When the Snowflakes Storm, When the Rivers Freeze

The weather we’re having this year, I tell you what.

I’m sure most of you heard about that great big dumping of snow we got a few weeks back? It was kind of insane. It started sometime early Friday morning, and by the time we woke up for work it was heavy enough that basically everything in Bridgeport was cancelled or shut down. Granted, this is the East Coast we’re talking about. Minnesota probably would have soldiered through the snow at this point. I stayed up just long enough for breakfast (bacon and carrot cake, breakfast of champions) and then went back to sleep until noon. And so began my first post-college snow day.

Friday afternoon it was falling pretty heavy, but Hannah and I were still able to go out in it for a nice 2 mile walk. After which we came home and ate ice cream, as any sane person would do. It didn’t get really heavy until Friday night. We spent the evening watching the cars on our street slowly disappear until they were vaguely car shaped lumps of snow.

The snow had stopped by the time I woke up on Saturday, but the wind was still blowing it around like crazy. This created some crazy drifts that made it hard to guestimate how much we got, but we think it was about 3 feet. Good stuff man. We couldn’t even open our front door. Hannah and I ventured out into the snow and could barely wade our way down our driveway. One thing was for sure, we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a few days.

Our street got “plowed” on Monday (one tiny lane down the center of our street, very practical…) and we spent a good portion of the day shoveling Hannah’s car out of the driveway. By this point it was warm enough that I was shoveling in a t-shirt, so you can guess how wet and heavy the snow was.

We didn’t get out until Tuesday evening when, driven a little insane from being cooped up for 5 days, we ventured to the grocery store. And what an adventure it was. Bridgeport was a mess. Dear sweet unprepared Connecticut.

All the snow did my Minnesota heart good, but a lot of warm weather and rain melted almost all of it within a couple weeks. Life on the coast I guess.

The rest of the month was pretty busy for us. I do taxes 2 days a week, plus scheduling all the appointments, so that keeps me pretty occupied. It’s cool to be able to offer free tax prep to people in the community, and I’ve gotten to meet so many people through it. Plus, I kind of love doing taxes. Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am.

On Valentines Day I managed to talk my housemates into joining me for my favorite Valentines tradition – watching Silence of the Lambs! There’s just something about Anthony Hopkins playing a sociopath cannibal that just screams Valentines Day. Er…

Ok, I admit it’s unorthodox. But I love it. J

We had guests over a few times in February which was a lot of fun. It’s great to meet my housemates’ friends and get to know them. We also really enjoy extending hospitality and welcoming people into our home and our lives for a few days.

On Sunday the 24^th we joined John and Sara for a Fancy Oscar Night. We got all dressed up (the Oscars require a certain elegance after all) and watched most of the show. It was a lot of fun, even with Seth McFarlane’s tasteless jokes. And that Movie Musical tribute?? Perfection. I spent One Day More is such a euphoric stupor that I had to go online and watch it again the next day. Gosh it was good.

Last weekend was pretty eventful as well. On Saturday afternoon we went to one of the libraries in Bridgeport to watch a free screening of Argo. If you haven’t seen it yet you should. Like, right now. It was brilliant. Had the whole room on the edge of our seats the entire time. While I was rooting for Les Mis to win Best Picture (shocking a total of no one), Argo probably deserved it.

That evening we volunteered at Taste of Black Rock, a fundraising event for a community center in town. We had a lot of fun, the event made the center a lot of money and we got to enjoy all the free food, wine and beer we wanted. Not a bad evening.

We’re celebrating the 2^nd Annual Meat Week this week. Hannah is a vegetarian, but eats meat one week a year (long story). So we’ve been enjoying making some recipes with meat this week (and of course going to Taco Bell)! There’s also been copious amounts of bacon. Because bacon.

Last night we got a few more inches of snow, desperately needed since our last 3 feet melted so fast. It’s still coming down out there, which I’m kind of loving. Work’s been slow all day because of the weather, but it gave me time to update this, so that’s a plus!

This month I’m looking forward to a few things. We’re spending St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Boston, which will be awesome! I loved Boston last time we went, and I can’t wait to see it on St. Patrick’s Day! And the JV party promises to be a blast, so it’ll be a great weekend.

More importantly, my family is coming to visit for a whole week at the end of the month! I’m going to show them Bridgeport and we’re going to visit Yale and spend a few days in New York City! I cannot wit to see them and to share my life out here with them!

