I had a wonderful weekend! Every day something good happened. On Friday, we had a short work day. All staff participated in a fundraiser called "Stuff a Truck," where we stood outside in cold grocery store parking lots, filling trucks with donations. Actually, "we" didn't all do that. I got a cushy job. I signed up for working at the phone bank, so I was warm and indoors the whole time. We were at Fox 5, collecting donations over the phone. They showed us on air like 5 times! Whenever they showed us, we pretended to be talking on the phone. As soon as they showed us, we'd get real calls. I was there from 6 AM - 10:30 AM. I wanted to start early so that I could get done early. As my roommate pointed out though, I came home and slept til 3 PM, so it was really only like getting out of work a few hours early.
That evening, I went over to a co-worker's house to dress up for her friend's party. They were hosting "Festivus," which is something from Seinfeld. There were no airing of grievances or feats of strength like the in the episode, but dressing up beforehand was really fun. I love wearing other people's clothes!
On Saturday, I finally got to a project that I'd been meaning to do. I decked out my bike. When we were in Goshen for Thanksgiving, Mom & Dad bought me a helmet, two bike lights, and a side mirror. On Saturday, I attached everything, putting a mount for the light on my helmet and on the handlebars. Plus I repositioned the back wheel and raised the handlebars. That evening I made a bike pouch for holding everything I need to patch a tube. I bought the one last thing I needed for the kit - tire levers (or wheel spoons, as I called them) - and attached the kit to the crossbar. Woo safety consciousness! I'm always proud when I can fix things or attach things myself. Tomorrow night I'm going over to a coworker's house to spackle a small spot on her wall... Anyway, I sewed the little tire kit in the evening while I sat in the kitchen with housemates. It was just what I needed - a nice night in, bonding time with the housemates, and baked goods (they were making soft pretzels).
On Sunday, I got up at 9:30 and worked nonstop on a super-long to-do list until 4:30. It was maniacal but satisfying. I had to stop because... Hugo arrived!!! Yes, he was visiting Randy Keener in PA, and they drove down for the night. We went out to eat with some housemates, and then met up with Hilary for salsa dancing. The place we went was aMAZing. There was a huge ballroom floor, room for dancing, really good dancers, and not-creepy people. Seriously, these dancers were so good. We stood on the side a lot and watched. But we danced too of course. It was a great night. We got back at midnight, and then I stayed up making a breakfast casserole for my guests, and my roommate and I stayed up talking after that. I'm paying for it today!
On Monday I worked at the farm, and the weather was unseasonably warm. It was in the 60's, and I ended up working in a tee-shirt. For lunch, I sat on a sunny knoll with the farm dog.
How wonderful was that clump of days!
By the way, here is a sweet article about our food culture, and our culture in general: www.ecoliteracy.org/publications/vandana_shiva.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Everyone agrees....
...that Thanksgiving is the best. Think about it - no stress over presents, cards, or family newsletters; not too much overblown media hoopla; just family time, good food, and being grateful! I realize I'm glazing over "Black Friday," but my family usually stays out of stores on the worst shopping day of the year. In fact, that was the day we had our feast. I hitched a convenient ride with Olivia & David from Lancaster to arrive in Goshen on Thursday night. Mom & Dad came in from Des Moines at the same time. On Friday morning (until 2 PM), Mom, Olivia, David & I worked on the meal. That was more stressful than I anticipated, but I learned my lesson: prepare as much food the day before as possible. We had a wonderful meal of turkey, gravy, pumpkin soup with curried pecans, roasted rosemary vegetables, sweet potato fries, fresh bread, cranberry & orange & apple puree, green salad with lots of goodies in it, and an amazing fruit salad. (Did I miss anything?) For supper we had dessert: apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, ice cream. Pat and Hermann came over in the afternoon with the salads, we ate the meal, and then I don't know what happened because I took a long nap. I've decided these are the necessaries for Thanksgiving: 1. food 2. nap 3. walk. Some people cleaned up, some napped, some walked. Then we all gathered and played Apples to Apples. It was so nice to be sitting around the table with everyone, playing a game. Then we ate pie/supper, then we watched Wall-E. It was a wonderful day.
On Saturday, we went over to the Kauffmanns for another great meal and game playing. I feel so rich, seeing two sides of the family, and spending such quality time. This is just what I was hoping for at Thanksgiving. Sunday morning was a little stressful because I was trying to go through all of my storage to choose things to bring back. I had a list, but some things you just have to paw through. Jenna & Bethany calmed me down with chai, a warm fire, & a good chat. Seriously, this weekend was amazing. David, Olivia & I took off Sunday afternoon to Lancaster. I felt really ill in the car, which didn't catch up with me again until Thursday later that week. We listened to a great book on tape, though, called Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. As David said, it's like listening to Monty Python. David drove most of the way back! On Monday I slept in, then we drove to Philly. At 5 PM, I caught a bus to DC, and was home by 9. Note to travelers: don't pack a wheel-less suitcase that's too heavy for you to carry. Inevitably, you're going to have to carry it for at least a little ways. That's probably common-sense to most people, but apparently not in Anika-land. I went to work the next day, and except for taking a sick day on Thursday, and feeling ill on Friday night, all seems to be back to normal.
On Sunday I helped my housemate bake her first yeast bread, and helped a co-worker move (she rewarded me with food). Do you sense a theme here? Maybe I should rename my blog to something dealing with food. My housemate, Carly, who I helped with bread, is the one who makes wonderous creations out of fresh pumpkin puree. She and I have decided that we would make the perfect couple. We will get married, and I will garden, and she will create delicious makings out of the fresh produce, and in the winter I will make bread and she will make jam, which we will sell at the market. She calls me "wifey." Now all we need is to fall in love. (Claire, if you're reading this, please forgive me. I have another wife.)
On Saturday, we went over to the Kauffmanns for another great meal and game playing. I feel so rich, seeing two sides of the family, and spending such quality time. This is just what I was hoping for at Thanksgiving. Sunday morning was a little stressful because I was trying to go through all of my storage to choose things to bring back. I had a list, but some things you just have to paw through. Jenna & Bethany calmed me down with chai, a warm fire, & a good chat. Seriously, this weekend was amazing. David, Olivia & I took off Sunday afternoon to Lancaster. I felt really ill in the car, which didn't catch up with me again until Thursday later that week. We listened to a great book on tape, though, called Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. As David said, it's like listening to Monty Python. David drove most of the way back! On Monday I slept in, then we drove to Philly. At 5 PM, I caught a bus to DC, and was home by 9. Note to travelers: don't pack a wheel-less suitcase that's too heavy for you to carry. Inevitably, you're going to have to carry it for at least a little ways. That's probably common-sense to most people, but apparently not in Anika-land. I went to work the next day, and except for taking a sick day on Thursday, and feeling ill on Friday night, all seems to be back to normal.
