It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I apologize for the delay in posting. I fly out tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with the Schrags, and am so excited! Before I spend Christmas in Kansas, I want to give you all an update on Christmas in NYC.

Christmas started November 1st. No one is surprised by this. It seems to be the norm across the country.

CFY has kept me busy through the holiday season. Sometimes I feel like I barely have a minute to remember it's Christmas! Then I walk past Macy's, and I am quickly reminded it's the holiday season.

Katie and I started the holiday season with the intention of seeing the Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony. Big mistake. We weren't really moving quickly that night, and knew we were going to miss most of the ceremony. "No big deal," We thought. "The tree will be lit by the time we get there, and the crowds will be gone." HA! Wrong. The tree was lit alright, but getting off the subway at Rockefeller Center proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. Once we got out to the street, we were like salmon swimming up streaming against a sea of people coming from the tree. All entrances were blocked by police. The tree was closed. We missed it.

Later we went during the day to see it. It was a tree with lights on it. The end.

The first Sunday in Advent, Sara, Katie, Will and I went ice skating at Citi Pond in Brayant Park with the Yoders, a family from church. They  traditionally take the volunteers ice skating every year. It had been awhile since I was on the rink. I fell a couple of times, but it was nothing compared to Will. He took out a child on his way down! See pictures below for the fun times :)

Menno House on skates!

Will about to fall down. Again.
To be fair, this was his first time skating, and he's from Zimbabwe...

Manhattan Mennonite Church had a Lessons and Carols service and Christmas potluck on Sunday. I sang in the choir. It was a great time!

Last night, Menno House had their Christmas party. Laura and I made Spinch-Goat cheese tartlets and Cajun Meatballs. We also had Jovon's famous pizza, Sara's Grandma's notorious Jello Salad, and Leah's stuffed mushrooms. Yum!!

We did a gift exchange. I was lucky enough to get Leah's, "Leah Singz Kitty Krismas." A collection of holiday favorites featuring Leah Zombie Kitty meowing along. Haha! So great :)

I'm looking forward to continuing the holiday celebration at home!

Adventures in the East Village or the day Allison became a New Yorker

My friend HaQuyen and I had been talking about how she wants a tattoo and I want a nose piercing. She picked out the place, and we were going back and forth on dates. On Monday we made it happen.

I have Mondays off, so I spent the day shopping and cleaning. Thanks to the parents, I had some birthday money to spend, and I needed new boots. I went to Buffalo Exchange, a thrift store in the East Village, and bought some great boots, really warm fleece tights, sunglasses, and a pair of Toms. All of under $75. A total steal in the city. I was feeling very proud of myself, and then I realized I have come even closer to assimilating myself to New York dress.

When you get on the subway, all the women are wearing a black coat, black tights, a black skirt and black boots. What did I buy? Black boots, and tights. At least my tights are a nice plum color...still pretty dark. Katie, the other VSer, makes fun of me for being so dark in NYC.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning, and hunting down a Christmas tree for the house. It was a delight! I met HaQuyen at Addiction NYC. We didn't have an appointment, but they weren't too full.

Before I go into the details of the experience of getting stabbed by needles, I need to lay the context of St. Mark's Street.

Basically St. Mark's between 3rd and 2nd Ave has everything a drunk person could want on a Saturday night. From greasy Japanese restaurants to four tattoo parlors, you would be in for a night of mayhem for sure!

HaQuyen went first. It took about 15 minutes to get her tattoo. It looks really good, and is healing nicely. While she was getting tattooed, she wanted me to talk to her to distract her. We talked about the inspiration she had to get it, and then about the tattoo I want to get.

As I was describing it, and giving the context. The artist stopped. I had said after spending time in Israel/Palestine, I really wanted to get Micah 6:8. Mid letter, the artist stops, looks up and says harshly, "I am Israeli." Crap. This was the second time me and my big mouth have to go and say the "P" word in Jewish country. When will I learn?!?!

I say, "Oh interesting. Do you visit?" He goes on to tell me his parents still live there, but he doesn't let it slide. He asks me where I was. I said Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I wasn't about to say Hebron. He said, "That's Israel." If you were in Gaza or the West Bank, then you would be in Palestine. I didn't argue with him, even though East Jerusalem and Bethlehem are Palestinian with Israeli settlers living there illegally. He did have a needle in his hand, and was inflicting pain on my friend after all  He apologized for sounding harsh, I accepted and said it's a touchy subject, and we moved on. The mood definitely shifted after that.

My piercing was relatively uneventful comparatively  except that it hurt a lot more than expected. We then departed to find food and antiseptic solutions.

The restaurant we found was more than we bargained for. I think the best adjective to use would be outrageous.

Picture Japanese folk dining in a cramped eating establishment with walls papered with Japanese Porn, a creepy mannequin watching you from a window, and WWII Japanese war music playing.

The menu was about as tall as my arm is long, and they had pictures of every single thing you could order. Including the bull penis. Too much was happening. See? Scary as all get out. For more entertaining reading about this find eating establishing, see the yelp reviews.

This review does a great job summing it up, "talk about sensory overload. From the giant tanuki statue with the lightbulb eyes outside, to the old-fashioned Japanese music blasting from a bullhorn speaker inside, to the bizarre mannequin scene in their courtyard-like room, there's always something to catch your attention at Kenka. "

  

Happy birthday!

Hello dear readers,

As most of you know, my birthday was last Tuesday. I had a wonderful day :) Thanks to all of you for the lovely cards, e-mails, texts, etc. How did I spend my birthday in the Big Apple?

