CSL - Week 5

Short week. I should really combine weeks 5 and 6, but week 6 has so much to discuss that I feel obligated to separate them.

So.... week 5!

I worked on a bulletin board for SLI, which afforded me the opportunity to learn about the issue-based meetings. I am so excited to participate in those in the upcoming semester! The other two days were spent going to meetings with community partners, brainstorming ways to improve the freshmen Bonner's experience, and developing a form for students interested in community service to fill out in order to assist them in finding their best site.

I'm really excited for the way the CSL is going to work next semester. I think it's going to be so much more efficient and effective. The relationships we're building, the database we're compiling, the systems we're developing ... it's going to make such a difference in helping students find their niche.

The staff next semester is going to be fantastic too. There are so many people who are passionate about their issue areas, who will be well-versed in opportunities, who are helpful and kind... Here's a shout-out to you all: YOU'RE THE BEST!!

Made it to Thailand alive and well!

So, I made it! Taylor Hetherington, your little detour north of the volcano’s got nothing on me! To sum up the length of my travel, I will quote an answer I gave to an American woman in the Tokyo airport before heading to Thailand. She asked how my trip was going, and I replied, “Well, the flights have been good, no delays, but I got up at 4am, and now it’s 1am (Eastern time), and I have 11 more hours to go.” Basically, it was a lot of traveling, but I’m really quite pleased with how relatively smooth everything went.
There were a few things here and there that could be worth mentioning, but it was mostly just 32 hours of reading (Born to Run, by McDougall), watching movies (Young Victoria, The Last Station, Leap Year, Did you Hear about the Morgans, Princess and the Frog…), tv shows (Dexter, How It’s Made, Weird Creatures, Fraiser…), eating (scrumptious airline meals, total of four), playing solitaire (on the iPod, 4 games), and sleeping, all in random orders for various amounts of time, all interrupted by PA’s in multiple languages. On the flight from JAX to Houston, I was able to see oil on the Gulf, which was a little sad. Then on the long flight, I didn’t see a whole lot, mostly because I’m a big wimp and didn’t want to wake everyone in the darkened plane by opening the shade and letting in brilliant light from the Alaskan wilderness below. (although I did muster up the courage once or twice during the flight—the sights of snow capped North American mountains as well as Japan shores were well worth it!) Land Ho!

Once in the Bangkok airport, I experienced my first bout of stress, due to my bag literally being second-to-last out of ≥300 on the carousel, and then me waiting for 20 minutes and having no idea where my group was. I eventually backtracked [a mere 20 meters], and found the program director, who then drove me to the hotel, since the van had already left me behind. Woops! (for the record, I was waiting where I was supposed to wait, they just went to a different spot for some unknown reason…)
Today, in Bangkok (well, in a district just outside of the city), we decided to just take it easy and hit up The Mall, right across from our hotel. It is ridiculous: big, crowded, and SO much stuff crammed inside. No exciting purchases this time around, unless surge protectors and shower shoes are your thing.
In the evening, we went to Doug and Noi Barker’s house (program leaders), where we got Thai massages, ate incredible food, and watched/listened to some great musicians and dancers. I talked to Doug for a long time, and feel like I’ve already learned so much about service work overseas. He has been working internationally as a PA (physician’s assistant) and educator for more than 35 years (got started as a Peace Corps member). Tomorrow, we will learn more about his work when we start orientation and lectures.

As for now, the jet lag is taking its toll, and this pillow is looking mighty fine.

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!

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