I'm Back!

Hello again everyone! I know it has been forever since I have blogged but for the past two months I have been without a computer (the hard drive gave up) and there were so many holidays! Well I am back and I hope that my blogs can be more regular. So for sanity’s sake this blog is going to be much more of a report, updating y’all on what I have been up to since I stopped blogging. Hopefully after all of this my blogs can be more regular:

Adventures!!!!

Over the past two plus months I have gotten to go on so many amazing adventures.

1.       Sedona: In early November, I trekked to Sedona to do some epic hiking with friends Allie (fellow VISTA) and Kayla (med student doing a rotation at an HIS hospital). Sedona is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in the whole world. From the forest laced canyon drive to Sedona to the massive Red Rocks surrounding Sedona you cannot stop feeling like you are walking in a postcard. On Saturday we did a long forest hike through a canyon. Sometimes I would feel like I was in a forest in Massachusetts but then I would look up and see the red and orange canyon walls. The next day we went on an amazing hike up Cathedral Rock to feel a vortex. Along with being an amazing hiking spot, Sedona is known for being a center for new-age spirituality and common thought is that several of the red rocks have energy vortexes. The hike up of Cathedral Rock was so steep it was more of a rock climbing experience; however once we reached the top the experience was totally worth it. We capped off our first weekend in Sedona with a delicious lunch and walking around the cute town of Sedona. I left Sedona knowing that I would come back.

And come back I did! In late January I returned to Sedona with Allie and new pals pharmacy students Claire and Meredith.  The first hike we did was Bear Mountain which is one of the hardest hikes in Sedona. In fact, it is a training hike for the Grand Canyon.  The hike to the top is 2.5 miles and the incline is a little over 2,000 feet. It was an understatement to say the hike was hard. When you are going on a steep climb, it is difficult to gauge how far you have gone. There was several times where we thought we had hit the end of the trail only to realize that it goes across a Mesa and up another peak. There were multiple points where we were frustrated and wanted to turn around but we kept pushing through. Once we got to the top the view made the hike completely worth it. After a PBJ lunch our spirits were up and we began the hike down sings camp, Disney, pop, rock, hip hop (you name it songs). My second trip to Sedona was rounded out by another hike up Cathedral Rock and cupcakes.

2.       Thanksgiving with Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff: I was so lucky to have my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff come and visit me around Thanksgiving time. They were curious about my life so the Saturday before Thanksgiving, they came out to visit me. We had a great lunch, hiked El Morro, and I gave them a tour of the reservation. Later that week I met up with them in Albuquerque. Since, both lived in New Mexico before we had a good time going to local restaurants, hiking trails, and Old Town. We also had a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner at Sandia Casino. Overall, I was awesome to be able to see them.

3.       Red Rock Balloon Rally: Hot air balloons are the thing out here in New Mexico and in December, Gallup (a town about an hour away from me) holds a balloon rally. While this event is not as big as the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, it is unique because the pilots launch off of the Red Rocks. This event is also really cool because you can volunteer to be part of chase teams. The chase team is a group of people that help launch a balloon and then in a truck follow the balloon to help it land. I signed up for a crew and it was a really awesome experience. The team I was paired up with was really nice and invited me back for the next day. The next day the team had a really neat surprise for me and let me ride in the balloon. Riding in a hot air balloon is something that I always wanted to do and the experience was absolutely amazing. When the balloon first started going up, I was a little nervous. I mean what was I doing I was going to fly in a basket?! However, once we got up, my nerves subsided and I just felt like I was floating. Riding in a hot air balloon was an experience of a lifetime.

VISTA WORK!!!!!

While I have had been having tons of adventures, I have also been really busy with my VISTA work as well. Since I last blogged, I have submitted my first grant proposal. Along with our Scholarship and Employment Training Program, I submitted a grant proposal to fund a YouthBuild Project in Pine Hill. If we are award a grant we will create a program for young adults where they receive GED classes, construction education, and leadership development. In April, I will hear back about whether or not we received the grant.

Along with writing grants, I have also started a leadership program in the dorm. The program is two parts. First, is a selective program for middle and high school students called Peer Leaders. Then for all the elementary students I have started a program called Little Leaders. The purpose of both programs is to develop leadership, have student lead dorm activities, and fight bullying. The big challenge to this program is the lack of funding. At first, I didn’t have any type of budget but after several letters of support, the RNSB Titles program gave us $500 in start up money which is amazing. However, other facilitators and I have several BIG dreams for this program which needs even more funding. So I have found a grant and I am currently writing a letter of interest.

