One More Cup of Coffee For The Road

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas!

I apologize, it’s been over a month since I last posted. We’ve been going through some difficult changes out here, and it’s been hard to write in the middle of all of it. Two of my housemates, Siobhan and Adrienne, left the program last week and went home. The situations are unique and complicated and don’t really need to be broadcast all over the internet, but I’m willing to discuss them on a more individual basis if anyone wants to know more. So we've gone from six down to four. It has been a very difficult transition for us, and we’ve been wrestling with a lot of big and complicated emotions, but we’re going to be alright. The four of us intend to finish the year out strong!

Though the bad things have kind of taken over the last month, there have also been some wonderful times as well. Four weekends ago a few of us traveled to Boston and New York for the weekend. Being that Bridgeport is somewhere in between Boston and NYC, driving up to Boston and then back down (literally right through Bridgeport) into NYC was a bit silly, but it was a really wonderful weekend! We got into Boston late Friday night and stayed at some friends of Sophie and Hannah’s. They were really lovely people and it was really fun getting to meet them. Saturday morning I met up with a friend that I had in the area, Maddie. I met her my freshman year of college when our schools went on the same spring break trip to Tennessee. It was great to see her again and catch up! We got coffee and chatted for a while, and then hopped on the T and headed into the city!

Boston is gorgeous. All brick buildings and fall colors and perfection. We got to see Fenway Park (!!!!!) and Northeastern (Maddie’s) campus and the public gardens. It was really wonderful to just wonder around such a beautiful city. I met back up with Sophie, Hannah and their friends late Saturday afternoon, said good bye to Maddie and then headed out to see more of Boston. We found “Cheers”, which was pretty cool, wandered the city a bit more, enjoyed the Christmas lights and the general splendor of Boston, and then caught the T back to our car and headed out. Time to hit NYC!

We got into the City pretty late, but after all, New York is the city that never sleeps! We met up with some more of Hannah and Sophie’s college friends, more truly lovely people, and hung out with them for a long time. We spent the night in a Fordham dorm room with a few of Hannah’s friends. It was really neat to see their school and share that together.

The next morning (well…afternoon really…) Sophie took me to this really great, really cheep pizza place for lunch. It was so good! (Note: Mom, Dad and Jack – I’m taking you there in march! Be excited!). After lunch we walked through Central Park and found the Balto statue, a childhood dream fulfilled! We spent some time in the Met again, because the Met is a wonderful, magical place filled with happiness and joy (Parentals and Jack—we are also going here in March). Sophie’s roommate from college met us there and then after it closed we headed to her apartment for some tea. We met back up with Hannah later that evening and then walked to Grand Central (past just about every Broadway play worth seeing!!!) to catch a train back home. It was another whirlwind adventure, and a little bit mad, but we had a marvelous time!

Adrienne and I spent Thanksgiving in Avalon, NJ with Sophie’s family. We played on the beach (though this time it was too cold to swim!), watched all three parts of The Godfather with Sophie’s family, and just had a really wonderful, relaxing couple of days on the shore. I am so thankful for Sophie’s family, who welcomed us in so graciously. On Saturday we drove to Sophie’s families home 9just outside of Philly) and spent the night there. We took advantage of the wifi and got caught up on the new season of Doctor Who! We were pretty darn excited about that, let me tell you what. I also got to Skype with Mom, Dad and Jack, which was really wonderful! I can’t wait to see them—less than two weeks!!

This past weekend was really lovely. I went to a white elephant party with a group of people from the church I’ve been attending. It was a lot of fun, and it’s so nice to be invited into their community. I felt very welcomed. After the white elephant, we had a couple coworkers and other people that we’ve met over to our house. We played Apple’s to Apples (my very favorite game!) and listened to records. It was a really chill evening. On Saturday we had our various support people over for a fancy Christmas party. We served various appetizers (cheese and crackers, pita and hummus, spinach dip, frittata, mouse pie, salted caramel whiskey truffles, wine, etc), played Christmas albums on the record player and sat around chatting for hours. It was really, really lovely. After the party we put on our PJ’s, popped in and movie and piled on to the pull out for a nice “cuddle puddle”! I love these women so much. I am really, truly blessed.

