Monday, May 31, 2010

lightning and thoughts.

Ahh, Memorial Day: the perfect time to hang out with family and reflect on a busy week (and in this case, also a prime time to sit on a porch and watch a lightning storm). This past week has brought me through orthopedics, cardiology, family medicine, and gastroenterology, and they all offered more insight into health care than I ever anticipated. I experienced grumpy doctors, grumpy patients, flawed insurance systems, and dramatic nursing staffs, but was also exposed to some truly great physicians who deeply care for their patients and seek to do more than eradicate disease.

Often times, there is a big difference between simply treating an illness and truly caring for a patient. I’m learning that it’s not all about pharmaceuticals, but so many doctors just hear the symptoms and rip off a page of their prescription pad without sincerely attempting to comfort the patient. Patients are people; along with medical care, they seek compassion and encouragement from their doctor, but not all physicians offer this kind of deeper healing; they make it through the exam, give the scientific answer, document all the necessary notes for reimbursement, and call in the next patient.
I am realizing that— with or without our approval— time passes and we all get older. Every day I am getting closer to having to make a decision about what my chosen career will be, and it’s a little bit scary. If I do end up following this M.D. track, I still have no idea what I will to specialize in, but I’m not totally worried yet. What I do know is that I want to be a doctor that patients brag about, one that looks at an undergraduate shadow and says, “You’re learning from a great Doc.” That is how I’ve been able to determine which days I need to pay more attention—when a patient looks at me and says how great their doctor is. Obviously, they’re doing something right, and I want to learn what it is.

Sunday, May 30, 2010


Picture 1






This past week and a half was awesome, rewarding and tiring all at the same time. I can't remember the last time I've wanted to nap so much in my life (other than after pulling all-nighters, of course). So far, I've only fiven in twice! Last week, we went on a field trip to a Daytona Cubs game and I was one of the chaperones. It was and education event day so there for students from many elementary schools there. I had my own group of eight fifth graders and we ventured off on our own. While they were a well-behaved group, I never fully grasped all the responsivility invovled until that day. Now only that, I must have counted heads a thousand times within the couple of hours we were there. We enjoyed each other's company, but it wasn't really enjoyable for any of us because it was so hot outside. The bus ride back was pretty miserable...haha...we were sandwhiched together in groups of three to a seat with minimal air conditioning and lots of body heat.

Other than the field trip, it has just been a normal week. Well, as normal as school gets. I graded papers, gave a test ...you know, the usual. There was one day, the fifth grade teacher was out at a meeting so I helped the fourth grade teach who I aided for during the year. She was behind on her grading (this is a total understatement! She was three weeks behind. See for yourself picture 1). Thank goodness I had my cup of gingseng tea. I graded for seven hours and I still had a pile left. Granted, I put everything in alphabetical order.To give you an idea of how much papers there were, imagine four full sized textbooks stacked together. Nonetheless, I was glad I could help her out. There is so much that teachers need to do for the students now that it is towards the end of the year in order for them to go on to the next grade level. You know how stress we get during finals? That's how if feels like for them. Never, a dull moment, that's for sure.

2ndish week of Young Life: I played condiment twister and got stuck on a mulch pile.

Ok, so the week before last I was on vacation with my family in Cocoa Beach. Totally awesome by the way. Anyway, that's why I didn't blog that week.

So, this past week we had our last club on Monday. This club is particularly crazy. We call is "messiest club" because it is basically a full on food fight. This is the first time I was able to attend since I was here. Just to give you an idea, here is a list of things I was covered in:

eggs
ketchup
mustard
relish
mayonnaise
flour
dirt
spaghetti
corn
string beans
pickled eggs

It was pretty exciting and pretty smelly. I would put a picture or two up here, but I don't have them yet. Hopefully they will be up soon for you guys.
Of course, the rest of the week was spent cleaning up the aftermath of the club. We got some kids to help with this and in turn they received some money for camp. Also, we now have about 15 girls signed up for camp. This is really exciting and also a little nerve racking. There are only two girl leaders, including myself. Hopefully, together we will be able to get to know all of them well during our camp week. I'm hoping that next week I will be able to work with more of the girls who are planning on coming to camp. I already know most of them, but now it's my job to get know the girls I don't know before we go to camp. I'm also getting ready for my month at the Young Life camp in Georgia. I feel like that is when my true summer of service starts. Most likely, I will be working about 12 hours a day there. It's going to be hard work, but I am extremely excited.