On Sunday I helped my housemate bake her first yeast bread, and helped a co-worker move (she rewarded me with food). Do you sense a theme here? Maybe I should rename my blog to something dealing with food. My housemate, Carly, who I helped with bread, is the one who makes wonderous creations out of fresh pumpkin puree. She and I have decided that we would make the perfect couple. We will get married, and I will garden, and she will create delicious makings out of the fresh produce, and in the winter I will make bread and she will make jam, which we will sell at the market. She calls me "wifey." Now all we need is to fall in love. (Claire, if you're reading this, please forgive me. I have another wife.)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
I Got a Bike!!!!!!!!!!
I found a bike on Craigslist that wasn't ridiculously expensive, and I met the woman, and I got the bike! It's a little too small for me. I'm hoping that raising the seat will help. I might also bring my bike seat from Goshen, because this one hurts. The bike's a road bike, and it shifts really well, which my other bike doesn't. I took it upon myself to ride the bike home after getting it. It took an hour and a half, and there were hills. Why do I always do that? It's like how my first project after knitting scarves was to knit a sweater. After that I didn't know if I wanted to knit ever again.
I've noticed from the other BVS-er blogs that I follow that we all kind of stopped blogging at the same time. I'm getting more involved in life here, so I'm not as fiercely attached to communication from home, and the complexity of life makes it overwhelming to blog about. By the time I write a new entry, there's way too much to say in order to give people a complete picture. It seems like there are a few subjects that I keep updated, but plenty more I could be talking about. So those are my frustrations with blogging.
And now for a work update, because I realized that the last post about work is really outdated. I. Love. My. Job. And my boss is amazing. She would have made the perfect cooperating teacher for student teaching. I'm appreciating more and more the orientation she's given me. In the first week, she made it clear that she wants me to see as many aspects of the Food Bank as possible. So I've participated in a food distribution with Agency Relations, I've assisted with a class for the Nutrition Education program, I helped run a station at a food fair, I sat in on a class in Spanish about how to connect with supports in your community (for food pantries), I've toured our warehouse, and even driven the huge Capital Area Food Bank van. I really don't need to know all this to work in my department. And knowing that I'm only here for a year, my boss could easily just want me to get to work for her and our department. But it's become more and more clear how valuable all of this is. I can be such a better employee by being well-versed in what we do. Plus my boss puts so much trust in me and has made me a part of the department. It's pretty necessary I guess, because I'll be doing a lot of her job when she goes on maternity leave soon. Oh, here's an example of how awesome she is. We got to a site visit early last week, so she took me to Ben's Chili Bowl to get vegetarian chili cheese fries, just because it's a "DC must," even though it's so artery clogging. She's also tells me about what night life places she recommends and tries to orient me to the city.
It's hard to say what I do at work exactly, but I'll try. No day is the same. Every week, I'm out of the office for part of a few days. I really like breaking the week up like that. Tomorrow, I'm meeting my boss at a distant Metro stop. She'll pick me up to go to the farm, and we'll go over our notes for our "end of season" meeting with farm staff, then do some garden work. I think we have to pull up this really big ground cover thing and weed and plant cover crop. We won't get it all done, but we're going out to the farm again on Friday. Susan (my boss) and I will both run the meeting with farm staff (we planned it on Friday). When we get back to the office, I'll continue to call agencies to follow up with an email I sent out about our end of season meeting for agencies. Then I might type up notes from the meeting with farm staff. Or I'll call this one agency to see if they decided whether or not they're bringing a school group to the farm for gleaning day. And I'll send out an email to Food Bank staff saying that they can come to the farm with us on Friday if they want, because there'll be a lot to do. I'll follow up with revisions to an article I wrote about one of our member agencies. I'll start hand writing some thank-you notes to agencies that advertised one of our brochures. And I'll do anything else that comes up. That's a really jumbled idea of what one day might be like at work. It actually doesn't sound that great, but it's amazing. It helps that I really like the people I work with. The only thing I don't like is an entire day at the office, with mostly computer work. That makes my eyes hurt. I also don't like when I finish everything and there's nothing much for me to do. I always have a list of eco-websites to check out and a stack of books on my desk, but doing that kind of background, general knowledge fortifying makes me fall asleep. I'm also adjusting to the 9-5 work week. I don't always work 9-5. I often come in early and stay late, but I get comp time for that, so I leave early too. It's kind of hard to just go to work week after week. My weekends have been entirely dedicated to relaxing, gardening, reading, going out. But it's a little depressing to go back to work again on Monday. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, and actually I have a ton of holidays that a normal first-year wouldn't have. That's good because I'm just so unused to working full-time for an entire year, not to mention year after year.
I've noticed from the other BVS-er blogs that I follow that we all kind of stopped blogging at the same time. I'm getting more involved in life here, so I'm not as fiercely attached to communication from home, and the complexity of life makes it overwhelming to blog about. By the time I write a new entry, there's way too much to say in order to give people a complete picture. It seems like there are a few subjects that I keep updated, but plenty more I could be talking about. So those are my frustrations with blogging.
And now for a work update, because I realized that the last post about work is really outdated. I. Love. My. Job. And my boss is amazing. She would have made the perfect cooperating teacher for student teaching. I'm appreciating more and more the orientation she's given me. In the first week, she made it clear that she wants me to see as many aspects of the Food Bank as possible. So I've participated in a food distribution with Agency Relations, I've assisted with a class for the Nutrition Education program, I helped run a station at a food fair, I sat in on a class in Spanish about how to connect with supports in your community (for food pantries), I've toured our warehouse, and even driven the huge Capital Area Food Bank van. I really don't need to know all this to work in my department. And knowing that I'm only here for a year, my boss could easily just want me to get to work for her and our department. But it's become more and more clear how valuable all of this is. I can be such a better employee by being well-versed in what we do. Plus my boss puts so much trust in me and has made me a part of the department. It's pretty necessary I guess, because I'll be doing a lot of her job when she goes on maternity leave soon. Oh, here's an example of how awesome she is. We got to a site visit early last week, so she took me to Ben's Chili Bowl to get vegetarian chili cheese fries, just because it's a "DC must," even though it's so artery clogging. She's also tells me about what night life places she recommends and tries to orient me to the city.