We also put up our Christmas tree on Saturday, and we have some lights to put up on the house this week. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even if we don’t have the snow. Actually it’s raining, which I think is deeply wrong in December. So if any of you over in Minnesota want to send some of that beautiful snow our way, I’d appreciate it. J

Work has been picking up, which is really wonderful. Josh and I have Teen Achievers every Thursday, and we get a few kids for After School most days. I started a Young Women’s Society a few weeks ago that’s been picking up as well. We meet every Wednesday to do activities and discuss various topics. This week we’re baking Christmas cookies! Last week I launched a new Low Impact Aerobics class. We meet twice a week, and I’ve got a few women coming already, and I’m hoping the class continues to grow. The last few months of work have been slow and frustrating, but I think we’ve got things moving in the right direction, which is really exciting to see!

I hope everyone is doing well, and that you all have exciting plans for the Holidays. I’m very excited to head home for Christmas and see everyone (and play in the snow!). Thank you for your continued prayer and support.

God bless,

Aimee

Here Comes The Story Of The Hurricane

What an adventure the East Coast is!

It’s been a few weeks since I last updated; we’ve been a bit busy. I’ll try to give some highlights so this doesn’t get too long winded. J

On October 18^th we got free tickets to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey’s Circus. Being as PT Barnum was Bridgeport’s mayor and all, it felt pretty cool. And who doesn’t love a good circus? I mean, they lit a man on fire and shot him out of a giant cross bow. What more could you want out of life?

The next night (Friday) we joined some Fairfield Prep Juniors for dinner during their Urban Plunge weekend. Urban Plunge introduces students to issues of urban injustice. We shared a meal with them and then answered questions about what we are doing and why on earth we’d want to do it. It was great to share our experience so far with them, and they were great hosts.

Saturday Meghan and I participated in an AIDS walk here in Bridgeport. There were speakers and testimonies, a walk, dancing, and food. It was cool to walk, to raise awareness and collect donations. It was moving to hear people’s stories. It was an honor to share in the beauty of the day, the celebration of life and hope. After the walk, we joined the rest of the house at the Shehan Center (Sophie’s Placement) for a meeting about the haunted house we were going to be participating in the next weekend! We were put in charge of turning the 2^nd floor into a creepy insane asylum. Let the planning begin!

The next week was spent preparing for the Taylor Center’s big fundraiser party – a 70’s themed disco dance! It was kind of a whirl wind of last minute fundraising, preparing silent auction ballets and decorations and finding a few more volunteers. The event went well. It wasn’t a great turn out, but we raised some money for the center and people had a good time!

Saturday was the big haunted house! We did some last minute decorating (did you know laundry detergent glows in the dark? …hehe), got into costume, and then the fun began! I wore a straight jacket and spent the night banging against my “cage” (a bed spring propped up against an office door) and scaring the roughly 4 thousand people we had go through! I may have gotten a bit to into character because I ended up with bruises all over my arms and knees. Oops?

After the last group went through we followed them through the rest of the haunted house so that we could see everything. It was pretty creepy! Halloween is great. J

And then, of course, Sandy. Life on the east coast, eh?

Sunday we prepared for the storm, stocking up on water, food, candles, etc. Most of us had off on Monday, so we were home when the power went out at about 2pm. The weather wasn’t too crazy for us; mostly just wind and a bit of rain. We all had off on Tuesday, and then most of us went back to work on Wednesday.

All in all, I think Bridgeport faired okay. The city turned the power off for maybe a day or two, mostly to prevent fires and such when lines went down. There were a lot of trees down, and power lines, and some looting/robbery because of the power outage. The water rose a lot, but I don’t think it did too much damage. There were definitely other areas that got hit much worse.

We were without power for 5 days. It made life a little more difficult, and it was certainly chilly without power for heat, but we were very lucky. We had hot water, and we were able to use our grill to cook hot food. We also really enjoyed the community time the power outage gave us. We spent a lot of time together in our candle lit living room. I kind of loved it. It was intimate and special, and it really forced us to slow down. Obviously we were glad when the power came back on—heat and the ability to use the oven/stove are always nice. But the evenings by candle light were really nice.

Saturday a few of us went to the JV Halloween party in Newark. We drove passed gas stations with blocks and blocks of cars lined up for gas, police at each one in case of trouble. I’ve never seen anything like it. It reinforced how lucky we were that we didn’t get hit harder.

The party was a lot of fun! We went as characters from Doctor Who (a British sci fi show for those of you who clearly live sad, Doctor Who-less lives). Because we’re nerdy like that. The JV parties are always a good time, and I was really glad we went.

