Snowed in :)

Just wanted to update everyone that I am safe and sound in Fairfax, Virgina at my friend Ellen's house! I left Charleston at noon yesterday and my friend Andrew and I arrived in the DC area at 3:30am this morning. We were going 5-20mph up 95 almost the entire way. We saw a pickup truck hit an 18 wheeler in the lane next to us!! Luckily Andrew is an experienced snow driver and we made it here safely! We will be snowed in for awhile though. Fortunetly, Ellen lives very close to a 7-11 so we have plenty of food and drink. Now it feels like Christmas!

Post Thanksgiving update

Well well well my favorite holiday has come and gone. But it was wonderful!! I flew in on Wednesday night with out a hitch. I was a little nervous because there was a lot of delays that day because of rain and fog, but fortunately that did not affect me. After a speedy lay over in Washington D.C. I landed in LGA on time on the busiest travel day of the year. My best friend Maggie picked me up and we had one of those run and jump hugs that is usually reserved for the movies. Ohhh it was good to be home.

When I got home my lovely parents had wine and cheese waiting for me! Not too long after that six of my girl friends arrived. My dad had made one of my all time favorites- chicken parm! It was delicious. After that I headed out with the girls to the local dive bar to catch up with some old friends from high school. It was fun to see everyone!

Thanksgiving morning my sister and I got up and went for a run. I love running in the cold- it's been a long time. It reminded me of High School soccer. Nothing like working up that cold sweat on a beautiful autumn afternoon! After that I was ready to eat. Though it was nice having a quiet thanksgiving I missed Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh. Everyone snuggled up in Aunt Jean's living room with the aroma of Turkey filling the house. The catching up with relatives you haven't talked to in awhile. Picking the names for Secret Santa and mapping out our plan of attack for Black Friday.

But the four of us had a nice Thanksgiving none the less, with enough food to feed an army. I made the mashed potatoes (my favorite) Immediately after dinner mom and Kelsey zonked out. So dad and I did the dished then sat on the couch to watch football. When everyone woke up we played Cranium and went to bed early. All in all, it was fabulous.

On Friday we were part of the other crazies who woke up early to do some black Friday shopping. Target was out of control. Had three different lines wrapped in various directions around the store. My dad was a trooper and waited on the line. I got some nice work clothes at NY&Co and a George Foreman grill. Gosh I feel like I'm getting old.

Friday night my Roommate from Siena came down and we went to my favorite restaurant of all time - HACIENDA!! On Sunday my family and I went to the Jets game thanks to our awesome neighbor Mark. It was a beautiful day for a football game. Ironically they were playing the Carolina Panthers. But we cheered for the Jets. It was a great end to a great long weekend.

Being in New York again made me realize just how different the South is from the North. Just the whole feeling. The feeling of the people, the rawness of the North is so different than the openness of the south. I haven't quite figured out how to put these differences in writing yet. But it was just something I could feel. Perhaps when I go home again for Christmas I will be able to articulate it more. I am driving up to New York on the 19th!

That's all for now. I have somehow come down with the flu (again) mixed with Strep Throat- YUCK. I've been bed ridden for 3 days and I'm just itching to feel better!! Pray for my speedy recovery and a safe trip home in a week or so. That's all for now!




Kelsey, My mom, and me at the Jets game!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

Hello Hello Hello. Time has been flying!! I am very excited that next week is Thanksgiving. Things have been going really well. I am really liking my job and the people that I work with. Although there are definitely times when I come home exhausted, and I am still not used to waking up at six (I don't think I'll ever be a morning person) I feel really good about what I'm doing and at the end of the day I feel very fulfilled. The people that I work with are wonderful. The thing that I really like about them is that everyone works as a unit. It's not a work place where you would hear "oh sorry I would like to help you but that's not in my job description.." I find that attitude very admirable and it's nice to be surrounded by that.

One of the cool things about my school is that we are newly a magnet school. We became a Communications magnet school this year, due to in large part from the past VISTA Katy Simison. Because of our partial magnet, we were able to get a news show that some of the students do every morning, a newspaper club, a weather bug, and lots of other fun things! It was a big deal for our school! Last week I went to a fair which featured all the magnet and charter schools in the district. Here's a picture from the fair!




me, Katy, The principle Ms. Hendrix, our parent educator Ms. Green, and a student

Yay for visitors!