It's hard to say what I do at work exactly, but I'll try. No day is the same. Every week, I'm out of the office for part of a few days. I really like breaking the week up like that. Tomorrow, I'm meeting my boss at a distant Metro stop. She'll pick me up to go to the farm, and we'll go over our notes for our "end of season" meeting with farm staff, then do some garden work. I think we have to pull up this really big ground cover thing and weed and plant cover crop. We won't get it all done, but we're going out to the farm again on Friday. Susan (my boss) and I will both run the meeting with farm staff (we planned it on Friday). When we get back to the office, I'll continue to call agencies to follow up with an email I sent out about our end of season meeting for agencies. Then I might type up notes from the meeting with farm staff. Or I'll call this one agency to see if they decided whether or not they're bringing a school group to the farm for gleaning day. And I'll send out an email to Food Bank staff saying that they can come to the farm with us on Friday if they want, because there'll be a lot to do. I'll follow up with revisions to an article I wrote about one of our member agencies. I'll start hand writing some thank-you notes to agencies that advertised one of our brochures. And I'll do anything else that comes up. That's a really jumbled idea of what one day might be like at work. It actually doesn't sound that great, but it's amazing. It helps that I really like the people I work with. The only thing I don't like is an entire day at the office, with mostly computer work. That makes my eyes hurt. I also don't like when I finish everything and there's nothing much for me to do. I always have a list of eco-websites to check out and a stack of books on my desk, but doing that kind of background, general knowledge fortifying makes me fall asleep. I'm also adjusting to the 9-5 work week. I don't always work 9-5. I often come in early and stay late, but I get comp time for that, so I leave early too. It's kind of hard to just go to work week after week. My weekends have been entirely dedicated to relaxing, gardening, reading, going out. But it's a little depressing to go back to work again on Monday. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, and actually I have a ton of holidays that a normal first-year wouldn't have. That's good because I'm just so unused to working full-time for an entire year, not to mention year after year.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Consider Yourself Invited
... to Inaguration on Jan. 20! Come to DC, stay at my house, walk to the ceremony, and witness a brilliant moment in history. I'm serious - I have the day off of work, and the day before - so I have a 5 day weekend, and I want to celebrate with you!
Last night I was with a considerable Goshen contingent. We were watching John Stuart and Steven Colbert inbetween (actual) election coverage. When the show ended, we switched back, and there it was on the screen, "NBC predicts Barak Obama winner." I couldn't believe it, because it was only minutes after the West coast voting ended. I know they were assuming the outcome, but I still thought we'd have to wait longer for more official numbers. We were crying and laughing and calling family... then someone suggested we run around the block and I remembered that I said I would run into the streets celebrating when Obama won. So 15 of us let out our excitement, yelling in celebration as we jogged around the block. People came to their doorsteps to cheer. We hugged strangers on the street corners. Cars honked and people hung out the windows, high-fiving us. Earlier that day I had sat glassy-eyed on the Metro, blankly staring past the people around me. The change was drastic. Now every person I saw was united.
After we watched the acceptance speech (so beautiful), we walked to U Street & 14th where the streets were blocked off, there was drumming, and people were out in mass. This is the exact same place where there were riots and looting 40 years ago after the assassination of MLK. What an amazing thing I witnessed! I saw fireworks, people on top of the bus shelter waving a Kenyan flag, cardboard cut-outs of Barak Obama. When I started to make my way back to SE (I was in NW), I walked down the middle of the road, hi-fiving people in cars. For blocks, traffic was stopped. I got to a bus stop and REALLY lucked out. A bus came (all the schedules were messed up), the driver staying past her shift to drive people home. We sang "we shall overcome" on the bus, and one man kept saying "I can die happy now!" You know, I imagined that I would celebrate in the streets, but it didn't occur to me that everyone else would too. But that's what you get when NINETY-FIVE percent of the district votes for one person. My vote went to Iowa, and I'm still waiting to see if Indiana turned blue for the first time (ever?). Thank you for all your hard work, friends who helped out in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Your work paid off!! It was so fun to be with people from Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and Virginia last night. We were so proud of our states. At work this morning, there is a lot of screaming. I am so proud of my country at this moment.
Last night I was with a considerable Goshen contingent. We were watching John Stuart and Steven Colbert inbetween (actual) election coverage. When the show ended, we switched back, and there it was on the screen, "NBC predicts Barak Obama winner." I couldn't believe it, because it was only minutes after the West coast voting ended. I know they were assuming the outcome, but I still thought we'd have to wait longer for more official numbers. We were crying and laughing and calling family... then someone suggested we run around the block and I remembered that I said I would run into the streets celebrating when Obama won. So 15 of us let out our excitement, yelling in celebration as we jogged around the block. People came to their doorsteps to cheer. We hugged strangers on the street corners. Cars honked and people hung out the windows, high-fiving us. Earlier that day I had sat glassy-eyed on the Metro, blankly staring past the people around me. The change was drastic. Now every person I saw was united.
After we watched the acceptance speech (so beautiful), we walked to U Street & 14th where the streets were blocked off, there was drumming, and people were out in mass. This is the exact same place where there were riots and looting 40 years ago after the assassination of MLK. What an amazing thing I witnessed! I saw fireworks, people on top of the bus shelter waving a Kenyan flag, cardboard cut-outs of Barak Obama. When I started to make my way back to SE (I was in NW), I walked down the middle of the road, hi-fiving people in cars. For blocks, traffic was stopped. I got to a bus stop and REALLY lucked out. A bus came (all the schedules were messed up), the driver staying past her shift to drive people home. We sang "we shall overcome" on the bus, and one man kept saying "I can die happy now!" You know, I imagined that I would celebrate in the streets, but it didn't occur to me that everyone else would too. But that's what you get when NINETY-FIVE percent of the district votes for one person. My vote went to Iowa, and I'm still waiting to see if Indiana turned blue for the first time (ever?). Thank you for all your hard work, friends who helped out in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Your work paid off!! It was so fun to be with people from Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and Virginia last night. We were so proud of our states. At work this morning, there is a lot of screaming. I am so proud of my country at this moment.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm a Domestic Goddess
I'm not sure if that's something I should brag about or not... Even so, I am proud that in the last 72 hours I have: cleared 1/3 of our overgrown garden, planted garlic, washed 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed and mopped 3 floors and two staircases, baked bread twice, made granola, made dinner for the house (shells stuffed with eggplant & ricotta, with tomato cream sauce, fresh/warm bread, fresh hummus with baked garlic, pesto [that I made last week]), prepared signs and displays for today's groundbreaking ceremony at work, stood outside in the cold and wind for 3 hours greeting guests (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102801974.html), and... I think that's it. Now, some of this is explainable, but some of it's just outright madness. The vacuuming and mopping were my chore for this week. And it was my turn to make dinner for the house tonight. I didn't need to bake bread and make hummus for them, but I was inspired. Or at least I was until I had to clean it all up. It took prep work last night, waking up early to make dough this morning, getting off early, cooking for 3.5 hours, and cleaning up for 2 hours. That all said, it was really good, and I made some friends with my housemates. But I'm never doing that again. I'd better slow down before I hurt myself. I'm going to bed - right now.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Overdue Update
I've been in DC for two weeks, and I haven't posted! Sorry! It's hard for me to bring myself to the computer after an 8 hour day at my work computer. This week at work was a lot of reading. My boss was gone for a conference, and I had a few assignments. One was to contact all our FGU Grant (From the Ground Up) participants to see when they could meet for an end of season meeting. But I didn't have voicemail set up til Thursday, so they could only call me back during certain times. That was frustrating. I'm also supposed to meet with the head of every department, for them to tell me what they do. (All new hires go through this process.) But most of them were busy, so I only met with two. Basically, I didn't do much this week.
