GSV Beginnings

The first 8 days of GSV has been really overwhelming, in ways both good and less desirable.
Orientation was one looong week in rural Jersey (who knew?) where I met all the other volunteers. There are about 30 of us, mostly in NYC but some in Jersey and abroad. We spent most of the time going over the history of the organization and the four tenets of the program (simplicity, social justice, spirituality, and community, in no particular order). We had a lot of large and small group conversations about what those topics mean to GSV, to us, and to each other. It was very interesting to learn so much about the other volunteers, and to be able to speak about the concepts both theoretically and practically. I especially found the spirituality discussions to be interesting, since I had been so resistant to them in the beginning. At the end of the week that I had gained an appreciation and understanding of all of the different things spirituality can mean, and ways in which I’m interested in incorporating it into my life. It’s definitely going to be a long and slow road to get anywhere solid in that area, but I really enjoyed the initial conversations.
On Saturday we moved into our new place, which is top floor of a functional Catholic high school. The space is so large that my roommates and I ride scooters around the hallways! We found a few dead cockroaches (and then some alive ones today), and the space is very institutional looking and impersonal. With that being said we’re all really excited to make it as homey and our own as possible, and to make the most of the ridiculous amount of space we have. Oh, and did I mention the two porches and rooftop access with a view of the Manhattan skyline, or that I can see the Triborough (?) Bridge from my bedroom window?
Today was our first day of on-site orientation, and we were out from 8am-8pm. Long day. We were first briefed by Good Shepherd Services’ HR department, and given our first paychecks. If you calculate our earnings, we make $1.25/hour. Yikes! Talk about living simply. I won a game of Shepherdy and got a $5 Starbucks gift card, which was pretty cool. We filled out forms for health insurance and other boring things, and spoke to the Directors of one of the placements, a transitional housing organization for young-adult females who need life skills before leaving the foster care system for “the real world”. They were very informative and personable, and it sounds like a really great program. We left from there to my placement, Marian Hall, which is a very similar program and serves a younger population (12-19-ish). It is connected to a crisis center where the same girls can come to live if they can’t stay at home, and many girls travel from that program to mine. The staff at these programs were a little less personable and the space wasn’t big enough for a tour of our size, so I left there feeling disappointed and anxious.
We tour the other volunteer sites tomorrow and Wednesday, and our first day of work in Thursday. I’m anxious to see what I will be doing, and to have a conversation with my supervisor. My role is to be a good role model and support person for the girls, but I’m still foggy on specific duties. Tonight is our first spirituality night, and tomorrow will be our first community night. I’m really excited for this year, and for all of the opportunities and experiences I’ll be exposed to!
In other news, Dave is coming home tomorrow and I’m super excited, even though I won’t have much free time during the day =/.

grad school

I am a neurotic planner, so naturally I’ve been considering what grad school I should attend for several years now. I had finally decided I’d like to get my MSW (master of social work, with a focus on macro/public policy), but that I would like to study internationally, if possible. The problem now is that I’m not finding too many schools in Europe that offer an MSW in English. On the other hand, lots of them offer a masters of Public Policy in English. These programs, however, are two years long, while the MSW programs are only one year long (because I have  a BSW), thus saving me boatloads of money and work. What to do, what to do? Here is the list of possible schools I have compiled so far:
Columbia University, NYC: great program, $37,000 tuition (not including living expenses!)
Mcgill University, Montreal, CA: good program, great university, $16,000 tuition
Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, DU: MPP, program not exactly what I want but in Berlin, $31,612 tuition (total for two years)
University of Erfurt, Erfurt, DU: MPP, German lessons included, $7,587 tuition (total for two years)
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK: perfect program, one year, $18,379
Stockholm University, Stockholm, SW: website is hard to navigate
As you can see the schools abroad are significantly cheaper, and all of the schools are of a high caliber and are very competitive. I havn’t considered any back-up schools yet. Most application deadlines are in January, so I’d better get moving!

