HoundHaven week 7 & 8

~~ Well these past two weeks have definitely been fun. The first week in August I only worked 3 days because I had to go to a wedding in Jacksonville on Wednesday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. The wedding was fun but I would of been happier to spend the whole week with the dogs. I am very happy though because in the past two weeks we had a lot of dogs get adopted. Some of my favorite dogs have gone home which has made me very happy. It is nice to see that even with the economy as it is now there are still some people that will adopt a dog that really needs a home. I wish that the rest of the dogs would get adopted as well. We were able to get 3 new dogs this week as well. They are absolutely adorable too. I wish that I could have more time with them and get to know them and love them. I know that I am definitely going to come back to HoundHaven as much as possible during the holidays. I really felt like family to not only the dogs but the other volunteers as well. On Thursday one of the volunteers made a Thank You/ Farewell gift. It was a picture frame with some of the dog paw prints on it and the names of all the dogs that have been there since I got there. In the middle of the picture of the frame it says "Thank you Rachael for all of your help!!!". That made me feel so loved and I knew that I just had to come back some time and work with these wonderful people again. I will definitely miss them but I know I will see them again soon.

DR Entry 5

Day 11

The kids from the barrios were by the guest house gates today. I stopped on my way to the clinic today and hung out with them. It was really sad. I saw one older girl that I didn't recognize. She kept asking me something in Spanish, but I couldn't understand her. Finally, she handed me a small piece of paper that said:

"Give me candy.

Give me shoes.

I will work for you."

Of course I said no. I explained I didn't have any candy (dulce) and I needed my shoes (zapatos) to work in the clinic to help people. She couldn't have been more than 9 or 10 years old. It broke my heart.

Windy Gap

So this past week I went to camp again, but this time I went as a leader. I stayed in the cabin with my girls from DeLand. It was physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining, and it was awesome!

Day 1: We arrived at Windy Gap at 3:30pm on Sunday. We got settled into our cabin and had free time till club. After club we had the obstacle course. Now, just so you know, everything at camp is a surprise. We even tell the second timers to not ruin the surprise for the new campers. Basically, they had no idea what they were getting into the first night. By the end of the obstacle course all of us were completely covered in mud and had to throw away the clothes and shoes we were wearing. They loved it because it pushed them like never before. This first event is really supposed to get the cabin to bond because even though these girls all go to DeLand High, they don't all hang out together. Here is our cabin before the course:

Day 2: The big event during the day on this day is the all camp volley ball tournament. The campers are told to go back to the cabin with their leaders to put together a team uniform. I made sure to make t-shirts before I left for camp so we were good there. I decided to go along with the boys theme, which was Team Edward. So, we were Team Jacob. The guys costumes were pretty funny. Their leaders covered them in glitter spray and gave them gel for their hair.We also had a rodeo that night after free time and before dinner. We walked down past the horse stables to a dirt clearing. Before we left we were told what team color to wear (we were on the green team). We then proceeded to sign kids up for games like barrel racing, bat spin relay, shovel pull, and circle tug o war. (the rope was a circle so all teams played to pull it to their corner):

Day 3: The event for this day was the pool Olympics. We were still competing in our same teams. Some of the games were lilly pad racing, synchronized swimming, and pretty much anything silly involving water. Here is a picture of one of my girls jumping from the diving board to grab a rubber chicken at the end of a pole:
That night we had entertainment night, in which the leaders get to go up on stage at club and perform funny skits and pretty much just make their campers laugh. I was in a skit where I acted like a bratty little kid. Pretty easy ;-)
Day 4: The event of the day today was cabin clean-up and cabin challenge. The cabin challenge was just running around with your cabin and trying to get as many points as you could by performing different tasks like bobbing for apples, or pulling a tractor, or creating a human pyramid. That night was what we call the night that never ends (if you read any of my earlier blogs you know that for summer staff its because of the clean-up). For leaders its just a none stop night of fun. We started the night off by getting the cabin dressed up in western gear, cowboy hats and all. Then we eat a very southern dinner (fried chicken, ochre, pickles; creamed corn, corn bread, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, and for desert: apple crisp). After dinner we watch the "opera". This is the climax of the skit character and story line we have been seeing all week at club and at each meal. After that we have the county fair, or the carnival. As a leader I have the privilege of getting dunked in a dunk tank, pied in the face, and getting flour thrown all over me. It's all in good fun and I did it with a smile on my face, because that is how much I love my girls. After that we have an all camp square dance and dance through the ages party. :
Day 5: The big event for the day is the all camp hike. The hike itself is not too bad. It's getting your cabin to want to do the hike that's hard. There is lots of grumbling, but once they see the view at the top they are all glad they have done it. At night we had club and 20 minutes of quiet time, where the kids could sit out under the stars and just think and pray by themselves.

Day 6: At this point the days start to slow down and we just have free time in the afternoon and club at night. Dinner was special this day because we all dressed up. The food was amazing (I mean it always is) but, on this night we had steak. Here are the leaders:
Day 7: This is always a sad day, because it is the day that we leave camp. Today was basically just filled with free time. It was nice and relaxing hanging out with the girls and doing some of the things around camp that some of them might not have had a chance to do.

This week was so awesome. I got to know these girls on a level that sometimes not even their closest friends know. This upcoming semester I plan on keeping these relationships close and hanging out with them more and more. They know that they can come to me with anything. First and foremost I'm their leader, but I know that I have made some lasting friendships this past week. I am so excited for the school year and can't wait to get started.

Sharptop Cove, Week 4: My Future?