First thing Tuesday morning, I met up with my coworker Mitchell for coffee at Bourbon Coffee (http://www.bourboncoffeeusa.com/). He had spent a year doing service in Rwanda after his undergraduate, so it was fun to go to a Rwandan Coffee Shop with him. CFY-NYC is celebrating the addition of new values, and this month's value is Embracing Individuality. One of our challenges for the month of November is to go outside the office with folks in the office with whom you normally wouldn't interact. We had a great conversation, and then headed to the office.

I was greeted by streamers galore, and an awkward picture of a very angry cat with a birthday hat on displayed on my desk. It looks like Melissa the Office Manager/birthday fairy strikes again! As the day progressed, I ended up going out for coffee two more times. It was delightful! I didn't have a lot of work to day, so I just hung out with people FOR THE WHOLE DAY. Best birthday present ever :)

I had planned dinner out with friends later that evening. We went to the Magic Sushi Place (to this day, I still don't know the name of it...) and had sushi delivered to us on a conveyor belt. What more can you ask for? Sushi on a conveyor belt? Best ever. At first it was a bit overwhelming, because there were so many choices, and they were all coming at you at once, and they were all yummy!!!!

All in all, I would say I had a delightful 23rd birthday in NYC

Below are some of my lovely housemates celebrating my birthday with me :)

A New York Thanksgiving

This was my first Thanksgiving away from home. It was a good one, even if I didn’t get to hang out with my family.

I got off work early on Tuesday afternoon, and was VERY excited to start my break. I spent the first day of my break volunteering, which you can read more about in my post NAME OF POST.

Thursday was a lazy turkey day :) I think I stayed in my PJs until 1:00. Hurray! Leah made Pringle casserole (green bean casserole with Pringles instead of Frenchies because all the stores were out...), and around 2:00 she and I left for Brooklyn.

We met up with HaQuyen, a former VSer who still lives in the city. She had invited us, some friends from church, some friends from a different church, and her parents. Her family is Vietnamese, so there was a blend of Vietnamese and English buzzing throughout the apartment. Not to mention delicious Vietnamese spring rolls paired with an All-American Thanksgiving turkey. I love the diversity of this city!

In typical Thanksgiving fashion, Leah and I showed up an hour late. We didn’t eat for another 90 minutes because the turkey always takes longer than you expect. Post dinner, we fought off inevitable food induced coma by walking around HaQuyen’s neighborhood. It is so quaint! There are lots of brownstone buildings, a park where children were burning off energy while parents watched, and trees. It was lovely.

We had to make a pitstop at a Chinese bodega (bodega is Spanish for store, and New Yorkers use it to refer to corner stores...sort of like gas stations.) for ice. I suppose the Chinese are some of the few not observing the American holiday!

Through some rousing rounds of Mafia, Leah and I got to know her friends there. They all attend Trinity Grace Community Church which is a non-denominational church. It sounds like they’ve been friends for a couple years. I was excited to meet some new cool people who don’t live at Menno House! I love my housemates, but I also love knowing I have the potential for other friend groups.

This girl did not spend Black Friday shopping. I heard rumors folks were lined up outside of Bestbuy on Monday already gearing up for Black Friday. That was one scene I did not want any part of. Instead, Leah and I went to the Russian and Turkish baths (http://www.russianturkishbaths.com/enter.html). We had a Groupon to save $20 on entrance.

It was an experience. There were five saunas, an ice-cold pool, and a bunch of really hairy men covered in tattoos. Interesting. Despite the bowling alley smell and lack of eye-candy, Leah and I had quite a relaxing time. It was wonderful to just sit and relax. I definitely was not as intense as some men who would sit for hours in the 120 degree room, and when they got too hot, would dump buckets of ice water on themselves. After a few hours, they would go into the ice pool, literally like 40 degrees, and submerge themselves. They would stay there for five minutes. Repeat. No thank you.

Sunday was spent at Riverdale Presbyterian Church to see my housemate Jovon preach. He is studying theology at Union Theological Seminary, and is Director of Youth Ministries at RPC. It was a great time. The church was very welcoming, and warm.

Now I’m getting back into the swing of things. We have five schools we are serving this weekend. It’ll be busy!

Volunteering post Sandy

I had Wednesday off from work, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, and volunteer in the Rockaways through New York Cares. The Rockaways is a beach in Queens that was hit very hard by superstorm Sandy. New York Cares is an organization that matches volunteer opportunities with fellow New Yorkers.

I was very excited to volunteer. I had never been to the Rockaways before, so I had no way to compare the damage, but I wanted to see if it was really as bad as the media coverage.

Little did I know what was in store.

According to my e-mail, I had to be on site at 8:00 am. It's a 90-1 hr 45 minute train ride, so I left at 6:30 am, and in typically Allie fashion, I got lost. It turns out the A train splits off into two branches, and I was on the wrong branch. I went back, and eventually found my way.

Because of flood damage to the subway from Sandy, the A train can't go to the Rockaways. Instead, shuttle buses run from JFK airport to the Rockaways. It's about a 45 minute bus ride. On the train it would be 15 minutes.

This was my first indication of how isolated this community really is. There is only one subway that goes that far, the A, and it's closed. The bus ride was really long and tedious. No wonder it took so long for first responders to reach the Rockaways; it's so isolated and hard to get to. While riding the bus, I didn't notice storm damage.

I get on site, and find out I didn't have to be there until 9. Great. I'm so glad I woke up an extra hour early. That was only the beginning of the miscommunications to come.