We spent election night at our support couple’s house so that we could watch the results come in. We ate pizza and red and blue cupcakes, and drank red and blue (hurray for food coloring!) wine. It was fun to get together with John and Sara again, and we were grateful for the use of their TV.

I’ll say nothing on the outcome, because I’m tired of it and at least half of you don’t want to hear what I have to say anyway. Promise.

Then of course, there was the Nor’easter. Storm country out here, I’m telling you what. We got 6+ beautiful inches of snow! I was quite the happy camper, let me tell you what. Bridgeport citizens seemed a bit less enamored with the snow. But I love it! It’s melting already, but it was lovely while it lasted!

What a wild ride.

I’ve found a church that I really like! They have great music, great preaching, a great community. I’m really excited, because I’ve been looking for a church home out here for a while now. Siobhan and IO have gone to a couple of services, and then this week we joined a Bible study with a few women we’ve met at church. I’m so very blessed.

Original October finished out strong. I miss it already. New November anyone? J

Here are some more highlights of what I did for the second half of the month:

Achieved a 4 man piggy back (a piggy back, on top of a piggy back, on top of a piggy back…I kid you not)

Barnum and Bailey’s Circus

AIDS Walk

Tried Thai food (Curry and coconut sticky rice)

Tried hot sauce (gross)

Went to an Opening at a gallery down town

Worked a haunted house (one of my favorites!)

Prepared for a hurricane

Experienced a hurricane

Started a charcoal grill (how is it I’ve never done that…?)

Had Halloween postponed by the city of Bridgeport (this was just weird…)

What a great Original October! I’m definitely doing that again next year. Join me?

As usual, I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you, and I’d love to hear from all of you!

Thanks for all the prayers and support/concern, during Sandy and in general. It means a lot to me, and to all of us.

God bless!

Aimee

'Til I Come Into New York Town

Hello hello!

Lets see, I last left you two Mondays ago, right? The rest of that week was pretty quiet. We went to a Jewelry Making class at the Library one night which was a lot of fun! And then we had our Day of Reflection retreat that Friday, so we had a short week—always a nice treat! We drove over to Hartford for the retreat, and spent the day reflecting on Community (what it means, how we are connecting to the communities we are part of so far, etc). The site we were at for the retreat was lovely, and it was a great opportunity to stop and really think about how things had been going so far. As far as community goes, I could not be more grateful. I live with the most incredible 5 women I could have hoped for and I love the community we are building with each other so much. I am completely blessed. I also feel like I’ve been able to start becoming part of the Bridgeport community over the past 2 months, so that’s been great. I ride the bus to and from work every day, which I love. I’ve started to develop relationships with my bus drivers and some of the people who ride the same routes as me every day. I like meeting and chatting with people in the community, whether it’s once or repeatedly. It’s a great way to get to know the city, to become immersed in it.

We also took advantage of the lovely retreat site for some great frolicking, tree climbing and creek jumping. Let the wild rumpus start! All in all, not a bad way to spend a  Friday

Saturday we hoped on a train and headed for the big city! You know. New York. The Big Apple. That big city. And it was amazing!!

We stayed with the Harlem JV house. It was super convenient, and it was great to see them again! We haven’t seen some of them since orientation. Saturday we went to the Met, which was, in a word, sublime. Gosh it was cool. I could spend days there! We saw pieces by Monet and Van Gough and Degas (one of my favorites!), and a really cool Andy Warhol exhibit and a bunch of Greek and Roman sculptures and so much more! There was also a cool exhibit of the roof and a really amazing view of Manhattan. It was magical. J

We got slices of pizza for dinner, swung by the Met again to use the bathrooms (and of course got a bit side tracked…it is the Met.) After we finally pried ourselves away we walked through Central Park, which was awesome, and then came out at Columbus Circle. In the middle of Columbus Circle there is a big pillar with a statue of Columbus on it (where ever did they get the name Columbus Circle I wonder…). Recently an artist built a living room around the statue. As in a wood floor, four walls, a ceiling, couches, bookshelves, a TV, the whole 9 yards. And then Columbus, just hanging out in the middle of it all. Tickets are free, but they are timed and you have to get them in advance. We had no tickets. But somehow managed to get some from one of the guys checking tickets at the door. I still don’t really know how that happened. This is not real life.

But hey, who are we to complain? We took our tickets and headed on up! The living room was really cool and rather silly. Photos to come, eventually. It also had a pretty great view, being up at the top of a pillar and all.