I am also in the first stages of starting a job shadow program. Overall, I am really enjoying my work and am excited for spring and summer in New Mexico.

A Month Full of Americorps Work!!!

This month has been a really busy work month for me. I have had several different projects in the works. For one I am still working on completing the workforce development binder however several new projects have come up. One ongoing project that I have been busy with is a series of post-high school readiness workshops. I am developing a curriculum that is a series of workshops aimed at getting high school seniors thinking about and working on their academic and work plans post-graduation. The goal of the workshops is to give individuals the guidance and skills needed to successfully enter college or the workforce post graduation. Although the curriculum overall is geared towards high school seniors, individual workshops could be used by anyone who wants to work on building skills needed to enter college or the workforce. Currently, I am piloting the workshops once a week in a one hour class for high school seniors. Although I am directly running the course with this class of high school seniors, I am still keeping in mind that my work as a VISTA ultimately has to be about capacity building. My reason for directly running the workshops the first time is so that I can personally see the problems and kinks and find solutions. To tie in the capacity building needed in VISTA work, I am writing a curriculum that is almost scripted so that anyone can easily run the workshops. In addition, I have teachers aiding in running the workshops so that in the future they will be able to facilitate them without me. Right now I am doing a three part workshop on building a resume. The goal is that by the end of the workshop each student will have created their own personal resume. I really enjoy working with the young people. I try to spend a few minutes every class with each students. It is really neat to hear their dreams and aspirations; I hope that the time I spend with them will encourage them to pursue those dreams.

Along with working on developing the workshop curriculum I am starting down the path of writing my first ever grant! The Scholarship and Employment Training Program here in Pinehill is working on applying for grant for a Youthbuild Program. Youthbuild is a character development program for high school drop outs ages 16-24. The program is 10% leadership development, 50% GED work, and 40% construction skills development. I have been asked to be part of the team that will work on the draft proposal.

Along with my VISTA project work, as VISTA I am requested to plan and run a variety of community service projects. For Veterans’ Day the Corporation For National and Community Service asked that VISTAs create service projects that would help people in the military. I created and ran a two week stuffed animal drive. The cuddlely critters are going to a program that puts together care packages for children who parents overseas. The drive was a huge success! The community came together and donated over 125 stuffed animals. Now I just have to wash the 80 odd lightly loved ones OY!

Finally I am keeping my days busy by doing volunteer work in the dorms. I have been at the dorm for over a month now and have almost all of the 40 kids names down. I really enjoy getting to plan events and programming with them. Right now I am working on a dormitory newspaper for the mid-school and high-school kids. I thought that newspaper would be a great activity for them because it would give them a chance to work on the writing skills and for the kids applying to college it will be an activity to put on their resume. Overall I am having a great time in Pine Hill!

El Morro and Phoenix

Well I have been having a whirlwind of adventures since moving to the southwest. Two weekends ago I headed Phoenix for some fun times with fellow VISTAs. The adventure began with a 3 hour trip to Whiteriver, AZ to pick up my friend Allie (serving with the National Society for the American Indian Elderly). As soon as we saw each other, it was clear that this weekend was going to be a crazy awesome adventure. In no time at all we were in Allie’s car and on the way to Phoenix (just a short 4 hour trip away).  It seemed like we were driving in the blackness that makes up the night in the middle of nowhere forever. We were so excited to see lights and as we pulled into Scottsdale we were about ready to burst with excitement. Shortly we enviously admiring our friend Jenica’s apartment (it has a pool and hot tub!!). Jenica is another VISTA from training. She is also serving with the National Society for the American Indian Elderly, but instead of being at the satellite site on a reservation she is serving in Phoenix in the main office. A short while later, our group was joined by yet another VISTA, Ryan who is serving with me on the Native Americans to Work Project  but he is on the Hualapai Reservation in Peach Springs, AZ. It was really nice to see fellow VISTAs again, especially those who I have not seen since training.

The next day, one more VISTA, Liz (serving on the Tohono O’odham reservation in Cells, AZ with the National Society for the American Indian Elderly), joined us. Then we headed off to the Arizona State Fair. I am pretty sure it was the largest fair that I have ever been to! Right away we made a beeline to the back of the fairgrounds to attend the rodeo. Let me just take a minute to tell you where we are from: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and LA. I bet you can guess by that list that attending a rodeo was quite an experience for all of us. After the rodeo, we had a good time indulging in all the key hallmarks of a fair including homemade ice cream, lemonade, fair rides, and seeing prize animals. It was a great day not to mention very VISTA friendly; we happened into the fair on two for the price of one day!