Finally a woman named Maureen shows up and directs us to a shed out back. It's about the size of a barn back home. She hands up XXL sized bright orange t-shirts with an X duct taped on the front. This way they can distinguish between volunteers and staff. Why do volunteers always have to wear the most hideous of attire?

The shed is a wreck. Outside of it, a 3' tall by 10' wide pile of boxes are haphazardly stacked. There are broken pieces of glass? fiber glass? Unknown substances? Inside are stacks and stacks of boxes crammed together with barely any walkway. All the boxes are donations of food, toiletries, animal food, diapers, etc. There are also stacks of Walmart bags filled with a few canned goods other volunteers packed the other day.

Our first job is to bring all the bags of food out and line it up on three 5' long tables. Maureen told us to check the bags of food. If we thought the bags were too heavy, she said to take out a can. Each bag had three or four cans. I was not about to take out 25% of the bag! Especially if this was to feed a family for the next 24 hours! While we are pulling food out of the shed, I take a moment to check out the line waiting to receive the food. When I got there at 8:30, there were about five people. The gates weren't scheduled to open until 11. While we worked, the line steadily grew longer. It was wrapping around the block when I left at 2.

Once we finished, we stood around bored for about half an hour. Then we bagged some more food for the next few days. Each bag did not contain much: a can of soup, a pack of crackers, a can of fruit, and a can of vegetables. Supposedly this would tide the families over until the next day when they could stand in line again, and receive another bag of food. 

Around 10:45, we stopped bagging and went to the distribution to get ready. We then found out Governor Cuomo was donating frozen turkeys with the fixing for a Thanksgiving feast. They were scheduled to be delivered at 11 am. It was 10:45 and there no frozen turkeys. 11 came and went, and still no turkeys. We weren't letting people in, because we wanted to give them a turkey, then a bag of food. Finally half an hour later the turkeys show up. The people are ancy by this point. I see women holding their crying babies. One lady shouts out, "Go to the other church! They have better stuff there!"

The truck carrying all the turkeys parks, the National Guard get out to distribute the turkeys, and then stand around. My volunteer group takes some pictures. I'm sure that's exactly what the people in line want to see. People standing around taking pictures while their food is half an hour late and counting.

After asking around, I find out the reason we are all waiting is because the governor wants to come and do a photo shoot handing out the turkeys. Excuse me? The reason these families who don't have electricity or heat  and haven't showered in weeks are standing in the cold waiting is because the governor wants to take a damn picture with them?!?!?! Unacceptable. He doesn't show up until 1 or 1:30. A full two hours late.

He's all smiley. Pompous. Showing off what a generous governor he is, and how he is taking care of his people. Ensuring everyone has a true American Thanksgiving. Never mind some people receiving the turkeys don't have electricity to cook their food. 

In the meantime, all the volunteers are standing around watching the mayor hand out turkeys. We are told not to give any bags of food. If they want canned food as well, they have to get back in line. I have no idea why. 

I was disgusted with the organization of the church. One of the Red Cross nurses on site was singing the church's praises with how organized they were. I would hate to see a disorganized place. Granted, it's not the church's fault for the governor showing up late. However, I don't see why we had to show all the food we had, and not give it away.

We also had feminine hygiene supplies, and were told not to distribute it. Apparently Wednesday is not pad day. What am I supposed to do? Tell a woman, "I'm sorry you are on your period. The fact that you still don't have hot water to shower in is terrible. Starting your period makes it that much worse. Unfortunately, you can't have a pad, because it's Wednesday, and we don't give out pads on Wednesday." Yeah right! I'd punch you in the face if you told me that.

I thought we had learned our lesson after Katrina. I thought we knew how to better respond to people in need after a natural disaster struck. I thought wrong. Not only does our country need to take a serious look at our contribution to global warming and the consequences of climate change both on our nation and the world, we also need to accept this is our new reality. We need to find a more effective, efficient system for managing these crises which will become more and more a normal part of our lives.  

November Reflections

Hello friends!

I am sorry I have not been doing a great job of updating this blog. They don't joke when they say this city never sleeps! (let along blogs...)

One of my requirements for MVS is to send in bi-monthly reflections. I thought I'd post them here too. Happy reading!

The phrase echoing throughout the house ever since I've moved in is, “Trust me, this is not how the house is normally.” I have yet to experience a week of “normal” is at the Menno House.

Here’s a taste of what the house has been like since I moved in:

In mid-September, Linda Hood, head of the Menno House board, beloved spouse of an MVS committee member, and cherished member of the Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship community passed away very unexpectedly. The house was host to a wake and gathering of remembrance throughout the rest of the month.

Throughout the month of October, the roof was being re-done. Construction workers come in and out during work hours, upsetting my typical lazy Monday morning routine; I have the day off as I work most Saturdays. The roof remains unfinished, and winter is fast approaching.

On October 29, Hurricane Sandy struck most of the North East coast. Needless to say, it was poor timing for a roofing project. We were without power from Monday night through Friday night. The city was completely shut down on Tuesday, and mostly down on Wednesday. Lower Manhattan resembled a black hole.

Menno House is back up and running, however one of my housemates has a hole in his ceiling, and another housemate’s room is inhabitable. She’s not sure where she’ll be staying for the next six weeks until the roof and her ceiling are fixed.

According to the news, there’s a snowstorm heading our way expected to hit on Wednesday. We’ll see how much it slows the city’s recovery.

 What have I taken away from this series of strange, unexpected events?

