I busted out my electric the other day.
"guitar?" you ask.
no! BLANKET! the warmth has made it even more difficult to get out of bed, which does not work for an already committed non-morning person. I woke up today and read 27 degrees outside! yikes! how is this West Coast girl going to survive the winter? and, it's only November!
anxiety aside, I have really enjoyed the different seasons of the East. so far, I have been totally wrong with how the weather should be each month. I can pretty much predict Fresno's weather at all times.
summer in Fresno is hot and dry. very hot and very dry. arriving in DC in August, summer here is hot and very wet! a little hot and very wet! there was so much moisture in the air, the heat then felt so thick! disgusting! at least in California you can jump in the swimming pool and feel refreshed. totally different in the East. on one day, I took six showers! instead of feeling refreshed, I felt more gross!
I enjoy rain. it brings in new smelling air, clearing away the pollution. oh wait, that's what happens in Fresno! rain in DC stays in DC. it doesn't clear anything away; it traps everything in! as the weather has gotten cool though, the rain changes into cool mist, which looks really beautiful under street lights and doesn't feel so yucky.
with the weather only bound to get colder, I am in need of preparing myself with the proper outer wear. the preschool gave me a cute, black bucket hat for my walk to and from the school. I have a couple warm scarfs and a pair of gloves. I am nervous if I have the proper footwear and pants. yesterday, walking home, I could feel that frozen/ thawing sensation in my legs as the wind picked up on my walk. if anything, the cold weather will help me walk faster!
during this new season, I will be sure to be grateful for the many "cold" Fresno winters I have lived through!
19 November 2008
05 November 2008
Election 08!
Obama! Obama!
last night DC was crazy! all day, everyone was hyper about knowing the results. one thing that helped the mood was all of the free goodies! coffee from Starbucks! ice cream from Ben & Jerry's! donuts from Krispy Kreme! all to make everyone even more hyper!
I went to my friend Elena's to watch the election results. counting down to the moment was so intense. after each poll closed, we kept track of how close we were to the finish. 92% of DC voters voted for Obama! but how would the rest of the country vote? all our eyes were focusing on the television. my housemate bet that Obama would win with 350 electoral votes! at first we thought that would be hard to achieve. then 11pm rolled around... "President- elect: Barack Obama!" everyone screamed! it felt as if we just watched the winning grand-slam home run during the World Series! excitement exploded all of the neighborhood! we ran outside with Obama signs, waving and screaming to cars driving by! everyone was so charged! city buses were honking! people were yelling out their car windows! fireworks were going off overhead! "Obama!" it was so exciting to be a part of a city-wide celebration. so much unity!
it was hard to go to sleep after all of that. 7am alarm! now we wait to see what an Obama administration looks like. I pray that change will come quickly, that decision will be made wisely. I am definitely more hopeful than skeptical.
last night DC was crazy! all day, everyone was hyper about knowing the results. one thing that helped the mood was all of the free goodies! coffee from Starbucks! ice cream from Ben & Jerry's! donuts from Krispy Kreme! all to make everyone even more hyper!
I went to my friend Elena's to watch the election results. counting down to the moment was so intense. after each poll closed, we kept track of how close we were to the finish. 92% of DC voters voted for Obama! but how would the rest of the country vote? all our eyes were focusing on the television. my housemate bet that Obama would win with 350 electoral votes! at first we thought that would be hard to achieve. then 11pm rolled around... "President- elect: Barack Obama!" everyone screamed! it felt as if we just watched the winning grand-slam home run during the World Series! excitement exploded all of the neighborhood! we ran outside with Obama signs, waving and screaming to cars driving by! everyone was so charged! city buses were honking! people were yelling out their car windows! fireworks were going off overhead! "Obama!" it was so exciting to be a part of a city-wide celebration. so much unity!
it was hard to go to sleep after all of that. 7am alarm! now we wait to see what an Obama administration looks like. I pray that change will come quickly, that decision will be made wisely. I am definitely more hopeful than skeptical.
