Thanksgiving away...

Thursday was a pretty special thanksgiving. Despite being away from home, I was once again reminded of why we have this holiday. I mean, besides the whole food part.

Its so cliche, but we do tend to forget all the reasons why we should be thankful, all the blessings that are in our lives that seem so normal, so innate to life until they are taken away and we are painfully made aware of how much we rely on those things.

I started writing this post but then got a bit distracted, and I fear that if I don't do this now, it will be a while until I get around to it. I asked one of my housemates, Kierstin, how her day was, mid day on Thanksgiving. She had gone to work that morning, like all the other days she works, very early in the morning, around 5am. Miriam's Kitchen does not close, ever, as there are always people out there who are hungry and need a warm meal to get their day started:  hunger doesn't take holidays off. That morning she was frustrated. No, frustrated isn't a strong enough word. She was saddened and angry.

Why, on thanksgiving, are people without a place to go?

Why, on a day that is centered around family and friends, are people left with no where else to go but places like Miriam's Kitchen.

She thought this as she was looking across the room at the multitude of homeless who had come on Thanksgiving morning, who wouldn't be spending the day in a warm house. No one should be without a place to go, especially on a day like Thanksgiving. Then she told be about one of her client who came up to her, and listed off the things that he was thankful for.

"I'm just glad to be able to see another day, to be among the living, to be HERE."

Cue the waterworks. Proof that we all, no matter what, have something to be thankful for. Its all about perspective.

Race Day!

Who would have thought that getting to a 12K race would be the tough part?

Not I.

Back in September when I impulsively signed up for the Marine Corps 12K Crossroads race, the only thing on my mind was the training that I would have to do so that I didn't pass out by mile 3. For all of you die-hard Red, White, and Blue folks out there, 12 kilometers is approximately 7.5 miles. I've never been much of a runner, as in, I hated running my entire life. If I'm not chasing something or someone, running isn't worth it. I get bored easily. With running, all I could focus on was the pain/strain in each of my legs as each foot smacked pavement. My logic in obtaining from running was this: cost vs. benefit...the cost of feeling like crap with each stride multiplied by the number of strides taken in a 2-3 mile run (which is..... too damn many) is not worth the health and self-esteem benefits of running. Period.

However, when I decided to do crew in college, I was more or less forced to love 'long distance' exercise. While it felt like hell, the euphoria after it was all over almost made it all worth it. Almost. After quitting crew my junior year I turned to the weight room, and spent two years on my physique. Weightlifting appealed to me because once I got in the routine, I felt like I was missing something in my life if I couldn't make it to the gym for a day. Lifting is all about short periods of intense pain/strain. I could easily justify this because I knew that in 8 reps or less, (for the most part), the pain would be over, and the feeling of relief after seemed so close. For this, I didn't do much running in my later years in college, but on occasion would force myself to doing a late night run after a heavy meal.

Fast-forward to this year.

One of the values that the program instills in its members is simplicity. While if I really wanted to, I could dip out of my savings and put $20 a month to joining a DC parks & rec gym. When I sat down and thought about it, I realized that exercise can and should be free. Why pay money get on a boring treadmill so that you can chart exactly how long you run, how many calories you burn, and maybe...just maybe... look like a complete idiot when you screw up your dismount and get thrown onto the floor.....when you could run around and explore the place you live? Push ups are free, situps are free, heck, even Rock Creek Park has pull up bars and tons of other outdoor exercise equipment that don't require a membership fee.

This is how I started running, and why I wanted to have something to work towards... ie, a 7.5 mile race.

Back to how running the race was the easy part... So when I signed up for the race, I wasn't thinking about where the race was. I assumed that being in DC meant that public transit could take me ANYWHERE and ANYTIME.

Not so.

Quantico, Virginia is about 45 minutes away by car. While it is accessible by train, the service does not run on weekends. Also, while there is a shuttle service that goes from Reagan National Airport, it costs around $30 a person.

Weak sauce.

So I discovered this, only too late in the game. With no ideal means of transit at my disposal (IE a car), I found that the cheapest alternative was to rent a car, being that there were two other jesuit volunteers coming into town to go to the race as well.