After visiting Columbus we met up with some of Hannah and Sophie’s friends from Fordham and hung out with them for a while, and then we went out dancing! On our way back to Harlem we passed by the theatres where Once and Lion King are playing (!!!!) and then walked through Times Square—completely unreal! My life these days, I tell you what.

Sunday we headed back into central Manhattan, found some tasty bagels and then headed to the Museum of Natural History! I love a good history museum. Actually, I just love a good museum! So that was very fun. At about 3:30 we cut across Central Park and met up with the Peace Walk (remember, our reason for being in the city). The Walk was really beautiful. We all wore white sashes and walked silently single file up and around the edge of Central Park. It was a really great chance to slow down (not easy in NYC, let me tell you what) and reflect and pray. It was also just a really powerful image, hundreds of people from different backgrounds coming together to be silent together, to hope for peace. I really enjoyed it. At the end of the walk we all came together in a big circle and held hands, just remaining silently together for a moment. Then we broke into small sharing circles and shared our experiences on the walk with each other. It was really beautiful. I loved it.

We went for Mexican food after that. I had—wait for it—a hard shell taco, wrapped in cheese, wrapped in a soft shell. YUM.

We got cupcakes at a bakery across the street before heading back to Harlem to grab our stuff and say goodbye to the Harlem JVs. Then there were a few final Subway rides, a train from Grand Central and car ride home. What a mad, wonderful weekend. NYC is absolutely intoxicating.

Last week Pat, our program coordinator, stayed with us for the week. He accompanied us to our work sites, met with us one on one (bought me deep fried mac and cheese too—best friends for life) and participated in our community with us. It was fun to have him here and to share our life with him for a week!

Let’s see, what else. Adrienne and I went to a poetry workshop at a gallery in downtown Bridgeport on Tuesday night. It was really great! Coming from being in one writing class or another basically constantly for the last four year to having no writing classes (ah the life of a graduate) has been very strange. It was cool to sit down with other writers and work on some poems together. The gallery was really great as well. The current exhibit is called Make Art Not War. Any of you who know me can immediately tell why I liked that so much I’m sure. J

This Saturday we went to a fall festival in Milford called Pumpkins on the Pier. We got to watch It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (we may or may not have been the only adults without small children…) and see a bunch of carved pumpkins lining the pier—so pretty. John Ratzenberger (Cliff on Cheers, Ham in toy Story, etc) was there as the celebrity guest, so that was really cool! He’s a Bridgeport native (and now lives in Milford), so we get the impression he kind hopes from event to event in these parts. Our (my) goal for the year is now to meet him. I’m cool like that.

I’m still working on finding a home church to plug in to. We tried to go to one that looks promising yesterday, but of course it happened to be the Sunday that they met somewhere else (I think they had an outdoor service somewhere…I’m not really sure). So it was not to be. Alas. Next Sunday it is!

And that’s about it. We have a JVC recruiter spending a few nights with us this week while she is recruiting in the area. So that’ll be fun. She just finished up a year in JVC in DC.

Original October is in full swing and going quite well! Here are some of the more notable things I have done:

Mattress surfing down the stairs

Prayed with my bus driver (long story)

Jewelry making class

Wore a bow tie

Visited the Met

Peace Walk

Said the alphabet backwards (this has been our go to when someone gets to about 11:45pm and realizes they haven’t done anything that day yet…haha)

Poetry Workshop

Made Beer Bread

Tried Quinoa

Watched Wizard of Oz while listening to Dark Side of the Moon (Try this. Seriously. It is so cool, I can’t even describe it. Pink Floyd man, I tell you what)

Saw John Ratzenberger

Tried Vegetable Masala and Naan

So that’s some of what I’ve done so far! It’s been fun, and I’m excited for the next half of the month! Suggestions are welcome!

As always, I hope you are all doing well! Find something pumpkin flavored and curl up under a blanket! We’ve still got half of the best month of them all to enjoy!

Don’t be a stranger; I’d love to hear from all of you!

God bless,

Aimee

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Happy October everyone!

It’s beginning to feel like Fall out here, which makes me very happy. The leaves have begun to change a little bit and it’s getting chillier. I think that it should always be Fall. It is by far the best season of all. J

Life has been rather exciting since I last updated. Last weekend Hannah and I got the opportunity to drive down to Virginia and see President Obama speak live! We left Thursday night after work and drove down. We got to drive through DC, which was really cool, and we saw the Washington Monument and the Capitol. The President spoke on Friday at a minor league ball park in Virginia. It was a great speech, and just such a cool opportunity. It was all very surreal. What is my life?

