I got a Job!

Hello Friends,

Major life update. I have a job! I will continue to live at work in New York City. I am soooo happy!!!

The dets:

Starting Monday, August 12, I will be working at The Henry Street Settlement as a Volunteer Program Associate. About two months after I start, my supervisor will be going on maternity leave, and I will be running the program. I am really looking forward to this growing opportunity.

This is what the place looks like:

It is located on the Lower East Side in the heart of China Town (cheap dumplings for lunch--say what??) about two miles from Menno House.

My last day at CFY is August 7.

I will continue to live at Menno House, and enjoy living in the city!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers throughout this year of MVS, and for your continued thoughts and prayers as I transition to my new role.

Blessings,

Allison

Matilda

I had a wonderful surprise Tuesday afternoon! Mica Yoder, a friend from church, won the lottery for cheap tickets to see Matilda the Musical, and invited me along as her guest. The Yoders have been great supporters of MVSers, and tonight was no exception, since they paid my ticket. A full time volunteer couldn’t ask for anything more! A great show, great company, and it was FREE!

This week has been stressful for me with waiting for jobs to call, and all the anxiety that goes along with it. Tuesday was particularly difficult, so when Mica called, I was THRILLED to go to Broadway. Nothing like an inspirational story complete with cute kids, singing and choreography to turn your day around!

The show was fantastic! I would highly recommend it to anyone. The set and costumes looked like they came straight out of Roald Dahl’s imagination. The actors were stellar (Gabriel Elbert, Mr. Wormwood, won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical), and the atmosphere was great. A perfect pick-me-up.

Check out the medley from the Tony’s here for a taste of the show :)

Potluck with Penington

So there's a Quaker version of Menno House. Who knew? It's called Penington Friends House, and it's literally a couple blocks away from Menno House.

Penington is similar to Menno House in that it is both a guest house, and residence for long term residents. However, it has 25 residential rooms (much more than Menno House!), and two guest rooms. Once I realized Menno House had a counterpart, I decided to reach out to them. I wanted to meet some new people, and see how their experience was living in intentional community.

It was great! The residents were extremely hospitable and generous. Even though there are around 20 or so residents, there were about 6 people from Penington that came to dinner. It worked out well, because there were three people from Menno House, and one of them was my friend Monica from college who was just visiting! I was glad they didn't overwhelm us!

Unlike Menno House, their residents are very diverse in age. I saw a resident in grade school, all the way up to residents in their 70's. It was great to see how a house works when there is more age diversity than the young 20-something-year-olds at Menno House. What a breadth of experience the residents at Penington have! 

I talked mostly to three residents. One had moved to the city a couple years ago from Denver to be a full-time Grandpa to his grandchildren in Harlem. In his youth, he was a CO in Vietnam during the war. He had a lot of stories to tell! Another resident is an opera singer who regularly sings at Grace Church. The third resident is a retired film director for PBS. During her time, she was the only female director at PBS, and one of four female film directors in the country. While I was only with them a brief time, I was blown away at the amazing experiences and wisdom they had to share. I hope to meet with them again!

Hopefully once things settle down at Menno House, we can return the hospitality!

Leah's Last Week

Transitions have began at the house. Leah Yoder was the first resident to move out. She is a close friend of mine, and we miss her. She is home in Oregon for a couple of weeks, before she moves to Guatemala for the summer.

I was lucky enough to spend some time with her before she left. I took Wednesday off to go to the Bronx Zoo with her. Obviously this was an excellent choice.

We spent several hours meandering around the zoo, being extremely glad we had no children in tow! Although, for those of you who know Leah, she can be a wild child...

Our favorite animals were the puffins and the monkeys. Amazingly, the puffins had the exact same dynamics as our house. There was a Godswill puffin, a Leah puffin, a Katie puffin, the list goes on. We watched them act out our house dynamics in puffin form. So funny!

The monkeys were adorable. Of course. See?

On Sunday, Leah, Katie and I went to Coney Island. Not as great as you would think. If you don't have $100 to burn, it's not really worth your time. We hung out on the beach, and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of Coney Island. Including Viking Hat karaoke!

It was great to hang-out on the beach :)

On Monday, I helped her haul her boxes to USPS for shipping. To congratulate ourselves on a job well done, we did what any American citizen would do: consume our weight in stuffed French toast from IHOP. Obviously. Leah loves her processed, terrible for you foods, and on occasion, I appreciate them as well! Oh IHOP. Where would this nation be without you?

Job Hunting in NYC, or why "Oy Ve" is my new favorite saying

A couple months ago, I decided I wanted to stay another year in the city, and work. CFY is not an option, considering the second round of lay-offs they did, so I have been pursuing other options. CFY has been GREAT about it, though. People are giving me advice on job search, they are connecting me to people, and are editing my resume. It's great!