Hey guys, so I didn't get a chance to talk about my fourth week at SharpTop yet because I had to go to Windy Gap, which is yet another Young Life camp. Week four was so sad. Everything we did was the last. The last tableaux, the last carnival, the last sopapillas, the last day on the Tower with my team. These past four weeks have really made me think about my future. Right now I am a Studio Art Major, which doesn't really give me much right out of undergrad. I talked to two girls while I was on summer staff who are going to Savannah College of Art and Design. They say that the graduate program is really good there and I could start off by taking random art classes just to test each program. This would really help me because I honestly don't see me doing fine art for the rest of my life. It takes a lot of ambition and you really have to want it to make it anywhere in the art world. So, if I went to graduate school for something like interior design, architecture, or maybe fibers, I would have a little bit more direction for a career. These past four weeks have also made me think about my service site and if I would be interested in pursuing that as a career. In Young Life there are two options, either Field Staff or Property Staff. Field Staff is where you work around the country or maybe even a different country and you work directly with the kids. You get them to come to club each week and build relationships with them. It is kind of what I am doing now, it would just me higher up, so I might be in charge of a whole area of kids. Property Staff is working at one of the many camps around the world. Personally, I could see myself working on property because it would just fit me better. I'm just okay at relating with high schoolers. I feel that working behind the scenes on property staff would be best for me. That is why I'm thinking of interning next summer or the summer after at a Young Life camp. Who knows, I might even intern for an entire year. Anyways, as you can see I've had a lot to think about. This upcoming year I might do Student Staff, just to get more involved with the Field Staff part of Young Life to see what it is about. It's really scary to think that I have only one year left of school. I'm really excited =)

An awesome summer at Girls Inc!

So on my way to campus I was thinking about everything I have done this summer with my girls. On my last day I felt so weird because it didn't feel like I had been working there for 7 weeks. However, when I think back over all of the activities we have done and how well I have gotten to know the girls then it really does start to feel like 7 weeks. I really wish I could be there with them during the school year to see how they are doing and know how things are going in school. They have made this summer so amazing (as well as exhausting) for me. Many of them expressed to me some concerns and problems that they have in school. I tried to give the best advice I could at the time but during the summer I don't think much of it is going to stick. I wish I could be there for them after school every day to help them with homework and to keep encouraging them. I know they will be fine though because of the excellent staff of women working there. This summer was by far one of the most rewarding for me. I could literally see these girls growing and maturing in just the months that I spent with them. I have had a similar experience working with CAUSE at the Boys and Girls Club but it is truly different when you spend all day every day with these girls rather than just twice a week for 2 hours at a time. My time at Girls Inc was something different. It was an awesome summer with some of the most crazy and amazing girls I know. This summer of service rocked! I don't really think I could put it any other way than that :)

Last days at Girls Inc

So the last couple of days at Girls Inc were awesome! We celebrated the end of summer by having a water day. The girls brought their bathing suits and we set up sprinklers, slip n' slides, water balloon fights, and sprinkler twister (which was better in theory than actual execution) haha. The girls all had a blast! We also had what the girls considered their favorite day, chocolate day!!! It was awesome. The girls made a bunch of recipes using different kinds of chocolate. They made worms n' dirt, chocolate mousse, double chocolate chip cookies, homemade chocolate ice cream, and a few other things. It was crazy! We wrapped up the day by watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Overall it was a great ending to the summer. I am really going to miss all of my girls. Most of them are actually looking forward to going back to school, which I find really weird.

Wondering

Today I'm a little angry. Here's why:
http://northsoutheastcoast.blogspot.com/

SOS Week 9

So I went from a fabulus week to a really trying week. I was sent to the DeLand Police Department this week and let me tell you...they were not very intested in having a volunteer inturn. I learned a lot about how to keep a smile on my face even when there was NOTHING to smile about. And I also learned the value in making sure the people/orgs we are working with want our help.

SOS Week 8

Hi!
This week was one of the funnest weeks I have had this summer! I spend this week with Mainstreet DeLand and if anyone is looking for a service site that has to do with community and econ development and even planning please please come see me! Mainstreet was a great place to work :)
I was able to sit in on many planning meetings and I was also able to work in the marketing and PR area of the organization.

SOS Week 7

Hello!
So again I apologize for my tardiness (I am so bad at remebering to blog).
For my 7th week of SOS I had to opportunity to work in the Public Services Department. On the whole this department incumpasses city water, waste water, storm water and landscaping; however, they are very much wanting to move into public service that goes over and beyond these nessecities. Such as community deveolpment and betterment through outreach!
During my week here I worked very closely with the City Forester and the City Nursery staff. (If anyone is wanting to start a community garden please let me know because I have contact information for you!) I also got the chance to do a little grant writing and then lots and lots of organizing and filing, its not the most exciting work but it needs to be done :)

D.R. Entry 4

Day 10

The American surgical team arrived yesterday. We started seeing patients for consults today. There were hundreds of people here. It was a mad house! I helped out in the prosthetics department (giving people artificial limbs). It was so amazing to see people walk for the first time in years since they had been in accidents. It's a VERY long process to fit a prosthetic, but the people were patient and appreciative.

It's going to be a very different week this week--- I can tell already. I guess the only diplomatic way to describe this group is to say they definitely do not approach service in a community like Bonners do. =( It's been a long day.

The D.R. Entry 3

Day 8

It's the weekend so I get to spend some time in the community (outside of the clinic) today. We went to the "barrios", which is a small, poor village right down the road from the guest house. I was so looking forward to just hanging out with the kids. Putting aside medicine. Just playing with the kids like I would at the Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA. But life hands us crazy surprises! ...