This past weekend was so awesome because I had my first (of I hope many) OUT OF TOWN VISITORS! My friend Jenna who lives in Maine, was road tripping down the east coast with her friend Ellen, who is moving to Florida. Jenna was going along for the ride and is flying back to Maine in a few days. After spending a few days in Washington DC and a night in Wilmington, NC they arrived in Charleston on Saturday night. I had a nice homemade veggie lasagna waiting for them when they arrived. It was really nice to catch up over food and wine. We had a lot to tell each other!

At Siena we had a lot of classes together because she was a Political Science Major too. Right now she is where I was before I decided to do Americorps. That in between time where it's not only hard to find a job but complicated by the fact that you're unsure of what kind of job you actually want to do. I think she may look into Americorps now that I told her more about it and how much I am enjoying my time here.

On Saturday night I took them out to some of the spots in North Charleston that my friends and I frequent. After that we went downtown to a bar that I had never been to, but was recommended to us by a friend. Big John's Tavern, affectionately known as "Charleston's Best Dive Bar." There was a fun cover band playing and funky wall decorations. We had a lot of fun!

On Sunday I made the girls eggs and then we made our way to down town Chuck Town. The weather could not have been more perfect! It was sunny and in the low 70s. I parked the car in Battery Park (where I parked with you mom n dad and also with you Aunt Jean) and walked down King Street. They too fell in love with the Southern architecture. We just took our time strolling around the city, stopping in different stores or to take pictures of the pretty scenery. I took them through the open air market on Market Street. They got some cute touristy items to remember their trip by. We also stopped by the Fort Sumter museum because Ellen is a history buff. We walked up and down Meeting and East Bay Street. It was all in all a wonderful ending to a wonderful weekend.

Here's a picture of us girls. Jenna is in the middle and Ellen is at the end.

Coastal Carolina Fair

as promised, I will write about the fair. I have to admit that I was a little reluctant to visit the fair. My fair experience has been less than thrilling. The Orange County Fair is pretty trashy and the New York State Fair wasn't much better.

However, my friend Maggie wanted to go, and being the good friend that I am (and intrigued myself) I decided to go with her. I have never seen such a spectacle! There were helicopter rides, elephant rides, a rodeo (with a ten yr old girl lassoing a bull, animals that I have never even heard of.. and plenty of interesting characters. We skipped out on the greasy fair food and rides and just enjoyed the sights. We saw a hypnotist, who was absolutely hilarious. I wasn't sure if I believed in it, but after seeing it in action- those people did not appear to be acting! He had three of the guys thinking that they were in the Backstreet Boys and had two women believing they were their biggest fans. It was really funny! We also saw a country music concert- Jake Owen. I can't believe that I am enjoying country music!

Here are some fair pictures-

When the heck did it get to be November?

Well, it's November 4th. Halloween has come and gone (with no trick or treaters or school wide celebration...boo) and my little sister has magically entered the adult world by turning 18. As an American I got to see some negative feelings towards my country first hand, and now as the Yankees are on their way to a world series victory, I am seeing some hatred for my home team!! Not that I don't see their points on some issues in both circumstances.. but still, it's tough out there!

School has been SO busy! With the Thanksgiving break coming up and not a ton of time in before the long Christmas break (yes it's just a Christmas break, They don't even bother to say holiday break in the bible belt) it seems like everything is getting crammed into November. Currently I am working on a Domino's Pizza Fundraiser, a Polo shit fundraiser, Krispy Kreme Donuts Fundraiser, a field trip to the festival of lights for my mentors/mentees, business orientations, partnering up with the Be An Mentor Initiative, training a bunch of high school kids on mentoring.. and.. that's just been Monday-Wed. Mostly, I enjoy being busy though. The hours and days are literally flying. And there is never, ever a dull moment where I live or work. So that's good too :)

I went to the Coastal Carolina state fair and it was... interesting. Pictures to follow. For now, here's a picture of the pumpkin the girls and I carved!

Rocktober Happenings

I really like the month of October. September is always spent adjusting to something new, the weather is getting colder. But by October, the weather is full (in New York) of that nice autumn air, the leaves are changing, but more importantly I always associate October with feeling comfortable. By that time I am usually used to my schedule and find myself in a nice routine. This October seems to be more or less falling into that same pattern. Though the leaves are still green and it's still jeans and t-shirt weather, I am starting to feel more comfortable at my job and with my surroundings in general.

