Monday, September 12, 2011

month one.

It's hard to believe that it was just a month ago that I boarded a plane in St. Louis to head to JVC orientation. I can't believe I've only known my housemates for a month, that I had never seen this city a month ago. And at the same time... I can't believe that one month of my year-long adventure as a JV is already over. I don't know where the time went. I can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds.

month one: a recap

jvc northeast '11-'12.

orientation.
bleary-eyed goodbyes and flight out of lambert at 6am. waiting in the airport with a fellow billiken. meeting two housemates at the airport. meeting two more at orientation icebreakers. realizing that there was no 6th roommate, and that therefore we would all have our own rooms. some awkward conversations. meeting so many wonderful people from all over the country. sharing our lifelines. the beautiful hills of blue ridge, pennsylvania. the four values. four hours of silence. starting to realize what a wonderful, crazy year i was in for. talent show performances. the first round of goodbye's. passover remembered to send us off.


local orientation.
hanging out at bwi with the portland community. flying to boston. freaking out a little at the airport. getting picked up by fjvs and beginning to realize the extent of the fjv network in boston. meeting maria. first dinner and first sam adam (for me at least).  trips to target. electricity problems/mice. sam adam's factory. kickin' it in jp. jamaica pond, jp licks, thrift stores. boston common, freedom trail, quincy market. placement tours. our first foley's visit. jacob wurth's. papa's visit.  meeting dave, infamous bartender of foley's. mass at st. cecelia's and a bar-b-que. first grocery shopping trip. cleaning. rearranging my bedroom. getting settled in, just in time for...

and the real work begins: week one.
first day of work. teaching ESOL classes but mostly learning. maggie's birthday dinner. free pumpkin beer from an fjv on a tuesday night. dinner with peter, our jesuit liaison. walks to work. meeting the kids, little by little. learning the faces and names of casserly house. getting the internet. first community night (pumpkin beer on the balcony). runs around the neighborhood. discovering the forest hills cemetery. nights out with fjv's. st. anthony's festival in the north end. surviving (and enjoying) my first hurricane.  

boston community at the sam adams factory.

work: week two.
my first spirituality night. a disastrous meal. beginning to really explore boston. packing lunches. learning, growing, & pushing myself at work. planing for the after school program. first community night with matt and sarah. visits to back bay, newbury street, the freedom trail, the north end, and lots of bookstores. labor day weekend. wandering around jp and hanging out at doyle's. getting a boston library card. a night at foley's (one of the many we will have this year). mass with peter at st. ignatius + brunch. harpoon brewery tour and a visit to the other foley's (not as good as ours). 

work: week three.
emails, emails, emails. after school program registration & meeting the parents, but most importantly, meeting the kids i will get to spend the next year with. spirituality via meditation. a week of gloomy, rainy weather. "the honeymoon is over." my first venture across the charles to cambridge. beginning to realize what kind of weather i'm in for this year. the five love languages. a beautiful weekend. touring somerville and cambridge via mass ave. falling asleep during movies. saturday morning farmer's markets. free crepes. the cambridge carnival international festival. an fjv potluck (and another visit to foley's). mass at st. cecelia's. sowa open market on a sunday afternoon. party planning. freaking out about my computer and the first day of the after school program.

view of downtown boston from the harbor.

And a whole lot more. And a whole lot more to come (11 months to be exact).


p.s. This was intended to be posted last night (I left St. Louis on August 11th), but the aforementioned computer issues prohibited that. 

1 comment:

  1. I just love how you organized your post! Your short, simple phrases do so much and hold so much power. I thought about sharing this with my students to show them the power of words, but I worry that they will want to write like this all the time! Something for me to consider though...

    My favorite parts were about you getting your library card, the 5 love languages, and free crepes (jealous)! I hope your computer is doing well also :)

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