In between my projects, I was supposed to educate myself with a stack of books and some computer files. The days dragggged. I felt like I was sitting down to 8 hours of homework. On the upside, my boss wants me to see as much of the foodbank as I can, so I get to go on lots of little adventures. I went with Kenneth to the food drop at the Ambassador Baptist Church. That was a great morning. I sat at a table collecting personal info from the participants, then gave them a food ticket with a certain number depending on their circumstances. They were so grateful. When things slowed down, I got to sit around with Kenneth, who is an amazing & interesting guy. We talked about politics and the ways of the world... He went to college with Oprah Winfrey, he's from Clarksville (there actually was a "last train to Clarksville" and he was there to witness it!), and a tree fell on his car once, smashing everything but him. That afternoon/evening, I assisted teaching a nutrition class. I do that class for two more Thursdays. I got home at 8 that night, which made for a very long day. On Friday, my boss was back and we went out to the farm. That perked me up after a long week.
I'm still adjusting to life here, outside of work. When I get home, I have energy from sitting around all day. It's too dark or cold to go running, and the pool is closed. I don't want to get on the computer (that'd be just like work), and I don't really have anywhere to go. So I kind of wander around the house, looking for housemates to amuse me, which is tricky because I don't want to do anything sedentary. What I really need is a bike to get some of my energy out. I think it would take about as long to bike to and from work as it would to take the Metro. I was waiting for Thanksgiving in Goshen to get my bike, but someone told me that if I really like my bike, I'd better not bring it to DC. So I looked on Craigslist, and there's nothing under $40. I don't want to pay that much for a bike I won't be keeping. I don't know what to do.
Today I had big plans, but I ended up napping all afternoon. It was rainy and perfect for hibernating. I did make it to the market where I bought lots of fresh produce. I'm cooking on Tuesday for the house, and I'm going to make eggplant and basil stuffed shells with tomato cream sauce. I got a bunch of fresh basil from work, and I looked up recipes to use it in. I also made pesto, which I will serve with homemade bread. Oh, I love food. Tomorrow I still might accomplish some of my other plans: laundry, planting garlic, swimming, grocery shopping, making granola.
I got paid on Friday, which meant I could pay myself back for one week of food. I don't get paid for another two weeks, which will be a stretch. When divvied out, my $60 a month stipend is only $15 a week, and I'm dipping into some of that for food. That means I can buy maybe one croissant a week (I really love/miss pastries). If I can bike to work sometimes, I could use some of my transportation money for other things. It'd be really nice if we had clothespins, more dishrags, and a drying rack. Where are you Goodwill???
In between my projects, I was supposed to educate myself with a stack of books and some computer files. The days dragggged. I felt like I was sitting down to 8 hours of homework. On the upside, my boss wants me to see as much of the foodbank as I can, so I get to go on lots of little adventures. I went with Kenneth to the food drop at the Ambassador Baptist Church. That was a great morning. I sat at a table collecting personal info from the participants, then gave them a food ticket with a certain number depending on their circumstances. They were so grateful. When things slowed down, I got to sit around with Kenneth, who is an amazing & interesting guy. We talked about politics and the ways of the world... He went to college with Oprah Winfrey, he's from Clarksville (there actually was a "last train to Clarksville" and he was there to witness it!), and a tree fell on his car once, smashing everything but him. That afternoon/evening, I assisted teaching a nutrition class. I do that class for two more Thursdays. I got home at 8 that night, which made for a very long day. On Friday, my boss was back and we went out to the farm. That perked me up after a long week.
I'm still adjusting to life here, outside of work. When I get home, I have energy from sitting around all day. It's too dark or cold to go running, and the pool is closed. I don't want to get on the computer (that'd be just like work), and I don't really have anywhere to go. So I kind of wander around the house, looking for housemates to amuse me, which is tricky because I don't want to do anything sedentary. What I really need is a bike to get some of my energy out. I think it would take about as long to bike to and from work as it would to take the Metro. I was waiting for Thanksgiving in Goshen to get my bike, but someone told me that if I really like my bike, I'd better not bring it to DC. So I looked on Craigslist, and there's nothing under $40. I don't want to pay that much for a bike I won't be keeping. I don't know what to do.
Today I had big plans, but I ended up napping all afternoon. It was rainy and perfect for hibernating. I did make it to the market where I bought lots of fresh produce. I'm cooking on Tuesday for the house, and I'm going to make eggplant and basil stuffed shells with tomato cream sauce. I got a bunch of fresh basil from work, and I looked up recipes to use it in. I also made pesto, which I will serve with homemade bread. Oh, I love food. Tomorrow I still might accomplish some of my other plans: laundry, planting garlic, swimming, grocery shopping, making granola.
I got paid on Friday, which meant I could pay myself back for one week of food. I don't get paid for another two weeks, which will be a stretch. When divvied out, my $60 a month stipend is only $15 a week, and I'm dipping into some of that for food. That means I can buy maybe one croissant a week (I really love/miss pastries). If I can bike to work sometimes, I could use some of my transportation money for other things. It'd be really nice if we had clothespins, more dishrags, and a drying rack. Where are you Goodwill???
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Welcome to DC
I'm here - finally! I arrived yesterday with Jonathan and Stephan. We were the first to get to our site, except for Don of course, who stayed in New Windsor and walked 7 minutes to get to his project. It took about an hour to get from Baltimore to DC, and then we waited for an hour for our host to pick us up. Jonathan and Stephan are amAZed by the kindness here. Here's what happened on our first day:
- On the train, a guy heard where we were going and helped us make our stop. Then he helped us buy transfer tickets, got us through the turnstyle when Stephan's ticket didn't work, carried one of Stephan's bags, and dropped us off at our next train.
- While Stephan was waiting with our bags at Eastern Market station (Jonathan and I were finding food), a guy started talking to him about the city and gave him his number.
- When we went grocery shopping, the people in front of us in line and behind us in line started talking to us about DC, the best food markets, etc.
- When I got off the train in the evening, my ticket was for the wrong price, and I didn't have 65 cents, and the station manager just let me through.
After the first event, J & S both said about 5 times, "that would never, ever, ever happen in Germany." Apparently people from the South think that DC is cold and harsh, and people from the North think it's super friendly. I think it's super friendly!
Our house manager, Danielle, picked us up at the station and gave us a very brief tour of the house. Then I took a nap and the three of us ventured out to buy some groceries for our evening meal. Danielle had warned us about "sticker shock" in DC, and she was right - I bought a loaf of bread for $4! Between the three of us, we probably got 4 bags of groceries for $50. I went from eating for about $2 a day, to at least $15 dollars a day. BVS is going to exhaust their budget on us...