Here's the break down:

Rental Car for 1 day (no options whatsoever ie insurance, blah blah blah...): $25
Cost of being 21-25 years old: $27/day
Taxes: $10
Gas: $13
Total cost: $75
Split between 3 people = $25 each.

Not to shabby...

Though to all you youngins out there, I didn't realize this but when you rent a car, don't be surprised when you give them your credit card and they say that the total will be $350.

I about shat a brick. But, that money is a deposit that you will get back when you return the car.

All in all the car rental went very smoothly and got us to the race so we didn't have to stress about using public transit. Oh ya, and I got an upgrade from a subcompact to a PT Cruiser, fo free... NBD.

The race, while I did say it was easy, really wasn't. I'd been doing a training schedule which has a mix of running, cross training, and strength training that starts out easy, then keeps upping the distance and intensity as you get closer to race time. This really helped, as I had never run a race before. However, I found that at mile 5-6, it felt like hours went by. I started to feel nauseated. My heart was pounding, my ankle hurt, and I about lost the will to keep running, but I couldn't stop. When you're in a race, you don't want people to judge you, to think you're weak, so you push yourself much harder than you ever could alone. This is why I about vomited when  I finished the race. With 250 meters to go, there was one guy ahead of me within sprinting distance, so to the frustration of my legs, I sprinted, passing him up and finishing the 7.5 mile race in 55 minutes.

Where to next?

Half Marathon in March.

Cherry Blossom Run (10 mile) in April, (A DC tradition).

Who would have thought that this guy would be running races by his own will? Not me for sure. But hey, I guess I'm a running junkie now.

The best / worst work week ever.

So this is how my morning went on Monday, and how that morning drastically changed my week.

      Over the weekend I had noticed a couple bumps on my arm, nothing big, I mean, they didn't itch, but I did think it was peculiar that they only appeared in one spot, and close together. Monday morning, I woke up, like any other Monday morning, absolutely stoked to start the week off good, a drastic change from the way things ended last week, (chaotic - it was the week of hell at SOME medical, if you want more details, you can ask). Two slices of bread, one side with peanut butter, the other with its pair, strawberry jelly, were pushed together, in beautiful harmony. I delicately wrapped what I anticipated would be a good hearty lunch for the day. On went my sweatshirt and helmet. Out the door I went, ready to make calls, see patients, and do what I do. I parked my bike in the back lot, locked it up, and put my elevator key in the key hole and turned it while pressing the call button. I walked into the clinic, set my things down, and then did what I thought I should. I asked Dr. Wright if I should be concerned about these bumps on my arm. He looked at them, then told me that I needed to head home for the week, and begin treatment for scabies as a preventative measure. You see, the Friday prior I had unintentionally screened a patient who ended up having scabies, meaning I was exposed to the parasite, and the bumps did appear to be from a parasite, as they were close together and localized. In my head, I screamed profanities. I kept my mouth shut though, as I was shown how to apply the neurotoxin cream that would kill whatever bugs were on me, was asked if I had a history of seizures, as that could be a side-effect of the medication. ARRRRGGHGHHH. Words could not describe how frustrated I was. I left work, dejected, and pissed. How was this happening to ME? Now I had to go home, and incinerate everything I owned. Well, not entirely, I had to put all my laundry and clothes, plus linens (and intimates), in a hot wash. My room had to be thoroughly vacuumed, everything sprayed down in critter-killing pesticide, I had to take a hot shower, then rub this white cream all over my body, avoiding the family jewels. This process took pretty much the entire day. Along with spraying my own room, I sprayed down the rest of the house. Made an errand to Target, to purchase two items.

1: Bed Condoms, AKA Mattress Covers
2: The baddest most deadly bed critter pesticide known to man, well, at least that was what I hoped it was.

That day of cleaning allowed me to let my anger fester. Anger at the job for putting me in a situation where I could have gotten scabies. Anger at my situation, that I couldn't work this week (which seemed to take some meaning away from the week, at least it seemed like it would initially). Anger at the divine. Not exactly, though, but I was most assuredly angry at a lot of things.