Oh yea, my area director decided to try and go over the pile of mulch we just acquired at the Young Life house. :

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Maria (W!) SoS - Weeks 2 and 3 - combined!

So I've realized that my blog titles are just so ... NOT interesting. But, that's OK. Maybe I'll come up with something more entertaining.

Working a 9-5 job is a lot different than I expected. Actually no, it's exactly what I expected. Very tiring. I don't know how on Earth I'll manage doing this in the future with kids and a family and managing to have a social life. I just want to go home at the end of the day and stare mindlessly at the television until it becomes a socially acceptable time to go to bed. I love my apartment, and being able to cook all my own meals, something I got used to while abroad. I'm very excited for the lovely Scarlett to move in with me next week!

Anyway, I have to back up a ways, because this blog is overdue. We're going to go back in time to the week of May 9-14. Alex Sanchez and I worked LONG hours on the Bonner videos, viewable on Youtube at the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vJtJjDiMTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nFdXX3g3Y

We spent three days straight in the computer lab at media services, editing the videos, picking the music, writing out the blurbs, running out to get more footage, taking pictures, decided to scrap one of our videos and frantically trying to come up with another video, which we pulled together rather quickly. As I said in my last post, these videos were submitted for the SLI Bonner Video Project, so we'll find out next week if we won anything. I know at least three or four of our incoming Bonners have watched the videos to get more information about the program, so it's already starting to serve its purpose. Score :)

Week 3 ... What happened last week? This is a problem - early dementia!! I can't remember. Oh yes! We started working on our Community Partner Database project, which I'm very excited about. Last week, we cleaned out the filing cabinets where the old files for our partners were stored, created new folders, finalized and re-finalized the interview form, and printed copies for each community partner. We then proceeded to call all 45 of our partners in one day (split between myself, Mary [our new Americorps VISTA], and Tyce [who will be the Environmental Issue Area chair person thing]) to begin setting up appointments. This is where the years of working in a chiropractor's office came in handy - I've had far too much practice calling people to set up appointments. Far too much. But that's OK.

When we weren't making phone calls and organizing files, I was surfing the Internet. I'll admit it. I went from webpage to webpage to webpage ... to research local food assistance programs (and you thought I was looking at Facebook :D) for a pseudo-Community Based Research project. I've found SO much information. It's slightly ridiculous how many programs (both federal and non-profit) are available to people who need help getting their next meal or meals, and yet so much need is going unmet. I saw some statistics (by the way, we are the county with the highest level of poverty in Central Florida - 13.1%!) that completely shocked me. Florida spent over $350,000,000 in food stamps (called SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - they sure like their acronyms) last month, just last month alone. I don't have the numbers in front of me, otherwise I'd list stuff off for your reading pleasure. This is up almost $100,000,000 from this time last year. Um, that's a LOT of cash. And people are still hungry. I researched several other programs that offer food assistance from the government, the local food bank (different from a food pantry! They distribute food to organizations that distribute food to people), and then REALLY local soup kitchens and food pantries. I'll write about what I'm doing next at the end of this week, when I know what I'm doing next with that.

Anyway, I think that's all I have to write about for now. You'll be hearing from me again at the end of the week!

B-love!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

i'm tired...

okay, so this is over a week old, but for some reason when I went to post it, it wasn't working...here it is. better late than never, right?

Classes have ended, seniors have graduated, grades have been released, and the Florida sun is scorching and bright. Yep, it’s summer. And yet, somehow my days do not have the same lackadaisical feel that I’m used to. Oh wait, I guess it’s due to my waking up at 6:45 every morning to work long days at the hospital…Yeah, that’s probably it.

I don’t have any cool pictures—since it would probably be weird to take a snapshot in a hospital ward—but my words will have to do…

An orientation last week kicked off the experience, with myself and the eleven other people who are completing this same project being given a tour of the hospital. Let me tell you, even as small as Florida Hospital DeLand is, it was a tiring day going through every department and learning what they do.