Chicora keeps me on my toes. It reminds me of college in the way that there is always something I could be doing. There is no time to be bored, because there are many projects that I am constantly working on. Every day I am in charge of the mentoring program. The Lunch Buddy program is the most popular, and my personal favorite thing that I do. For the Lunch Buddy Program, I recruit mentors to come into the school to sit and eat lunch with a student, then go out and play with them at recess. I admit that when I first heard about this program, I was kind of reluctant. I was skeptical about the difference eating lunch with a student would be. I was worried that students might not really want to eat lunch with an adult rather than their class. Boy was I wrong. I can't go one day without walking down the hallway and having a student come up to me and say "Miss. Erin, I want a mentor SO BAD." And Nothing makes me feel so good as to when I tell a student that he or she has a mentor and their entire face lights up. It's a similar feeling to when you watch someone you love get excited about a present that you put a lot of time and effort into. A lot of these kids just need someone to listen to them. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it really makes all the difference in the world. I realize that I really like my job because I care so much about these students and I want them to succeed so bad! I would by lying if I said that there weren't some mornings where getting out of bed is the hardest thing in the world, or some afternoons when I come home so worn out that I am tempted to say that I am fed up. But all and all I can honestly say that I enjoy my job and really feel like I make a positive difference.

I have also been really enjoying our little group of VISTAS in Charleston. We all are emotionally supportive of each other and we also have fun together. Most of us moved to Charleston from far away, so it's really great to have such a tight knit group. I like how we all bring different things to the table.

Last week I got the unique opportunity to work at McDonalds. They have a promotion called "McTeachers Night" where if the faculty and staff work at McDonalds for three hours, the school gets 20% of the proceeds. So, I put on my hat and got to work! It was actually a lot of fun. They had some of us flippin burgers, some making fries, some working the front register. They had me on the drive thru. It was quite an experience, I definitely have a new respect for McDonalds employee.

Charlotte, Camping

Sorry I've neglected you for a few weeks! I've been super busy with work and being social too! Last weekend I visited my friend Shannon from Siena in Charlotte. She is going to Charlotte School of Law and also just recently moved there. She has an awesome apartment on the outside of the city with a roommate who furnished the entire place, pays rent, but never sleeps there. Talk about a deal! Charlotte is a cool city, though it's smaller than I thought it would be. It seemed really clean to me and reminded me of Stamford, CT in the way that it has a lot of 'young professionals' working and socializing there. We hung out with some of her friends from law school and everyone was really nice. The second day we kind of bummed around her apartment and ended up checking out a raw oyster bar down the road from where she lives. We had some delicious sea food! All in all it was a great trip, and it's so easy to get to from Charleston that I will definitely go back!

There was little time to relax in between leaving Charlotte and my next adventure. I spent that Sunday night watching the Steelers beat the Chargers and packing for the woods! Americorps sponsored a retreat for the Americorps VISTA people from all of South Carolina, which only consists of 22 Charleston people and about the same number of people from the Spartenberg area. So, at 7:45 Monday morning, me and twelve of my fellow VISTAS drove the 4.5 hours up to YMCA camp Greenville on the NC/SC border. The ride wasn't too bad- we rented two big vans so I slept most of the way. The camp- well it was interesting. We slept in cabins with bunk beds. The weather was actually COLD- a feeling I had almost forgotten! haha. The retreat was not too bad, although I would have enjoyed having some more down time. There were three speakers who I thought were actually pretty effective. One was on how to hold an effective meeting, one was on Marketing and the last was on Fundraising. It was cool to network with other VISTAs as well. Throughout the three days we did some team building exercises and did a ropes course. My favorite part of the trip was the last day. My friends Will, Michelle, Ashley, Jen and I went off the beaten trail and hiked through the woods. We had heard from a camp employee that there was an Awesome water fall, and we found it! To me, the hike felt like 5 miles, but the others said it was probably only about one! It was tough though!! So worth it once we actually got to the water fall. It was absolutely breath taking! It was cool to see the leaves turn too, it finally felt like autumn. I forgot how much I love the leaves and the autumn air- and that feeling of "new beginnings" that is often associated with autumn. It was refreshing to breath in that autumn air but I was happy to get leave on Wednesday. And work was happy to have me back!

The first picture is the crew in a cave taking a breather on the way to the waterfall. Underneath that is a picture of the pretty leaves. The water fall itself is to the right and right next to this is "pretty place". I thought it looked cool with the cross and you could see for miles!

So I have officially been in Charleston for a month as of yesterday. It has definitely been a roller- coaster, though I think I have adjusted well. I've enjoyed decorating my room and my house, food shopping and cooking my own meals. It is fun to be on my own, though I do miss my parent's cooking!

