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 :)

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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!!