Even so, it can still be exhausting. No wonder the unemployment rate in this city is 9%! It is discouraging, tiring, and makes you question your competence. Despite the set-backs, I had a group interview two weeks ago. It was bizarre. There were 18 of us, and we split up into groups of three. They asked us interview questions, and we interviewed each other while the staff circled around and listened to our conversations. So. Weird.

I must have done something right, because I got a second interview! I had my second interview on Monday. I thought it went well. I found out on Thursday night, that I was not offered the final interview, which means I was not offered the position.

While I'm a bit disappointed, I am also a bit relieved. The job itself wasn't exactly what I wanted. They also wanted me to start earlier than I was ready to do. I'm a bit nervous that I won't get a job, but I keep telling myself the worst case scenario is that I go home at the end of my term.

Through this experience, I got to practice my interview skills, and see what interviewing in NYC is like.

I have some more leads. The national director of Human Resources at CFY used to work at the Robin Hood Foundation, which is one of the largest foundations in the city, and they fund really cool non-profits. Through my connection, I think I can at least get some introductions.

Also, on Friday, CFY had a guest speaker who talked about her professional journey. I talked with her afterwards about my job search. She was impressed with my tenacity, and that I moved from Kansas. She asked that I send over my resume, and she would start sending it out to people :)

Fingers Crossed!!!

My Week on Broadway

Ok. I was never on Broadway. Just to make that clear. I did however see a backstage tour and two shows all in the same week!! It was amazing.

Here's the context for it.

A few weeks ago, Laura Dueckman and her friend Ellery Penner visited Katie and me. Laura and Ellery had met while doing SALT (Service and Learning Together) in Indonesia. Laura and I went to school together at Bethel, and Ellery and Katie had gone to school together at University of Waterloo. Crazy Mennonite World! It was great to see Laura again, and talk Bethel College with her :) The other delightful outcome of seeing them was we got to take a backstage tour of the Lion King!!

It just so happened that Ellery and Laura went to see the Lion King, and when Ellery opened the playbill, she realized her good friend Patrick was playing Scar. Crazy right? She and Patrick had worked together as wait staff in Waterloo. She knew he was playing Scar on tour in Indonesia, but was surprised to see him on stage in NYC. She e-mailed him that night, and he offered her and her friends a back stage tour. It was wonderful!

We went on a Tuesday night. It was surprisingly less glamorous than I was expecting. I always had this idea that Broadway stars were larger than life, living it up, and somehow straddling reality and the world within the show. Spoiler alert: It's not.

We started with his dressing room. He shares the space with the actor who plays Zazoo. The dressing room was about the size of the box at the mods. I can't imagine two people sharing that, plus dressers and make-up artists! Click here to see Patrick undergo the transformation into Scar.

He then took us on stage. It was so cool to see the house from the stage perspective. He said they have triples of everything in case things break on stage. He showed us where all three Zazoos are stored across backstage. Crazy!

My biggest take away was theater is an artform. It seems silly that I didn't realize this until now, but it is. As he was showing us all of the props, and explaining all the optical illusions, I realized that the magic of theater is all in my head. Because I want to escape into the world of the Lion King so badly, I don't see the feathers falling off the costume, or notice how the lights make the optical illusions so I believe that Mufasa really has come down from the sky to talk to Simba.

It definitely changed how I view theater.

I had the next day off, so I decided to treat myself to The Last Five Years. I love the music, and I was so excited to see it! You can listen to my favorite song, The Schmuel Song, here. I loved it. I was surprised at how it was produced. It was literally just the sound track, only acted out. It was still wonderful :)

I decided since I was in Times Square anyway, I would try for the Book of Mormon lottery. I had tried over 10 times already, and I was completely indifferent to winning. I think my indifference made the difference. I won!!!!

Katie and I went together, and for the first act, we were in the box seats. For the second half, we sat in THE FRONT ROW!! We  had saved up our educational / recreational money to see the show, so we saw it for free :) My favorite song, Turn It Off, can be found here. We were so close, we could see the sweat falling from their faces!

It was especially interesting to watch it after seeing the Lion King backstage tour. I couldn't believe that for the actors, that was work. It looked exhausting! But after the show, all of them were genuinely joyful. I was glad it wasn't my job!

It was great week!

Christ is risen indeed!

Hello dear friends,

I hope you all had a blessed Easter holiday. My Easter was full. Full of reflection, of food, of reconnecting, of setting-up, or tearing down...the list goes on. I am thankful for the wonderful time I had with gathered friends, and am thankful for the rest that comes with the end of a holiday :)

I took Good Friday off, so that I could participate in the Pax Christi Stations of the Cross. Each year Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship leads a station in the prayer walk, and the MVSers provide the reflection and prayers. Our Good Friday reflections and prayer were featured in the April 1st issue of The Mennonite.