It started out great! A few of us walked toward the village and small children ran to meet us yelling, "Americanos, Americanos aqui!!" It was so cute! We walked hand-in-hand with them down to a little creek nearby. Some of the kids played in the creek, while others skipped rocks. I immediately realized this combo was a very bad idea, but I didn't know how to say "throw the rocks further down the stream" in espanol. =( A few minutes later a little girl got hit in the head with a rock that a little boy threw. Her head bled a lot but I knew she would be okay because I had seen head wounds like it before. Long story short, I fixed her up and every time I saw her after I asked her how her "cabeza" (head) was. =)

That day I thanked God for how He always places me where I can be used and links my passions together.

The D.R. Entry 2

It's amazing what love and lolly pops can do....

Day 6

I helped with a lot of cool surgeries and consultations today. The culture here is amazing. Everyone is so affectionate and passionate. Doctors here are seen as healers and their patients are so appreciative. It's a whole different system of health care. Clearly, it has its flaws, but the doctor-patient relationship is something to strive for in the states.

The funniest thing that happened today, though, was when a little three year old girl came into the clinic today. She was very sick and screaming from the moment her mom carried her into the clinic. She screamed and cried the whole time UNTIL I pulled out one off my Dum-Dum lolly pops (I brought a huge bag from Sam's Club before I left). Her tears stopped immediately and after I asked her mom if she could have it ("claro que si" - yes of course was her reply) she grabbed it from my hand, hid behind her mom, and squeaked out a "gracias" through a gigantic smile. =) It made my day! --- I guess kids love of sweets is universal. =)

Almost Done...

So I only have a little bit of time left at Girls Inc. My time there has gone by so fast it is crazy. Each day has been so chaotic and so fun that I am going to be sad to say goodbye to my girls. Last week was kind of crazy because it was the end of us doing our planned programs with the girls. We finished up all of our recycling projects and counted all of the pennies that the girls had been collecting for their project called Pennies for the Planet. Tomorrow I will find out the total amount of money that the girls raised. All of the pennies they collect will go towards protecting and preserving wildlife. The girls also finished putting the final touches on the garden that they started with one of the staff members. They are all really excited to have something from the summer that they can continue to work on and add to as the school starts, since many of the girls also attend Girls Inc. after school program. This upcoming final week will be a lot of free time for the girls to play and some themed days planned by the staff members. Tomorrow is a spa day. The girls will be making at home face masks, hand rubs, shampoos, and lip glosses. I'm sure it is going to be a total mess so it sure to be a ton of fun. I will blog again soon to let you guys know how my final day goes!

Week 6 Lowry Park Zoo Camp

~~ For this past week I have been working at the Lowry Park Zoo School Camp instead of HoundHaven. I had already made a promise to the Zoo School before the summer started that I would be an intern for the week of July 26th to July 30th. For one week I have gone to the Zoo to help out in a classroom. The Lowry Park Zoo summer camp internship was amazingly wonderful. My classroom theme for the week was "Things That Make You Go Ewww!". On Monday we fed the stingrays and visited some of the animals in the park. We did some arts & crafts, and watched some movies. The kids learned about the Portuguese man-of-war, scorpions, and black widow spiders. The children were great the first day if not a little excited. They definitely liked to talk a lot but they were cute and fun to be around. Monday was definitely eventful especially in the morning. On Tuesday, we had some more zoo hikes but we went on the rides this time. There are only a few rides though. We went on the Safari ride and were surprised when the Giraffes got in front of the tram and ate the moss on top of the tram and then as we drove by they stayed by the tram so they were only feet away from us. Then we went to feed the Budgie's, which of course is a small bird. We made the Budgie sticks in the class room with popsicle stick, melted wax, and bird seeds. It was so much fun for not only the kids but for the interns as well. The birds would fly around us and if you were the only one with food you would have at least five birds on you arm and they would fight for the food. After feeding the Budgie's we rode a few of the rides they have in the park. The kids went on the carousel and a small roller coaster called the Tasmanian Tiger. Of course we got to see some of the animals. The animal encounter on Tuesday was a type of toad that is an evasive species. The Ewww factor about this toad was that it peed a lot. It was funny when the toad first jumped out of the handler's hand and then towards the end it peed all over her hand and ran down her arm and onto the floor. The toad itself was quite ugly. On Wednesday we had water play day. This gives the kids a chance to play in the water play areas in the morning. The interns and the teachers sat in the shade and mnonitored the children to make sure they were not breaking any rules. Thankfully we didn't have many problems. After lunch we worked on the daily packet and made snails in arts & crafts. Agter that we went back out into the Zoo and fed the Warty Pig's mealworms. I, of course, did not touch but all the kids took a hand full and tossed it over the fence for the pig's to eat. After that they came back to the school and played on the playground until 3:00. At the end of the day they watched Animal Planets Most Extreme. It started to rain really badly right before we all left, so that was tons of fun (sarcastic remark). On Thursday we had a substitute teacher because the regular teacher had a meating to go to. Mr. Danny was a good teacher. We got to see a zoo keeper feed the Hornbill's. Then we went around the zoo and saw some more animals. After lunch we made owl's in arts & crafts. The kids fed the goats and and went into the petting zoo to pet the goats. I did not get to go in because one of the kids did not want to go in because he doesn't really like to go near animals. He is also an autistic child. He was eleven years old in eight to nine year old class. He threw a few tantrums when he didn't get his way. He was definitely a special little boy and needed one on one attention. On Thursday I had a meeting in the afternoon with some of the other interns and the youth volunteer coordinator. For our intern training we did a scavenger hunt through out the zoo. We got split into two teams and went out into the zoo and answered a few questions about the animals. We had to do this in half an hour too. Thankfully my group knew a few of the answers anyways because we have been through the zoo many times this week and we listen to our teachers as they explain a few things to the students about the animals. The coordinator said that we all win because the group in the morning scammed her earlier and we actually did the right thing. Of course my team got the most answers right compared to the other team. Friday was an interesting day. The kids got to feed the skunks and then go and play in the water for about an hour. We ate lunch inside on Friday instead of outside like we did the other days. The kids got to watch "Night at the Museum" and have cupcakes because one of the kids had a birthday and their mom brought cupcakes and then the other intern in the class room made cupcakes for the kids and cake for the interns and teachers. After lunch the kids made spiders in arts & crafts and then we all went to the aquarium part in the Florida section of the zoo. We also got to see the Birds of Prey show. When we went back to the school and I played referee to the kids as they played kickball. During afternoon snack the kids got to finish watching the movie as they waited for their parents to pick them up. The whole week was very enjoyable and eventful. I can't wait to go to the zoo to actually visit with my family and do all the things that I missed out on. I was lucky to get three free tickets to the zoo so I can take my mom and brother one day.