The drive back was really pretty. The leaves along the highway were just starting to turn kind of dusty, with some hints of yellow and red. Get out your sweaters and bake something pumpkin, it’s officially Fall folks!

This weekend was a little quieter, which was a nice break.  Everyone needs a good lazy weekend every now and then. On Sunday we went to Mass at Fairfield University, where Father Mark (our Jesuit connection in the area) was taking his final vows as a Jesuit. It was a lovely service and afterwards there was a reception, complete with cookies baked by his mom. Yum!

I suppose that’s about it. We’re looking forward to a trip into New York City next weekend for a Peace Walk through Central Park (which I am personally stoked about). This Friday we have a short retreat in Hartford with the JV’s from Hartford and Pat, our area program coordinator. Next week Pat will be spending the week at our house, accompanying us to our work cites, joining us for community and spirituality nights and checking in with us to find out how we are adjusting into life as a JV so far. So those are some exciting things we’ve got coming up. We will also be participating in “Original October”, where you do something you’ve never done before every day for the whole month. It should be a grand adventure! I haven’t decided what my first original thing is going to be yet, but the day is still young! I’ll let you all know some of the cooler things that I/we do this month.

I hope everyone is doing well. Remember, I love getting letters and emails! Phone calls and texts are great too! Keep me updated on your lives. J

I miss everyone! I love you all so much and I am praying for all of you.

Enjoy the best month of all the months!

God bless,

Aimee

One Month In And Completely In Love

Hello everyone!

It’s been a few weeks since I last updated, so bare with me if this gets a bit long…

Lets see, I left you all just before Labor Day, so we’ll start there. There is a JVC tradition where each house hosts a different party throughout the year. Usually a house will have a Holiday that they are traditionally in charge of, though there is some flexibility. These parties allow us to see each others homes and experience the different communities people live in, and also give us a chance to build relationships with the JVs serving throughout the Baltimore Program Office. The Labor Day party was held in Baltimore. The city was wonderful, if a bit of a culture shock after weeks in Bridgeport, and the party was a lot of fun. It was great to catch up with people we’d met at orientation and find out how people’s first few weeks had been going. Baltimore is a beautiful city, with a lot of character and just a really cool vibe. We loved seeing all the different buildings and homes, and on Sunday morning we got to go to a free art gallery downtown which was really wonderful! It was a really awesome opportunity to see new parts of the East Coast, and we all had a lot of fun!

Sophie’s (my roommate) parents have a place in Avalon New Jersey, so on our way back up to Bridgeport we stopped and spent Sunday night there. We got to swim in the ocean, bike around town, climb on the jetties and kayak in the bay—it was a lovely, relaxing way to finish off the long weekend. On our way back to Bridgeport we drove through New York again which was wonderful! We got to see the skyline all lit up and the Statue of Liberty and Citi Field (where the Mets play!). It was all very exciting, especially for those of us who’ve not really spent much (any) time on the East Coast (*raises hand*).

Work has been a little slow still, and a little… heartbreaking maybe? Definitely frustrating. We did not get the grant we were waiting on, which means we cannot continue the program we had going at the high school down the street. This is frustrating, because it was a program that the students really benefited from a lot, and it gave them a lot of resources, outlets and opportunities they might not otherwise get. The program provided homework help, SAT prep, college info/visits/application help, resume building, and a variety of clubs and activities for after school. It’s really sad to see a program like that fall away because there isn’t funding, and it was hard to be the one cleaning out the room at the high school, taking all the resources away. It made me sad, and angry at a system that leaves education and youth programs scraping for pennies. But then I suppose part of why I came here is to have my heart broken by things like this, and then to learn to live out of that heartbreak.

So now what we’re trying to do is get some programs going here at the Taylor Center that can at least somewhat replace the ones that we had at the high school. We were already planning on getting some teen programs going, as I believe I mentioned in an earlier blog, but this will shift our focus a bit. We had a focus group with some of the students about a week ago to get an idea of what kinds of activities and programs they would like to see, so we’re going to combine that with what we are interested in doing and move forward from there. We hope to have some programs going within the next couple of weeks. I should be a lot busier once that gets going, which I’m looking forward to.

Friday the 7^th we had some tickets to the Mets game, compliments of my housemate Adrienne’s work site, so a few of us made our way to Queens for the game! Traffic was horrific (apparently, even worse than normal for New York), so we were a bit late for the game, but it was still a lot of fun! I have a dream of some day spending a summer visiting all of the different major league ball parks, so seeing Citi Field was very cool for me, and being in Queens was awesome!