We as humans are not actually in control. As much as we try, in 24 hours, everything we planned for can be wiped away. Sandy was sobering and humbling for the city, and for me. My mom was visiting me at the time, and she was supposed to fly out on Tuesday. The airport didn't open until Thursday. It was so strange to work with her as she checked her flight updates, and realize her flight was pushed back yet again. No one can predict what the weather will do, and as much as we try to gain control of the situation, it is out of our hands. Why is it that we as humans struggle to learn this lesson? Why are we surprised when something like Sandy comes through and wipes out our man-made structures? These things happen often in our world, but we always think it’ll never happen to us. Until it does.

It was sobering to see lower Manhattan pitch black. There were no traffic lights or street lights, so walking after dark was a feat in agility. You would pray the cars would see you and stop. I heard stories of friends volunteering in Chinatown, and the gratitude the residents showed upon receiving a bottle of water. How is it that this city, once so admired, looked to as a place of fashion and business, be so crippled by a 24 hour event, that its residents are joyful for a simple bottle of water?

Five days after the hurricane, I took a walk to the river. The water was calm. I couldn't believe it surged high enough to explode the power-plant, and cause massive destruction across the city. It’s sobering to realize that something so calm and peaceful, when in the right circumstances, can turn so deadly.

While on the river walk-way, I saw a man out for a run with his dog. The dog found a huge stick, and was wagging her tail and flaunting her stick, as if it was the best thing in the world. It was strange to hold these two things: the city is badly crippled, yet some things remain the same, such as a dog’s love of a stick. I thought, “I only wish I could be that happy over a stick.” Then I started to wonder, what is my stick? What simple thing in life makes me so happy I would wag my tail and flaunt it around so everyone else would be jealous? I haven’t been able to answer this question yet. All of my answers rely on technology, such as watching my favorite TV show, or texting/calling friends and family back home. You can’t do any of that when you don’t have electricity. How can I live more simply, and remain joyful?

The city and my house are putting the pieces back together. Some people are still residing in emergency shelters. Others are living in their homes without heat or running water. Menno House is trying to figure out how to move forward without Linda’s guidance and support. Your prayers for the victims of the storm, and for the grieving community of MMF are appreciated.

It's like a hurricane came through or something!

Greetings fellow kindred spirits!

I apologize I have not been updating as often as I would like...turns out when you don't have power, you can't really update.

Here's what my life has been like the past week:

My mom came to visit me!!!! It was great having her here, although I'm sorry mom that the circumstances were less than ideal. She arrived on Friday afternoon. I took off work early, and met her at Menno House. We feasted on kale chips, sushi and tea. I showed her around Union Square, we had our one and only encounter with a homeless person, and then we caught a train uptown to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

Mom hadn't been on a subway since the 70s. Getting off at Times Square probably wasn't the best plan for her first subway ride in 40 years, but we did it. It was hilarious. I was walking briskly as usual (in heels I would add!) and mom was overwhelmed by all the lights, people, everything. It made me step back, and see Times Square again with fresh eyes. Yep, it's pretty overwhelming.

After constant negotiations on when to take photos, and of what would be appropriate, we found ourselves standing in line for the Majestic Theater's performance of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! It was my first Broadway show on Broadway, and I was stoked! Obviously the show was phenomenal, and I would recommend it to anyone :)

The next morning we got up around six to get to the school where I would be working, and mom would be volunteering. Yes, my mother volunteered with me and CFY-NYC! It was a great day, even though we were exhausted afterwards. Mom did a great job volunteering. The staff thought she was training to be a Customer Service Representative instead of being a volunteer! She has some great stories from volunteering. If you have a chance, ask her about it sometime.

Ditmas, the school where we were working, is located in Southern Brooklyn. The neighborhood is predominately Hasidic Jewish, but there are many immigrant families living in the neighborhood too. On this Saturday we had families who spoke Haitian Creole, Russian, Bengali, French and Spanish. Mom did will despite all the diversity! My favorite moment she tells is seeing the pride and admiration in the eyes of mothers wearing hijabs as the watch their daughters do really well playing games involving science and math. I love being reminded of the good work CFY-NYC is doing, and how lucky I am to be a part of it.  

Sunday we took it easy. Little did we know how much we would need our strength in the coming days.

Sandy came in all her glory on Monday. NYC wasn't even hit, yet the city is in bad shape. Menno House lost power Monday night, and power wasn't restored until Friday night. All the flooding images and horror stories you all are hearing in the outside world is not reflective of my experience, Hallelujah! Our house didn't flood. We had water and gas the whole time. We were very lucky. In our neighborhood, some apartments were without water, because they needed electricity to pump water up to the higher floors of the building.

The subways continue to be down. Buses are running, but they are a mess. Walking anywhere is risky, because without electricity, there are no traffic lights. With traffic lights, it can be scary to cross streets here. It is anarchy without the lights! I have never seen nor heard Manhattan so dark and silent. It was like I was back home! We could see the stars for once!

Fortunately, one of my friends lives uptown, and she never lost power. She invited all of Menno House and guests to use her internet and electricity. I don't know how mom would have got home without her kind offer!

Despite all the adventures and bonding time I was fortunate to share with my roommates and mother, I think we are all VERY HAPPY to have electricity back. Mom is ECSTATIC to be back home in Kansas. Thank you for all your prayers and warm thoughts for us during this stressful time.