The house is old and a little run down, in Capital Hill, a nice area. Danielle said I could walk from the Metro station to my house at night by myself. Nice! The house is three stories, with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor. I would much rather have another living room than 2 extra kitchens... The basement has windows above ground and a living room. I live on the top floor with a roommate, Daniela (Dani) from Germany. There are now 4 Germans living here (11 people altogether). Dani got here 2 weeks ago from Germany, so we will be newbies together. She will only be here for 3 months. She works as an intern at the UN in some Latin American office - she speaks Spanish all day at work. I really like her!
The whole house is kind of like The Barn, only more transitional since people arrive and leave at all times of the year. The cupboards for instance, have a random assortment of pots and spoons all kind of shoved together. I couldn't find any lids! Nobody was home in the evening to welcome us except Dani, but my Goshen connections pulled through as I thought they might. I can't believe how many Goshen-ites are here... Dani and I met up with Hilary, Maryan, Landon, Dominique, Benj Yoder, Anna Mast, Micah Jost, Glenn. The last three were visiting, but still! We hung out at Dominique's apartment (they all live like 3 blocks away from each other, but across town from me), and then went to a really great club. There was no cover charge, everybody was dancing, people weren't too dressed up, and there were some great oldies mixed in with new music. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Stephan were at the house when some people came home, and they all went out together. I'm glad that worked out.
So! What else? We have a flat roof that is accessible, a little garden & picnic table out back, and a house bike. There's a house computer too, but most people seem to have laptops, which is great for me. I hate typing on laptops because my hand always brushes the cursor area, and the cursor jumps all over while I'm typing. Plus it's nice to have an English keyboard with the "y" and "z" in the "right" places. (I've been borrowing German laptops.) The ceilings in the house are tall, my room has three windows and a sink, the roads and sidewalks are wide, and the city is short. That is, there aren't many skyscrapers or anything, and the city is broader than it is tall. In that way it reminds me of Minneapolis more than say, Philly. It's really pretty (from what I've seen). We live about 5 blocks from the Capital Building, but I haven't seen it yet. There will be soooo much to see in this city - parks, museums, universities, rivers, governmental stuff. Maybe I'm in the honeymoon stage after all!
My address here is:
643 G. St. SE
Washington DC
20003
I don't know the house phone # yet. Ok, time to do some exploring. I have Monday off of work, so more time to settle in. It's been great to hear from you guys. I got one snail mail at orientation and it was so exciting and unexpected!
- On the train, a guy heard where we were going and helped us make our stop. Then he helped us buy transfer tickets, got us through the turnstyle when Stephan's ticket didn't work, carried one of Stephan's bags, and dropped us off at our next train.
- While Stephan was waiting with our bags at Eastern Market station (Jonathan and I were finding food), a guy started talking to him about the city and gave him his number.
- When we went grocery shopping, the people in front of us in line and behind us in line started talking to us about DC, the best food markets, etc.
- When I got off the train in the evening, my ticket was for the wrong price, and I didn't have 65 cents, and the station manager just let me through.
After the first event, J & S both said about 5 times, "that would never, ever, ever happen in Germany." Apparently people from the South think that DC is cold and harsh, and people from the North think it's super friendly. I think it's super friendly!
Our house manager, Danielle, picked us up at the station and gave us a very brief tour of the house. Then I took a nap and the three of us ventured out to buy some groceries for our evening meal. Danielle had warned us about "sticker shock" in DC, and she was right - I bought a loaf of bread for $4! Between the three of us, we probably got 4 bags of groceries for $50. I went from eating for about $2 a day, to at least $15 dollars a day. BVS is going to exhaust their budget on us...
The house is old and a little run down, in Capital Hill, a nice area. Danielle said I could walk from the Metro station to my house at night by myself. Nice! The house is three stories, with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor. I would much rather have another living room than 2 extra kitchens... The basement has windows above ground and a living room. I live on the top floor with a roommate, Daniela (Dani) from Germany. There are now 4 Germans living here (11 people altogether). Dani got here 2 weeks ago from Germany, so we will be newbies together. She will only be here for 3 months. She works as an intern at the UN in some Latin American office - she speaks Spanish all day at work. I really like her!
The whole house is kind of like The Barn, only more transitional since people arrive and leave at all times of the year. The cupboards for instance, have a random assortment of pots and spoons all kind of shoved together. I couldn't find any lids! Nobody was home in the evening to welcome us except Dani, but my Goshen connections pulled through as I thought they might. I can't believe how many Goshen-ites are here... Dani and I met up with Hilary, Maryan, Landon, Dominique, Benj Yoder, Anna Mast, Micah Jost, Glenn. The last three were visiting, but still! We hung out at Dominique's apartment (they all live like 3 blocks away from each other, but across town from me), and then went to a really great club. There was no cover charge, everybody was dancing, people weren't too dressed up, and there were some great oldies mixed in with new music. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Stephan were at the house when some people came home, and they all went out together. I'm glad that worked out.
So! What else? We have a flat roof that is accessible, a little garden & picnic table out back, and a house bike. There's a house computer too, but most people seem to have laptops, which is great for me. I hate typing on laptops because my hand always brushes the cursor area, and the cursor jumps all over while I'm typing. Plus it's nice to have an English keyboard with the "y" and "z" in the "right" places. (I've been borrowing German laptops.) The ceilings in the house are tall, my room has three windows and a sink, the roads and sidewalks are wide, and the city is short. That is, there aren't many skyscrapers or anything, and the city is broader than it is tall. In that way it reminds me of Minneapolis more than say, Philly. It's really pretty (from what I've seen). We live about 5 blocks from the Capital Building, but I haven't seen it yet. There will be soooo much to see in this city - parks, museums, universities, rivers, governmental stuff. Maybe I'm in the honeymoon stage after all!
My address here is:
643 G. St. SE
Washington DC
20003
I don't know the house phone # yet. Ok, time to do some exploring. I have Monday off of work, so more time to settle in. It's been great to hear from you guys. I got one snail mail at orientation and it was so exciting and unexpected!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
A Placement
Well folks, I know where I'm going. I'm going to Washington DC to work with the Capital Area Food Bank - my first choice! Yay! I'll be working with a branch that focuses on pairing organic food with people of low income. Before I thought that was the mission of the whole food bank, but it's just the branch I'll be in. It's a really small department. I'll be working with Susan Topping, her boss is Jodi, and there's one more woman in the department. I interviewed with Susan, and she told me that they can take someone, but it has to be through August because Spring and Summer are the fruits of the Winter work. And I agreed, because I really like the job. This is what I know of it:
In the Fall/Winter, I will be going to Food Kitchens that participate in our From the Ground Up (FGU) project to see how they're doing. When the season ends, we'll be interviewing them to see if there's anything we can do better next year, and maybe I'll be compiling the data. Then I will interview/assess who will be in the program next year. I will also be developing curriculum for a class (not exactly sure what yet). In the Spring, I will be getting the garden started and maintaining it, in addition to office work. In the summer when kids' groups come to the farm, I will possibly be assisting the teacher of those classes.
