Oh the hilarious irony...
So I'm with a group of 10 people at 11pm on Saturday night in Philadelphia. We go into a bar that's full of people and the waitress asks for our IDs. No problem. Then she comes back and says, "I need to take a few of your IDs up to the bar tender, just to be safe, since you're all from different states." Three of us, including me, hand her our IDs. A few minutes later, the bar tender comes to the table to give them back. "Whose is this?" It's mine. I reach for it. He points to it and says, "I can't accept this one." ??? What? Why? Because it has a sticker on it. It's my change of address sticker, I explain. That's how they do it in Oregon. But that's where my name is: on a paper sticker that's covering up whatever was originally underneath. (I realized later that my name was printed on the actual card, but it was small and he must not have noticed it.) So I have to go. Everyone else can stay, but not me. Even if I don't drink anything? Nope. My housemate Dan tries to stand up for me, which is not a good idea. So we all decide to leave and walk back through the cold to the Philly JV's house.
Irony #1: I'm the oldest person in the group by about a year. I'm 24, everyone else is 22/23 Irony #2: Have you ever seen me drink more than a few sips of an alcoholic beverage?
Irony #3: I'm tired and fighting a cold and I'm just tagging along to be social
#2 + #3 = All I want is some lemon water for my sore throat!
Irony #4: I really don't care whether I stay or go.
Irony #5: I'm driving, so that I can leave early and go home if I want to.
It was annoying, and I felt bad for everyone else, but I couldn't help laughing at the pure irony of the whole situation!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
6 minus 1 makes 5
This is not a math equation, this is a life equation. When you have six people living together for almost 4 months and then one of them leaves, a lot changes besides just the number.
My housemate Tricia has moved back home. She told us on a Tuesday and left the following Monday. She was too unhappy with her job and too tired of waiting for things to change.
At first I was really upset, because she's the one who was most like me: older than the others, didn't drink very much, quiet, really into spirituality... She was also a leader and facilitator. I was worried what would happen without her there -- would I feel left out and lonely? Would our community fall apart?
So far all it seems to have done is cause me to talk to everyone else more and hang out with them more and feel more connected to them than I did before. I still think the spirituality piece and the drinking issue will be challenges, but I think we're going to be fine, and I think my housemates are going to see me take on more of a leadership role than I have...
Things are really different around here.
My housemate Tricia has moved back home. She told us on a Tuesday and left the following Monday. She was too unhappy with her job and too tired of waiting for things to change.
At first I was really upset, because she's the one who was most like me: older than the others, didn't drink very much, quiet, really into spirituality... She was also a leader and facilitator. I was worried what would happen without her there -- would I feel left out and lonely? Would our community fall apart?
So far all it seems to have done is cause me to talk to everyone else more and hang out with them more and feel more connected to them than I did before. I still think the spirituality piece and the drinking issue will be challenges, but I think we're going to be fine, and I think my housemates are going to see me take on more of a leadership role than I have...
Things are really different around here.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I had a very pleasant holiday, and I hope you did too.
I spent Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights at my aunt’s house in Philadelphia. We stayed up too late and had a lazy Thursday morning trying to figure out if I could get up to NYC that afternoon. Made a decision just in time to catch a bus at 2:00! It was a quick 32-hour trip and back. I had Thanksgiving dinner at the Brooklyn JV house with about 15 other people (a much better option than with 20 people I'd never met), and then spent the night at West Harlem’s little apartment. Friday was spent wandering around NYC with Sarah (a West Harlem JV) and her boyfriend. We walked through Battery Park and the World Financial Center, taking in the views of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero. It was a lovely sunny day, although the breeze was cold! Then we perused the exhibit of women’s dresses at the Museum of the American Indian. At 4:30 we began walking down Broadway, past Wall Street, toward Times Square. After an hour, with tired feet and 30 blocks left to go, we hopped on the subway. I only needed about 10 minutes to take in the electric commercial insanity of Times Square, and then we headed our separate ways, me walking the 10 blocks to Penn Station to catch the bus back to Philly, buying a chicken kebab from a street vendor along the way.
On Saturday, Lark and I went to the Art Museum to look at the exhibit of Gee's Bend quilts, which was really cool. Then we picked up my friend Marie' (another Methodist from Oregon), who spent the night, and we all went to Chestnut Hill UMC together on Sunday. It was very cool.
I spent Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights at my aunt’s house in Philadelphia. We stayed up too late and had a lazy Thursday morning trying to figure out if I could get up to NYC that afternoon. Made a decision just in time to catch a bus at 2:00! It was a quick 32-hour trip and back. I had Thanksgiving dinner at the Brooklyn JV house with about 15 other people (a much better option than with 20 people I'd never met), and then spent the night at West Harlem’s little apartment. Friday was spent wandering around NYC with Sarah (a West Harlem JV) and her boyfriend. We walked through Battery Park and the World Financial Center, taking in the views of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero. It was a lovely sunny day, although the breeze was cold! Then we perused the exhibit of women’s dresses at the Museum of the American Indian. At 4:30 we began walking down Broadway, past Wall Street, toward Times Square. After an hour, with tired feet and 30 blocks left to go, we hopped on the subway. I only needed about 10 minutes to take in the electric commercial insanity of Times Square, and then we headed our separate ways, me walking the 10 blocks to Penn Station to catch the bus back to Philly, buying a chicken kebab from a street vendor along the way.