Later that evening we enjoyed a relaxing dip in the hot tub and then a group spaghetti dinner in preparation for an epic Halloween night. Even though we are all in our mid twenties we felt the need to dress up. Our entourage  included Screetch and Kelly from Saved By the Bell, a zebra (yours truly!), and Sammi Sweetheart and JWow from the Jersey Shore. It was evening of merriment and memory making that ended with a drive through trip to Jack In The Box. Overall I enjoyed my trip to Phoenix and I am sure I will be back sometime this winter for some tanning by the poolside.

While some adventures like Phoenix take an epic amount of driving, the cool thing about where I am living is that there are plenty of adventures in my backyard. This past Sunday, fellow VISTA Allie drove up from Whiteriver, AZ with some co-workers to hike El Morro which is about 20 minutes down the road from me. El Morro is a national landmark which many people know as Inscription Rock. El Morro is a large sandstone bluff with a natural pool of water at the base of bluff. Because of this unique body of water in a very arid environment, El Morro has been a place where humans have lived and visited for hundreds of years. At the base of the bluff there are petroglyphs left by some of the earliest inhabitants. Right next to the petroglyphs are the signatures of Spanish explorers and American pioneers who rested at El Morro on their travels. As history buff it was fascinating to see the evolution and change in the people and cultures that inhabited an area displayed in such a visual manner. After taking in the inscriptions, we continued our way up the hiking trail which swichbacked up the side of the bluff. Soon we found ourselves standing atop the epically tall bluff looking into a massive canyon. It was AMAZING! The hike then continued to circle around the canyon and on top of the bluff. Along with breath-taking views, the top of the bluff is a major attractions to hikers because of the remains of ancient village. Again, anyone who knows me would get that seeing that made my day! In fact, I think I might go back to El Morro again sometime and re-hike it again. Well, that is about all I have to write about this week, this coming weekend I am going to Sedona to do some hiking so soon you will be reading about that!

Day to Day Life

Well, I have been a VISTA for a little over a month here in Pine Hill and I am really starting to settle in. I have been enjoying my work in the Continuing Education Office. Doing workforce development is way more of a challenge than I thought. Originally, I thought my work would be as simple as finding local area employers and helping to line up job connections. Well the more time I spend in the community, the more I am coming to understand the different dynamics that contribute to joblessness. For one Pine Hill is geographically isolated. So while there are limited employment opportunities locally most jobs are over an hour away. The distance most people will have to travel to work creates a challenge especially since this now means people need a reliable vehicle to work. Another issue is the education background of community member. Many people without a high school degree of GED have trouble finding work. Another problem is people are interested in different careers but they do not know the steps they need to take to successful get that type of job.

 One major project that I have been working on is creating a job readiness binder. Basically the purpose of the binder is to be a guide for people on the path to a career. It contains information on different careers and the steps needed to get there. It is divided into sections. The first section contains information on filling out resumes, job applications, and guides to discovering the best career paths. The next section looks at different education levels from no formal education to a college degree and lists what careers correlate with the different education levels. Additionally the binder provided information on different education resources in the community. The following section gives an in depth look at different career fields that are of popular interest in the community. Finally at the back of the binder is a list of local job openings. Hopefully, this binder will help people be successful in pursuing a career that they are interested in. It is pretty cool to think that I am helping to create a resource that will help the community for years to come.

Along with my VISTA work, I have kept myself busy with my volunteer work in the student dormitory. Although I am only asked to do about four hours of work a week with the kids, I find myself doing a lot more. It is ok though, because I really don’t mind. Some activities I have helped run are games, cupcake decorating, a nature walk, yoga class, and a Halloween event. I have always enjoyed working with kids so a lot of time it seems more like fun than compensation for my living space. Also, I think that I enjoy the instant gratification of seeing results of my volunteer work. One of the things I have found challenging about my VISTA work is that I don’t really get the wow I am making a change feeling. Of course I know the work I am doing is extremely valuable and in the long run it will make a difference but sometimes it is hard to consume yourself in work when you don’t see results right away.