After everything was done, I sat down in my chair, and stared at the wall for a bit. Slowly but surely, the anger subsided, my housemates returned home to me, and we had a good reflection. I realized that my anger wasn't going to accomplish anything, moreover, it was keeping me from getting any actual work done. Sometimes, S****** just happens, [scabies]. My job isn't to blame, nor are the people that I work with. The real test is how I respond to the situation, and I made a conscious decision at that moment to not let this situation ruin the rest of my week.

Tuesday: I made the trek to Theodore Roosevelt Island, and I would say that it embodies the word, Island: being isolated. Walking though the trails, you almost forget that a bustling city is minutes away. I was also struck by the stark difference in fall color between the west coast (my home), and where I am now on the eastern side. The colors here CHANGE. I was engulfed by shades of grey, yellow, red, orange, brown, and every color in-between. Leaves completely masked the ground. Walking takes on a new feeling as you hear and feel a *crunch* with every step. The air was crisp, the day was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky, and that unfortunately deceived me into believing that I was once again in California, where, if it is sunny, shorts are appropriate. Not so, I was not in California but in a Washington, DC autumn. My legs, uncovered, felt the sting of a cold wind, which sent shivers up and down. Still, I was happy. There's something special about seeing such a drastic change (relatively) in the look and feel of a city. Now i get it, the east coast has SEASONS. Case in point: when I arrived here, I was miserable. The humidity stuck to every part of me. It was sunny and hot every day, though, now and again there was a thunderstorm and torrential rain. Green and yellow were the primary colors of the landscape. Now, that feeling and look are gone. It is an undeniable fact that fall is here.

Wednesday: I awoke early, ready for a day on the road. I packed a hearty lunch of two PB&Js, granola bars, protein shake, and PB crackers. I donned a thermal with a running t-shirt plus shorts, ready to sweat a little. The day before I had been inspired by a Mount Vernon Trail information sheet I had found on Theodore Roosevelt Island. The Mount Vernon Trail extends from Teddy's Island (Theodore Roosevelt) down to Mount Vernon, a total of around 17-18 miles. I felt inspired the day before to check out the house of our former president George Washington. I mean, he's kind of a big deal. At 8:20am I hit the road, biking first downtown, then began the search for the trail. As I crossed the Arlington Cemetery Bridge, I had no idea where to find the trail. I looked around and saw nothing. I almost made it to the cemetery before turning around and looking closer to the Potomac. Low-and-behold there it was, and after crossing roads where cars were going around 60mph, I was on my way to Mount Vernon. The ride was spectacular, but soon enough my butt began to hurt and I would alternate 'spin' style biking with normal seated biking to alleviate the pain. I only made one stop on the way down, to enjoy the view a little bit at the Reagan National Airport. The planes would take off directly overhead, accompanied with a thundering boom. I've always loved planes, except (according to my parents) when I was born. I spent my first days around an Air Force Base and would cry when the planes would go overhead. I think I've outgrown that phobia. I digress, I continued on the trail until I hit Mount Vernon. The price of admission is $15, and is totally worth it. There is an extensive museum and education center which are beautifully constructed. There are exhibits which outline our first Commander and Chief's life, along with the events that coincided with his life. However, the most breathtaking part of the experience is Mount Vernon, itself. The house looks just as it did when it was finally completed. I did not realize that the house was added onto many times, before reaching its final look. I'll post a few pictures, but they do not do it justice. You just need to visit.

Thursday: That's today. I woke up a bit later, as I didn't have any particular plans. I had thought I would go to a few museums but I wasn't as motivated to get started early. I do recall having some bizarre dreams, which I kept waking up from, then turning over in bed just so I could continue the saga. So I got up, made some breakfast, read the paper, then decided that I would go visit the National Archives. It was pretty interesting, and I felt inspired to check up on my genealogy, maybe when I get some time I'll make an effort to find out more about my family history on my own. After that I stopped at the National Gallery, and went through their exhibitions, which were absolutely breathtaking. I loved the Monet exhibition, its crazy how it seems up close that the brush strokes look like the work of an amateur, and it is only when you step back you get the whole picture and see it for what it really is, a work of art. I also was able to see the only work of Leonardo da Vinci that exists in the United States. Anyhoo, its been a long day, my friend's Dad is here, so I should get back to entertaining.

oh, where has the time gone?!