Saturday we had kind of a lazy day, which was nice after a long week. We went to a thrift store and found some really great records for 50 cents. We have a record player. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that. It’s really quite marvelous, and I have decided that every house should have one, always. Seriously, we play records pretty much every day. It’s wonderful. J

Sunday we went for a walk along the Sound, and then headed over to Fairfield University, where we were invited to join the Jesuits for dinner. We got to tour their new building, which was built to be super environmentally friendly (very cool!), and then we sat with them and had a really lovely meal. We were also supposed to attend the student mass that night, but one of my housemates got sick so we took her home instead. It was a little disappointing to miss the service—it was supposed to be really lovely—but we’re a community and communities take care of each other. It was a good reminder that we are not meant to go to church, we are meant to be the Church.

I spent much of the past week at work organizing, printing, sorting, folding and enveloping a mailing for a fundraiser we are having at the end of October. All I will say is that I learned it is possible to get paper cuts on your tongue. Not fun.

On Tuesday I finished the blanket I had been crocheting. Adrienne taught Hannah and me a few weeks ago, and it’s been really awesome to see a few rolls of yarn turn into a blanket. There is something very satisfying about curling up at night under a blanket you made. J We’ve moved on to scarves (because of course, the natural progression when you learn to crochet is to make a blanket first, then a scarf…), and those are turning out really well too! Pictures to come soon.

Friday night we had tickets to the Bluefish (local baseball team in Bridgeport), compliments of my housemate Meghan’s work site. People are rather inclined to give us free things. We’re taking them on a case by case basis, keeping the goal of simple living in mind, along with a desire to get involved in everything this community and this part of the world has to offer. The game was a lot of fun (as baseball games are prone to be)! While we naturally had no real stake in who won the game, my rowdy sports fan came out in true form and we all got really in to the game. It was not difficult, as it was a very exciting game (a grand slam even!). The Bluefish won, which was cool, and then there were fireworks after the game!

Saturday night we went to a fundraiser for Sophie’s work site. They needed some extra people to fill the seats, and we were available so…we went! It was a benefit concert, featuring a cover band who did everything from Jimmy Buffet to the Beatles to Fleetwood Mac. We were responsible for getting people out on to the dance floor, which we excelled at thank you very much, and we had a rather marvelous time dancing the night away.

On Sunday we met our landlord Ralphie and his wife Dolly. They were great, and it was really good to finally meet them (Ralphie is a detective, so his schedule has been a little difficult to work around). Afterwards, to celebrate our one month anniversary of being here in Bridgeport (which was Friday), and since we are excellent grocery shoppers and have been significantly under budget each week, we splurged and had a “fancy night”. We got dressed up, put some slow jazz on the record player, made fancy food (salmon, pasta, salad, etc), and fancy dessert (red velvet cheesecake cookies—so unbelievably good). It was a really lovely evening.

I can’t believe it’s been a month already. Time really does fly! We’ve been feeling so blessed, with this opportunity, with each other, with everything. This is such a cool thing we’re doing, so special. I am so completely grateful that I get to do this. It’s been amazing so far, and I’m so excited for the next few months! God has been so good to me through all of this, and I am learning and growing and experiencing so much. I'm one month in to this and completely in love with it.

Thanks for all your prayer and support—it means so much! As always, please keep in touch. I’m really just a phone call, an email or a letter away!

God bless,

Aimee

An Interesting Intorduction to Bridgeport

Hello all,

It’s been an interesting couple of days in Bridgeport.

Last Thursday our house was broken in to while we were all at work. A couple girls had their lap tops stolen, along with one girl’s camera and a lot of loose change we all had in drawers and wallets. We’re all pretty shaken up by it, and really uncomfortable with the idea that someone we don’t know was in our home and dug through our things. Reclaiming our sense of home as a private, sacred space is an ongoing process and conversation. It’s going to take a while, and I don’t think we’re ever not going to be bothered by the fact that someone was in our house, but I also think it is something we can own and move on from. I think we’ll be a stronger community for it in the long run.

