Learning My Way

Well I have survived my first six days in Los Angeles. We had two days of orientation for my program. This city is so full of life and excitement; I know I will never get bored. There is always something to see or experience. Everyone in my program seems fantastic! The cool part is that we all seem to be here with the same mindset – not to change the world, but to learn and see how we can help those we live around and we serve at our sites to better their program and continue the work that they do. We are all here to learn and grow, and we are excited to begin this journey together. And this is just the beginning of my journey. I know this year will present a lot of challenges and a lot of rewards.

So far we have taken the Dash (the public bus system), been out to lunch at Chipotle near South California University, Toured the Science Center in Exposition Park, ate at a Mexican restaurant, had a panel and cookout with the alum NDMVA members, visited a few of our volunteer sites, filled out a ton of paperwork, visited a few of our volunteer sites, survived a day of work, took a trip to the beach, visited the galleria market in Koreatown, and made some homemade sushi and pot stickers, gotten to know my housemates, and gone to a Spanish Mass.

I am constantly thinking of the movie 101 Dalmations. The dogs here are crazy – one starts barking, then they all do. One will howl, and so do the rest! During the night a lot as well I will add. I’m getting used to it, and actually learning to love it. I am reminded of the cats that would hang out on our roofs in Guatemala and meow all night.

Transportation is the tricky part that I am still figuring out. Having no car makes things much more difficult. Though I feel very independent. There are no classes I need to attend, homework I need to do, people I need to take care of, it’s just me – fending for myself in this giant city.

I survived my first day at work! This is going to be exhausting work. I thought working with middle and high school students all summer was draining (well, it was; and elementary is another story) I was basically thrown into the school, told briefly what I was expected to do, then went and did it. No schedule or specific direction.

St. Columbkille is a private, Catholic school in South Central LA, with a student population that is almost all Hispanic. The kids are very well-behaved, and the structure is unique (rules, expectations, etc are all going to take a while to master). I do feel needed there ,and I will most definitely be busy every day. In one day, I was involved in all of the following: 1st grade TA, 1st grade recess, 7th grade recess, 3rd grade TA, 1st grade lunch duty, 7th grade lunch duty, and an after school tutor. A deep breath every now and then kept me going. Not to mention trying to learn names and get to know students and teachers, as well as the rules and expectations. It’s going to take a while, but I have confidence I will soon become more comfortable there; among the students and faculty, and gradually ease into my “place” at St. Columbkille.