So its the darndest thing, you keep telling yourself, oh, well I'll get to it tomorrow, and then tomorrow comes, and you do the same thing again. Well, that's exactly what happened with my blog. I let myself come up with excuses, some valid, some not so valid, and I would sleep, eat, write (essays), run, or do a lot of other things rather than blog. However, now that I've really forced myself to do this, I remember why I do it in the first place. It keeps me grounded, it keeps me sane, and helps me to go back on the days experiences, and as I see that it hasn't been since mid-october since I've done this, i realize just how fast the time is flying by me. Today at work, and this week at work, have been difficult. I've been pushed in ways that I didn't expect. I've recently dealt with my first emergency situation: one of our patients (a new one) began seizing and vomiting in the lobby. Before I knew what was going on, I was assisting our MD with putting on a non-rebreather mask to get some O2 flowing, reading his O2 saturation, and moving the patient to a position of comfort. It reminded me a lot of my time as an EMT in college and while it frightened me a bit, I also somehow felt calm through the whole experience. The patient was able to get transported to the hospital, with what appeared to be severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms (vomiting, shaking, SOB). Other than that, this week i've seen a man's foot reduced to bone, covered in yellow, green, and red stained curlex padding. This patient had been to a local hospital, was treated for a severe infection of his foot, and had a sizable chunk of his foot removed including the heel and upper area. Skin grafts were applied and held in place with stitches. The surgery was so extensive that the surgeon did three separate surgeries to take care of the extensive damage that had occurred to his foot. However, something caused the hospital to rescind on their goodwill and discharge the patient, telling him to find a clinic to take care of his foot. When he came to our clinic, he had been turned away from over 3 other clinics as he did not have insurance. He came to us with the same gauze on his foot that the hospital had left. It was my job to remove that gauze, and that itself was a process as (don't read on if you're squeemish) the skin had oozed pus and discharge that had dried and caked onto the gauze, forming an area which made it hard to distinguish what was flesh and what was not. We had no saline at the clinic so we tried to loosen the bandages with distilled water, maintaining a sterile environment. As we peeled layer after layer off, we encountered the funky colors, and finally revealed a disfigured foot, with stitches still visible and the graft still appearing like flesh. This was not a case that clinics deal with, it should have been a job for a wound-care center. The pt had not been given any follow up appointments with that hospital to have the stitches removed. We all at the clinic could not believe how a hospital could do such a half-assed job. To leave a man who had already been through so much, like this, hardly able to walk and without insurance. They easily could have enrolled him in the city plan, could have assisted him in getting insurance for himself that would have allowed him to heal, and maybe have a chance at walking again. Instead, his future looks bleak. He was sent back to that same hospital, where he will rack up again more debt, more costs, and deplete more dollars out of the health care system. A system that is so broken, so ridiculous in its costs, that I feel, at the root, is caused by a feeling of entitlement that doctors feel to money, and that everyone in the healthcare field feels entitled to. It is not cheap to go through medical school, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. That money must be payed off. Well, at this point I feel like I am rambling and that it is getting late, again, my apologies for the long period of silence, I hope that it does not continue. Keep in touch

What a weekend!

This weekend, while not so productive in a work sense, was by far one of the best I've had in DC. It all started off with a 90's Party that our house decided to host, on Friday. While the weather outside was frightful, the party was quite so delightful with the smattering of guests. Not as many people as we thought were able to come, but it made the party a bit more intimate and fun in its own way. I had worked tirelesssly on a playlist that accuratelyrepresented the decade of my youth, with songs like Cher's 'Believe,' Vanila's 'Ice Ice Baby,' and numerous Ace of Base songs. I'd say that between the beer pong, the wine, the dancing, everyone who made it out had a great time. What a night, and at the time I thought that we couldn't do better than that. I was wrong.