It was most likely what is called a “nuisance crime”, meaning the person/people who did it went from house to house, trying all the windows and doors until they found a house they could get in to. Our kitchen window happened to not be locking quite right, so they were able to force it open (for the record, this window has since been fixed, so it is locking all the way now). The item’s stolen are then usually taken to a pawn shop and almost impossible to track down at that point. Our landlord’s house also got broken in to within the last week or so, along with a house behind him. This is strange, because we live in a relatively safe/quiet neighborhood, but then, this sort of thing can happen anywhere. I definitely don’t want to blame Bridgeport. Bridgeport has its flaws and its problems, I wont sugar coat that, but it’s also so much more than that, so much better than crimes like this. A break in can happen anywhere. It could have happened while I was living in St. Cloud. It just happened to happen here. So don’t judge Bridgeport too harshly is I guess what I’m trying to say. It’s a lot better than the rough edges.

There are a lot of emotions that we’re all feeling in the aftermath. There’s discomfort and unease, as I said, with the idea of someone we don’t know being in our house and digging through our drawers. We feel really violated and that’s going to take some time to get over I think. We’re also uneasy with the idea that someone could have been home when it happened, or come home to the robbery taking place. That’s really scary. There is of course some sadness with the loss of valued items, and a lot of anger. Anger at the person/people who did it, for thinking they had a right to invade another person’s home like that. But also a lot of anger at the structure of oppression and injustice that pits the poor against the poor, that causes desperation, that doesn’t fund programs that get kids of the street and empower them to be more than their situation, that allows for such a massive gap between wealth and poverty and does so little to fix it. It’s something we’ve all talked about in the last few days, and something that I know I personally have been especially frustrated with while reflecting on our break in. I suppose that’s why we’re all here, to confront this oppressive structure.

We also view this as an opportunity to continue to be in solidarity with the community of Bridgeport, for whom crimes like this are unfortunately a reality. Things of this nature are a result of an injust and opressive system that so many people have to deal with every day of their lives. We've just gotten a small taste of what that's like. For a lot of people, this is every day stuff.

We've been really gratefull for all the support we've gotten. We feel very blessed, and we really appreciate it.

So, there’s that.

Other than the obvious, we had a really nice weekend. Friday night was very chill. We had pizza, hung out in the back yard (with hula hoops and a guitar—so much fun to be had!) ate brownies (with spoons, right out of the pan) and watched a movie together. It was really nice to relax and just have fun together. I think we all needed it.

Saturday we were invited to an end of the summer party through the young adults group at my supervisor’s church. It was a lot of fun! There was great food, games, music and dancing, and a generally merry time was had by all. It was the first time since the break in that we all left the house and no one was home, which we found really uncomfortable, but I think it was an important step for us. We can’t very well just always leave someone at home for the rest of the year.

Sunday a few of us went to a service at Joseph’s Coat of Many Color’s Lutheran Church (really I just love the name), which was really nice. The service was lovely, and had a lot of soul and passion, which I loved. I really felt that the church body had a deep investment in the community of Bridgeport, which I think is really important. We want to try different churches throughout the year, out of deference to the different traditions each of us come from as well as out of an interest in seeing what other denominations have to offer and finding a sense of unity in the Church, but I think Joseph’s Coat will be one we return too from time to time. We enjoyed it.

After the service we had brunch as a house, which we have decided should be a weekly tradition, and then in the evening our local support team (John and Sara – our support couple, Lindsey – an FJV living in Bridgeport, and Father Mark – our Jesuit contact in the area) came over and we all had a cookout in the back yard. It was a really nice weekend, even with everything we’re working through and struggling with.

Now it’s back to work for the week. We’re looking forward to getting into our jobs more, and at the end of the week we’re headed to Baltimore for a Labor Day party hosted by the JV house there, so that will be a lot of fun.

I’m still loving Bridgeport, and still SO glad I am participating in this amazing opportunity. I’m already learning and growing, and I am so blessed to have this chance. God is really very good. J

Hope everyone is doing well. Again, write, email or give me a call/text!

God bless,

Aimee

Greetings From Bridgeport!

Hello everyone!!

I’m a couple days in to my first full week in Bridgeport! I found a few free minutes and some internet access, so I thought I’d let you all know how I’m doing.

Orientation went very well. We were at a Jesuit retreat center in the Blue Ridge Mountains in PA, which was absolutely gorgeous! I got to meet my 82 fellow Jesuit Volunteers (JVs) serving on the east coast this year, as well as the program coordinators for each city and some of the staff of the JVC Baltimore program office. Each day of orientation was focused on one of the four JVC values (social justice, community, spirituality and simple living) and included speakers and activities relation to that value. We also went bowling, had a talent show, did a bbq/bonfire and hiked part of the Appalachian trail. On the last night we had a Missioning Mass where each community was prayed over and we all received Jerusalem Crosses (the Jesuit cross, from what I understand). It was a really great few days. I loved meeting all the other JVs, the speakers were wonderful, and of course the mountains were just gorgeous. But I have to say, we were all pretty excited when it was finally time to leave for Bridgeport. We could not wait to see our house and the city and just get started!