On Thursday, I started my interactions with the doctors and patients, and it’s just been a whirlwind tour since then. Already I’ve worked in the emergency department, the operating room, radiology, physical therapy, internal medicine, and with a family doctor. I’ve visited with a total of 72 patients already, and it has been a real learning experience to observe how the different kinds of people react to treatment, to doctors, and to the general healthcare setting.

Three days ago we had to tell an already depressed man that he had colon cancer. Yesterday, we helped someone walk again (after knee replacement surgery). Today, we told a woman she was cancer free. The emotions have been up and down, and this experience—only halfway through—is unlike anything I’ve ever taken on. Here’s hoping I have enough energy to make it two more weeks!

As a side note, if anyone reading this so desires, please pray that the political turmoil in Thailand settles down so that the other half of this Summer of Service can come to fruition…Thank you!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Week 1: Mission Accomplished

My first week on the job was quite the adventure. My first day out I was sent off on my own by Matt Hinton, the 2nd-in-command in the Outreach Department. I registered a few people to vote and helped some other request absentee ballots. All week I visited nursing homes and assisted living centers so that we could bring our services, such as voter registration and answering questions about elections procedure, right to their rooms/cafterias. It was really inspiring to know that I was providing a vital service to the men and women in those places of care, because they can't do it on their own: they are truly grateful for the dedication put in by the members of the outreach department.



I was surprised at how quickly I assimilated into the office atmosphere. The one thing I can safely say I never want to do is sit behind a desk for more then 4 hours at a time. I am so lucky because I am working with the "face" of the elections department. Therefore, we have to be seen!



There was a challenging part to last weeks visits. Although some of the persons re-registering, requesting absentee ballots, or what have you, were quite intelligible and lucid, there were a few that had trouble remembering things like the last 4 digits of their social security numbers or their birth years. It makes you thankful for your health, visiting places like those.



Besides registering people to vote, I was contacting community businesses/service providers/organizations to confirm addresses that the outreach department had on file for each of them. Basically, I was attempting to confirm as many addresses as possible in order

to avoid high quanities of returned mail from a community letter mailing we will be doing in the next week or so. Returned mail can put some departmental budgets in the red! :(



The assisted living communities were new environments for me to experience. Believe it or not, not a single one we visited was remotely similar in any way. There are so many differing approaches to assisted living facilities. Some are very impersonal and smell like hospitals. Others are like resort living! The one thing that struck me was that I could sense the comfort/happiness of the inhabitants of theses places by the attitudes of the staff/nurses. The most organized places had the happiest staff members and the most communal feeling. It was nice connecting with some of the residents; some of them have survived their children's lives and really don't have family; so, no visitors for them. Just handing a wheelchair confined veteran a flag-lapel pin can change his entire demeanor and open him up to a casual conversation about civic duty. These elderly folks have a lot to say if someone would just listen.

I am loving the work I am doing. I know that I'm planting the seed for many people to make conscientious decisions at the polls.

Have a great day! :D

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself" -George Bernard Shaw

After reading Shaw's quotation, I realized that this trip is not just going to happen and change my life. I am going to have to make it life-changing. For the past couple of months, I have been a bit uneasy about revisiting the place, which opened my eyes to the global inequities and sparked my passion for social justice. Four years ago, I left El Progreso, Honduras determined to return and better its environment and community members' lives. So, I had placed quite a large task in my hands. Up until today, I was more scared for this trip than anything else--scared of disappointing El Progreso, my grandfather, and myself.

Today I tried to push those fears aside and begin working on my agenda for the 5 weeks I will be in Progreso. Just sitting down and envisioning what I will be doing makes my mission much less daunting. However, with so much to do at home for the fund (New fundraiser kick off for Benjamin Royer's Appalachian Trail "Hike for Honduras", partnering with Better World Books, and other fundraisers), I'm going to have to kick it into high gear and get to work. While I still can't really plan ahead for the life-changing part of the trip, I have an idea of some of the experiences that will definitely be influential.