The next day we were to go to a fundraising ball for one of the DC Non-Profits, a jesuit volunteer in the other house invited us all to go, and all we had to do was clean up a little! When I realized it was a formal event, my heart sunk. I did not bring my suit along with me to DC, and if I did go, I'd most certainly be the only one there in a dress shirt, unnnaccceepppttable. Luckily one of my house mates had an idea, asking a friend. So I texted one of my friends in the area, a prominent businessman, asking what his height was. 5'10'', my height! So i asked if he'd be ok with me borrowing one of his suits for dinner and he said yes! Saturday morning I headed over to pick it up and lo and behold, i was bestowed with the most amazing suit I've ever worn. Ready to take on high class society I got ready for the ball along with my housemates. It was the first time since we'd started the program that we had dressed up, for real. I'm not gonnna lie, we looked hot. I think at some point in the evening it was mentioned that one of the reasons we were invited was to make the crowd a bit younger and hotter, so I think we accomplised both goals. We arrived in a rainstorm, it was raining fairly hard and there was no parking near the Oranization of the American States (where the ball was being held). We dropped off two people near the building and went on a wild goose chase for parking. After around 10 minutes, we realized a 5 minute walk was not in the cards. We resigned to a parking spot 8 min away, and made our way towards 17th and Constitution. As we walked up the marble steps, I knew that things were about to get classy.
Everyone there was either in a suit or a tux, actually, 76 times out of 80 i'd say it was tux over suit, but hey, I still felt like I blended. Dinner was amazing, served buffet style, with amazing meats, veggies, breads, etc. I could go on and on but in short, the evevning was amazing, we stayed up until 1pm dancing to the live music and enjoying the beauty of an open bar (I however obstained as I was the DD).
To top the weekend off I had another soccer game out in Maryland and we won! 2-1, in the muddiest conditions I've seen since my high school days. It was great! Well, im glad to have filled ya in on the weekend as I type this from work. Today at work has been interesting as they just put in tile flooring in our office, but they didn't really finish everything so we weren't able to see patients today...I think they're now planning how to figure out this week but we'll see how things go! Until Next Time...

a breath of fresh air.

Today's been a slow day at work so I'm taking a little time to get back into the grove of bloggin, writin, reflectin, and giving my little fingers a bit of a workout while i lounge in my nice comfy chair. I can't believe that it is already friday, these past 2 weeks have just flown by. It seems like only yesterday that a few friends of mine were planning to come down to DC for a weekend, and now they're here! I'm constantly reminded of the time passing by at work as I fill out forms with the date, each time I wright out 10/9/09, I scratch my head and wonder where the time went. I think that now I'm starting to pay attention to the time passing by much more than I did before. When I was younger I longed for the clock to speed up while in class, each school year felt like an eternity.
Work has been going well, I had my best / most intense work day this week after meeting with a guy who graduated from GW med school. His take on medicine, and his good responses to my question got me suuuuper excited about applying, also extremely nervous about it as well....

I don't even know where to start, so when that happens I suppose I should talk about the recent stuff. Yesterday Nick arrived to DC, late, and we went out to go watch the Mizzou game at a local sports bar. As a result, this morning was the closest I've been to sleeping through my alarm. I woke up feeling like it was still 5am and i had a ton of time, when in reality I had 15 minutes to get my ass out of bed and out the door. I've been trying this week to live healthier as well, I've been weighing myself every day, and eating only when I need to. I used to be excessive in my appetite, I ate probably 6 times a day, probably over 3500 calories. I don't know how my body did it, but I managed to stay at around 180 lbs for 5 years. Now I know that the metabolism can't stay like this forever so I'm trying to make healthy eating decisions. My biggest struggles are not in the morning, or afternoon where I've already planned out my lunch and am confined to what is in my lunchbag, but the evening where the floodgates are opened, where I can eat and eat, getting seconds and sometimes thirds. It is at these times that I can't seem to feel satisfied when I eat and eat almost compulsively. So this week, I've resolved to be mindful of my eating habits, to not eat snacks late at night, and to try and keep my body healthy.