I hope you are all doing well. I miss you all and would love to hear from you!

God Bless,

Aimee

Somewhere Beyond The Barricade Is There A World You Long To See?

(No Bob Dylan Lyrics for the title this time, mostly because I'm suffering from a severe Les Mis problem right now. Dylan will return next time!)

Hello hello!

About time I updated you all on my life again, huh?

On December 14^th we had Christmas Party at work for the kids. We had about 35 kids come, which was awesome! We made gingerbread houses, played the wii, did some trivia, played cards (a Bridgeport favorite I’ve discovered) and everyone had a great time! Josh and I worked really hard in the weeks leading up to it, so it was really nice to see the party be a success and watch the kids have so much fun. J

The next Wednesday, December 19^th we had another break-in, which was really unsettling. They broke through 3 locks on our window to get in, and left the house in much more of a mess that the last time (all the lights on, dishes scattered and broken in the kitchen, drawers left open and the contents dumped). In the last couple of weeks we have had metal grates put on the back windows and a security system installed. The extra precautions are great, and have done a lot to help us regain a sense of security in our home. Still, two times in 4 months is a lot to swallow.

I was home for Christmas, from the 21^st through the 30^th, which was absolutely wonderful! I got to see a friend get married, catch up with friends and family and spend some great quality time with Mom, Dad and Jack! It was relaxing and wonderful, and I am so grateful.

I flew back out on Sunday the 30^th and stayed in New York for a couple days. I got to explore NYC on my own this time, which was really cool1 I saw the Rockefeller Tree that night, and then the next day I saw Times Square at New Years (I bought some really great light up 2013 glasses too), walked through Central Park, Went to the Met (of course!), walked across central park and toured the Belvedere Castle, and went to the Museum of Natural History. I walked back down through Times Square and somehow got briefly caught in a barricaded section. I’m still not entirely sure how I managed that, all of a sudden there were barricades on all sides…haha! I got out eventually, after taking some pictures of the chaos (I was NUTS down there!) and continued on my way!

That evening I met up with a JV from the Brooklyn house who needed volunteers to help his placement site serve food. His placement, coalition for the Homeless, serves meals every night, every day of the year. We drove around serving food out of the back of a van for a couple hours. It was a really awesome experience, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend New Years Eve. The people we served food to were really lovely, and I enjoyed meeting them all so much. What a blessing!

After we finished the route we headed up to the Harlem house where there was a New Years Party. JV parties are always a great time, and this one was no different! We danced and played games, and at midnight we went up to the roof and toasted 2013. It was a fun night.

The next day we slept in, and then I hung out witht eh women from Harlem for a while. In the evening I met Sophie and a friend of hers for coffee and food before we headed back to Grand Central and caught a train home. New York City is incredible, and I love that I can find my way around the city by myself now! If you ever need a tour guide… J

It was good to get back to work after being gone, and I loved seeing the kids again. All our programs are back in full swing, and I’m excited to keep seeing them grow. 2013 is going to be great! It was also really great to see my housemates again1 It was so weird being away from each other for so long. I really do live with the most amazing women. I love them so much!

Tuesday the 8^th we went to a theater down the road for Super Tuesday (6 dollar movies1) and saw Les Miserables! I had seen it over Christmas with my family as well, but I loved seeing it again! It’s just brilliant. I’d highly recommend it. Bring tissues, because I was a mess both times. Granted, that’s not always the best measurement because I cry at every movie, but I definitely wasn’t alone in my tears for this one. J

Sunday the 13^th Hannah and I attended a Quaker Meeting in a nearby town, which was really awesome. Quaker services are silent, with each person praying or reflecting quietly. Anyone can speak if they feel moved, and the idea is that this allows God to speak to us more freely. It was a cool experience, and a great space to pray and reflect for an hour. We definitely want to go back. I’m also going to continue going to church on Sundays as well, because a “normal” church service offers something really valuable as well that I don’t want to miss out on. I think the Quaker Meeting and the church service will compliment each other well.

Last Monday we had dinner with John and Sara, our support couple. It was great to see them again and share a meal together. Tuesday and Wednesday I took a class to become a Volunteer Income Tax Assistant. The class was (surprisingly) really interesting and I am now officially certified to do people’s tax returns. Scary thought, no?