I will be mainly working with Susan, who is 7 months pregnant. When she goes on maternity leave, I'll be working with Jodi. They seem to be a tight knit group, so I think it will be okay. The commute is about 45 min from the BVS house to work, using public transportation. I might be able to get a bike though... :) The BVS house is big and located in a neat area, near Capital Hill (I think). Because of the type of work I'm doing, I am eligible to join AmeriCorps this year. BVS has a certain number of slots for this, and I get one! This means I will be logging my hours very carefully, and after about a year, I should get an education scholarship for my loans ($4725). I didn't imagine this possibility at all, and it's pretty exciting!
Two from my orientation unit will also be living at the BVS house. They are high school grads from Germany named Stephan (SHTEH-fhan) and Jonathan. There are other BVS-ers at the house already, and also people working for peace and justice with low income. I think about 14 can live there. One person is like the "house manager," so there will be some constancy in how things are run. Susan used to be the house manager there, so she's excited to be in that loop again. She already told me where there's a co-op nearby, and she's going to help me find a bike.
I have to go make supper - pizza! I feel like there's so much to say. I will certainly blog again when I can. I go to DC on Friday!
In the Fall/Winter, I will be going to Food Kitchens that participate in our From the Ground Up (FGU) project to see how they're doing. When the season ends, we'll be interviewing them to see if there's anything we can do better next year, and maybe I'll be compiling the data. Then I will interview/assess who will be in the program next year. I will also be developing curriculum for a class (not exactly sure what yet). In the Spring, I will be getting the garden started and maintaining it, in addition to office work. In the summer when kids' groups come to the farm, I will possibly be assisting the teacher of those classes.
I will be mainly working with Susan, who is 7 months pregnant. When she goes on maternity leave, I'll be working with Jodi. They seem to be a tight knit group, so I think it will be okay. The commute is about 45 min from the BVS house to work, using public transportation. I might be able to get a bike though... :) The BVS house is big and located in a neat area, near Capital Hill (I think). Because of the type of work I'm doing, I am eligible to join AmeriCorps this year. BVS has a certain number of slots for this, and I get one! This means I will be logging my hours very carefully, and after about a year, I should get an education scholarship for my loans ($4725). I didn't imagine this possibility at all, and it's pretty exciting!
Two from my orientation unit will also be living at the BVS house. They are high school grads from Germany named Stephan (SHTEH-fhan) and Jonathan. There are other BVS-ers at the house already, and also people working for peace and justice with low income. I think about 14 can live there. One person is like the "house manager," so there will be some constancy in how things are run. Susan used to be the house manager there, so she's excited to be in that loop again. She already told me where there's a co-op nearby, and she's going to help me find a bike.
I have to go make supper - pizza! I feel like there's so much to say. I will certainly blog again when I can. I go to DC on Friday!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Orientation - First Days
Here I am in New Windsor, Maryland! It is Day 3, but it feels like it's been weeks. My adventure started right away with delayed flights. There was fog in Chicago, so planes were stopping in South Bend to refuel, which blocked our take-off. By the time I got to Chicago, I'd missed my flight to Baltimore. The lady at the counter told me I'd be flying standby for the rest of the day. (I've never flown standby before.) The first flight let on 4 standbys out of 20. It was hectic and confusing. Some confirmed ticket holders lost their seats to standby-ers who were at the gate first. Then the lot of us moved to another waiting area for another standby, and I made it on that flight! I couldn't believe it. I got here late, with another BVSer, Mollie, who had also flown to Chicago. We recognized each other, but we hadn't made the connection before we arrived in Baltimore. It was a long day of traveling, but I wasn't actually in the air most of the time. Oh, in South Bend, I lost some papers with BVS cell phone numbers on them, so I don't know how they figured out what flight I was on.
Here, I was assigned a roommate. I had thought we would pick them, but I'm glad they were assigned to avoid a popularity contest and force people to mix. Also, I love my roommate!!! It's a great match, but I never would have made the connection on my own. Her name is Ine (EE-nuh), she's the oldest member of our group (62), and she's from Holland. She's Mennonite; her partner is a Mennonite pastor. On the first night we sat on our beds and talked and talked. Last night we shared photos. In our group we have 5 from Germany, 1 from Holland, 1 who is blind, 2 who are older, not all white... it's a nice mix.
On the second day, we got our food groups (also assigned) and made a food run. There's a schedule of meals, rotating groups to cook. We get 50 cents per person for breakfast, 75 cents for lunch, $1 for dinner. It's been a stretch, I'll admit, and I've been hungry a few times. There's definitely not enough to buy meat (which works well for us vegetarians). The idea is that we live simply and responsibly, and work together. Many people in the world live for under $1 a day.
Our goal this week has been to pick our top 3 choices for placement. There are files on every project, which give pictures, BVS-er feedback & description of the place. This makes a big difference in how I view projects that I previously had 1 paragraph about. I no longer want any of the 4 projects I was initially after! I was quite disappointed and down, but now I think I've found a few I'd be interested in. The process is supposed to be self-led, which is frustrating. When I talk to Dan McFadden (the director), he always mentions things I didn't know about the project, or factors that he hadn't told me before. I wish he would have more time with each of us, before we're supposed to decide. I am currently looking at interim projects in the States, since Latin America is so up in the air. At some point, I'm supposed to have a phone interview with the new LA coordinator. It's nervewracking because I don't know what sites will accept an interim volunteer. If it's a project I really want, I may be willing to commit to a full year, with the idea that I'll go to Latin America next year. My top choice at this point is a food bank in DC that pairs farms with places that give food to people of low-income. I could be working on a farm, visiting food banks, teaching classes on how to do fresh, local foods with a limited budget, developing curriculum for classes - or any combination thereof. I'm not sure what they'd need at the moment, but I like any of those possibilities (except maybe developing curriculum). If I teach classes, I will learn how to speak intelligently and informedly about something I care about. Living is in a BVS house in DC (not common for most positions). Not sure how I feel about that, but so far this is my best option I think.
It's a whirlwind. I've been really tired, but I woke up yesterday with finally enough energy for the day. Email me! I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this blog thing, it feels a lot less personal. It's hard to not get much feedback.
Here, I was assigned a roommate. I had thought we would pick them, but I'm glad they were assigned to avoid a popularity contest and force people to mix. Also, I love my roommate!!! It's a great match, but I never would have made the connection on my own. Her name is Ine (EE-nuh), she's the oldest member of our group (62), and she's from Holland. She's Mennonite; her partner is a Mennonite pastor. On the first night we sat on our beds and talked and talked. Last night we shared photos. In our group we have 5 from Germany, 1 from Holland, 1 who is blind, 2 who are older, not all white... it's a nice mix.