30 October 2008
the Big 2-2!
yesterday I celebrated my 22nd birthday in the great city of DC! I was a little emotional being away from my family and our tradional birthday activites, but my day was lovely.
work was a little hectic. we had our annual visit from the DC public school auditors for "Count Day." on this day, auditors check to verify if the number of students in our classrooms match up with the actual number of students participating in the program. this report in turn provides our program with scholarship for our annual operating budget. a very big deal! we offered breakfast snacks in the morning to entice students to come early, gave away new children's jackets and adult gloves and hats. we basically bribed our students to be present for this count! as a result, no one was missing from my morning and afternoon class! with all of that tension though, I wasn't thinking about my birthday!
work was a little hectic. we had our annual visit from the DC public school auditors for "Count Day." on this day, auditors check to verify if the number of students in our classrooms match up with the actual number of students participating in the program. this report in turn provides our program with scholarship for our annual operating budget. a very big deal! we offered breakfast snacks in the morning to entice students to come early, gave away new children's jackets and adult gloves and hats. we basically bribed our students to be present for this count! as a result, no one was missing from my morning and afternoon class! with all of that tension though, I wasn't thinking about my birthday!
13 October 2008
My Crazy Month of September!
last month was SO busy! goodness! I am happy though that we are in a new month. correction: we are in the best month of the year! ROctober! my birthday month! only 10 more days!
rewind. back to September.
the month started out with a MVS orientation in [unincorporated] Murdock, Kansas with all of the new VS volunteers from around the country. 30 of us stayed at Camp Mennoscah, which is in the middle of nowhere! (sorry Kansas lovers.) let's just say I got a lot of reading done that week! which is a miracle because I am a very slow reader! ha! and I totally appreciate Camp Keola so much more now! Mennoscah has a lot of flat land, a nice running river on one side, a great tradition of Giant Dutch Blitz. but, Keola has much better facilities. Mennoscah's cabins are quite old, their dining hall is large, but is not designed camper and staff divisions. after one week there, I was so much more appreciative of the hard work of Keola-lovers who donate time and money to keep the camp running and looking good. with that said, Keola is continuously on my prayer list; I would hate to see the camp go down the drain. back to Mennoscah: I made a lot of connections with other volunteers that week: met a girl who is doing VS in Fresno, fancy that! one of the volunteers in Baltimore, Maggie, her Dad runs the Newseum, the (obvoius) news museum in DC and is willing to get our house in for free! $20 discount! totally cool! plus, her favorite movie is "Almost Famous" so we became instant friends. also that week, we met our 6th and final housemate Tim, who moved to DC right after the orientation. it turns out that he really completes our house!
teaching at the preschool is going quite well. we had our first field trip to an international children's festival with lots of music, dance, and artwork. we did not leave any students behind, just me! two buses left the location without me! the students thought it was very funny! in the classroom, the kids are getting use to a school schedule, remembering our routine and helping teachers clean up to go to the next activity. I have learned to not underestimate preschoolers. just because they are three years old does not mean they cannot be given small responsibilities. the story for most of our preschool families is that only parents clean up around the house. the parents are totally surprised to come into our classroom and see their child willingly cleaning up along side the teacher. as I get to know the students and their parents, our team will be working in way to incorporate some of these basic ideas into a child's every day routine at home as well. I am learning that that link takes time and consistency as well. small steps! the sad thing is too that most of these parents cannot spend the time to teach their children these basic human-development needs. their life outside of the 2.5 hour class is working to bring home food and clothes for their family. some of the mothers in our program truly should not be mothers yet. some are still searching for their own individual identity as an American, as an employee, as a wife/ girlfriend. from their actions, one can tell they think they know what is best for their child (i.e. letting a four year old wear diapers so that it is easier for the mother throughout the day) but some of their actions will actually put their child behind in development and school. (DC public schools will not enroll children into kindergarten until they are toilet trained.) with all that, I am having a great time with the kids, learning a lot from them and hoping they are learning that much and more from me! here is a picture of us on a walk. this is some of our morning session with my co-teacher Lorena.
apart of the month's retreats, our house went to West Virginia for a weekend to bond and share our faith stories. I feel truly blessed to have such great housemates thus far. we are all very different, from all over the country, with many different views of religion, politics, God, social responsibilities. then on top of that, we have different views on house life, chores, recycling, use of electricity. a whole pot of differences! and we will be housemates for one year! with that said, we are a great bunch who are enthusiastic about our community and placements. I am praying that this year will be quite transformational in all aspects, not only for me, but for my wonderful fellow VSers.