Otter Lake, NY

I spent most of the long 4th of July weekend at my friend’s sister’s cabin on Otter Lake. It is a small, beautiful lake. There are homes almost all the way around the lake, but they are back from the water and generally small, so it doesn’t feel like there’s been too much development. Also, most of the people who were there seemed to recognize each other, indicating that the homes are filled with long-term owners as opposed to a constant string on renters. I felt that this ownership may have had something to do with the fact that the lake is so clean, and why everyone is pretty friendly to one-another.
Each morning Erin and I took a kayak ride around the lake, and it was really serene and calming to be out so close to nature. Later in the day the motor boats and jet skis come out, which makes kayaking much less fun and lots more scary. I can’t say I’m innocent, though, because I went on lots of boat rides and water tubing, too. There were small firework shows each night that we watched from the dock while eating smores before going to bed around 10. It was the perfect way to spend some long summer days, and I hope I can enjoy lots more of them on lakes like this.

Hudson, NY

Yesterday my boyfriend, his brother and I took a ride down to Hudson on a whim. It was my first time down there. We walked a bit of Warren Street, grabbed lunch at Earth Foods, and visited the Henry Hudson river park. Warren Street is a bunch of little shops full of beautiful things (clothing, antiques, glorious stuff) that I will likely never be able to afford. The buildings are old, beautiful, and full of charm,  and all of the street signs have whales on them . Super adorable. Earth Foods is a little organic cafe, and what they lack in ambiance they more than they make up for with flavor. I had a grilled portobello stuffed with crab meat and chevre, topped with roasted red peppers and on a bed of lettuce with a balsamic dressing. It was so good I refused to throw out one bite, even though I was stuffed. The park is small, just some benches along the riverfront with a gazebo, but it was a beautiful day and a lovley place to watch it go by.
All in all charming, quaint, but too small (and pricey) to spend more than a few hours.

day3: Charleston, SC

After arriving in Charleston we did a short walking tour of the city, thanks to Eva’s iphone. It was warm but not hot and the shops were closed because of the time so it wasn’t crowded. We went to Poogan’s Porch for dinner, where we all had wine, fried alligator, and salmon with a green tea glaze, risotto and asparagus. It was delicious and a very enjoyable meal.

This morning we did a few guided tours – one of the Aiken house, an urban plantation, one of the dungeon/Provost, where POW’s and pirates were held between the Revolutionary war and the Civil war, and we went to the Fort Knox museum. We had another great meal on the patio of Hominy Grill. Overall, I loved the city for it’s beautiful architecture, charm, and southern hospitality without being too slow. We are now headed to Savannah, where we will stay for two days.

day 2: Wilmington, NC

Yesterday we arrived in Wilmington near 4, unloaded, and went to explore the town. It’s very old, quaint, and cute, with an interesting mix of history, dive bars, beach town, and artistic vibes. We walked along the waterfront and ate a huge platter of all kinds of shell fish – delicious. When we left it was pouring like crazy and we ran from one awning to another, but still ended up hopelessly wet. Eva took a pretty hard spill on a stone step but took it like a champ. We headed over to a haunted pub crawl and it really sucked. The tour guide was wasted and encouraged us to catch up to him, and he told a bunch of lame ghost stories in loud bars. I suppose that’s what I should have expected, but I was hoping for something way more scary. At one point we ditched the group to get shots and play fuBboll, and that ended up being the most fun we had all night. After the tour ended we went to a bar to play pool, and then headed in for the night.

This morning we got up early, went out to breakfast, and spent a few hours at the beach. The water was freezing but the beach was deserted. It was lovely. Next stop: Charleston!

day 1: Washington, D.C.

Today was the first day of our roadtrip, and we left for DC around 9am. The car is crazy packed, and we’re ready for adventure. We arrived near 4, hung out at my Aunts house, and Eva got her first pedicure ever. We ate dinner with my family and went in the hot tub before checking out the monuments at night.