The Start of Something New....

Ahhhh...so i finally bit the bullet and decided to do a blog. I was thinking about it for a while, it was between this and journaling, and i figured i could do this AND be on facebook at the same time...this was the best bet for this one!!! Also, Kupski was doing it so obvi i had to as well.

I apologize if this blog is very scatter brained, but if you know me, then you know that this how I am...so deal, but i will do my best to make it make sense. I think that this will be a great way for my family and friends to read about what i am doing and the things i am seeing...

I guess i will start at the beginning...

After an amazing and relaxing summer at the brook i decided to embark on what i am hoping is the biggest adventure of my life thus far. I left everything i knew and almost everyone i knew (with the exception of kupski and susan) to begin my year as an Augustinian Volunteer. For all those who do not know what an Augustinian Volunteer is: http://www.osavol.org/....The service of the Volunteers is with established educational, social, and health programs and varies according to the needs of the sponsoring site and the individual Volunteer. Kupski and I flew out of Manchester Airport and true to fashion, my mother and i were a mess at the airport. The people and the line must have thought i was going to jail!! it was nice to have one of my best friends there to help me through leaving the familiar and flying into the unknown. So we took a two hour flight out of Manchester and landed on time in Philadelphia. I sat next to a women who was in a fight with her husband who was sitting across the isle, trying to get her attention most of the flight.

Once we landed in Philly we had to wait at the airport for a while to wait for our ride. With every passing minute my anxiety grew more and more. Finally we were met at the airport by April and Pat who were also picking up to guys flying in from Chicago. We arrived at the hotel, received our hotel keys, dropped off our bags, and immediately went down to the hotel lobby to meet our new friends for the next week and hopefully longer. The week was very long and somewhat uncomfortable for me, but i was assured that this was a normal feeling. At the beginning of the week, i remember thinking "what did i get myself into!" but as the week went on that feeling subsided. The people were great, we were all there for different things and we were all searching for something different from the next, but there were two common themes, the want for community of like minded individuals and the desire to go out and help. During the week we learned about the power of community and the challenges and many positives about living with people during this year. We talked about our faith and our different paths and i was surprised to find out that many people are still questioning and a little fuzzy about there faith...just like me. At the end of the week we had a commissioning mass where we had to wear our bright red shirts and stand up on the alter in front of the whole church and say why we wanted to be an Augustinian Volunteer. It sounds weird, but at the moment, when i was saying those words, i knew i was where i was supposed to be.

As much as i loved the whole group of us Auggies...i knew that i wanted to be in the bronx and i was excited for the following Tuesday.

On Tuesday August 25, 2009 at 9:30 in the morning the Bronx Ballassss as i am now referring to us as...hoped in our little green car and headed straight for on destination, Da Bronx, New York. We arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed. The best part of move in was all of us trying to drag our luggage that were stuffed with clothes for the next year up the three flights of stairs. I can tell you there was a lot screaming and huff and puffs. Our apartment is huge for an apartment in new york. We are on the top floor of St. Rita's Immigration center, which coincidentally is where i work so it will not be a long commute by any means. I am working primarily on the second floor of St. Rita's in the Child Care...I am excited because the room is entirely pink....how can you not smile while being there. Everyday after school i will be tutoring children from the school next door and on Thursdays i will be teaching an ESL class. I am excited to be able to watch the little kids, because i think we can learn a lot for children. i am however nervous that might not have the energy to keep up with them. This is where reality has hit me hard...i guess i am going to have to go to bed at a decent hour.

The girls that were here last year had told us that we should sit on our stoop and make friends with our neighbors, so the first night we ventured out to the famous stoop. With in seconds we had Dara, Mops, and Sandman come up to us. They were some of the most friendly people i have met in my life. They wanted to know about us and intern we wanted to know about their lives. They are so full of energy and love for life...they are simply amazing. D has told us that he will keep us under his wing and let us know about the shady people of the street. In fact we even have a code word for when a sketchy person approaches us. We might even be going to a traditional Chinese breakfast with sandman in china town this Sunday...i am not sure if that's a go, but we will see. Last night was D's 24th birthday so we had birthday cake out on the stoop for him. He was really excited because of the party or maybe because of the fact that he got to keep the extra cake....who knows...all i know is i am excited to get to know them better.

As of right now...i just finished my first week of work. I am not working in my regular job because school hasn't started yet, so i am working at Universal Pre Kindergarten in the office helping with registration for school. It is pretty difficult for me because i cannot speak Spanish and the majority of parents that come in do not speak Spanish. I have had to rely on my co workers and ask a lot of questions. This makes me somewhat uncomfortable because i do not like to rely on people usually, but i am happy because this is all a learning experience...RIGHT?

I did, however, get to help out in a youth center this past week with children ranging from 7-21. The children there are very cute and they all call me miss...which is soooo funny to meeeee.

i am excited for the future and getting to know my roommates better, but i am also excited and waiting to fall in love with the bronx!!!!

catch ya on the flip side

peace, love, and the stoop!!