ROctober has been pretty wild so far as well! explanation: October is the #3 month of the year for great reasons (17th- housemate Tim's birthday, 27th- my Uncle Andy's birthday, 30th- my birthday!!!, 31th- crazy costume day). with all of those celebrations, our house has now been referring to this great month as ROctober. I do not have a plan yet of how I am going to celebrate this year. I have a big meeting at work and choir rehearsal at night on my birthday. I might just wait for the weekend to get my party on!
my 22nd birthday list: a chance to see my California family and friends.
I miss home! especially with my birthday around the corner, I miss all of your faces and laughs and hugs. this will be my first birthday away from home and it will probably feel a little off because of that. but the greatest part: having people to miss.
rewind. back to September.
the month started out with a MVS orientation in [unincorporated] Murdock, Kansas with all of the new VS volunteers from around the country. 30 of us stayed at Camp Mennoscah, which is in the middle of nowhere! (sorry Kansas lovers.) let's just say I got a lot of reading done that week! which is a miracle because I am a very slow reader! ha! and I totally appreciate Camp Keola so much more now! Mennoscah has a lot of flat land, a nice running river on one side, a great tradition of Giant Dutch Blitz. but, Keola has much better facilities. Mennoscah's cabins are quite old, their dining hall is large, but is not designed camper and staff divisions. after one week there, I was so much more appreciative of the hard work of Keola-lovers who donate time and money to keep the camp running and looking good. with that said, Keola is continuously on my prayer list; I would hate to see the camp go down the drain. back to Mennoscah: I made a lot of connections with other volunteers that week: met a girl who is doing VS in Fresno, fancy that! one of the volunteers in Baltimore, Maggie, her Dad runs the Newseum, the (obvoius) news museum in DC and is willing to get our house in for free! $20 discount! totally cool! plus, her favorite movie is "Almost Famous" so we became instant friends. also that week, we met our 6th and final housemate Tim, who moved to DC right after the orientation. it turns out that he really completes our house!
teaching at the preschool is going quite well. we had our first field trip to an international children's festival with lots of music, dance, and artwork. we did not leave any students behind, just me! two buses left the location without me! the students thought it was very funny! in the classroom, the kids are getting use to a school schedule, remembering our routine and helping teachers clean up to go to the next activity. I have learned to not underestimate preschoolers. just because they are three years old does not mean they cannot be given small responsibilities. the story for most of our preschool families is that only parents clean up around the house. the parents are totally surprised to come into our classroom and see their child willingly cleaning up along side the teacher. as I get to know the students and their parents, our team will be working in way to incorporate some of these basic ideas into a child's every day routine at home as well. I am learning that that link takes time and consistency as well. small steps! the sad thing is too that most of these parents cannot spend the time to teach their children these basic human-development needs. their life outside of the 2.5 hour class is working to bring home food and clothes for their family. some of the mothers in our program truly should not be mothers yet. some are still searching for their own individual identity as an American, as an employee, as a wife/ girlfriend. from their actions, one can tell they think they know what is best for their child (i.e. letting a four year old wear diapers so that it is easier for the mother throughout the day) but some of their actions will actually put their child behind in development and school. (DC public schools will not enroll children into kindergarten until they are toilet trained.) with all that, I am having a great time with the kids, learning a lot from them and hoping they are learning that much and more from me! here is a picture of us on a walk. this is some of our morning session with my co-teacher Lorena.
apart of the month's retreats, our house went to West Virginia for a weekend to bond and share our faith stories. I feel truly blessed to have such great housemates thus far. we are all very different, from all over the country, with many different views of religion, politics, God, social responsibilities. then on top of that, we have different views on house life, chores, recycling, use of electricity. a whole pot of differences! and we will be housemates for one year! with that said, we are a great bunch who are enthusiastic about our community and placements. I am praying that this year will be quite transformational in all aspects, not only for me, but for my wonderful fellow VSers.
ROctober has been pretty wild so far as well! explanation: October is the #3 month of the year for great reasons (17th- housemate Tim's birthday, 27th- my Uncle Andy's birthday, 30th- my birthday!!!, 31th- crazy costume day). with all of those celebrations, our house has now been referring to this great month as ROctober. I do not have a plan yet of how I am going to celebrate this year. I have a big meeting at work and choir rehearsal at night on my birthday. I might just wait for the weekend to get my party on!
my 22nd birthday list: a chance to see my California family and friends.
I miss home! especially with my birthday around the corner, I miss all of your faces and laughs and hugs. this will be my first birthday away from home and it will probably feel a little off because of that. but the greatest part: having people to miss.
27 August 2008
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!
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!
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