Along with my VISTA project and volunteer work at the dorm I have managed to squeeze in sometime for fun and discover new things. Two weekends I went to Gallup with a friend. Gallup is a town that is the major place to go on the weekends. I find it funny that it is the big draw because it is about the same size as Franklin. However, I got to go to a flea market where Native Americans sell food, jewelry, and other things. This past weekend I went to Phoenix and hung out with some fellow VISTAs. Keep your eyes out for a future post! Overall, I have been having an amazing time and I am excited for several more adventures.

Balloon Fiesta Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last weekend I got the awesome experience of being able to attend the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I was initially debating attending the Fiesta because I had just moved to Pinehill and Albuquerque is over two hours away. However, when my friend and fellow VISTA Alexis (serving in Whiteriver, AZ on an Apache Reservation with the National Society for the American Indian Elderly) said she wanted to go I was game.

About noon on Saturday, Alexis rolled into Pinehill to pick me up and we were off to the Albuquerque. As we drove the winding roads of Highway 53 through the Zuni Mountains, it was clear we both were really excited to not only be going to the Balloon Fiesta but also to see civilization again. As we are both east coast girls (Allie hails from New Jersey) we were starting to get a little cabin fever in the isolated mountains we are working in. While we both agreed that we enjoyed nature; we have not yet adjusted to living in an area where CVS doesn’t exist, Internet is looked at as some science fiction theory, and four buildings in a square mile area constitutes a road sign that says congested area. Overall it was nice to spend time with someone else who understands what I am going through right now.

About an hour or so down the road we came across a Walmart and decided to pull in for a pit stop. A quick purchase of candy and taking the free can of Sierra Mist (non-diet and caffeine free: worst combo ever we decided) Walmart was handing out we were on the road again.  Eventually we rolled into Albuquerque and found the KOA. When planning this trip we decided that we need to be there on Saturday night and Sunday morning to get the full experience. However, being on a VISTA budget meant that getting a hotel room was just not an option. Since Alexis had a tent, camping out seemed like the perfect solution. Well this was a camping experience like I have never had before! For lack of a better description we were basically camping out on I-40. The sound barrier wall was about 20 feet from our “tent site” (a patch of gravel dirt next to some RVs) and you could see the exit ¾ miles sign from our tent. Although it was not the most ideal campout it worked for the trip.

Saturday evening we headed to the Balloon Fiesta Park for the famous balloon glow. Along with the rest of the crowd we staked out our blanket spot and enjoyed some Pad Thai (our food vendor of choice). As the sun started to go down pilots got out their balloons and started to blow their balloons up. Occasionally they would light up the balloons and the colors of the balloons would glow against the night sky. It was amazing.

After the balloon glow, Allie and I decided that we needed a more substantial dinner than a shared plate of Pad Thai. Together we shared a nice dinner of Olive Garden (only after haggling for some free food using the argument “We are devoting a year of our life to national service” IT WORKED). After some commercial Italian we headed back to the KOA to catch some ZZzzz’s before day two of the balloon glow.

Up bright and early at 4:20 am we were packed up camp in the dark and hopped into the car to head to the park for day two of the balloon fiesta. Once again in the early morning before dawn there was another balloon glow and this one was even more amazing than the night before. Then just as dawn appeared balloons started floating into the sky one by one. As the sun grew higher the balloons began to launch faster and faster. In fact they were launching practically on top of us! I must have seen over 100 balloons fly into the sky. If anyone is ever thinking of taking a trip to New Mexico I would definitely say to plan it in October and take in some of the Balloon Fiesta.

The Balloon Fiesta is just one example one of the many reasons I am thrilled to be doing Americorps. By living in a different area of the country I am getting to see and experience things I might never have the chance to. I am excited to see what I will do with the rest of my year.

Starting Work, Settling In and Dorm Life Again!

Well I know that I have been a bad blogger! But my life has been so busy over the past few weeks that I really haven’t had a chance to update. Since I last wrote I started work with the Ramah Navajo Continuing Education Department. It is nice after being out of school for a few months to sink my teeth back into some work that I enjoy. My major project over the year is to help improve workforce development. Hopefully in the end of my service that will mean that I have put into place some training programs, wrote (and received J) a few grants, and developed a few green jobs. But for right now I am in the humble beginnings of my work, meaning I spend all day in front of my computer doing research. Honestly I am happy as a clam doing that. Anyone who went to UMass with me knows that I perversely enjoy sitting on Google and patching together various compilations of key words to bring up successful searches. I love the challenge of refining searches to bring up the exact data needed. So as of right now I have gathered quite an archive of information on green job development in tribal communities and on adult education in family learn centers. Hopefully over the next few weeks I will be meeting with community leaders to learn about programs in place and what they would like to see in terms of workforce development. I will pair this information with my prior research and hopefully begin drafting the blueprints for my major projects.

