java jo's, part 2

so clearly, i don't feel that bad mooching off of java jo's internet, although the coffee smell is going to make me pretty sick i think and rahter soon. i am thinking that i could go broke soon just by coming here and buying the smallest thing so i can use the internet, so i think that we should find a new place, but for right now its ok. i can always go to the library and use their computers for 15 minutes for free, but i would have to do a lot of prep work beforehand (such as writing blog entries and then just uploading them). so that's how much we don't have internet in our house. and we have to wait till the 18th or so till we get it, which is good because none of us even get our first pay checks until the 20th, hopefully.

pay checks. what i mean by that is that it will be a living allowance of about 640 dollars (after taxes) a month. which means in the 10 months i am here i will be making a grand total of $8,000 (pre-taxes, $6,400 after taxes and in twelve months i would make 9,100 pre-taxes), which is well below the 2007 poverty line for one person as set by the US government at $10,210. so, i am sure that you can guess that it makes me eligible for food stamps, free medical services at the hospital, and a variety of other things i hope to be able to access here in massachussets. corps members usually apply for all these things about a month into their service year (or four pay stubs in and we get paid every week) so for the first month, we are all on our own in the very expensive city of Boston. however, that is the whole point of AmeriCorps, the experiences that you have whether you are dealing with your projects or trying to figure out how to get by. i am lucky that i am living in a house with six other people because that cuts down on rent significantly. in addition, i am living with all corps members in a really heavy City Year area, and Jamaica Plain is also one of the places where City Year corps members are active in the schools, so basically i will be surrounded by City Year for the next 10 months. my house is what alums call a corps house, because all of us our corps members and we are on the orange line of the T.

basically what i am doing here with the free internet is trying to score a free mattress, boxspring and a bed frame or at least a mattress since i have none of that and sleeping on the wood floor was pretty uncomfortable last night, although it was bearable. also the fact that i am not as young as i think i am, or my bones are falling apart. so i am spending a lot of time looking on craigslist for things.

another thing that is cool about new england is servenewengland.org and thus because we are volunteers, we are eligible for really cheap grocery packages. i just ordered my first one. especially since we don't have a grocery store nearby, this is good. ok i just found a grocery store, but i dont think its very reasonably priced. like many things in boston. martin (one of my housemates) just went looking for a free mattress on the corner, but he has returned because its not there. i think the idea is to get by spending as little money as possible for the next couple weeks since we aren't getting paid. i might get another job, we'll see. java jo's is hiring...