Sharptop Cove, Week 3

So, it is now half-way through the session and everyone is really getting to know each other well. I'm having a great time with everyone and we are starting to know each other on a deeper level, not just things like, where are you from, whats your major, etc. I knew I would become close with people, but I didn't realize how close. In the third week I started to learn where people want to go in life and talked to them about what I want to accomplish. Everyone was saying that week three would be the hard week, but it wasn't for me. I think it was because week two was so tough and week three the camp was not too full, so we only had two morning rides scheduled. This gave me more time really think about why I was at camp and why I was serving.

This week was fun, especially because we had gotten good at our jobs and found that we had little more free time. Also, since we were used to the early morning schedule I decided to get up for and early morning mountain bike ride on Sunday, which is usually our sleep-in day. It was awesome. I had never been mountain biking and we decided to go on the hard trail. Going up was tough, but coming down was such a rush. You get to the point where you almost lose control as you come down the mountain. I also had a chance to go on the high ropes course. That was also a thrill, because you are about 5oft up in the air suspended on thin wires and walking across different obstacles. By the end of this week everyone was realizing that we were going to be there only one more week so we were all trying to cram in things we hadn't had a chance to do yet.
I'll leave you with some pictures of me at my job and the view from the tower:

This is my view of the camp from the top of the tower:
This is what it looks like when you are sitting on top looking down:
Here is me getting ready to come down after a long day:

Here is my tower team from left to right, Harris, Me, Mallory, and Blake:

My Life as an American Girl in the D.R.

Back in the U.S. ....

So because I am not so great with international technology, I kept a journal while I was in the Dominican Republic this summer. I will try to hit some highlights for each day. If one word could sum it all up though it might be: life-changing or humbling or awesome.... ok, so I need more words. You all will just have to read the whole thing. =)

Day 1

So far this trip has been AMAZING! I am working with a large group from Colorado and a small group from Indiana. I flew in to the DR by myself and took a cab to the hotel by myself. Let me tell you, I am so glad I am with a group now. I ordered a cheese burger and accidentally left a 70% tip. I haven't quite mastered the peso/U.S. dollar conversion yet. =(

Day 2

I feel as though I've been here much longer than one day. The D.R. is very beautiful. The guest house is nice too. Even though I feel like I am in a different country, I feel comfortable here. There is musica playing all night long outside, but I prefer it over the rooster. He brings in the morning at about 4 AM. =( Today was my first day at the clinic. I watched 3 surgeries and helped Dr. Valdez with consultations all morning. The first surgery was rough, but I recovered and the rest of the surgeries were fine. One of the patients was a young woman who was having a hysterectomy (they remove the ovaries). They don't put you under full anesthesia (the patient is awake, but can't feel anything) and she looked very scared at the beginning. I took her hand and just smiled at her reassuringly. I went to observe part of the procedure a few minutes into the surgery, but as I walked away I could feel her hand tighten. I took a quick look, but I stayed with her for the rest of the surgery. It was quite an empowering experience -knowing the language didn't matter. I feel as if, in a small way, I joined a small part of the Dominican community today. All I had to do was care.

Day 4

Everyday at the clinic is full of surprises! We had a busy day today. Most of our consultations were actually screening sessions for the U.S. surgical group coming next week. We saw some really interesting cases. It's so sad to see what these people have lived with: women with burns from men throwing acid on them, children with various deformities, men with missing limbs who must provide income for their families. Still, these people have such joy and gratitude. Instead of looking at me - someone so blessed, healthy, with shoes and clothing, etc- and thinking of me as a snobby American, they try to talk to me and kiss my cheeks. They thank me for my help as we tell them nothing can be done for them at this time. They thank God for the blessings in their life as they carry their pre-teen aged children out of the clinic because they can't walk and they can't afford a wheel chair. More than anything today, I feel humbled.

Sharptop Cover, Week 2, Tired Week

This was probably the hardest week for me all summer. The reason it was so difficult was because the camp was so full. This means that we had to schedule morning rides. Now, just to update you, the tower, the high ropes course, the quantum leap, and the mountain bikes are all scheduled rides. This means that cabins were assigned a slot of time to go on them. When the camp is really full we have to book morning rides at 7:00am. Now, in order for them to be set up and ready to go we had to get up at 5:45. This week was so booked that we had a morning ride every day. So, I would end up going to sleep around 12:30 or 1:00 and then get up at 5:40 for the entire week! It was crazy. I wish I could write some of the random things that happened that week, but honestly, it was such blur. By the end of the week if I sat down for more the 5 minutes I was asleep. This worried me because all the morning ride staff were getting pretty exhausted. It was inevitable, by the end of the week, we all got sick. It wasn't too bad, it was just an annoying cold, but lasted for the entire third week =/.