This weekend should be a lot of fun, while I know there is stuff to do, I'll find some time to get it done on Sunday, and leave the rest of the weekend for haning out with Kristina's family who are in town (for a delicious dinner) and with friends! Until next time.

My post for future JV's

A fellow EMT recently emailed me with a list of questions she had about the program so I thought I'd list the responses here for anyone else who might be wondering the same things...

Hey, I'm excited to hear about how excited you are about doing a year service! Let me attempt at addressing your JVC concerns, many of which I also had before I was actually doing the program, and I admire your foresight into what problems and/or issues you'd see arising during the year.

As far as the money issue goes: whether or not you stick to the stipend is your decision. JVC is not going to be checking your bank records to make sure you arn't spending saved money on travel, or extra things you might need. You're right, housing, food, utilities, and insurance are taken care of. It is up to the community to stick to the food budget, and one of the most interesting things that I've learned here, is that you can survive on $75 a month for food for one person, and actually do more than that, some of the meals I've had here blew me away with what you can do with a little. Your personal stipend is $85, it might increase more in the coming years but thats basically the amount you're going to get for a month. In all actuality, you are able to do stuff with that money and still go out and have fun. Transportation money is also given to you on top of that personal stipend, so you shouldn't be spending any of your personal money on transportation (which helps). The thing to remember is that this year is about simple living, you arn't going to be super comfortable or super uncomfortable. You will learn how to live within a budget, and learn a bit of what your clients deal with, except you are secure in your housing, and know you will be fed. Loans you have can be put on hold, as you will be not making enough money to pay them off. JVC will tell you how to take care of this.

Living situation: I am living with 5 roommates, and have my own pseudo room, if you read my blog that will fill you in on a number of questions you might have already. My neighborhood is safe, at least I feel relatively safe, however being in a city in an area that does have crime you have to be cautious, the former Jesuit Volunteers in the area gave us a list of dos and donts for the city when we arrived. There is one other JV in my house who works at SOME, but in reality, she could verywell be working for a different non-profit as she works in a different section of SOME. JVs in a house will be working at a variety of different placements.

Work does allow time off, and if you have a good relationship with your supervisor and are a hard worker, which I'm sure you are, you should have no problems taking time off to interview for medschool, which is what i'm doing right now. Many JVs have gone on to do med school the year after so know that it has been done! You can also go back home for vacation now and then, I'm doing the Americorps grant, which takes care of 5 grand of loans, so I'm required to get 1800 hours in, so though it seems like a lot of hours, I did the math and i can take vacation for a few weeks. It depends on your placement.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend JVC, its a great program, and if you apply enough and are diligent and persistent for what kind of placement you want (I was), you'll get it. I can't emphasize enough, APPLY EARLY. That's when the placements are fairly open and you can see ones which you can preference. You dont get to chose, but with your EMT experience, medical placements will WANT YOU. I'm enjoying myself, and learning a lot from the people i'm living with, those i'm working with, as well as my patients. Any other questions don't hesitate to email me, best of luck!

Jordan

Its been a long week

Hey readers, I don't want to keep you waiting but I've been quite busy these past days working on getting up to speed on applications for graduate school so my journaling will have to be postponed until I finish, thanks for understanding!

Journal #18: The Big Apple

Journal #18
As I have now pretty much decided that my journaling / blogging will take place on a
weekly basis, I write from a BoltBus departing from New York City, after spending a weekend with friends. This was my first time in the Big Apple, and the city did not disappoint any of my expectations. New York is truly a city which never sleeps, as I learned last night waiting to get on the Subway at 2:30 in the morning.

We arrived on Friday.

My friend Kristina and I had decided only a few days before that we were going to get away for a weekend and celebrate one of our other JV friends’ birthday. Delphine had told us a few weekends before at the Baltimore party that she wanted us to come up to NYC to visit and celebrate her BDay. Of our house, it was just the two of us that dropped the cash down for a bus trip to NYC. I was looking forward this year to making the trek out to NYC, but it didn’t really occur to me until I was smack dab in downtown Manhattan that one of my life goals was now a reality. Soon enough, after the 4 hours of sitting, I was being dwarfed by towering skyscrapers and lost in the hustle and bustle of the city. Luckily Kristina had brought her iPhone with her and she immediately took charge, leading us to the nearby subway entrance.