It was an interesting experience. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. Katie and I arrived about half an hour before our scheduled station, so we took part in the march. As we were marching from one station to the next in midtown, we passed a woman who appeared to be homeless arguing with who appeared to be her pimp. I want to be clear that this is my perception of the exchange. It very well may have been something completely different. I walked past her. I didn't offer to help. I felt very strange about that decision. As a collection of 100 followers of Christ, isn't it our job to stop and ensure her safety and well-being? Yet I didn't see anyone stop to offer assistance. Again, my eyes were just one pair of many. Maybe someone did help, and I missed it. I felt like the Levite or the Pharisee in Jesus' Good Samaritan story. This is something I continue to struggle with in the city: responding to the destitute need I see on the streets. Reconciling my own wealth and privilege, to that of my friends, co-workers, clients, and passerbys. 

Our station was number 11, Jesus is nailed to the cross. We were asked to reflect on nonviolence. The location for the station was Times Square, right next to the Recruitment post, in the heart of Times Square. It was very odd. Katie and I stood on top of a flat-bed pick-up truck, and addressed a crowd of about 100 people. Because it was Times Square, tourists were everywhere. I am sure my picture was taken at least 100 times, and I made it into several videos. I felt more like a spectacle than a speaker.

Katie and I at the station

MMF folks came out to support us!

I spent the rest of Friday and all of Saturday reconnecting with friends I haven't seen in a while. I have been very lucky to make strong friendships in the city both within Menno House and outside it. I am thankful for a job where I work the expected 40 a week, and then have evenings and weekends free to spend time with friends.

On Sunday, I woke up to Katie and her boy friend Josh making Easter breakfast: waffles, fruit, and coffee. It was wonderful.

After an hour or so, Sara and Laura got back from church, and they made their own Easter brunch. Yay me for getting second breakfast :)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb2z40WKWK1reeaavo1_500.jpg

They made deeeee-licious eggs benedict, mimosas, and a berry salad. Leah read us the story of resurrection from the Gospel according to John, and we had a wonderful celebration of the day, and each other's company and phenomenal cooking abilities :)

I signed up to decorate the church for Easter. During Lent, "Longing for Light" was our theme song. We purposefully had no candles. It was my job to light up the worship space for Easter to celebrate. How do you think I did? 

We (finally) walked a dog

Leah and I have been wanting to walk dogs since January. I stumbled across an animal shelter in Brooklyn that lets you walk a dog provided  you have a pulse, can sign your name, and you show-up during the shift.

As a former volunteer coordinator, the qualifications sound a bit sketchy. It makes me question the organization. As a busy professional who shies away from commitment to volunteer opportunities outside of CFY, it looked ideal.

I had volunteered there once before, and hung out with some cats for about thirty minutes. It was good, aside from the pet chickens roaming the cat loft, and the pet pigeons in a cage. Not sure what the point of fowl was in a cat loft...also not sure why the cats didn't make them their dinner...

Well, as is expected by now whenever Leah and I do something together, we had an adventure.

We walked this pooch, Diamond.

She's 11 years old, and lazy as all get out. She absolutely DID NOT want to go on a walk. Her response was very similar to the No-no-no cat.

She walked MAYBE one quarter of a block, before she fell down, and started frothing at the mouth. We had no water. She wouldn't get up. We had to drag her. There was a point when Diamond was on her stomach, her legs acting as breaks, and Leah was dragging her across the sidewalk.

After doing her business, she was a bit more tolerant of walking. As in, we only had to drag her 30% of the time instead of 100%. We decided to cut the walk short, take her back, and let her get some water and rest.

Poor thing. The minute we get in, the volunteer coordinator turns to the couple waiting, and says, "Here! You can walk Diamond!" No water. No break. She was sent right back out. That poor animal. I hope she gets adopted soon so she can sleep all day, and die in peace.

Luck of the Irish

Happy (belated) St. Paddy's Day!

After spending St. Patrick's day in Chicago last year, I was over the public display of drunkenness only the city can bring you on this Saint's Day. (I'm talking vomit on the subway at 10 am...gross.)

Needless to say, as much as I love the holiday, I was too keen on being out in the streets.

On Friday, Sara made her annual St. Patrick's Day Feast: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. The rest of the house contributed whiskey, beer, dessert, and Irish soda bread. Yum!

Katie and I decorated the dinning room with green. Jovon's brother, Vin, along with Jovon, Will, and Vanessa, entertained us with Irish songs. A lot of Haul Away was sung :)

The rest of the weekend was spent resting, and babysitting. Fairly uneventful, but sometimes that's exactly what you need :)

What's New at CFY?

I feel like I'm back in undergrad filling out journals for a social work class...I would procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate until the due date for the journals, and then crank out all of them in 48 hours. Much like these blog posts! Anyway, here's the update on my work at CFY.

In February, the Volunteer Program was cut from CFY-NYC. My supervisor, Jasmin, was laid off, and I switched roles from Volunteer Coordinator to become a Family Engagement Associate.

