and then there was air

finally, i can breathe again like a normal human being.

i haven't made much progress on anything but perhaps that is because i am sitting in front of the computer. it sounds awkward but i waste a lot of time sitting here not doing anything when i could be sitting in my room with a pencil and some paper getting things done.

at least, i know that is a fact i just haven't felt motivated yet. i wonder what i am waiting for.

battling sickness

so i am very very sick. but all i can say is that i am very very glad that i am sick at home and not while i am in school in boston. because i can just imagine going into HQ and getting everyone in the corps (as well as HQ staff) sick and then all those corps members going to their respective schools getting all those kids sick and i could single-handedly be responsible for a LOT of people getting sick, of all ages, shapes and sizes. maybe that's an exaggeration of what could happen, but it is highly possible.

so i've stocked up on tea, juice, robotussin, and ginger. being sick makes it hard to work on the grant, apart from the fact that i've never had to do a budget before for a health fair, just for a conference, this is very difficult for me to work on alone. but i am getting there hopefully.

also, i found my care force reserves app in my e-mail inbox and i am filling it out now so that i have it ready for when i get back to service on the 7th. i am pumped for this upcoming semester because there are so many good things going on.

i'm making my fraction flashcards for my kids during math lunch so that we can get our fraction show on the road. so, break is productive, despite the fact that it is break and we are supposed to stop working for a while. i think being sick and forced to stay in my house makes it even more productive (apart from the long sleeping periods) because there is nothing to do but read paulo coehlo books and drink tea.

where cold is in my imagination

i made it back to virginia, after a weird/surprising delay at logan airport. i ran into two people that i knew, one from high school and one from middle school, on the last flight out of logan to dc on saturday night.  it made the delay that much more interesting. then! there were at least 5 people from my high school on my flight back, which was super strange. and i couldn't fall asleep because the flight is too short.  in that respect, sometimes i wish i took the train or the bus home more regularly.

starfish opening day
we all worked so hard on planning out the details for opening day and we didn't even get to do it with the after school kids. yes, i was bummed. yes, everyone was bummed. but it was snowing and matt made the executive starfish decision to not have it that day since one of our kids was not in school (and i quote "that's 1/5 of our starfish corps...", me: "it's not like they can't get sick some other day... it's winter" -- mostly because i was mad that we weren't doing it and i was sad for the kids because we'd worked really hard at getting them hyped about it).

clinton innovation grant
so, at city year, if you have a super project idea, but there is no money to do it (i.e. it's a non-profit, there's no money for staples sometimes) you can apply for a bill and hillary clinton innovation award. basically, it funds projects from $500 to $5000 and that fall within the guidelines. this year, the project has to benefit the whole school, whole child model.  because there are so many sites across the country (17, going on 18) we have to apply to our sites first and then the top two move on to the national selection process. BLING! i wrote one for a health fair to have in our community in may. and it made it through our site in boston as one of the two, so now i have to work at making it a stellar proposal for it, to submit before jan 4. so that is a highlight/joy of my life.

rotary scholarship
i just found out that i am confirmed to RIO!! (aka brazil, my first choice) so that is pretty exciting. and i'm applying to a summer intensive at middlebury to get my portuguese up to par so that rotary can let me go. otherwise, i can't go. so that's where i stand now.

staying strong

it's been a few days since i last posted. my last ten days can be summarized into the following.

NELA (new england leadership academy)
falling on ice
school
looking for children's books
major realizations
Rotary confirmation (country unknown)
snow!


NELA
Corps members can apply for the New England Leadership Academy for extra leadership experience/opportunities. I applied, along with everyone else on my team, but because it means that you are out of service (aka out of school) for the days of the leadership academy, not everyone can go. i got super lucky, because i feel that everyone on my team was qualified and got to attend nela last week. it was eye-opening, looking into how teams work and how to address them as a living, breathing organism. i really enjoyed it and even though i'd had a lot of opportunities to lead projects and teams, i have a much more defined leadership style now that i hope to put into practice. its called the new england leadership academy because corps members from rhode island and new hampshire came up and down to boston as well, so it was nice to see some fresh faces. we had lots of great presenters from HQ come and do their thing for us and we got to see some higher ups in city year. it was really eye-opening for me, being able to look inside the organization and the strategies for running a successful team. we also went candlepin bowling! and it was pretty hilarious because most of us had no idea how to do it. i also figured out a way to avert crisis on the team and it worked out well.

falling on ice
so for the first time in a long time, i went outside for recess two thursdays ago because it was snowing and i was excited. way too excited. i ran outside, after lending my gloves to one of my students because he didn't have any, and my kids jumped on me saying my name and grabbing my arms and pulling me in every direction. i guess you could say that me going out to recess is a major event. so there i am, enjoying their signs of affection when a girl from matt's class comes up to me and says, somebody is bleeding and she points over to where a large group of kids are standing in a big circle. and i start to run. bleeding! snow! (thats my thinking right there) and somehow i managed to run over the only icy spot that had gotten covered up by snow. and that's when i had a movie-like fall and my head bounced off the hard ice, saved only by a ponytailm, my thick hair and a fleece hat. and i laid on the ground thinking something was broken with snowflakes accumulating in my sleeves and on my face. my eyes were closed and i felt kids running/shadows around me and i could hear them. and one of them was like, yo, let go of my teacher!!! it turns out it was the one kid i thought i hadn't even been able to connect with. and then that kid is like, grab her arms, sit her up! they're like in my face saying my name and asking me if i'm ok and all i can do is fall back over. onto my back, closing my eyes and letting snowflakes fall on my frozen face.

then i had to go to the school nurse to get an ice pack.

school
i didn't really go that much because i was at NELA. i went on thursday last week and then again today. today only 9 kids showed up to class. about half. not bad for a massively icy/snowy/rainy weekend that made all sidewalks dangerous to pedestrians.

looking for children's books
i spent a long time looking for children's books with lilli online about education and poverty. its tough, let me tell you. they just dont make children's books like that at all.

major realizations
i have a lot of goals that i am striving for in my personal character. and its nice to know that i am only 22 so i have time to get myself together. but at first i was sad because i thougth 22 was old and i cried a lot. like i do usually. i am not afraid to say it either. i cried/cry a lot.

Rotary confirmation
got confirmed. still don't know where i am going. orientation is in NC in january. and i have to use some of my vacation days from work to go.

snow!
it snowed a lot.

freestylin

ok so i haven't heard from the Rotary people so i'm not even sure if I got a Rotary scholarship yet. but this morning a second grade teacher free-styled. right now. to try and get a kid to listen to what he had to say. there are small bursts of creativity here that i love.

snow!

first super snow. well not super, but it stuck to the ground and that is all that matters. we have a stray cat living in our house, our living room is clean, we burnt something in the oven, i hung out with non-cy people and cy people this weekend and i went to capoeira twice this weekend. my back and my ridiculous blisters are killing me, but i want to go to bed within the next 20 minutes. yeah. i know, i am getting old.

life in boston is evening itself out. and it feels nice. i also got a rotary scholarship!!!