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.