On Wednesday we had dinner with a woman JVC set us up with to have a conversation about Bridgeport with the hopes of gaining more knowledge of and insight into the city. Edith and her husband were really lovely and we had a great time getting to know them.

On Thursday we headed to Dalton PA, just outside of Scranton, for our Re-Orientation retreat. It was a really wonderful retreat! We loved seeing everyone, some of whom we hadn’t seen since Orientation, and catching up with them all! There were great speakers and workshops that provided a lot of space to kind of process the last few months. I can’t believe we are almost half way through the year. The time has gone so fast! This has been the most amazing adventure. Someone at Re-O described it as ‘the most challenging blessing I’ve ever had”. I think that sums it up kind of perfectly.

On Sunday evening we had a talent show, which was a lot of fun. Sophie and I represented Beannacht house (our house name…have I ever mentioned that…?). we had decided we wanted to do The Confrontation from Les Mis, which is this like really epic dramatic scene in the show for those who haven’t seen it. We are in the habit of singing it to each other in everyday life—in our kitchen, walking about Bridgeport, etc. So we concocted a plan.

We signed up as “A Dramatic Monologue by Aimee Hein” and ended up being the last act of the night. So I got up and introduced it. I was like “I’m going to be performing a dramatic scene for you all. And just to set the stage my character is a in a hospital in the 1800s, and a woman I really care about has just died, and right before she died I made her a promise, so that’s where this starts.” And then I got a volunteer to come up and play the dead woman. At this point the room is dead silent, and you can just tell no one wants to sit through this. I start the scene and start sobbing (quite badly) over the dead body. And then all of a sudden Sophie stands up in the audience with a guitar and starts singing “Valjean, at last, we see each other plain…” and we proceeded through he whole scene to much laughter and applause. It was kind of great.

After the talent show we hopped in the car and headed to DC. You see we had a date with this guy. Last name Obama. First name Barack. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? We got to DC at like 3:30am and slept for two hours before getting up and heading to the National Mall. (!!!!!!). We found a great spot in the first section available for people without tickets. We had a great view of a jumbotron and we could see the capital building really well. And then we hunkered down and waited for a few hours. They passed out tons of flags for everyone to wave, which was pretty cool!

Around 11am important people started arriving, senators, representatives, Beyonce. The Clintons arrived, to ruckus applause, and Jimmy Carter. The Biden children were next (fun fact: one of the Biden sons did JVC), followed by the Obama girls. Next came Dr. Jill Biden, followed by the First Lady (looking rather fabulous if I do say so myself). Joe Biden came next and then finally, the President himself! He and Biden both got sworn in, Obama made a speech, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson sang, there was a peopm a prayer and a benediction and then Beyonce lip synced (don’t get me started) to close out the event. It was the most incredible thing! I still can’t believe I was there for it.

Hannah’s boyfriend Ryan had gotten us tickets for the Parade. It’s kind of a thing that you can’t do both because it’s impossible to get from the swearing in to the parade in time, and his bosses wanted him to prove that theory wrong, so we all got tickets. We made our way over to the parade with surprising ease and found our seats (right next to the Presidential Review Box, which is kind of insane). The parade started and then there they were, the Obama’s, hand in hand, maybe 15 ft in front of us. Like, I could practically have reached out and touched them. It was incredible. One of the most surreal and amazing experiences of my life. Like…what?? Joe and Jill Biden also walked right past us, which was pretty great as well. My life, I tell you what.

Out bleachers were right behind the White House (like…it was just right there), so we were able to stand on the back of them and watch as they walked across the back lawn to get into the Presidential Review Box to watch the parade. It was insane. I can’t believe that day actually happened.

We took the Metro back to our car and Sophie, Meghan and I headed home (Hannah and Ryan had tickets to the Staff Ball the next night, so Hannah stayed an extra day). The drive home was an adventure. There was some obscene traffic and a lot of GPS trouble and at the end, instead of getting home before midnight (the original plan), we got home just after 4am. I drove the whole time, as I was the only licensed driver in the car. I have never been so tired. In those 48 hours I got maybe 5 hours of sleep. Good times, good times. But even after all that, I still wouldn‘t trade that day for the world. It was incredible.

I would just like to say that the state of New Jersey and I may never be friends again. That is all.

I’ve been working and catching up on sleep the last couple of days. We’re looking forward to a quiet weekend after the craziness of this past one.

I miss you all and I hope you are doing well!

God Bless,

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