However, I did have and awesome experience with one of the kids this week that I can't forget. His name was Mitchell and he was having trouble getting up the rock wall, so we sent him up the pole on the side that we use. On this particular day I was on the repel side. When a person goes down the repel rope, they are also attached to a safety belay rope that I have control over, so if they go too fast or let go of the repel rope, I can stop them from falling. So, I am attached to the kid going down with the belay rope and a post behind me so it the camper weighs more than me, I'm not thrown up the wall. Some kids are to scared to control the repel rope and end up just being belayed down by me. Mitchel was one of these kids. It took him all of the courage he could muster and a lot of trust to step over the edge. Now, just keep in mind he was a lot heavier than me, and I'm a girl, so am not quite as strong as the guys working with me on the tower, but being attached to a post and harnessed in, and with the equipment we use it isn't a problem. So when he finally went down the wall, his whole cabin was standing there watching me belay him down the wall and me getting lifted up about 3 ft in the air. When he made it to the ground he was so happy and thanked me so much. He even took a picture with me =) It was awesome that I could work with him and help him get over his fears. Here is the picture:

Sharptop Cove, Week 1

Sharptop Cove

Alrighty, so I haven't had access to a computer throughout my SoS. So I'm going to sum up my month at Sharptop Cove in four posts. I know its a little crazy posting them one after the other, but these are just some experiences pulled out of my journal from each week I was there.
Week 1:The first week at camp flew by because everything was so new. It started out on Sunday June 20. We woke up at 7:30 to be trained on our assigned jobs. I knew I was on the ropes team, but I didn't know what ride I would be working all month. So, that morning the team met in the gym and were assigned to or jobs. I found out I would be working the Tower. The Tower is a 55ft. climbing wall on one side and a repel wall on the other side with a small platform on top to transfer from one wall to the next. For the next couple of hours I learned how to belay someone up the rock wall, transfer them at the top of the tower, and repel them down the repel wall. It was pretty scary knowing that just the next day I would be working the Tower and have high school kid's lives in my hands. So, the next day I worked the top of the Tower. That's right, 55ft up for 6hrs straight. Working the top is awesome because you get a lot of kids who are really afraid of heights and you get to help them face their fears. One girl came up and started to cry because she was so happy that she made it. I was so proud of her. I've never worked so hard and had so much fun doing it in my life. Here is a quick overview of my schedule for one week:

Sunday: breakfast at 8:30, Chores (for me was collecting frisbees from around camp and out of the lake with a canoe), camp sweep (getting ready for a new camp week), lunch, making water balloons for the night event, free time, dinner, camp tour (showing the kids what the camp has), then the night event, which for Monday night is the obstacle course. This is a picture of me on the dining hall roof, showcasing the ropes team. I'm the middle person. Monday: Breakfast, chores, devotional, lunch, and then working the Tower (transfers on top), dinner. Then, Monday night's event is the hoe down and we pass out ice cream sundaes to the campers.

Tuesday: Breakfast, chores, devotional, lunch, and then working the Tower (repel side), dinner. Then, we don't work the event on Tuesday nights so we have a little bit of free time.

Wednesday: This day is called "the day that never ends". I do all the regular stuff (work the belay side). Then after dinner we do and event called Tableau. This is where we dress up in old western attire and act out a particular scene. For example, I was in the wedding scene, so my job was to get married:

Now, when the campers first see us in our scenes we are frozen, then a gunshot brings the scenes to life and we act it out for about 20 seconds. Then, the gunshot goes off again and we have to freeze wherever we are. It just so happens that in my scene, my groom picks me up in his arms to "take a picture". Well, on the the last week we ended up being frozen in that position for a while.
Now, after the campers see us all dressed up, they are told to get western outfits on for dinner. While they are eating dinner, us summer staffers are setting up and entire carnival in the gym, complete with games and food. This is why it is the day the never ends, because carnival doesn't start till late, and we end up finally getting everything cleaned up at 1:00am.

Thursday: This is day is a little more relaxed for me, because, like Tuesday we don't run the night event. Oh and I work on top of the tower again.

Friday: The beginning of my days are always the same, as you have probably noticed. The event for this night is Banquet. All of the campers get dressed up and eat a fancy dinner. We also get dressed up, just to go along with the camp. Then, that night is Work Crew night. Work Crew is all of the high school kids that come and work at camp. They work at the dining hall, the laundry, and they clean. On work crew night they are assigned to a camper cabin and they go and tell their life story to that cabin. So, our job is just to show our support for them through out the night, so one thing we do is clean the dining hall for them and set up for the next meal.

Saturday: This day is hectic. Camp rides close early and the campers have to pack and clean their cabins. We do and all camp sweep in which we do our chores for a second time that day and also help the campers get checked out of their cabin. They eat dinner and then leave around 7. After they are gone, we help clean the dining hall and then we get to break for the night and have the whole camp to ourselves =)

The next day is Sunday and we do it all over again. So yes, I was married 4 times in 4 weeks.

Last weeks in Germany *tear*

So the last week or so have been full of goodbyes... and cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning. It has been really weird these last few days. Sometimes I'll be doing something and it'll hit me that I'm leaving soon and going back to 'normality'. Of course, being here so long has sort of distorted what I consider normal but I'm sure I'll readjust.

At last Sunday's church service my congregation said goodbye and my bosses gifted me with a funny gift. A bear shaped backpack. The bear wearing, naturally, a sweatshirt with the USA flag embroidered on it. They said the reason it was a backpack was because I'm always travelling. Well they're right with that I guess.