The city continues to recover, and it will be awhile before it is completely back to normal. I hope in the aftermath of Sandy, NYC begins to think of how the city will look in the future. Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy are our future. These once in a century storms are coming every other year. It's not sustainable for the city to completely shut down like this every other year. It's not sustainable to rebuild on Rockaway Beach or the Jersey Shore if the waters will tear it down in a couple years. The irony is it is our very addiction to the power we lost that fuels these life altering storms. Global warming is alive and well in our world, and until we find alternative solutions to feed our addiction, or wean our addiction altogether, we will continue to suffer. Humans are not invincible nor indestructible. We cannot control our surroundings no matter how hard we try. In one day, everything we worked hard to create can be wiped away, and we are left to pick up the pieces. Continued prayers for the victims of Sandy, the volunteers helping restore the city, and for our policy makers are appreciated.

Life at the Menno

Greetings people who care about me and my well being!

I realized I have given you a lot of updates about working at CFY, but haven't talked about house life yet. Sorry it's taken me so long to do so!

If you are interested in exploring the house website, take a look: http://www.mennohouse.org/

Menno House is a four story brownstone in Gramercy Park in Manhattan. It's located a few blocks from the subway, and Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship, the owner of the house, meets at the Quaker Meetinghouse located a few blocks away. The church shares an office with the Menno House manager here.

The first floor is a common living space with a living room, dining room, and kitchen. The residents take turns keeping it clean...we've wowed previous visitors with our cleanliness! Believe me, it's hard to keep a space clean with ten residents, and six guests on any given night!

The second floor is the office and three guest rooms. We have guests come stay with us from all over the world. Recently, I met guests from Sweden, Germany and Australia. Living in a hospitality house definitely makes life interesting! We had three sisters stay awhile ago. They arrived a blond, and two brunettes. They left all blond. One Sunday morning while they were here, we looked out into our patio (yes, we have a patio) and we saw them dying each other's hair. We're glad they didn't get hair dye on the furniture! Later that same day, I was going upstairs to my room and overheard one sister say to the other, "Oh no! We forgot to get hair dye today!" The other sister said, "Oh that's right! I guess we can get it tomorrow." I'm not sure what else or who else they wanted to dye. Whatever!

The third and fourth floor are resident rooms. We currently have ten residents. Five are students studying social work, public health, law, theology and ordination, and psychology. The rest are volunteers like me. Katie, the other VSer is serving at Urban Justice Center. She works with New York City residents who are in debt crises. The other volunteers are at MCC's office at the UN.

We have residents from Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Oregon, Canada, Kenya, Zimbabwe  Michigan, and of course KANSAS! It's really fun to live with such a diverse group of people. All of my house mates are genuine people who want to be committed to living in community together and to do life together. Every week we have a soup night where the whole house comes together to share a meal. It's great to have a chance to check-in with people and share a meal together. Outside of soup night, Katie and I regularly eat together. Sometimes other housemates join us as they're around.

We also have a patio!!! That was the main selling point for me to come to New York. We have a couple picnic tables, a glider, and an herb garden. It's great for brunches and morning coffee! Although we haven't been able to enjoy as much recently. We just started the process of installing a new roof. The workers set up scaffolding in our back yard. As I'm writing this, the workers are coming in and out of the house commenting on my lunch and music choices. They've just started working here, and already they've seen me in my pajamas. Great.

Other than the construction, life at the Menno is a fun one. We're a great group of people, and we have a lot of fun together. Thank you for all your support to give me this life experience!

Hope all is well with you.
Blessings,
Allison

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Yesterday was another Family Learning Workshop, and it definitely stretched me. Here's why.

First of all, I am not sure I've really explained CFY as an organization. If I have, I apologize; feel free to skip over this :)

CFY is a national organization whose mission is to partner with students, teachers, and parents in low-income communities to harness the power of digital learning to increase educational outcomes. We do this two ways:

1) CFY has a digital learning platform, http://powermylearning.com/, which is a K-12 Learning Platform, and free to anyone with internet access. It has over 2,000 educational games and tutorials. It's available for teachers, students and parents. Teachers can customize lesson plans and activities to help students build new skills. Parents can link their account to their students' to monitor their learning. Students can play fun games, and not even know they're learning! If you have a minute, my favorite game on there is World of Goo. You can find it in the Science tab under Physics, or search World of Goo.

2) The second way we live out our mission is through our Digital Learning Program, which our Family Learning Workshops are a part. Most Saturdays this fall, we go into the schools and host a workshop for the sixth grades students, their parents, and their teachers. The families learn how to connect their computer, and then learn how to implement powermylearning at home. The teachers learn how to use powermylearning in the classroom. At the end of the workshop, the families go home with their Home Learning Centers, which is a desktop computer equipped with Microsoft Office, Windows XP, and Launchpad, a mini version of powermylearning, so if the family doesn't have internet, the students can still play some games. During the workshop the families also take a survey to see if they are eligible for discounted internet through CFY.

This is the context for Saturday's workshop. I was serving as Volunteer Coordinator in the Bronx. It took me about 90 minutes to get to the school from my house. My role was to make sure staff were supported by volunteers, the volunteers were having a great time, and were engaging the families.

The morning went great. I didn't have any hiccups with my volunteers. They came on time, they were excited to be here, and they were ready to work. I had enough Spanish speakers which helped too.

The Bad.

The afternoon was a mess. I had a group of buildOn students coming to volunteer. BuildOn is a national organization that partners with high schools across the country to provide volunteering opportunities for high school students so they can gain leadership experience and serve in their communities. They are also high schoolers. They came with a liason who was chaperoning them. I could not have done it without her!