On the second day, we got our food groups (also assigned) and made a food run. There's a schedule of meals, rotating groups to cook. We get 50 cents per person for breakfast, 75 cents for lunch, $1 for dinner. It's been a stretch, I'll admit, and I've been hungry a few times. There's definitely not enough to buy meat (which works well for us vegetarians). The idea is that we live simply and responsibly, and work together. Many people in the world live for under $1 a day.
Our goal this week has been to pick our top 3 choices for placement. There are files on every project, which give pictures, BVS-er feedback & description of the place. This makes a big difference in how I view projects that I previously had 1 paragraph about. I no longer want any of the 4 projects I was initially after! I was quite disappointed and down, but now I think I've found a few I'd be interested in. The process is supposed to be self-led, which is frustrating. When I talk to Dan McFadden (the director), he always mentions things I didn't know about the project, or factors that he hadn't told me before. I wish he would have more time with each of us, before we're supposed to decide. I am currently looking at interim projects in the States, since Latin America is so up in the air. At some point, I'm supposed to have a phone interview with the new LA coordinator. It's nervewracking because I don't know what sites will accept an interim volunteer. If it's a project I really want, I may be willing to commit to a full year, with the idea that I'll go to Latin America next year. My top choice at this point is a food bank in DC that pairs farms with places that give food to people of low-income. I could be working on a farm, visiting food banks, teaching classes on how to do fresh, local foods with a limited budget, developing curriculum for classes - or any combination thereof. I'm not sure what they'd need at the moment, but I like any of those possibilities (except maybe developing curriculum). If I teach classes, I will learn how to speak intelligently and informedly about something I care about. Living is in a BVS house in DC (not common for most positions). Not sure how I feel about that, but so far this is my best option I think.
It's a whirlwind. I've been really tired, but I woke up yesterday with finally enough energy for the day. Email me! I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this blog thing, it feels a lot less personal. It's hard to not get much feedback.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Packing
This week has been a buckle-down-and-finish-everything week. My major project has been to pack and reorganize everything in storage. When I moved into Grandpa's basement, I was in the middle of teaching, I had just gotten back from a funeral (and an all-night bus ride), and I had one day to pack. So everything was just kind of thrown in the storage room. For the last few days I've been hammering away at my giant to-do list. Everytime I get burnt out on one project, I move to a different project, rotating all day. Today, I finished the storage room and packing! It feels a lot like helping my parents move, except that instead of having a nice, clean house to look at, I have a mound of stuff in the middle of the storage room that looks not unlike the mound of stuff that was there when I started. At least I know that all of the desk things are in one spot, all of the books in one spot, and all of the clothes grouped and labeled (hot weather dressy, hot weather casual, cold weather dressy, medium weather casual, etc) for the lucky fellow who gets to send me more stuff when I am assigned to a project. I also have a giant trash bag filled with clothes and goodies for Goodwill. It feels so good to have this done!
I finally had my phone interview with BVS, which didn't ease my nervousness. The Latin American projects are still at a standstill, or moving very slowly. Five BVSers want to go to Latin America this year... I am, positively, going to do domestic service first. For how long, I don't know. Dan McFadden kept saying 5-6 months, but I'm guessing it could be longer. I'm not nervous about anything in particular, just kind of strung up. It'll be a relief to finally start orientation.
My contact info at orientation is:
c/o Brethren Service Center
BVS Orientation
PO Box 188
New Windsor, MD, 21776
For emergencies, you can call #410.635.8834 and leave a message. This info is only valid til October 10.
We all share one phone and one computer - ak! I'm banking on getting cell phone service there.
I finally had my phone interview with BVS, which didn't ease my nervousness. The Latin American projects are still at a standstill, or moving very slowly. Five BVSers want to go to Latin America this year... I am, positively, going to do domestic service first. For how long, I don't know. Dan McFadden kept saying 5-6 months, but I'm guessing it could be longer. I'm not nervous about anything in particular, just kind of strung up. It'll be a relief to finally start orientation.
My contact info at orientation is:
c/o Brethren Service Center
BVS Orientation
PO Box 188
New Windsor, MD, 21776
For emergencies, you can call #410.635.8834 and leave a message. This info is only valid til October 10.
We all share one phone and one computer - ak! I'm banking on getting cell phone service there.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Detour
So last week I decided to travel to Carlisle, Kentucky to visit a friend, Tim, on the organic farm on which he's interning. I left on Sunday and came back on Saturday, so I got a full 5 days of farming in. We lived in a trailer and walked to the farm in the mornings. First we did barn chores - milking the goats, feeding the chickens, collecting eggs. I learned that chickens are dirty, dirty animals!
On Monday, we spent all day weeding the strawberry patch. I think that was the hardest day. It was the hottest, and we weren't protected from the sun. Plus, I was getting used to the schedule and the working. We worked from 8-12 and 2-6 on most days. (I usually took a nap during lunch time.) One weed we saw a lot of was purslain, which is considered a delicacy at restaurants!
On Tuesday, we weeded the currant and gooseberry patches. This was pricklier than the strawberries, and we had to cut out big weeds including blackberry brambles (very prickly!). In the afternoon, I assisted with the "pear crisis." The farmers, David and Arwen, had gathered pears this year for the first time. They were hoping the pears would keep in their root cellar, but when they checked on the pears, they realized that they were mistaken. So Arwen and I made pear butter, pear & ginger jam, and pear chutney. She is a very good cook, and it smelled soooo good!
We went to bed early on Tuesday (8:30) in anticipation of Wednesday, harvest day. David and Arwen run a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - which means that people commit to buying a full season of fresh produce, and the farmers commit to supplying it. So on Wednesday, we got up at 5 AM to begin harvesting at 6:30. This is the one day we used any kind of gas operated vehicular assistance - we drove the truck out into the veggie patches. We harvested swiss chard, red peppers, apple peppers, eggplant, spagetti squash, summer squash, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, italian heirloom tomatoes, parsley, fennel. It was beautiful to see it all together. We ate a quick lunch, then prepared the goods by washing and divvying out. By 2:30 it was time to drive to Lexington. We set up in a parking lot and greeted the shareholders as they picked up goods from 4:30-6:30. Afterwards, Tim and I went to the co-op where we got supper and supplies for the week. We finally got home at 8:30. That was a long day!
Thursday morning was our morning off for all the hard work of the day before. In the afternoon, we cultivated cole crops (mustards, kale, etc) until it started raining. We kept working until the soil was too clay-like. If you mess with the soil when it's raining, you end up packing it down and blocking air to the plants. I forget what we did the rest of the afternoon, but I made home-made pizza that night with chard and italian heirlooms and summer squash and goat cheese. Mmm.