I aim to collect some media to use in a mix of social documentary photography and videography. Through my service, I have learned that often the best service we can do is to simply open one's eyes to the ways others live their lives. So, upon returning, I will compose a social documentary, exposing the raw lives of the Honduran locals and showing the reality of the regional issues that we are so far removed from. I also hope to improve the environmental sustainability of the organizations I will be working with. Already, the Pronino detox centers (where I will be working most of the time) have free-range cattle and chickens, a biofuel supply, a talapia farm, and a garden. Unfortunately, the garden was ruined in the recent flooding, so maybe I will devote the majority of my time to recreating the garden with the kids there. For now, I will be working on these upcoming fundraisers, and creating an environmental curriculum to teach at the John Grove High School.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Let the learning begin!

So this is somewhat backwards, as my first official day of service is tomorrow. Day 1 of 11 full (5 day) weeks of 8 to 5 work in the Outreach department of Polk County's Supervisor of Elections Office. It is definitely going to be a learning experience - hence the title of this post :) I am really looking forward to the person to person work, but to be completely honest, I am really nervous! I'm expected at the office by 7:40 for coffee in the break room with my new team members. I might bring a tea bag, since coffee 1) is addictive 2) requires sugar (at least for me it does and I'm trying to cut back on that) and 3) isn't nearly as yummy and healthy as green tea.

Instead of living at home, my parents have graciously allowed me to "rent" a small apartment from them. This apartment happens to be the same one I grew up in when it was just me, mom, and daddy. :) Kinda cool. Also weird.

I'm desperate for one more grade to be posted on Banner web. Anyone care to comment with the date grades are due? I'm doing great so far, but this one remaining grade is the only one worrying me!

The Civil Rights Travel Experience is going to be so eye opening. I'm finishing up the first book, God's Long Summer, and I am in awe of how much the ideals behind the movement are the same ones that (should) shape the concept of community engagement and the Bonner program itslef.

I miss the Seniors - now Stetson Grads - so much already! If any of you read this, thanks for 2 wonderful years of friendship!

So, tomorrow I plunge feet first into the water. I shouldn't be nervous; I have volunteered there for the past 6 years (whoa, typing that has made me realize just how old I am and how young I was!). I shall update you henceforth weekly, maybe more. I really enjoy blogging, I'm just not good at keeping up with a personal blog.

Have a great day, whoever you are reading this!

It's different when you're there the whole day.

SoS Week 1

I officially kicked off my summer of service by going on a field trip with my fifth graders as a chaperone. We went to Canaveral Seashore National Park in new Smyrna. There were about sixty students, two chaperones per class and the teacher. We got to get in the Mosquito Lagoon (a nursery) and net for baby water creatures. It was really neat to see the students engage in the activities. They take what they learn outside of the classroom and bring it back and vice versa, which is one of the main goals of education.
Day 3: The teacher was out today so naturally, we had a substitute. He was the most aggravating and incompetent substitute ever...he's been one for seven years, however, he is use to subbing for high schoolers and NOT fifth graders. He didn't realize that they need more attention, direction and discipline. He literally told me to "yell" at the kids too so that he doesn't always seem like the bad guy. HELLO!! Who is the sub here? Granted, I did have to step in because the students listened to me better than they did him. At one point he left me alone in the room with the kids so he could use the restroom (which he was not allowed to do) so I had to ask the teacher next door if I could leave the door open. Overall, it was a rough day, but I can't really expect too much more. Kids will react to the grown-up, but if the grow-up isn't doing his/her part then the reaction will be negative.
One day during lunch, the teacher and I were talking about the students and it was really discouraging to hear that she is able to pick out who will be successful and who will not. They are only fifth graders! Don't get me wrong...the teacher is one of the best. But she said that no matter how hard she tries in the classroom...there is only so much she can do because the kids go home to the same environment everyday. That is something she can't change.
The rest of the week went pretty well. I caught up the teacher with grading and helped her with other things in after-school care. The kids are getting use to the fact that I am there the whole day. They keep asking if I'm staying and if I'll be there tomorrow. It's only the beginning of May, yet I'm already sad that they are going off to middle school next fall. There's only about a month left.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

It Begins

So after settling in and having a day or two to explore the city, the Salvation Army put me to work. Yesterday I worked in what they call 'die Insel', which translates to 'the island', and is a cafe more or less for underprivileged/poor people. I can't be sure but I think most of the people who come in aren't homeless. I think sometimes it becomes a place for people who don't have, or don't feel that they have, a community of their own and so die Insel becomes a place where they feel welcome and can relate to the other people.