The first student came 30 minutes early. Then there was a group of about four that trickled in, and they were ready to go at 12, which was when they were supposed to arrive. I knew I had three classrooms I needed to place students in, so it was a perfect number. I oriented them, and was just about to start the tour of the school to give them the lay of the land, when another group of about six showed up. Half an hour late. I decided that was fine. I would give everyone the tour, then orient the late comers while volunteers on time would help staff out with half-time set-up to get ready for the next batch of families. That went well.

When it was time to orient the late batch, my morning volunteers were back and ready to talk about their experiences. I ignored the students, gave them some pizza, and visited with the morning volunteers. They had a great experience, and talked about wanting to come back. Great!

I oriented the late comers, and then took them to the auditorium where they would meet the families, and escort them to their classrooms. Remember, they are high schoolers. During the tour of the school, the of course were not paying attention, and didn't connect the dots that when I say, "You are serving in this classroom, so when the families are dismissed from the classroom, you will take them to this room," that meant, "Listen up children! You need to know where to go, because you will have 15 families following behind you, and you need to lead them here!"

As is predictable, they did not know where to go. I got them all in the right classrooms, then was about to eat lunch. It's 2:00. They're liaison finds me, and says, "Allison, there are two more students coming! Isn't that great?" Is she kidding me? The workshop has started. They need to be oriented. I need to eat. I look for them. I don't see them. I go eat food, because at this point I have turned into a savage beast needing to prey on pizza to calm my inner rage. I finally find them. I orient them in 3 minutes instead of 30. I send them back in the classroom. I breath a sigh of relief.

Oh. Did I mention I found out as the families were dismissing that they were opening up a fourth classroom? I had to reorganize my assignments. Luckily, the liaison knew her students, and took care of the reorganization. Also, with 30 minutes of the workshop left, two more students come to volunteer. By this point, I don't even care. I'm ready to go home, although I was annoyed they showed up so late. What does that say to the families? Whatever.

The Ugly.

During my rounds (checking in on the rooms, checking up on the volunteers) I find out from the Family Trainer (the teacher in the classroom) that a parent beat his son in front of everyone, then left the room very angry. The child is sitting by herself. She doesn't speak English. Great. High school students witnessed this.

I find the Program Manager, CFY's liaison to the school, and explain the situation. She finds the Parent Coordinator for the school, and alerts her to the situation. We gather the Family Trainer so he can talk to authority, but there's no on to run the workshop. In the meantime, the child is sitting by herself, because her dad is gone. He never came back. She spent the whole workshop by herself.

The Good.

These buildOn students were AMAZING. I asked one of the students, a junior in high school and a guy, to sit with the girl until her dad came back. He stayed the whole time, and did a great job. He knew French. I have no idea if that was helpful to him in helping her, but I was so happy to see him sitting with her. It was really amazing.

Also, of the four classrooms, there was only one English classroom. Of the fourteen student volunteers we had, there were only two that spoke Spanish. Most of the kids were placed in a Spanish classroom. They complained for the first bit, but after the workshop got going, they were involved. Every time I would check on them, they were helping students, and being engaged. I rarely saw them off to the side. It was truly a gift from God.

That was my day yesterday. It was long. It was exhausting. It was stretching. But it was also rewarding. Who knew high school students would step up to the plate like that? Who knew they could be such great role models for sixth graders? Who knew they would indicate interest in coming back to volunteer again? I thank God for them, and their commitment to volunteering, and supporting their neighborhood. They attend the high school across the street from this school. Bless them.  

¡No tu canta sola!

Sorry I haven't updated my blog for a big chunk of September. Things have been crazy here.

Last Friday was my first day in a school. We went to a school in the South Bronx. It was about a half hour subway ride from my work. We arrived about an hour before the school let out, and we set up for a pep assembly. All the sixth grade students in the school were at the assembly. We wanted to pump up the energy so the kids would be excited to come back on Saturday morning with their parents. It was a really fun pep assembly. The kids were excited, and they kept the energy up. Each home room had their own cheer, and they were excited to chant. It was really fun to see. The best part though was seeing my colleague J.C. dress up as their Eagle mascot. The costume was ridiculous, and the only way he could see was through the eyes on the side of his head. We also managed to get a CFY t-shirt to fit around his giant Eagle head. The kids ate it up. However, we gave away a couple t-shirts via raffle, and when the assembly was done, some of the kids that didn't get a t-shirt accosted him and tried to rip his shirt off! I don't understand what they were so angry about...the next day they got a free computer. When given the choice between a free t-shirt and a free computer, I'd take the computer, thank you very much.

The next morning I had to be at the school at 8:15. It took me an hour to get there, because transportation is so sporadic on the weekends. We didn't have any volunteers that day, because it was training day for our new part-time staff. Since there were no volunteers, there weren't any volunteers for me to manage. I was a volunteer in the classrooms, and got to see what the Family Learning Workshop is like. It was so fun! We had four classrooms, two English rooms, one Spanish room, and one bilingual classroom. We had about 40 staff total, it felt like we overpowered the families!