We drove through New York City on the way to Bridgeport, which was just nuts! I haven't quite processed the fact that I'm on the east coast yet, and then here we are driving under the "Welcome to Manhattan" sign. Absolutely crazy. We almost died at least seven times; those NY drivers are intense! We drove through Manhattan and the Bronx, and we could see the skyline (saw the empire State Building!!). It was pretty darn cool.

We pulled in to Bridgeport around 6:30. The first thing we all noticed is that we are definitely the minority here. I think we all knew going in that this would be the case, but it's one thing to think about it in theory and another to drive down main street for 10 minutes and not see anyone who looks like you. It was definitely very eye opening, and something we continue to reflect on as a community.

Our house is on a nice little side street. It's a dead end street, so we don't get much traffic which is really nice. It's a beautiful little home. We have a living room, dinning room, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a (sketchy) basement and a little "book nook". It's very homey, and we've spent the last week really making it our own, which has been SO cool. There are some great kids who live on our street, so we've gotten to meet and hang out with them a little. They are definitely testing boundaries this week, as kids do, so we've had to have some conversations as a house about what boundaries everyone is comfortable with, but they're good kids and we're looking forward to playing with them this year.

We took a tour of Bridgeport with a former JV (FJV) in the area a few nights ago, which was pretty cool. She showed us around, gave us some history of Bridgeport, took us to some cool (free!) places to visit and so forth. Bridgeport is one of the poorest cities in the country, but it's located in one of the richest counties (Fairfield County), which creates a very strange dynamic. On the tour we drove into Fairfield (the town), and the night and day difference as soon as you cross that boarder is really jarring. Again, it's one of those things we knew about in theory, but seeing the economic gap displayed so plainly in real life is very...disturbing I guess. That's another thing we have been reflecting about as a community.

I'm enjoying Bridgeport. It's obviously got a lot of very serious socio-economic issues, issues with violence and gangs, abandoned or run down factories, buildings and houses, etc. But there's something really great about this city that I get glimpses of here and there. We are super fortunate because last week we toured each of our work sites (I have 5 housemates, so that made 6 sites in all), so we got to learn about some of the great work that is being done in this city, people's dreams and visions for it and just some really cool programs. I think it's such a blessing to have those connections, to get to see and participate in those great things. There's a lot of hope, a lot of good that is being done and that can be done, and that's really cool to see. And I don't know, there's just something really cool about this city. I haven't quite figured it out yet. It's rough around the edges for sure, but there's more here than just that.

On Saturday we went to an Oyster Festival in Milford, a town near Bridgeport, which was pretty fun. We got to wander around and see all the different booths and listen to music. I even tried a fried oyster. Personally, not a fan, but it was fun to try! Sunday we hung out down by the ocean (we're right on Long Island Sound for those who don't know their Connecticut geography) most of the afternoon, which was really fun too. We can't wait to explore more of the city!

On Monday we all started work. A couple of the girls brought cars, but I'm embracing the public bus system, which I totally conquered on Monday. All that practice with the crazy busses in Rome really paid off--Bridgeport busses are a breeze! In all it takes about a half an hour to get to work, which is super nice. I was anticipating a longer commute. Work was slow on Monday, mostly just paperwork, training and a lot of reading. Today (Tuesday) was more exciting. I got to meet with Josh, who is the Youth and Family Director and who I'll (probably) be working with most this year. (We think) we'll be organizing a new Teen Achievers program that will give high school students homework help, college prep, and some various activities that will give them a place to go after school and help them grow and develop important life skills, etc, which is super exciting. It's sounding like it'll be pretty much exactly what I was hoping to be working on out here, so that's really awesome! Some things are still a bit up in the air at the moment, but right now it sounds like that will be my main focus, which I'm super stoked about!

That's mostly it for now. I'm having a marvelous time, and I think this year is going to be really amazing. Write letters, shoot me emails, give me a call--I want to hear all about what everyone is up to! I'll update on here as often as I can find a free minute and some internet, but I'd love to chat on the phone or via email too.

  

God Bless,

Aimee