Happy Monday again. Monday seems to be the best day to get to the internet. I drop the corps members off at their respective work sites and come here to do paperwork. And enjoy quiet. Well, mostly…there are Christmas carols on here already.
Anyways, it was a short work week and an eventful weekend. We continue to work at both the schools and corps members continue to build connections with many students. The corps members in the elementary school are often amazed at how open the children are. They always ask if we are coming back tomorrow when we leave. They are so excited when we say yes! They continue to be a rowdy bunch, but I think we are learning the fine art of crowd control. The corps members in the high school continue to work at tutoring math that is way above my ability level, so I am thankful for them. They learn a lot about life in central LA from their students, especially regarding safety and gangs. As far as I can tell they are listening and taking it all in. We had a weekly debriefing with the organization on Wednesday which was a pretty basic and useful reflection time. Great that they could facilitate it because we keep running out of time to do it ourselves!
Also had a sick corps member on Wednesday. It was pretty bad because a lot of barf was involved. Luckily there was a corps member that was not made queasy by barf that was able to be much more helpful than I was. The illness ended in a trip to urgent care that included a fight with the insurance company. Ultimately the corps member was treated for a stomach infection and rehydrated with an IV.
On Thanksgiving we volunteered with Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena that was serving Thanksgiving lunch in a local park. It is estimated that about 2000 people were served. There were probably about 4000 volunteers, making for a crowded park. The team agreed that they’d like to help out with a smaller event next time. But it was interesting to see so many people to out volunteer!
We then went to Megan’s grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. So nice to be in a house with a yard and rooms and couches big enough for 6 of us to fit on. Megan’s family was very nice and the food was great. Plus, it is also great to see different people and have a change of scenery. We also got leftovers. Love it. Thanks to them for having us! We are so used to close quarters that even though the house had plenty of rooms and places to sit we found ourselves seated squished together on a very large couch. Weird habits are forming. Oh americorps.
Friday we went to citywalk outside of universal studios. We weren’t too impressed, but it was on our list of things to do. There were places to eat and some shops. Mostly pretty touristy. We say Jon Lovitz there wandering around. (he owns a club there) We also wanted to get closer to the Hollywood sign, so we set off towards it. We ended up at the top of a steep hill and having to go down the windy roads in the 15 passenger van. Steve was driving and he was a good sport and didn’t hit anything (bonus). Will explore more places with views on another day. We picked up two corps members at the train station and then met up with a few members of green 1 to see LA Live. It was a collection of neon lights, restaurants and entertainment right near the staples center. A little pricey, but again, was on our list of things to do, so we can cross it off. One of those things you only need to see once I think.
Saturday was the best day. We went to Venice Beach. It was a good place where we could all wander and find something that suited our interests. There was beach area, lots of food and shops and vendors to explore. There is talk of returning there for Christmas presents later in December. It was a relaxed place with lots of people walking, biking and skateboarding around. It was how I pictured all of California being. I enjoyed it a lot. Later that evening my corps members went out for one of their birthdays. I enjoyed peace and quiet! Hard to come by.
Sunday was a catch up day, with laundry and clean up. There were also 2 fingers that got broken Saturday night that got medical attention Sunday night. AHHH, I’d like no more medical emergencies please.
So that brings us to today. It is our first full week of work. Hopefully everyone gets better and has a productive week. Our schedule is packed! We start wrapping this week to support the Christmas in November event. We are told that corps members will help wrap thousands of presents between now and Dec. 17 when we go back to Sacramento. Two corps members a day will be assigned to that task.
That’s all for now!
Next time I write it will be DECEMBER! How did that happen?!
Anyways, it was a short work week and an eventful weekend. We continue to work at both the schools and corps members continue to build connections with many students. The corps members in the elementary school are often amazed at how open the children are. They always ask if we are coming back tomorrow when we leave. They are so excited when we say yes! They continue to be a rowdy bunch, but I think we are learning the fine art of crowd control. The corps members in the high school continue to work at tutoring math that is way above my ability level, so I am thankful for them. They learn a lot about life in central LA from their students, especially regarding safety and gangs. As far as I can tell they are listening and taking it all in. We had a weekly debriefing with the organization on Wednesday which was a pretty basic and useful reflection time. Great that they could facilitate it because we keep running out of time to do it ourselves!
Also had a sick corps member on Wednesday. It was pretty bad because a lot of barf was involved. Luckily there was a corps member that was not made queasy by barf that was able to be much more helpful than I was. The illness ended in a trip to urgent care that included a fight with the insurance company. Ultimately the corps member was treated for a stomach infection and rehydrated with an IV.
On Thanksgiving we volunteered with Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena that was serving Thanksgiving lunch in a local park. It is estimated that about 2000 people were served. There were probably about 4000 volunteers, making for a crowded park. The team agreed that they’d like to help out with a smaller event next time. But it was interesting to see so many people to out volunteer!
We then went to Megan’s grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. So nice to be in a house with a yard and rooms and couches big enough for 6 of us to fit on. Megan’s family was very nice and the food was great. Plus, it is also great to see different people and have a change of scenery. We also got leftovers. Love it. Thanks to them for having us! We are so used to close quarters that even though the house had plenty of rooms and places to sit we found ourselves seated squished together on a very large couch. Weird habits are forming. Oh americorps.
Friday we went to citywalk outside of universal studios. We weren’t too impressed, but it was on our list of things to do. There were places to eat and some shops. Mostly pretty touristy. We say Jon Lovitz there wandering around. (he owns a club there) We also wanted to get closer to the Hollywood sign, so we set off towards it. We ended up at the top of a steep hill and having to go down the windy roads in the 15 passenger van. Steve was driving and he was a good sport and didn’t hit anything (bonus). Will explore more places with views on another day. We picked up two corps members at the train station and then met up with a few members of green 1 to see LA Live. It was a collection of neon lights, restaurants and entertainment right near the staples center. A little pricey, but again, was on our list of things to do, so we can cross it off. One of those things you only need to see once I think.
Saturday was the best day. We went to Venice Beach. It was a good place where we could all wander and find something that suited our interests. There was beach area, lots of food and shops and vendors to explore. There is talk of returning there for Christmas presents later in December. It was a relaxed place with lots of people walking, biking and skateboarding around. It was how I pictured all of California being. I enjoyed it a lot. Later that evening my corps members went out for one of their birthdays. I enjoyed peace and quiet! Hard to come by.
Sunday was a catch up day, with laundry and clean up. There were also 2 fingers that got broken Saturday night that got medical attention Sunday night. AHHH, I’d like no more medical emergencies please.
So that brings us to today. It is our first full week of work. Hopefully everyone gets better and has a productive week. Our schedule is packed! We start wrapping this week to support the Christmas in November event. We are told that corps members will help wrap thousands of presents between now and Dec. 17 when we go back to Sacramento. Two corps members a day will be assigned to that task.
That’s all for now!
Next time I write it will be DECEMBER! How did that happen?!