I floated from room to room and felt silly having so many staff in each room. In the afternoon session, I ended up hanging out for a long time with a little four year old. Her mom had two girls in sixth grade, and she must have been the only available relative for the girls (CFY policy is in order to receive the computer, both student and parent must come for the full three hour workshop). The girls spoke English, but the mom spoke mostly Spanish, and the little one spoke only Spanish. I noticed she was being a pain...hanging on mom, demanding all of mom's attention; basically being a typical four-year-old. I went over to her, and asked if I could color with her. She said yes. Soon we were friends. She is so smart! I would point to a body part on the Sesame Street character, and ask "¿Cómo se dice en español?" "How do you say this in Spanish?" She knew all her body parts, including teeth! I would also ask her where I should color next, and which one I should use. At first, she was very particular, but soon, I must have proven myself to be a trustworthy contributor to her artwork, because when I asked what I should color next and where, she said, "Lo que quieras." (Whatever you want.) Needless to say, I was honored by this new responsibility. Towards the end of the workshop (three hours is a LONG TIME for a little one to entertain herself!) we were coloring a picture of Big Bird with the alphabet on a chalk board behind him. I asked her if she knew her alphabet. She got most of them. I tried to remember the Spanish pronunciation of the letters, and she laughed at me. Then we sang the English ABCs together. She loved that. Unfortunately for me, the room got really quiet in the middle of our song...it was a bit awkward. She then said, "¡Tu canta!" ("You sing!") I told her, "¡No canto sola! Cantamos juntos." ("I won't sing by myself, let's sing together.") She would have none of that, and we would go back and forth about whether I should sing a solo or not. Finally, I convinced her to sing with me, but she stopped after D, the terd. I loved hanging out with her; I guess I love preschoolers after all. Kudos to you Prairie View, for recognizing that in me before I knew it myself.

It was a great first Family Learning Workshop!

A Feast for your Eyes

Imagine, Dear Reader, a bass beat so loud it resonates within your entire body. Imagine people everywhere dressed in feather customs and not much else. Imagine smells of Jamaican spices wafting through air. That, Dear Reader, is the West Indian Day Parade.

The parade happens every Labor Day in Brooklyn to celebrate New York's massive West Indian immigrant population. I attended with two of my roommates, and we had a blast! CBS estimated three million people attended the parade today. It started at noon, and the parade was still going on when we left around three. I think it ended around six. There was so much delicious food to sample, and such lively people to watch! My personal favorite were the huge, elaborate costumes. Most women wore giant feathered headdresses, sparkly make-up, and beaded bikinis. Men were similarly attired minus the make-up and bikini. They wore speedos instead! My personal favorite, however, was the elaborate floats which were attached to a person's clothing so that it looked like an extension of their outfit.

It was swarming with NYPD. This news article explains why (Mom, you may not want to read this): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48889620/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/#

Below are some pictures from the event :)

Coconut Water :)

It was swarming with NYPD

Add caption

For these pictures and more, check out my Facebook album at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151213435261458.511623.665646457&type=1&l=910ecd2a12

CFY = Cooky Family (Yo)unit?

*Disclaimer. CFY actually doesn't stand for anything. It just is CFY, and it is the agency where I spend 42.5 hours of my week every week. Also, I realize kooky is actually spelled with a "K", and unit doesn't actually start with a "Y", but work with me. I can say some lofty thing about how each member of the team of CFY-NYC is very important, yet we all work work together for a common goal. Therefore there is a (yo)u in unit.  Also, the cuckoo bird is cooky, and it makes sense that the noun and adjective begin with the same letter.

I started work on Monday morning at 10 am. I found my placement on Sunday with the hope that I wouldn't get lost on my way to work the next day. Those of you who know me well are guessing that is unavoidable, and in fact expect me to get lost the first day. As is my nature, I met expectations on Monday. I can proudly say that while I took several wrong turns, I was able to logic my way back, and arrived at work on time (only because I allotted an hour for a half hour commute...). Success!

My work is in a 25 story building on 8th Ave in the main drag of NYC. I took the subway to work. Next week I'm hoping to walk, so that I can get some exercise in my day. When I finally made it to work, I was greeted by the security guard who is keeper of the elevators. Actually, greeted is too kind of a word... acknowledged is more like it. I had my picture taken while standing a yard away from the security guard, and then was allowed to get on the elevator.

CFY offices are on the 10th floor of the building. I walked in, and was warmly greeted by the Office Manager Melissa. I introduced myself, and she bubbled over expressing her joy to finally meet me. Ok. That might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but it would not be an exaggeration to say the mood of the office was ecstatic that I was finally here. My supervisor, Jasmin, told me, "We've been waiting for you...I'm so excited to be a team of two instead of a team of one!"

Jasmin introduced me individually to each member of the office, and everyone was happy to meet me, and welcome me to CFY. I was happy to feel so warmly received, and that the walls were painted bright red and orange, and that there were red couches to sit on if you needed to get off your desk :)

The first day was information overload. I found out a bit more about what I am expected to do, and tried to match faces to names. I've gathered that I am responsible for maintaining current relationships with community volunteers, and ensuring their continued participation in our programming, as well as recruiting more volunteers from faith-based organizations. It's a pretty tall older; I am replacing four volunteer coordinators.

Tuesday (one day later) I left for a two night retreat with my co-workers. I felt a bit weird about it, since I literally met these people yesterday, and here I was spending three days with them. However, my anxiety was not needed. I was warmly welcomed to the team, and even made some friends with my colleagues.

We left Tuesday morning by charter bus to West Cornwall, Connecticut. Here's a link to the place we stayed for those of you that want to take a closer look: http://center.trinitywallstreet.org/index.php. The grounds were beautiful. Everything was green; there were trees everywhere. For a Kansas girl, this was a rare treat! I think my favorite part of the place (besides caring the same brand of tea that Mojo's does!!!) was the classical music which was always played inside. I felt like Miss Elizabeth Bennet viewing Dracy's expansive grounds while sipping a cup of tea, minus any romantic inklings.