I've recently found an Aupair family. In December, through April, I will be in Germany AGAIN to be an Aupair for a really nice family.

I don't think the idea of leaving has really sunk in yet. When it does, I'll write another blog about how it feels and about my reflections on the past 12 weeks.

Monday

This is my last week in New Jersey. I walked by Cornel West today in Princeton. Check it out:
http://northsoutheastcoast.blogspot.com/

Weeks 4 & 5 at Girls Inc.

These past couple of weeks have been both really fun and really tiring. The girls have been doing awesome. We have done a ton of interesting projects. A few examples: we made purses out of old blue jeans, we made different stuffed brown paper bag animals, we had a walk-a-thon, and we had a huge slumber party. One thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment here. These girls keep me on my toes all day everyday. Today we are having a luau here at Girls Inc and then the girls are going bowling. I think the best activity we have done in the past two week was the slumber party we had last Friday. The staff, the volunteers, and the girls wore their pajamas all day. We had different things going on in the different classrooms and the girls rotated among the rooms. In one room we had them making sleeping masks and decorating them, in another we were doing nails, they made tie pillows in another, and then in the gym they watched movies. The girls and the staff all had a great time. I'm not sure what all we have going on next week but I do know that the talent show is coming up. Girls have been practicing their singing and dance routines every chance they get. They try to go hide in classrooms and in corners of the gym so that nobody sees their "secret" routines. It's really cute to watch and I can't wait to see them all perform.

HoundHaven Week 5

"What ever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it" ~ Mohandas Gandhi



This quote has touched me so much and made me think about all the community service I do. Sometimes the smallest thing that we do may seem insignificant at the time but in the long run it is very important that we did it. I think about this everyday. I do not always know if helping to clean kennels and walking dogs is helping the animal shelter in the long run but I can sometimes see it. The dogs that get attention have gotten healthier and they are responding well to learning their commands. I hope that by the time our dogs get adopted they will be good at training and it will be a good start for them for when they go to their forever home. Recently I have been working with some of our more difficult dogs to learn their commands. Our puppies are learning how to sit on command now. The other dogs are learning to not jump up on us. One of our dogs, Deke, liked to put his mouth on our arms or hands while we were trying to put his leash on but after extensive discipline and control Deke has stopped nipping as much. I feel like I was supposed to go to this organization. I believe God sent me to this place to learn a few lessons of my own. I have never felt more loved by dogs and more appreciated by individuals. I have been told many times from the other volunteers that I will be sorely missed when school starts back up and I won't be working anymore. I really don't want to leave this group but hopefully I will be able to come back some weekends and work the Petsmart day and meet some of the new dogs that come in.

Final Week :(

This past week, I completed my SoS. I have to admit, I was pretty excited to not have to wake up at 6am or spend my entire day filing but at the same time I was sad to say goodbye to all of the wonderful people I worked with. I was also sad because this was my second and final year working with Meadowbrook. Volunteering there has become something that I look forward to as a part of my summer but since I will be graduating this spring a summer spent at Meadowbrook is most likely not in my future. Over the past two summers that I have spent at Meadowbrook I have learned so many things that I would have never expected to discover. Here are a few things that the past two SoS's have taught me:

1. Sometimes the impact is more important than the action.

-Ok so I have to be honest, when I sat in the SoS meeting towards the end of the school year I wasn't exactly super super excited about my site. As I listened to other Bonners' plans for their summers I felt like volunteering at a school wasn't as interesting or "out of the box" as it could be and because of that I felt like I may not be able to make a true impact on the community that composes Meadowbrook. By the end of the first week I was proven wrong. The principal of the school as well as the other office workers continually told me how grateful they were for my help. Although I often did things that don't seem important like filing or organizing a closet, the impact it made on the school was great and greatly appreciated. Judging by the constant thanks that I received I was completely wrong about not being able to make an impact.

2. Don't forget where you come from.

-As I may have mentioned before, I graduated from Meadowbrook Academy. I was home schooled my first two years and from 2nd grade through my senior year I was a Meadowbrook student. Needless to say, coming back to volunteer was a completely new experience. I was no longer under the authority of the staff but more like a co-worker. Even though I had a new "position" at Meadowbrook it was a great way to reflect on how much the school has shaped who I am as a person. Going away to college was probably the best decision I have made in my life so far because it helped me to discover new things about myself. Even though this change was good going back to Meadowbrook really helped to remind me how I got to where I am today.

Overall, this SoS was great! I went into it knowing what to expect but I was still amazed by how much I learned. Although sometimes the work wasn't the most exciting, I was truly miss Meadowbrook and all of the people that have taught me so much about what it truly means to be a servant.

Agro, Bro

So, as much fun as it to work here most of the time, it comes with it's annoying times. We had a big meeting earlier today to flesh out what were doing with our social media and the boss basically set us back to square -57. Goal setting. So today I've spent around 6 hours goal setting. I would show you the page, but it's intranet..classified information, ya know? Regardless, it ends with us having a cool blog, an active Facebook and Twitter and a strong PolicyOptions website. So really I came on here to say that you all should create a Twitter and follow us at http://twitter.com/bonnernetwork. Now, I resisted forever before jumping on this Twitter wagon, but it's actually pretty cool. We're going to be sending out job opportunities and such and we already had one person sign up for IMPACT because of an update we sent through it. Also, we created a new Facebook profile called "Bonner Love" which is a personal profile and a Bonner Fan Page called Bonner Network (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonner-Network/142428915769333) so we can connect and update everyone more. I'm not sure if they will stay alive, but I sure hope so. Hope all is well everywhere.
-Jack

Weeks 5 & 6 SOS

Hi everyone!