What's a Family Engagement Associate? Great question. This is a completely new position CFY created for me. My main responsibility is to support the Family Engagement Team in implementing our Family Learning Workshop 201s.

What's that? Another great question. CFY is in the process of changing our approach to service.  We began as a computer distribution program, and we are now moving towards a partnership with our schools.

Last fall, we had our Family Learning Workshop 101, and served over 4,000 families. Each family received a free Home Learning Center (a desktop loaded with educational games and software). During the workshop, they also received coaching on how to use the Home Learning Center to improve their student's educational outcomes. 

This spring we are piloting a new program, our Family Learning Workshop 201. We are working intensively with six schools located in Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx. Each school receives three workshops on the topic(s) of their choice: Internet Safety and Awareness; High School, College and Career Readiness; Helping Your Student Achieve at Home; and Computer Programming. Their fourth workshop is a Stop Summer Slide Kick-off.

Stop Summer Slide is another pilot that only CFY-NYC is doing. It is a ten week series of digital learning activities (games, video tutorials, etc) students can access on CFY's Digital Learning Platform, PowerMyLearning.com. The goal of this program is to reinforce learning students accomplished during the school year through the summer so knowledge can be retained.

How does Allison fit in this?

I attend all of the Family Learning Workshops. They are about two hours in length, and are held at the school. I register families as they arrive, and provide assistance and support to them during the workshop. I also co-facilitate some of the workshops.

Because this is a brand new program, there are a lot of kinks we still need to iron out. For example, our attendance is pretty low. In the fall, we would as many as 100 families come out. For the spring, our record high was 15 families. At one workshop, no families came.

There are pros and cons to this. When there is no incentive for families to come except to gain valuable knowledge, you only get the families really invested in their students' education. It's really fun to see parents that are so invested in their child.

My favorite story is about Henry. He and his father attended our workshop in the fall, and received their computer. The other kids were annoyed that it was a desktop computer, and not a snazzy laptop or i-pad. Not Henry. He and his dad were ECSTATIC!! They loved their computer, and were very animated during the workshop.

This spring, they have come to every workshop we've held at Henry's school. The last workshop we had, they brought Henry's sister, an 8th grade student. When she realized they were the only family, her 8th grade girl 'Tud came out complete with eye-rolls. She came around though. It's amazing to see Henry's father's commitment to his children.

Another story is about Jimmy. He is a recent immigrant from Napal, and is very shy. He and his father attended one of our workshops, but their English wasn't very good. They could barely follow along with the presentation. I was talking with them, and his father told me he was on asylum from Napal here. He missed Napal, and wished Jimmy could go to school there, where he has friends and family. The process to enroll Jimmy into high school was overwhelming to him. My heart ached for him.

I found the Parent Coordinator, and she sat with them, explained the workshop in slower speech, and offered her assistance as they navigate the New York Public School System. I felt terrible that I couldn't be of more help, but I know the Parent Coordinator is very capable, and is wonderful. They are in good hands.

In other news...

• I have joined the Values Vanguard for CFY-NYC. This is a team of individuals who are helping implement the new values into CFY-NYC culture. My latest task was organizing a volunteer event for the office. Which I did! We will be reading stories submitted by elementary school students to the Story Pirates to be acted out. Not all stories can be performed by the Story Pirates, but every story deserves recognition. That's where we come in. We read the stories, and offer positive feedback. I'm really excited :)
• I have also joined the Culture Club. Culture Club keeps the spirit up in the office with Happy Hours, pot-lucks, and merriment. It's a great group of people, and I'm excited to work with them further.
• I have decided to stay in New York another year!! I don't know if I will continue working at CFY, or if I will go somewhere else. I'm excited to stay in the city, and stay in Menno House. I love it here. Prayers for a smooth transition as my term ends, and my new job begins are much appreciated!!

A Perfect Weekend

Two weekends ago was literally the perfect weekend. I know perfection is a pretty lofty claim to make, but it was pretty fantastic. The week leading up to it was busy, busy, busy. I worked three workshops during the week, two of them back to back on the same day. I spent about 8 hours total on the subway commuting to all the schools we served that week. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I took Monday off as comp time/personal restoration time, and it was very much needed!

On Saturday I slept in. This is still a new-found joy ever since my last Family Learning Workshop. I woke up to a gorgeous, warm spring day. The weather was around 50 degrees, sunny and clear. I made a delicious brunch for myself, and enjoyed it on our patio with some housemates.

Later that afternoon, Leah, Marcel and I went to the Highline. For those of you who don’t know, the Highline is a park built on a restored freight-line on the West side of Manhattan. It is a 1.5 mile stretch of pathway with great views of the city. We walked the length of it twice, and then enjoyed a marvelous picnic of bread, cheese, and pumpkin bread.