Along with enjoying work, I am really settling into life here. There is a wellness center with a little gym in it that I can use for free. I have made it a habit to get there a couple times a week. I am really happy about that because I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with working out in the middle of nowhere so finding a gym was a nice surprise. Also last Thursday another VISTA I met in training was driving by Pinehill on her way to her site and we were able to meet up for dinner at a little restaurant. I ate some really good green chile enchiladas; however they DO NOT hold a candle to the food at Anita’s in NoVa. It is nice to have another VISTA close by (relatively we are 2-3 hrs apart but in these parts that is dinner date distance). This coming weekend we are going to campout near Albuquerque and see the International Balloon Fiesta. So excited! Finally this weekend I went to a fall festival a little ways up the road. There were lots of artisans, a farmers market, and a group of Zuni women performing traditional dances. Who knew there was so much to do in the middle of nowhere?!

Another major change this week was my living situation. I have been living temporarily in a woman’s house in the community but I couldn’t stay there permanently because of rules and regulations around tribal housing. Luckily another option came up and on Sunday I moved into the children’s dormitory. The children’s dorm is a place where students from1st grade to 12^th grade can live during the school week. I believe that the theory behind the dorms is to help develop leadership and independence and that having an academically focused after school environment can lead to students doing better in schools. I am going to be able to stay at the dorm for free in exchange for doing an hour or so of after school activities a night with the children in the dorms. These past two nights I have been running a study hour for elementary age students. The work is more challenging than I thought. For example, several of the kids had division homework but they did not know multiplication. How are you supposed to teach division if kids don’t know multiplication? I tried explaining how to solve the problems in a number of different ways but I am not sure if the kids grasped it. Any advice from teachers (MOM) would be great! However the kids are really sweet and I think I am going to enjoy working with them.

Well that is all I have for now! Look for the next post which will most likely be about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

Pre Service Orientation

This past week I did my pre-service training for Americorps VISTA in Santa Fe, NM. Arriving at Santa Fe I was extremely nervous and overwhelmed. I had just said goodbye to my Dad earlier that morning in Albuquerque and it tore me apart. What was I doing moving to an isolated part of the country when I could be in MA with my family and friends. It pretty much took all of my willpower to not drive back to Massachusetts. However, a bit into training I felt much better about this whole Americorps thing. Through training I was able to meet several other individuals who would be serving as VISTAs in tribal communities across the country. Many of them had the same worries I did. It was good to be able to hash it all out.

Training everyday was intense. We would have breakfast around 7:30 and be in training sessions by 8:30. This training was a first for Americorps. Although they have been doing PSOs for many years this was the first PSO design specifically for VISTA’s serving in tribal communities. The purpose of this PSO was to not only train people to be VISTAs but also to bring a greater understanding about the unique communities that we will be serving. One of the things that I was surprised by was it was continually repeated that many people in the communities we would be serving might be stand offish or right down upset about our presence. Additionally, they told us that it would take us a while to be welcomed into the communities. Well that threw me for a bit of a loop. One of the things that stresses me about the year is being lonely and isolated and now I am finding out that it will be pretty much guaranteed L

However, on the up and up PSO gave me a time and place to have a really fun experience before heading off to service. I met a bunch of really neat people and we had a ton of fun at meals getting to know each other. Also we had the evening free and we just had fun hanging out. One night we even ventured to the pool and hot tub. One of the awesome things we did was a service project at the Santa Fe Indian School. All 25 VISTAs were put in smaller groups and sent out to do various projects. Other groups had to pick up trash off school grounds and clean windows and toilets. My group lucked out in our service project in the middle school dormitory. We were brought to what seemed to be a huge closet that had boxes and shelves. What we found out was it was supposed to be a library/reading room for the kids but no one had the time to shelve the books. My group got to work and in no time we created a really nice space for the kids to relax (see picture). The final night in Santa Fe a bunch of us headed out for a night on the town and we hit up some of Santa Fe’s bars for dancing. On Friday it was sad to say goodbye to so many cool people. Luckily some of us are posted near each other and have plans to go hiking and maybe even a road trip to North Dakota?!?! Overall, I am excited for a year of service and also to a year of making memories with some new good friends.