We descended into the bowels of the city.

I re-read that metaphor and despite its absurdity, I think it gives a good representation of what the New York underground is like, if you have never been. It is hot, sticky, dirty, but oh so necessary. I can’t imagine what the city would be like if there wasn’t a subway system to get people where they needed to go. The sheer volumes of bodies being transported on this system are staggering, as congested as the roads are right now in NYC, there would be 24 hour gridlock without a public transit system. Each year there are 1.5 billion riders of the subway system, that number alone speaks a lot for just how extensive and complex the system is. It’s also expensive. I think I spent around $24 this weekend just on subway fares, no matter where you go, its $2.25.

We were bombarded by light.

After settling in, seeing Delphine’s workplace, eating some pizza, we made our way out of Brooklyn to the island, down-town Manhattan to go to the place that was #1 on my list of places to go. Times Square. One word is all that is necessary to describe this display filled, mob packed, consumer driven center of NY. Overwhelming. I think that after 5 minutes trying to take in all that was going on around me, my senses were overloaded and I need to just close my eyes. We continued walking around and after what seemed like days, we escaped the illuminated signage only to find shopping heaven on 5th Ave. I think we spent about an hour in H&M, trying stuff on, I did make only one purchase, a scarf which I am sure will come in handy during chilly DC nights. As we made our way through downtown we found the Rockefeller Center, a building doused in light. Spotlights from buildings all around made the building stand out against a dark night sky, accentuating its towering magnificence. We were disappointed to find that a trip to the observation deck was a staggering $15, so we instead marveled at the beauty from ground level. Our next stop was Grand Central Station. As I’ve said before, Kristina has done me the disservice of feeding my TV addiction. After being introduced to the show, Gossip Girl, I have not stopped watching. What’s more, I had an obsession with trying to find all the places in New York where the show has been filmed. In the pilot, one of the main characters, Serena, finds herself back in a town she has left. For what reason, we do not know, but there she is: spotted in Grand Central Station, looking lost and unsure of what is to come after trying to escape a part of her life. As I stood in the same place, looking out at Grand Central Station in the same spot as Serena had stood years before, I thought too, what is this trip, this year going to hold for me. I also took that time to stand still in a place that is always moving. Standing still allows us to reflect, to see the beauty that exists around us. I’m reminded of the cliché, stop and smell the roses. I think that of late, I haven’t been doing enough smelling. I’ve been looking, I’ve been running, I’ve been doing things to say that I’ve done them.

We took a train to nowhere.

On the way back, we missed our stop. As we waited for the next one so we could turn around, it came…..we weren’t slowing down, and then it went. We had gotten on the express train and interestingly enough, Delphine had wanted to visit Coney (sp?) island, and that happened to be the last stop on the train, so heck, we just stayed on in hopes of seeing this place she had told us is “ammmmazing” at night. Well…after 40 minutes on the train we got there, and already we were a little suspicious. There was NO ONE in the streets. It was deserted, the Ferris Wheel was un-lit, the fair was over. We just laughed, and laughed. An hour later we were home, and in bed.

I made buttermilk pancakes.

The next morning, I woke up. We were to meet up with our other JV friend Nick at Central Park to walk/run. After being fortunately delayed talking to the others in the house, sharing doughnuts out on the roof as the sun began to warm, once again, the brick walls. We made it to the park, only 20 minutes late, and began a beautiful day of exploration. I’m going to wrap up this journal, only for the reason that I’m getting sleepy on this bus, and I’ve been tempted this entire time by the knowledge that at my fingertips, is another episode of Gossip Girl. To simplify the rest of this journal I’m going to outline the rest of our day.