Because it was the first beautiful Saturday in spring, lots of people were out. That made the people watching extra fun, even though it was a bit crowded :)

Here’s a picture to give you an idea of what the Highline looks like. I should add that photographs are not my strong-point. In fact, I would much rather enjoy living the moment than trying to document it. The picture you see below, and the picture from my blog post in Jersey, are not pictures I have taken. Thank you Google image search!

It's still winter, so the grass doesn't look this nice.
And the people were more bundled up...

It felt so good to have the sun shinning down, and to see the big, bright blue sky. After our picnic, we walked home by way of the West Village, and NYU Campus.

The West Village is beautiful. Walking around it, you don't feel like you are in the city anymore. You don't  hear traffic. The West Village is where the house front was filmed for the Cosby Show. Even though in the show the Huxtabuls live in Brooklyn, the physical front of house they show is in the West Village. See? I would love to live there. This is what the West Village looks like.

From about.com. The Huxtabul's House.

We had a lovely walk home looking at houses, pretending we could afford them...We even thought if Menno House would sell, we could buy a one bedroom in the West Village. Yes, accommodating 9 people would be difficult, but we can take turns. Everyone gets a shift. When you aren't at the apartment, you can volunteer permanently at a homeless shelter. They are always looking for more volunteers, this is a perfect solution!

...Yeah, Sara didn't buy it either.

We also stopped by a PUPPY store!! In the store window was a baby Zepplein doggy (a black dauschund puppy), and another fox-dog puppy. I think the fox-dog is called "Shiba Inu." They look like foxes, so I call them fox-dogs. Anyway, it is a miracle Marcel didn't disown Leah and I then and there. We literally went ga-ga over the dogs :)

Our last stop was NYU campus. They were having a folk festival of sorts, and there was a guy playing the banjo, drums, and singing folk songs. He had quite the gathering of observers, including back-up dancers. Ok, that is a bit extreme the dancers were toddlers and preschoolers movin', grovin' and expressing themselves to the beat. Adorable!

The next day was the much anticipated SPA DAY!! Leah, Naomi, Emily (all roommates, former roommates, or friends from church) and I had been planning this day of luxury and decadence since Thanksgiving. Ever since Leah and I went to the Russian, Turkish baths, we have been craving the relaxing, rejuvenating experience we longed for at the baths. Naomi suggested we check out Spa Castle. It is literally a castle of spas. So wonderful.

We spent five hours lounging in hot-tubs, saunas, heated pools, and relaxation (aka nap) rooms. We dinned on sushi. We bonded.

Spa Castle has four floors. I kid you not. The first floor is separated by gender, and is a nude only area. With hot tubs. Wonderful.

The most interesting thing about the nude hot tubs was how inter-generational it was. Grandmas, mothers, and daughters would hang out together. Kids as young as six would be swimming around. Completely comfortable in their bodies. It was great to see children unashamed of who they are. And, it was liberating to be with women of all walks of life, of all shapes and sizes, enjoying a nude hot tub paradise. I know it's not for everyone, but it was exactly what I needed that day!

Katie's friend Dani was visiting her all week-end, and on Monday I got to spend the day with them. We first went to our all-time favorite, Doughnut Plant. Home of the hazlenut doughnut, and coconut cream filled doughnut. Magical.

We then traversed China Town. Normally I have a steel stomach. I can handle seeing eels swimming in ginger. I can handle fish in tanks waiting to be eaten. I can't, for whatever reason, handle frogs in an ice bath. Waiting to jump out. It put me over the edge. Needless to say, I was glad when they were ready to move on to the Brooklyn Bridge.



This was the first time I had been to the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, it's a tourist destination, but it's a great view of Manhattan, and it's free!

I was well rested, re-energized, and ready for the next week.

A Day In Jersey

Greetings followers! I am so sorry I haven’t been posting in a LONG time. Rest assured that I think of you often, and that I know you are thinking of me, and holding me in prayer.

Earlier this month, I went to New Jersey to visit a friend. Miguelina, a co-worker of mine, invited me to New Jersey to see her town.

Miguelina and I met at CFY. She is a part-time staff member, and is delightful. When she found out that I moved to New York City in August, with no connections to friends or family, she was mortified. She immediately invited me to New Jersey to meet her family, and share a meal with me. She said, “My family is your family, and my house is your house.”

I went to visit her on a Sunday afternoon. I had never been to Jersey before, and was a bit concerned about getting lost. If I take the wrong train in NYC, I am still in NYC, and in a subway system I am familiar with, and a guarantee I will get back home. If I take a bus from NYC to Jersey, and get lost, there is no safety net, no knowledge of the inner-workings of the bus system in suberbia NYC. Fortunately, between text messaging and phone calls, I found her!

The bus I took was the ridiculously tiny bus (maybe fits 15 people). To stop, you yell at the bus driver to stop. I ended up getting off several blocks too late, but I found it ok.