So for weeks 5 & 6 of my summer of service I was working in the Human Resources Department of City Hall. My big task for the week (and i'm still working on it) is to write the Rules and Regulations document for the City. When my boss for the week, Mark Hayword, told me this I was thinking, "Oh, ok I am going to be proof reading...this should be fun" but it turns out that he gave me a copy of Lake Mary's Rules and Reg. and a file folder full of emails, comments, ect. and said, "have fun and get started". He really ment that I was writing the Rules and Regs. It took me to whole two weeks of non-stop work and I am still not done, but on my last day in his department he called me into his office and told me that when I get the project done he is going to let me present it to the City Commission and when it is adopted it will have my name on it!

Posty Mcposterson

Hey everyone! So I figured I should come on here and actually update with what I'm doing right now for this SoS. So, ya know how we do CLAs and positions and all that? Remember how sometimes it's not "good enough" and we have to rewrite them? Well, I'm currently doing Bonner national reviews. This means that all of us in the office have a list of schools and have to review the Summer period of Bonner work. Also, we have to go back to the Fall of 2008 and review eeevveerryyy position, CLA, and training and enrichment that a school has done. Exciting. Actually, it kind of is. it's really interesting to see what's going on at the other schools. Also, The Foundation is really good at giving us a bunch of projects at once, so I'm currently working with two other people to bring all Bonner's social media into the "useful" state. It should be pretty cool. The vision we're working with is going to be an activist blog, a lot like this one, that also posts to Twitter and Facebook..but it's not going to be dumb, boring stuff - it'll actually be interesting. Also, this PolicyOptions.org thing is shaping up. I think we're talking about making some algorithm (or adapting one) that will take all the service news and import it to one big feed. Or something. I dunno. If you're really interested in what I'm on about go to http://techmeme.com/.....this site is one of the first to do this, but it's for technology.
Anyway, have fun all!

HoundHaven week 4

Week 4
~~ This past week has been crazy. With all the new dogs and the crazy things happening during the evening shifts that the morning shifts have to endure. I work every morning and sometimes I work the afternoon and/or the night shifts. The times that I have not worked the night shifts there have been problems that have made it hard on the morning shift. I love working the morning shift because you can get close to the dogs and love on them. We do have to do a lot of cleaning but as long as the dogs are happy and in a healthy, clean environment then I don't mind cleaning their kennels. A lot of times we clean to allow new dogs to come into the shelter with a clean environment. It also allows us to disinfect the kennel because the dogs get sick easily. Thankfully this past week we have had two dogs go to a home. Everyone was so happy that they were able to go to a good home because they were such good puppies and needed to get out of the shelter. Thankfully that has also given us some more room and we have been able to move our dogs around so that they are in the proper places. We try to keep the dogs that the sick are quarantined away from the rest of the dogs that are healthy and are going to adoption events. Although a new dog arrived today but this dog was at the shelter once before but apparently that home did not work out for her.
I hate it when people adopt a dog and after a few months they give the dog back because they don't like something about the dog. I wish that more people would take a dog for all the good and the bad. Animals are not perfect and they are bad just as much as they are good. These dogs have such a great temperment and are so lovable as long as they have a good home. It's amazing how the bigger dogs that seem to look intimidating are the most sweetest dogs. One of our biggest dogs, Bear, is a black lab and he will attack you face with kisses and topple you over just to give you even more kisses. I love these dogs so much. They are so adorable and all they really want is love and a permanant home. If you or your parents or someone you know is looking for a a beautiful dog with Lab in his geneology then please send them to HoundHaven.

Salvation Army Convention, 24 Hour Charity Run, Church In The Forest^

Alot of exciting things have happened over here in Germany since the last time I posted. Well and one big disappointing thing (we didn't make it to the Finale WAAAAAAAH!)

About two weeks ago, the Salvation Armies from the South-West of Germany got together in a nearby city for a day of workshops and friendship/contact making. It was really interesting seeing the different people that the Salvation Army attracts and was even more interesting to find out that one of the highest administrators of the Salvation Army is from Canada... 0.o weird, huh? There were three different workshops and, not really paying attention, I ended up in the Spiritual Healing one. I know one was a workshop about children but I forget the name and the topic of the other one. The workshop I sat through was... interesting and was led by a German woman who now lives in New Zealand. She told stories and showed photographs of people who have been healed through her by God. If you're reading this you already know, from my previous posts, that I'm not exaclty religious. I am always skeptical of stuff like that and didn't know how to react to her workshop.

All in all, it was a great day where I made new friends and got to see a bit of the hiarchey of the Salvation Army in Germany.

Last weekend was the 24 Hour Charity Run for childrens' rights. The Salvation Army is somewhat teamed with this organization called PAIS here in Freiburg. My boss from the Salvation Army basically sublets me and the other volunteers at the Salvation Army to this program and we help where is needed. They needed people to count the chips (which were used to count how many laps a person did) and to run a few laps to help support our team. Which I guess I should explain. There were numerous teams, let's say 30, who came to compete for money for their organization. I'm going to assume that every organization had something to do with youth empowerment, based on the name of the event. Each team is given a stack of poker chips with a specifc color and number on them. They are also given a transponder that, when passed over the reciever after every lap, recognizes how many laps a team has run. (way high tech). Needless to say, the team who had run the most laps received the most money. Our job as volunteers for this event was to count the chips every hour, on the hour, and to seperate them and return them to the appropriate teams. I ran a few laps for our team but slept a lot of the time haha, I'm not an all nighter person.
Our Salvation Army had church in the forest yesterday. The weather was beautiful and we had so much fun. The service was mostly a skit that I only partly understood and the rest of the day was a bbq and a huge water fight. It was so nice to be in the forest with nice weather and all of my friends from the SA having a nice BBQ. After the BBQ, the kids started water fighting and, well after I was ambushed by my boss and the rest of the SA and dunked into the baptism tub we brough along, I joined in.