1. Central Park
a. Walk
i. Chat with Kristina
ii. Take pictures
iii. Observe the beauty
2. Staten Island ferry
a. Free
b. Busy
c. Great view
d. Seagull almost crapped on my head
e. Arrival
i. Immediate departure.
1. There’s apparently nothing on Staten Island.
f. Pictures
g. Laughing
h. Convo.
3. NEED FOOD
a. Figure out how the heck we’re going to get to China Town
b. Subway
c. Find Chinese Food
i. Cheap
ii. 4.50 for 5 entrees
iii. Not the best quality but it will do.
iv. Candid conversation
v. Enjoy company
vi. Leave for Little Italy
4. Little Italy
a. WTF
i. Utter chaos in the streets
1. Oh ya, there is some festival
ii. Work our way through the crowd
iii. Find Italian Bakery
iv. Eat Gelato
1. Good
5. Find Metro – Return to house – Part ways with nick
a. Long convo with Alison, I miss her.
b. Get ready for the debauchery
6. PARTY.
a. Say no more.
7. Sleep.

Its about time: Journal # 17

Journal # 17

Well, it’s the beginning of a new week. A lot has happened since last weekend and my trip to Alexandria. I think my format for this journal is going to be like how I was taught to triage patients in a mass casualty incident, I’ll start where I stand.

This evening was one of the best that I’ve had in the time that I’ve been here. I had started to feel a little disconnected from the rest of the house in a few ways, and tonight we got together to reaffirm why we are here, for ourselves but more so, for each other. We’ve been so gifted to have an amazing Former JV community in the area who have come over for dinners and to help out plan our community nights. Right now, I am just coming off a gossip girl high, combined with a feeling that I feel has been steadily dying down since I’ve started the program, excitement with a sense of purpose. Tonight, we made Tibetan prayer flags, of our own creation. We took sheets of cloth and were told to in half of the square, to represent what we hope our community to be this year, and in the other half, what we hope for ourselves. I’ll say that first, I was impressed with the artistic (and in some cases modern artistic) abilities of our house members. Most importantly, there was a lot of thought behind the art. There was a reason for everything we painted, marked, scribbled, and wrote on our flags. I drew a watercolor representation of a table, with 6 chairs sitting around it, each with a different colored person sitting in it, representing the diverse backgrounds which we all bring, whats more, it represented my hope that we as people would always have that space to come together at face value. That we would come together, bringing our joys, our sorrows, our hard times, our tears, our successes, our laughter. The table itself was drawn to be multi-colored, the colors seeming to mingle together in what I hope is what will continue to happen at our house.

I also drew a friendship bracelet, demonstrating that when we step back and think about it, each one of our lives is like a string. Whether you believe it be by divine intervention, fate, or what have you, our strings are braided together, as we are now sharing some of the same experiences. Its crazy to think about how a year ago, I would have never dreamed I would be doing exactly what I am doing right now. Lying on my bed, in a foreign but not-so-foreign city, writing about how I’m being impacted by the people I’m living with. All our flags have been hung up in the ‘family room’ area, and will remain there, I’m sure, for the rest of the year, maybe longer. Kristina put it well when she said this year we are making this house into a home for future JVs, that this year we are the first of what I hope to be many JVs sharing company in the house we are living in.

In other less ‘deep’ news, I had a great weekend attending a DC United vs. Seattle Sounders soccer game, for free! The soccer league that I’m in sent out an email about some tickets being donated, so I immediately emailed back to see if one was still available and it was! It was a bit of a trip, I met some new people there as well, who had also gotten tickets from the same person, who I later learned was also from Seattle, so we already had that connection going on. After the game we went to this cupcake store, Red Velvet I think, (PS, cup cake stores are super trendy right now, I don’t really get it, how can one business survive on one product???, ungh, I don’t get it!) and despite my feelings about these types of establishments, did have a pretty darn good cupcake. After that we toured the monuments and memorials at night, until my feet were begging forgiveness for whatever they had done to deserve such merciless treatment. The next day I had a soccer game, and I’m soooo sore now, and I think I have shin splints, for the record, the first shin splints I’ve EVER HAD. They SUCK! So now I’ve been iceing them and hoping for a speedy recovery. I’m also planning to run a 12k, so I need to rest up for that, its coming up in November. The shin splints are probably a result of me running a lot, I think I ran over 15 miles last week, maybe I’ll get some more in this week. Anyhoo, its 12am and I need to get up tomorrow! Until next time!