I met Miguelina in West New York, NJ. It was beautiful. The bus route was right along the Hudson River, and there was a walking/running/biking path that followed the river with an awesome view of Manhattan.

We walked the path for awhile catching up. I found out she is originally from the Dominican Republic, and moved to this country when she was 14. She agreed to help me practice my Spanish, and I have been forcing myself when e-mailing her to only communicate in Spanish.

We then went to her favorite coffee shop for cappuccinos and cookies with dulce de leche (dulce de leche literally means sweet milk...it's like caramelized sweetened condensed mil. So. Good. Miguelina ordered for me, because there it looked like the staff were more comfortable taking orders in Spanish, than in English.

She then took me to a Dominican Republic restaurant, because I wanted to try food native to her homeland. Again, she ordered for me, because she knew what she wanted me to try. I had to suspend my vegetarian diet for the food. I had mangu, which is a typical Dominican Breakfast. It is mashed plantains, cheese, salami, and eggs. Yum! And to drink, I had Morir soñando (milk and orange juice). It tasted a lot like an orange julius. Miguelina said when you visit someone, the first thing you ask them is if they want a Morir soñando.



After lunch, we drove around the surrounding area. She took me to Hoboken (where Cake Boss, a TLC show is located), and to see the Washington Bridge.

It was a great first visit to Jersey, and to Miguelina! I will definitely be coming back...if anything to eat more dulce de leche :)

An Experiment

Sylvia, our pastor, is gone this weekend. Being on worship committee, this affects me. The worship committee coordinated the service for yesterday. Sylvia does a lot. That's all I'm going to say. She. Does. A. Lot.

I volunteered to be worship leader for Sunday, to introduce Lent, explain our Lenten theme, and help facilitate worship with Sylvia gone. This meant having multiple meetings with Sylvia to plan the logistics of the service, and spending way more of my Saturday afternoon working on the service than I intended.

I have been talking with friends and Menno House residents about MMF. How the current structure doesn't quite seem to fit. We identified a couple things that seemed to make the worship too formal: a bulletin, and microphones. We only have about 30 people on a given Sunday. No need for a microphone, and no bulletin would allow us to be more spontaneous.

Or so I thought. We decided to try it out this Sunday, and see how it goes. Pressure was on me as worship leader then, because no one else knew what was going on.

Overall, I thought it went really well. I heard only positive feedback from congregation members, although what else are they going to say to my face?

I had a couple slip ups, but people were flexible, and willing to try something new. I really liked how the gathering felt more intimate. I chose to stand in front of the podium, which also created a more intimate space. Instead of trying to fill the whole space with 30 people, I liked that we embraced our small size, and adjusted.

Because Sylvia was gone, we didn't have a sermon. Instead Sylvia and I kept our eyes open for current event news stories. Our Lenten theme song is "Longing for Light," and we found a news story to match each verse. I asked different people to read the stories. I hadn't planned on them staying in their seats, but they did. I think that helped make it feel less formal too.

I haven't felt like I truly worshiped there in a long time, and last night, I felt like I was finally able to worship. That style worked for me. We had also picked news stories that addressed a problem in society, such as violence against women, but it also reported on ways people were working on changing the problem, one billion rising dancing to raise awareness. One of my friends came up to me after the service to thank for choosing stories that had a ray of hope in them. Too often we get overwhelmed by all the world's problems, and it seems there is no answer. These stories showed that there are answers. That people are working the answers.

Everyone has a story

On Friday night, Rachel and I went to The Moth Main Stage.

For those you who have yet to be exposed to the wonderful podcast The Moth, I will explain the gist of the program. Story-tellers have 10 minutes to tell their story to a live studio audience. No notes. No teleprompters, just stories. Here is a recording of one of the stories I heard Friday night.

These story-tellers are amazing. The courage it takes to bare your soul in front of hundreds of people is astounding. Story-tellers are found through a pitch-line, where people pitch two minute stories, and fans vote on stories they want to hear. The story-tellers that night had complete command of the audience. I couldn't believe how they could make the audience laugh one minute, and cry the next.

It got me thinking, how many stories are waiting to be told in that audience that night? How many stories are waiting to be told sitting on the subway car?

When we walk past someone on the street, do we realize we are walking past a lifetime of stories? Do we recognize each person with whom we come into contact, and acknowledge the stories and past that drive their lives?

I know I certainly don't. Seeing this event live, I realized how many stories I come across everyday. I am now making a conscious effort to be more forgiving with strangers. If they are in my way on the streets, instead of breezing by, I say, "Excuse me." When I see someone struggling on the subway, I offer them my seat. You never know where people are going, or where they're coming from. One small act like that could make all the difference in their lives.

Tooth Time

I realize this is a very strange title for a blog post. For those of you who don't know, I have a fake tooth. In fact, it is a very common genetic disorder to be missing your teeth to the immediate right and left of your front teeth. Five years ago I had an implant, and recently, it has come loose. A week ago, it fell out. Yes, I have been without a front tooth for a week and half. Context for upcoming adventure established.