SoS Blog 3

So into week three I never realized how hard it would be to put structure to an organization. I’m sure initially it’s probably more of a trial and error approach, but I really was hoping to alleviate as much possible chances of failure as possible! Unfortunately there isn’t really much you can do when you get to a certain point in the planning.

I can establish offices and their roles. I can suggest plans for finances, and suggest a suitable election process. I can develop a system for handling business and events, but in the end of the day it’s only a rough plan with many loop holes for students to fill in. For the most part that’s actually the easy part to digest.
Now what if there isn’t support for the group? Yes a group like this is necessary. Yes it can offer a good deal to the student body and community. However, was it requested by the student body or the community?…. Not really. Which fuels the scary question, will the organization even take off? I guess that’s something we’ll just have to test out.

The New Music Machine was very successful in many regards last year, but they never really had as much structure to their organization or any really need to hold meetings aside from office meetings. Will this GLBT music organization arrive at promising conclusions as well under the same format? Would I be diminishing multiple benefits that attach themselves to organizations by limiting the interactivity?
I can’t really say just yet. I do have my predictions though. I suppose all I can do is prepare for the worse, and try to get as many people involved as possible when the time comes

SoS Blog 2

There’s much to be said about the gay liberation movement, specifically on the impact it had on the public psychologically. Since Stonewall there was a need for exposure. The main purpose of any GLBT event was to establish grounds. We needed to at least be able to put our names on the table before we could actually begin any plan of attack for change. In the early 1970s (even late 1960s), there was a great need for pride parades and protests. It was a dangerous time to be gay and out.
Not only was the public unforgiving, but they were even violent. Reported crimes rates relating to sexual orientation disagreements were not as high as they are now, but that was largely because they were unreported. That of course is probably a result of a number of factors other than the corruption of the police force.
As we moved past the assignation of Harvey Milk there was still a need for the riots. The public needed to know we were “queer and here.”

In the social climate of today there is a new struggle which for the most part is an internal problem in the community. Through all the degradation we tried to resist we inevitably internalized way too much of the stereotypes in hope of devaluing them and formed a frame of mind that would inevitably cause somewhat of a social chasm in our community. The GLBT community was separated between those who reinforced the model of the gay image and those who deliberately tried not to. Both groups were wrong in their own ways.

This quest for self-identity has led us into what I now consider to be the age of gay social enlightenment.

This Is basically a little snipit of what I am defending in my research paper. Let’s see where it goes next!

SoS Blog 1

Hey everyone. I know I’m posting these blogs late, but I am at least posting them! However, since I’m posting these blogs late I decided to edit all of them and begin all of the posts from the perspective of having finished my service. So instead of a blog this is probably going to be more like a series of chapters.

At the beginning it was quite interesting. I had a rough plan for what I was going to do, and took it (for the most part) and then ran a whole different direction unexpectedly.

My main purpose was to do something somewhat intensive and long-lasting in regards to the gay liberation movement. So my proposal contained a three part plan to fulfill that goal.

The first part was I wanted to make a research paper that would focus on the psychological progression behind the movement and suggest its flaws and solutions. To do that of course requires that labor intensive job that is ACTUALLY RESEARCHING. The only way this paper can actually get any attention is if I make it credible through statistical analysis. At this point in the summer I had NO IDEA how to do that. I didn’t even know where to begin. There are so many articles and novels on the subject it would take years to be an expert. Well, luckily I don’t have to be an expert; I just had to prove my point.

I went to Dupont Library and checked out a few books I thought might be of use, printed almost every article and pdf file on the Human Rights Campaign website, and actually started reading the newspaper regularly! This is of course way in the future, but as of July 8^th 2010 the New York Times published an article on the unconstitutional act of banning gay marriage. This was pretty big in the state of Massachusetts and sent a shockwave through the nation. Side anecdote over…

We’ll talk more about the paper later in another post, but for the sake of laying out the rest of my proposal, I’ll continue. The second part was to begin building what would be the first gay music organization at Stetson. This was probably less ambitious than the first part, but much harder to facilitate. The first question anyone should ever ask when starting an organization is WHY? To say it plainly I find some GLBT composers to be under represented. I wanted an organization that would foster the performance and presentation of music by GLBT composers. In the current climax of the movement it is most evident there is a need for role models. This is something I’ll continue to talk about in my paper, but role models like these composers would reinforce the inclusive state of mind in the general public. There are of course many other reasons for having an organization that are probably more generic than anything; however, that’s the gist of it.

Finally the third portion of the service is of course the nitty-gritty-get-your-hands-dirty hands-on service! In my opinion this is the most exciting part, because this involves the planning with my community partner. This includes workshops for the public, speaking to the elderly and the younglings, and speaking up to our businesses in Deland. Ideally the goal was to educate, but as you’ll read later, it turned out to be much more than that. I was immersing myself in the minds of others. It was almost the most thrilling thing I’ve done in a long time. I got a chance to understand the minds of my community and how they arrived at their conclusions and opinions. Of course you can imagine the hardest part of hands-on service is communication and planning. I officially know how to reserve rooms at Stetson! A tool I plan to utilize again and again during my last two years here. I can also talk in front of a crowd without stumbling on my words not nearly as much as I use to!

I think after week one I was pretty certain no matter what I did, even after my hours were completed, I wasn’t going to really finish anything. Most of this service is carrying on into the fall semester. I won’t spoil anything just yet, but things are looking really exciting for the fall!!!