yeah, its just easier to keep in touch this way b/c i'm getting overwhelmed with all the people i want to tell about my year. so i'll try to update this relatively often, but no promises. feel free to share the link with anyone else!
so i started here in syracuse, ny with franciscorps 2 weeks ago. our first week we went to a retreat center nearby for 2 days then we went to the jersey shore for 5 days to talk about important topics like social justice, simple living, and living in community and also just hang out on the boardwalk and at the beach. we also visited the poor clares monastery in chesterfield, nj and they were so cool! the whole week was awesome. for the past 2 weeks, the FC volunteers going to costa rica did everything with us and were living in our home. it was great getting the chance to get to know them but they left yesterday and its strange not having them here anymore. it's as though we just got to know them and then they left for the year. i'll miss them but i'm looking forward to hearing about their year and keeping them in touch with ours.
in syracuse, i'm living with 5 other people: Ashlee, Mary, Matt, John, and AJ. they are all awesome and we're really getting along well so far. i can't wait to get to know them more as the year goes on. our house is awesome - its a 2 family house in a pretty nice area. each floor has 4 bedrooms so we each have our own with 2 extras for guests. the house is huge and has a special area for prayer upstairs. we also have porches on both floors which i love!
on wed we started work at our sites. i'm at the northside cyo. i do the elementary afterschool program everyday - i have 2nd & 3rd graders which i'm psyched about. we have 2 activities each day on a 4 day rotation - reading & gym, arts&crafts & table games, cooking & computers, and field trip/special activity. i plan whatever i want in that activity for each day. i work with a jesuit volunteer, sarah, who will have the K & 1st graders and we are still waiting to get an Americorps volunteer for the 4th-6th graders. i will also be in charge of a teen group 2 nights a week. they will mostly be middle schoolers but i'm nervous about what the heck i'm supposed to do with them. i have the neighborhood group which means they'll mostly be american but in the afterschool program we primarily serve refugees from places like burundi and bhutan and some may not speak any english if they just got here. its going to be interesting to try to remember/learn their names and to come up with activities for them. but they're young and i'm sure they will catch on quickly. for the teen group i've also been put in charge of a program called APPS which was new last year and which they have a grant for. not sure what exactly it stands for but it has to do with teaching abstinence-only as far as i can tell which is going to be interesting b/c elyse and i did our group project for social work on how that really doesn't work. additionally, i have NO IDEA how to teach this - but i guess there will be lesson plans. its also about good decision making and drugs and stuff and i think i only need to do it once a month and i don't start for a couple weeks. thats definitely what i'm most worried about though. so far we've just cleaned and planned but monday the kids start which i'm excited and nervous about.
gotta get some groceries for dinner so i'll update more soon. feel free to email, call, write, or visit! i look forward to being good at keeping in touch this year!!
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