Time for you to use your senses and imagination to put yourself in my shoes. Sound: "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen playing on the radio, and the dentist singing along. A laser buzzing your gums. Smell: Burning flesh. Surprisingly, it smells very similar to burning marshmellows. Sights: Smoke billowing from your mouth, because of said laser. Feel: Nothing. You are numb. Taste: Typical nasty dentist fluids.

So. Weird. Before this bombardment of senses, the dentist had to drill my fake tooth to get at the screw. As he was drilling, he was singing along, "Mama! Just killed a man! Sing along if you know the words!" It was 9:00 in the morning. Too early for Queen. But, I wasn't doing anything else, so I joined in. "Mama! Oooo!" He complimented me on my singing, and said sometimes he has patients who, "can't sing a lick." I'm not really sure how he judges his patients' ability to sing, as I have found it's quite difficult to sing while your gums are actively being burned. That may just be me.

Regardless of how strange an experience it was, I have a tooth now! No longer am I "gap-tooth," or "tooth-less wonder!" The tooth I have in currently is just a temporary crown. I am going back later this week to make an impression for my permanent crown. Either way though, I count walking out of the dentist office with a tooth a success!

D'Jenga Unchained

In recent reflection, I've realized a lot of my postings are about serious things. Sandy. Lay-offs. I promise you I have fun in the city too! This post is about fun :)

Ever since New Year's Eve, Katie, Will and I have an ongoing Jenga war. For those of you who don't know, Jenga is the game you play with small rectangular shaped blocks. The object of the game is to not make the tower of blocks fall over. I must say, we are pretty good. When Will first discovered the game, he was cocky and terrible which made for hilarious game time. Then, suddenly, he was beating us! Unacceptable. My goal for all future games is to ensure Will looses. Always. This goal has been tricky, but always hilarious.

See below pictures as evidence.

I eat Jenga towers for dinner. Nom nom nom!

OH MY GOODNESS!! Will it fall???

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

Let the tournament planning begin!

 We are now in the process of planning a Jenga Tournament. We have six housemates signed up. Our plan is to dress up outrageously, talk a lot of smack, heckle opponents, and award a chocolate coin to the victor. All around have a good time :)

Don't worry, I'll be sure to update you on how the tournament goes :)

Free Saturday!!

It is a rare gift when I have a Saturday free. This past Saturday was one of those wonderful gifts.

Friday night, I was overwhelmed with possibilities. What would I do? It was Friday night, and I didn't have to go to the Bronx or Brooklyn at stupid early in the morning time!!!!!!! The possibilities were endless. On Friday night, I ended up staying in and watching "Arrest Development." It was too much to go out and do something. I had to ease into my new found freedom.

Saturday morning I slept in, and had breakfast prepared for me by Katie and Josh. They made French toast and coffee. It was wonderful! In the afternoon, Vanessa, a new volunteer living in Menno House, and I went to Chinatown. We didn't really have any set plans. Just to hang out.

It was a gorgeous day. We ended up discovering a park where people were practicing some self-defense/fitness activity thing. Obviously I'm very knowledgeable in Asian fitness...There was also a local band playing Chinese folk songs. It looked like they did that every so often, and weren't looking for donations. Instead, they were just hanging out, having a great time, and playing requests. There was also a pick-up soccer game that we watched for a bit. It was so fun!

We then meandered around looking for some lunch. We stumbled upon this little hole-in-the-wall place called "Fried Dumpling." They sold fried dumplings. Surprising. They were in some contest for best food in Chinatown. They definitely had our vote! Our dumplings were DELICIOUS!! The menu was literally just dumplings, and they made them well. We were also amazed at the price: 5 dumplings for $1. Amazing.

We meandered around some more sampling various foods, window shopping, and taking in the sights and smells. I can tell you from first hand experience, the fish markets are VERY fresh. Like fish flopping around on the ground fresh. Yikes! We ended the day with half off bubble tea. A great way to spend the free Saturday!

On Sunday, I woke up, and did some Yoga. It was wonderful. Vanessa, Will and I left for the Brooklyn Museum around 1 in the afternoon. We wanted to catch part of a Martin Luther King Celebration hosted by WNYC, an NPR member station. It was great! They had three performers acting out excerpts from A. Peter Bailey's play, "Martin, Malcolm, and Medgar: A Reunion." The playwright explores what these slain civil rights activists would say about today's societal problems. They also had two moderators, and a four-person panel to discuss civil rights in today's society. I felt like I was in Convo again!

We spent the evening watching Argo, an Oscar-nominated best picture. It was good. I would highly recommend it. Thanks to my supervisors at CFY, and my aunt Connie, and I had enough money in gift cards to pay for me, and three friends. Yay! Tickets are $13.50. Not cheap.