My biggest take-away from the retreat was how supportive, caring, respectful, and fun-loving the staff at CFY are. We were asked to bring an object that tells a story to share with the group on the first night. I was expecting people to bring a drawing their three-year-old niece drew for them, and say a shallow story about how they like baking chocolate-chip cookies with their niece. That was what I was emotionally prepared for. Oh ho ye of little faith! 

While some did share on that level, most shared a much more personal story. We heard stories about a childhood filled with parents abusing alcohol and drugs, having a life threatened while walking home on a Saturday night, being the first to graduate from college in the family while living in a rough neighborhood, the list goes on. I was so impressed by the level of vulnerability everyone was willing to put themselves in, and by how warmly their story was received.

On the last day, we did "A Walk of Joy." This meant everyone had to line up in two lines, and one person would walk down the middle with their eyes closed while being guided by another staff member. While walking, co-workers would whisper expressions of gratitude in their ears. I thought a few people would say something to me since I have only been here for four days. Oh ho ye of little faith! Most everyone thanked me for coming, for selflessly volunteering a year of my life for service, for jumping straight into CFY, and for being open and vulnerable enough to participate in all the activities. You can imagine how inspiring, strange, and humbling an experience it would be to walk, eyes closed, down a path of people you met two days ago, and have 35 people thank you for your presence, your open-mindedness, and your support. Pretty powerful.

I'm home now, and have a four day weekend to do with as I please! Suggestions on how to spend labor day in NYC?

In other news, you learn a lot about your co-workers, and the way their minds work after playing a rousing game of Balderdash!

A Whirl Wind!

This past week I was in San Antonio for orientation. There were 45 MVSers this year, and we all stayed in the San Antonio Mennonite Church. It was cozy! We shared four toilets, and three showers. All of us were on air mattresses in various rooms across the church.

It was a bit of a mess for me to get to San Antonio. I had a flight scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and the plan was that I would get to San Antonio Sunday night. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed four hours, causing me to miss my connecting flight in Dallas. When I tried to reschedule, there were no flights going into San Antonio until the next morning. It was a rough start. I made the best of it though, my mom and I went to the Olive Garden, and then had a How I Met Your Mother marathon.

When I finally got to San Antonio, everyone was out and about exploring the neighborhood the San Antonio VSers will be staying in. I was able to hear their reflections on exploration. Then Regina Shands Stoltzfus, a professor of Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies at Goshen College, came and did a two part seminar on Anti-Racism. I think I would have benefited a lot more from it if I hadn't already been stressed from flights, and waking up early, and entering a new place. It also felt a bit like a review from my time in Chicago.

Overall, the best part of orientation was getting to know all the other VSers. Staff said that this year's VSers meshed really well together, and connected better than previous years. We definitely connected, and felt supported by each other as we anticipated starting our assignments. I really bonded with the other Manhattan VSer, and the VSers in Rochester. We shared our faith stories with each other, and now hope to keep in touch throughout the year.

I left San Antonio early Saturday morning, and arrived in New York City Saturday afternoon. I'm all moved in...at least until my parents ship me the rest of my stuff. My room is pretty small. It's long and narrow. I have a lofted bed, a book shelf, a couch, a wardrobe, and a chest of drawers. It's cozy.

The people in Menno House are really nice, although most of them are moving out within the month. We'll have a whole new house with new people to decide the rules and house culture. It should be good!

Later this afternoon I'll go to Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship (MMF) which is the supporting church for MVS. Tomorrow is my first day of work. The adventure has begun!

Fundraiser Meal!

I had my fundraiser meal at Faith Mennonite Church on Sunday, July 29. Good news! I needed $2,000, and we exceeded that amount. Thank you all so much for your support!

Thank you to Janora, Mary, Sara, the Social Committee, the Board of Witness and Outreach, my grandparents, the middle school youth group, Mark, Alice, Monica, Victoria, Ryan, Liz, Claire and of course my parents for a successful meal!

On the menu was New York Style hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, celery, carrots, and cake. We had an array of condiments including onion sauce, caramelized onions, and kraut. If you're interested in making your own hot dog sauce, here's the recipe.

It's a very humbling experience to be vulnerable enough to ask people to donate money. This is the second time I've done something like this, and it never fails to amaze me how much people believe in me, and how willing all of you are to support me. Keep the prayers coming! I leave on Sunday...

Below are some pictures our fearless photographer Claire Unruh took for your viewing pleasure :)

Anna, a member of the middle school youth group,
helps my grandma dish up her hot dog.
The middle school youth group helped carry plates.

The social committee helps serve the food.
Pictured here are Allen, Vicki, Chuck and Joni.

Looks tasty Sam!

Paul, Andrea, Merrill, and Max dress their dogs.

I'm serving the plates. Jane, Mike and Naomi look ready to eat!

One More Month!

I leave in a month and a day. Time is flying! Things are coming together for my fundraiser meal. It's on July 29 at noon at Faith Mennonite Church. Come if you can!

I had my last interview with my placement yesterday. I will be a volunteer coordinator for CFY (http://cfy.org/). They donate refurbished computers to low income middle school students. My job will be to coordinate volunteers for the Saturday workshops where we teach the students and their parents how to navigate the learning platform for CFY. Every Saturday they have workshops in schools across the five boroughs of the city. It should be an adventure!

I will be staying at Menno House (http://www.mennohouse.org/), in Manhattan. The VS unit is housed there as well as other residents, and guests. It sounds like quite the mix of people. Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship is the Mennonite church I will be worshiping in (http://www.manhattanmennonite.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=27176). As I understand it, they meet in a Quaker Meeting House on Sunday evenings.

I hope to learn a lot, have some adventures, and enjoy living in the city!