On Saturday, Lark and I went to the Art Museum to look at the exhibit of Gee's Bend quilts, which was really cool. Then we picked up my friend Marie' (another Methodist from Oregon), who spent the night, and we all went to Chestnut Hill UMC together on Sunday. It was very cool.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Playing Catch-up
Holy bejeezers! Have I really not posted anything since October 5th?! Yikes, sorry everyone. Well, I'll be adding new posts about the last 2 months throughout the next couple of weeks and I'll date them when they're from, so you're going to have to go back in time to Oct. and Nov. to find them... I'm at the Mt. Laurel library right now checking out Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah books for the kids to read at Homework Club. Happy holidays!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
My Birthday Saga
So I have to explain what else happened on the 25th! It was the craziest day of work I've had so far. It was my birthday AND it was a half day of school AND it was Thanksgiving feast day.
1) I arrived at the office in the morning only to get a phone call from my boss saying that her dad had passed away during the night and so she wouldn't be in. She would, however, stop by around 12:00 to drop off the food.
2) Middle school and high school-ers started showing up around 11:45. They wanted to know where the food was. Well, Cindy didn't show up until almost 12:45, and the little kids were supposed to arrive at 1:15. So the older kids helped us heat up and set up the food: turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, rolls, green beans... A couple volunteers showed up and brought corn, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. This craziness all started happening at the same moment that the two upset 5th grade boys came in...
3) Plus, Cindy was extra stressed out because she'd meant to do more for my birthday, like buy a cheesecake and have the kids made cards, but hadn't had time. A couple of the kids made birthday posters for me which they all signed. Someone unceremoniously handed me an unwrapped present: I had to check with Cindy to make sure it was actually a present for me.
4) The teens were still eating when the 1st-4th graders got here, and we had to move them out as quickly as they'd go so that the little kids would have a place to sit. By then, the food had cooled off again, so we had to heat up each kid's plate individually after they got their food... And then of course they wouldn't stay in their seats and eat.
Cindy left at 1:45. The two adult volunteers left at 2:30 after cleaning up most of the food and helping a couple kids with homework. I was left alone with 20 children who were going bonkers and being loud. And 5 teenagers who had offered to help with the kids but instead were hanging out in the computer lab and making sympathy cards for Ms. Cindy. Some had homework, some wanted to go outside, and I couldn't be in two places at one time! I finally remembered that the kids are perfectly self-sufficient when they're outside and realized it would be much less chaotic and stressful. I also realized that I still had to keep them busy for 2 more hours(!), and homework could be done after they'd gotten their energy out. Luckily, right as we were about to go out, a mom showed up to pick up her kid and offered to stick around and supervise for a little while -- THANK GOODNESS! Then, not too long after, our two regular Tuesday high school volunteers showed up! I was able to send kids in two at a time to get homework help from them while I stayed outside with the rest. Being an early release day and almost a holiday, a number of the kids went home early and the few that were left played games, watched a movie, and helped clean up.
5) Needless to say, my feet were sore and I was exhausted at the end of the day. So instead of going roller skating with my housemates, which I had NO energy for for, we just played Apples to Apples after dinner. My housemates made me a chocolate-peanut butter pie: yum!
1) I arrived at the office in the morning only to get a phone call from my boss saying that her dad had passed away during the night and so she wouldn't be in. She would, however, stop by around 12:00 to drop off the food.
2) Middle school and high school-ers started showing up around 11:45. They wanted to know where the food was. Well, Cindy didn't show up until almost 12:45, and the little kids were supposed to arrive at 1:15. So the older kids helped us heat up and set up the food: turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, rolls, green beans... A couple volunteers showed up and brought corn, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. This craziness all started happening at the same moment that the two upset 5th grade boys came in...
3) Plus, Cindy was extra stressed out because she'd meant to do more for my birthday, like buy a cheesecake and have the kids made cards, but hadn't had time. A couple of the kids made birthday posters for me which they all signed. Someone unceremoniously handed me an unwrapped present: I had to check with Cindy to make sure it was actually a present for me.
4) The teens were still eating when the 1st-4th graders got here, and we had to move them out as quickly as they'd go so that the little kids would have a place to sit. By then, the food had cooled off again, so we had to heat up each kid's plate individually after they got their food... And then of course they wouldn't stay in their seats and eat.
Cindy left at 1:45. The two adult volunteers left at 2:30 after cleaning up most of the food and helping a couple kids with homework. I was left alone with 20 children who were going bonkers and being loud. And 5 teenagers who had offered to help with the kids but instead were hanging out in the computer lab and making sympathy cards for Ms. Cindy. Some had homework, some wanted to go outside, and I couldn't be in two places at one time! I finally remembered that the kids are perfectly self-sufficient when they're outside and realized it would be much less chaotic and stressful. I also realized that I still had to keep them busy for 2 more hours(!), and homework could be done after they'd gotten their energy out. Luckily, right as we were about to go out, a mom showed up to pick up her kid and offered to stick around and supervise for a little while -- THANK GOODNESS! Then, not too long after, our two regular Tuesday high school volunteers showed up! I was able to send kids in two at a time to get homework help from them while I stayed outside with the rest. Being an early release day and almost a holiday, a number of the kids went home early and the few that were left played games, watched a movie, and helped clean up.
5) Needless to say, my feet were sore and I was exhausted at the end of the day. So instead of going roller skating with my housemates, which I had NO energy for for, we just played Apples to Apples after dinner. My housemates made me a chocolate-peanut butter pie: yum!
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