Thursday night it rained, so there wasn't much to do in the fields on Friday. We spent the morning stringing onions. After onions have dried, you can wrap their tails around a piece of string, so that they're all hanging in a clump. We sat or stood in the shed, sorting and stringing onions, looking out the open door at the rain falling gently on the herb patch. In the afternoon we trekked up a hill to dig fence post holes. For this you use clam-shells, a long handled tool for picking up dirt, and an iron digger, a big iron stick with a sharp end for jamming in the dirt to loosen it. This was hard work. We dug 3 holes (2 feet deep), and we got started on 2 more. We were at about 18" on each of the last 2 when we hit rock that we couldn't break through. We'd already broken through much rock, but we were too tired at this point, so we called it a day. From up on the hill, we could see a lot of David and Arwen's land. They have either 100 or 1000 acres and they farm 1 acre. The rest is for the goats to graze or for returning to woodland. All of the land is hilly, with streams in the gullies. It reminded me of my service location in the DR, without the dust and dogs. It was gorgeous.
All in all, I learned a lot and I enjoyed some beautiful weather and AMAZING food. We ate fresh veggies, goat cheese, and eggs every day. I'm so glad I went!
On Monday, we spent all day weeding the strawberry patch. I think that was the hardest day. It was the hottest, and we weren't protected from the sun. Plus, I was getting used to the schedule and the working. We worked from 8-12 and 2-6 on most days. (I usually took a nap during lunch time.) One weed we saw a lot of was purslain, which is considered a delicacy at restaurants!
On Tuesday, we weeded the currant and gooseberry patches. This was pricklier than the strawberries, and we had to cut out big weeds including blackberry brambles (very prickly!). In the afternoon, I assisted with the "pear crisis." The farmers, David and Arwen, had gathered pears this year for the first time. They were hoping the pears would keep in their root cellar, but when they checked on the pears, they realized that they were mistaken. So Arwen and I made pear butter, pear & ginger jam, and pear chutney. She is a very good cook, and it smelled soooo good!
We went to bed early on Tuesday (8:30) in anticipation of Wednesday, harvest day. David and Arwen run a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - which means that people commit to buying a full season of fresh produce, and the farmers commit to supplying it. So on Wednesday, we got up at 5 AM to begin harvesting at 6:30. This is the one day we used any kind of gas operated vehicular assistance - we drove the truck out into the veggie patches. We harvested swiss chard, red peppers, apple peppers, eggplant, spagetti squash, summer squash, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, italian heirloom tomatoes, parsley, fennel. It was beautiful to see it all together. We ate a quick lunch, then prepared the goods by washing and divvying out. By 2:30 it was time to drive to Lexington. We set up in a parking lot and greeted the shareholders as they picked up goods from 4:30-6:30. Afterwards, Tim and I went to the co-op where we got supper and supplies for the week. We finally got home at 8:30. That was a long day!
Thursday morning was our morning off for all the hard work of the day before. In the afternoon, we cultivated cole crops (mustards, kale, etc) until it started raining. We kept working until the soil was too clay-like. If you mess with the soil when it's raining, you end up packing it down and blocking air to the plants. I forget what we did the rest of the afternoon, but I made home-made pizza that night with chard and italian heirlooms and summer squash and goat cheese. Mmm.
Thursday night it rained, so there wasn't much to do in the fields on Friday. We spent the morning stringing onions. After onions have dried, you can wrap their tails around a piece of string, so that they're all hanging in a clump. We sat or stood in the shed, sorting and stringing onions, looking out the open door at the rain falling gently on the herb patch. In the afternoon we trekked up a hill to dig fence post holes. For this you use clam-shells, a long handled tool for picking up dirt, and an iron digger, a big iron stick with a sharp end for jamming in the dirt to loosen it. This was hard work. We dug 3 holes (2 feet deep), and we got started on 2 more. We were at about 18" on each of the last 2 when we hit rock that we couldn't break through. We'd already broken through much rock, but we were too tired at this point, so we called it a day. From up on the hill, we could see a lot of David and Arwen's land. They have either 100 or 1000 acres and they farm 1 acre. The rest is for the goats to graze or for returning to woodland. All of the land is hilly, with streams in the gullies. It reminded me of my service location in the DR, without the dust and dogs. It was gorgeous.
All in all, I learned a lot and I enjoyed some beautiful weather and AMAZING food. We ate fresh veggies, goat cheese, and eggs every day. I'm so glad I went!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Let's see if this works!
This is my first blogging enterprise, so it might not be pretty. I set up this blog in order to update everyone of my BVS adventures (and beyond?). If you prefer an email update, let me know, and I can have blogger send you updates every time I post.
Here's what I know so far about my adventures: I'm in the Fall unit of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). Orientation starts Sept 21 in New Windsor, Maryland, and runs for 3 weeks. During that time, we will make food together, play together, listen to speakers and contribute ideas, do service projects, and discern with BVS staff our volunteer placement. I have requested to go to Latin America, but expect to have a domestic placement for up to 1 year first. BVS is in transition to a new Latin America director, and the process means a delay in placements. Once (fingers crossed) I go to Latin America, I will be there for two years. So I'm planning for up to 3 years.
After orientation, I will go to my volunteer site, which could be anywhere and anything in the USA. That means I have to pack for cold, hot, business, casual, manual labor. I'm interested in lots of projects - working with an organic pesticide agency in San Francisco; lobbying for a peace tax in DC; reconciliation in Rochester, NY; working with people who are terminally ill in Texas. The volunteer site is responsible for finding me housing (I think). I could be living with roommates, a host family, on my own, etc. There are many unknowns right now! I'll post as soon as I know more and have access to the internet.
(Here's a favorite picture of my family that I'm bringing along on service. I thought I'd post it for practice.)
Here's what I know so far about my adventures: I'm in the Fall unit of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). Orientation starts Sept 21 in New Windsor, Maryland, and runs for 3 weeks. During that time, we will make food together, play together, listen to speakers and contribute ideas, do service projects, and discern with BVS staff our volunteer placement. I have requested to go to Latin America, but expect to have a domestic placement for up to 1 year first. BVS is in transition to a new Latin America director, and the process means a delay in placements. Once (fingers crossed) I go to Latin America, I will be there for two years. So I'm planning for up to 3 years.
After orientation, I will go to my volunteer site, which could be anywhere and anything in the USA. That means I have to pack for cold, hot, business, casual, manual labor. I'm interested in lots of projects - working with an organic pesticide agency in San Francisco; lobbying for a peace tax in DC; reconciliation in Rochester, NY; working with people who are terminally ill in Texas. The volunteer site is responsible for finding me housing (I think). I could be living with roommates, a host family, on my own, etc. There are many unknowns right now! I'll post as soon as I know more and have access to the internet.
(Here's a favorite picture of my family that I'm bringing along on service. I thought I'd post it for practice.)
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