaching at Mary's Center.

*update*
I really miss having two family doctors within a half a mile away from me. I woke up this morning with 19 bug bites on my left leg! itchy! I have no idea where they came from! I am spending my morning washing my sheets and deep cleaning my room, hoping that will help. say a prayer for my leggies.

Free Food!

yesterday I had my first food distribution experience in DC. man, was I out of my element!
there is an elementary school, Harriet Tubman Elementary to be exact, right across the street from the MVS house. every Thursday afternoon, they give away produce and food goods to people for free.
I was walking home from my day at the teaching conference when I noticed a long line forming outside the school gate. I did not really have anything I needed to do at that moment, so I decided to join the line to see if there was anything that would liven my dinner.
I have never stood in line for free food before. well, take that back. in elementary school, when I swam each summer for the Mosqueda Mariscos, on sight was a free-lunch program for neighborhood kids. every day, my Mom would have us eat there, which was awesome because I got to eat white bread sandwiches, and we did not have white bread at home. totally cool!
for clarification then, this was my second time in a free-food line. wow, was it an experience. I was the only one there who looked like me. there were grandmas and grandpas, baby-sitters with young children; everyone lined up with their carts and grocery bags. I stood in line in back of a Mexican grandpa who tried his best to tell me in English what to do. I wish I knew Spanish to communicate with him. I wish I knew Spanish to be able to communicate with most of the people in line. I was surrounded by people who had walked a few blocks to get food to help round out their food pantry.
after waiting one hour, the workers were finally ready to start distribution. the mood in the line swifted. people were no longer grumpy from the heat, tired on their feet. they were alert, ready to gather their food. I was just curious what they were giving away, hoping it would help our house's $100/ week food budget.
what did I get? 12 medium potatoes, a 6 pk of hoagie rolls and two bottles of water. not bad!
I decided to experiment at dinner and make vegetable croquettes with the potatoes and carrots and onions from the refrigerator. I have a deep feeling that this year will be quite a challenge for me come meal time. I love food SO much! now, I will have to learn to love it, without eating so much of it. well, that might be a good thing too!

The Start of the DC Chapter of My Life

I made it! after missing my morning flight by 10 minutes, I flew stand-by from LAX to Atlanta to finally land in DC around 10.30pm. a long day!
I am in DC for this week to attend a curriculum conference for my teaching position this next coming year. so this week I will be able to move into my new house and get a feel for the DC life.

here are some pictures of my new life!
I live in the Columbia Heights district of DC. the neighborhood acquired a metro stop in 1999, and as a result the city life has improved greatly in the area. there is a huge building that houses a Target, Best Buy, Marshalls and other big-brand name stores.







there are many row houses in the neighborhood. everything looks really old, reminding me of my Fresno neighborhood. here is the view from my front porch.





and here is the MVS house!



it is a really nice house, almost exactly like I pictured it! once in the front door, on the left is the living room.



straight ahead entering from the front door is a quaint dining room, with the kitchen attached.





housing three stories, there is a winding staircase and takes one from the bottom of the basement to the top of the third story.



and my room! the VSer before me just painted the room a nice light yellow. I am thinking of how I should decorate given the wall color. the room's windows face the street, Kenyon St. here is a nice closet in the room, begging me to fill it with my many shoes & blouses!







all in all, I am beginning to feel very much at home. it was very overwhelming at first, my house mates have already lived with each other for a while. it helped me realize that at times I do not include others when I am in a familiar situation. it helped me reflect that I need to be inclusive in all my surroundings, and especially when new people are present. Jodi-beth McCain, the house supervisor, is coming over in a bit to get be more settled in the house and with the neighborhood. I have been learning a lot about this new life and I am continually praying that this is a good fit.