The cafe sells food and drinks for €-.50 but gives tea out for free. I work with another volunteer, he comes from northern Germany and his name is Manuel. We have a lot of fun together and when it gets slow in the cafe we give each other lessons on how to speak our respective native languages... it gets interesting. Our cook, her name is Maria, is really funny too and has a great personality. Though die Insel isn't the most exciting place to work for 5 hours, it goes by quickly with the people I'm working with.

I'm still SUPER jet-lagged but I hope that feeling will go away soon. I met some new friends that go to the local university here from my friend Jessica Moon who goes to Stetson. We went out the other night to a local Irish Pub which gives lessons to its patrons on how to dance...Irishly?? and had a lot of fun, hopefully we can do that again soon.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Summer of Young Life, Week 1: So, I ate a goldfish.

I am half way through my first week of summer of service for my service site at Young Life. So far it has been very hectic. Not only did I move into a new home (the Wesley House), but I also got my transportation this week (my new road bike). Here is what it looks like so far:

I will give you some updates on that soon.

Also, moving into the Wesley House allows my roommate and I to cook. Here is our latest creation: Too large cookies

But, enough about that, and more about my actual service. Monday night we had our last regular club, which was senior night. In other words, the Deland seniors ran the club and we just made sure everything went smoothly. In one of the mixer games (in which everyone is involved) we told them that the first team to be completely covered in newspaper wins:


It’s definitely a classic. I had a great time with my seniors after club at Groundchuck’s also.

Tuesday was even crazier because we cleaned up from the club of the night before. We had some YL girls come over and help out, and in return they received money for camp. Now, YL camp is something that we push for students to go to all year. The only problem is it is really expensive. Luckily, throughout the summer we do all sorts of fundraisers and kids work for their money. This week has been spring cleaning week for our YL house and what better way to do it than to higher some kids. So, yesterday we filled about 8 giant garbage bags with newspaper and other things thrown around the house. We swept and mopped and organized and we still aren’t done. So just working around the house and hanging out the girls received about $80 for camp just in one day. This, of course is great for them and an awesome bonding experience for us.
Oh man, talk about bonding experiences, the girls received an extra $10 to eat a live goldfish from the club skit the night before. After they had done it, and after much persuasion, my awesome area director said, “And because Abbey loves you guys so much, and wants to show here support in any possible way, she too will eat a live goldfish.” !!!??! Thanks Aaron…you’re awesome.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Arriving In Deutschland

So the plane ride to Germany was loooooooooooooong. Thanks to Iceland's hissy fit the day before, we had to go up over Iceland flying above Greenland (amazing views btw) to avoid the ominous ash cloud. After my 10 hour flight I had a 2 hour layover at the Frankfurt train station and then a 2 hour train trip to Freiburg where I currently am. I met my host family, they are amazing, and have awesome kids. I'm really jetlagged and cannot wait to sleep tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to one of my host family's children's english classes or something, they say they're going to slowly build the work load as the weeks progress... we'll see how that goes.

I need to go shopping for some sweet German clothes.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Maria's SoS - Week 1

So, technically this blog is about last week. But we won't tell anyone that.

I began my Summer of Service on a beautiful (and stifling hot) Tuesday morning. Amanda had given me several "assignments" the day before, as she would be out of the office. The day consisted mainly of alphabetizing papers and filing them away. I have been assured that the rest of the summer won't consist of much paperwork, a fact for which I am extremely grateful. I mean, I'll do office work if that's what's needed, but I hope to get out of the office for most of the time and work face-to-face with our community partners.

Until the end of this week (yes, this current week), I'll be working on the Bonner Video Project for SLI. I interviewed several people and gathered hundreds of pictures last week. One video will focus on the Bonner program at Stetson, giving a brief history, a description of the interview process, the FSEM, our T&E, and our main community partners, aimed at prospective Bonner students. Hopefully, this video will go on the wiki after it's finished to use as an "advertisement". The second video falls under the category "Bonner Green," and will highlight Hatter Harvest. This will certainly be a test of my video-making skills, but luckily the technology king Alex Sanchez is lending me a hand with the editing. I'm really excited to see the final result.

What else, what else? I think that's it.

Until next week (well, later this week, technically... :D),
Maria