The Nature of NGOs

Greetings readers.

I have come across a difficult spot in my term. Due to loss of funding, CFY has had to scale back on operations. Several people are being laid off effective February 1. This includes the department I support. As I understand it, my role as Volunteer Coordinator will be changing, as there will no longer be a need to support and coordinate volunteers.

While it is a very difficult time for me, I am excited about the changes. I will miss my team, and the connections I've made with the volunteers. However, the new role I anticipate for me will include much more direct contact with the families we serve, less administration duties, and more time on site at the schools.

I anticipate supporting, coordinating, and teaching courses for our families. While my job description isn't official yet, I did visit with the Executive Director regarding my new position. I will know more in the next few days. In the meantime, I am transitioning out the Volunteer support tasks.

Even though I am excited about these changes, and am looking forward to supporting the organization in a new way, I have mixed feelings. It is hard to see your supervisor, and her supervisor laid off. It is awkward knowing the only reason why you are still here is because they don't have to pay you. It's hard not really knowing who you are supposed to report to during the transition.

CFY staff have been wonderful. Many have reached out to me to make sure I am doing alright, and are eager to offer support for me as I go through this transition. The MVS support committee is also very helpful.  I met with a member last night to help with support. I also met with the pastor. I doing alright. I've seen better days, but it's ok.

Unfortunately, this is the nature of NGOs. You could be doing great work, but if you can't convince the grant providers, you don't get the funding, and you don't get to keep the staff. I anticipate as I continue on my career path, there will be many more lay-offs. The opportunity for me in this one is to learn how to lay people off gracefully, how to accept the lay-off gracefully, and how to pick up the pieces as an organization.

I think CFY is doing well with these three pieces. We knew back in October that they may need to lay people off. We found yesterday officially who was going to be laid off. We will miss the members of our community very much. There are several people I have close bonds with, and I am sad to see them go. Your thoughts and prayers for us as we transition are appreciated.

The New Year in New York

Hello! I apologize for not updating in awhile.

It was wonderful to see many of you over the holidays! I'm glad you are all doing well. I hope your second week of 2013 is off to a great start. I want to tell you about my first week of the new year.

I got back to the city on December 30; just in time for the New Year's Celebration. Katie, the other MVSer, and I had been talking about what we wanted to do for New Year's. We're in New York for goodness sake! We knew we didn't want to see the ball drop...we had heard you had to get to Time's Square at crazy early, like 3 pm, and just stand there. Most people wear adult diapers, because there are so many people, you can't get through to a bathroom! We were not interested.

We stayed home at the house, and played games with Leah, Marcel and Godswill. Who knew that inside Will was a Jenga Tiger waiting to be born??

At about 11:30, Katie and I decided we wanted to see some fireworks. We hightailed it to Union Square, the nearest subway, and got on the first southbound train. We were hoping to make it onto the Staten Island ferry at midnight to see the fireworks from the water.

We just barely made it onto the ferry; it was leaving right when we got there. We ran unto the deck, and saw the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and the fireworks. It was beautiful. The best part? There were maybe only 100 people instead of thousands!! The ferry is big too, Katie and I each had a piece of railing on the deck, so we had the perfect view. What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year!

My first week back to work was pretty low-key. Before I left on vacation, I had ensured we had enough volunteers for our Saturday workshop, so I just had to pack for the workshops. It was smooth sailing!

On Saturday morning, our first workshop of 2013, I overslept BIGTIME! I was supposed to be in Brooklyn, about a 45 minute train ride away, at 8:15, and I didn't wake up until 8:45. Oops! Luckily, there were plenty of support staff around that day, and they were able to cover my job until I got there. The plus side of sleeping in is that I was well rested for the day!

The day before the workshop, we were at the school setting up for Saturday. I happened to meet a Marine who was in charge of the Marine Cadet program at the school. He said they were wanting to volunteer, so they came over on Saturday to help out. That was weird.

The students aged from 10-18. We usually only allow 16 year olds to volunteer with us. 10 is way too young!! They were definitely Marines. They did a 5.5 mile hike before coming to volunteer. They called me Ma'am, and asked permission before getting a drink of water. I had never commanded troops before!! They were very helpful though. They even stayed to help clean up, which was wonderful!

After the workshop, Katie and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher. Her mother had given her tickets for her and me to see the show. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! I thought it would be a kid's show, but there was definitely adult humor thrown in. Check out this video for a taste of the show.

It is a prequel to Peter Pan, and it tells the story of how Peter came to be Peter Pan. It was really well done. Their stage was very small, and the props were sparse. They used each other as props, and was really interesting!

Sunday was pretty uneventful. Now I'm listening to music, making soup for lunches for the week, and drinking a warm cup of tea. Yay! If only the roof workers wouldn't leave the kitchen door open as they go in and out of the house. It is FREEZING outside!!!!