Having the responsibilities of a real full time job has also been a challenge. For the first time in my life my job actually depends on me. I am not just pushing paper or folding clothes. It can be overwhelming at times. I'm constantly worried that I am not doing as much as I could be doing, or that there is an easier way to do a project that I am not thinking about. And with this job, if I mess up, it's not my job on the line (it's very hard to get fired from an Americorps job) but a student might not get a mentor that he or she would greatly benefit from. I really believe that these kids need mentors and that a mentor could help get these kids on the right path.

But I don't want to turn this into a blog just about work! I have been having fun also. Charleston has a vibrarnt night life for a little city! Since the College of Charleston is right in the city there are a lot of cheapish bars down town. And even though I am a college graduate, I am not above them! To my Pittsburgh family, I found a great Steelers's bar where I watched the Steelers win the first game of the season. Also, a little off topic but I found this great article today (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/09/24/pittsburgh.neighborhoods.travel/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail) Yay good publicity!!

Last Saturday I woke up early to do a Beach Sweep/River Sweep which was sponsored by my roommate Michelle's company. We woke up early and cleaned up the trash in the river that flows right by my house. It was actually fun! We found some pretty nasty things though, including an entire package of ground beef- gross! There's a picture of my roommate Michelle and me with some trash that we collected!

Well that's it for now. I am still recovering from the "seasonal" flu so my mind is a little boggled! I'll write more later! chao for now!

Charleston

I realized in my last post I did not really get a chance to talk too much about the city of Charleston itself. I am really liking it so far. Though I technically live in North Charleston, it is only about 8 miles from the city. One of the reasons that I like the city is because it's so small! Charleston is actually a peninsula. There seems to be two or three streets that most of the action happens. King Street is the big street with all the fancy shopping and some of the touristy restaurants. Meeting Street runs parallel to King and has a lot of nice restaurants and bars. East Bay Street runs on the other side of Meeting, and has some of the more swanky places to eat and hang out at. Market Street is another cool street connecting King and Meeting. Market Street has a cool indoor/outdoor market running through it that draws a Great American Weekend type crowd. Vendors have tables and they sell everything from jewelery to art to food. It is fun to walk down on a nice day!

If I could describe the city of Charleston in one word it would probably be charming. Many of the buildings downtown are protected by the historical society, and maintaine an old style of architecture. The city offers a horse and buggy ride if you wish to skip the taxi and hear a little bit about the city from a tour guide. The city definitly embraces the charming vibe and entacts certain laws to keep it that way. For example, my friend Jen, a charleston native, told me that a year ago she wanted to get a tattoo and had to travel 90 miles to Savannah, Georgia because Charleston had outlawed tattoo parlors. Liquor stores are closed on Sundays. On that note, just about everything is closed on Sundays- even chick filet!

The majority of people I have met while in Charleston are very nice. I am still getting used to be addressed as "mam" and I haven't been able to call people "sir" and keep a straight face. Store Clerks are very friendly and genuinelly want to know how you are when they ask, rather than just saying it like a robot. Not that people are any meaner up north, it is just differnt. An example of this is last week when I went grocery shopping at Piggly Wiggly. I had a full cart and had just opened my trunk to start packing the car. The employee who was gathering the carts came up to me and just started putting my bags in my car. My initil reaction was, "why is this man stealing my bags?" But he was just being nice! He even put my purse in the front seat of my car and then just told me to have a great afternoon. I am not used to that kind of service!

Probably the best thing about Charleston is the weather and how close it is to the beach. Currently, it's Septemeber 20th, and still feels like August - a cool 82 degrees. The beaches are all free and the weather has just been perfect. There are about three beaches to choose from. I have bene to all of them, and they are all great. My fellow VISTA Becky lives on the Isle of palms so we went out to visit her the other day. It was so Beautiful! I can already tell that going to the beach will never get old!

The beginning of life in the lowcountry

Well, though I miss everyone a lot and would love the chance to chat with everyone on a daily basis, this is the easiest way to keep everyone updated on my where abouts.
At this point I have been living in North Charleston, South Carolina for 23 days. I came down in my trusty goldie (thanks Aunt Jean- she's still moving fine!) with my parents following (sorry about the speeding dad) close by. Dad, you are the best for doing that awful drive on your birthday.

The move in process was a little hectic- things did not exactly go as planned. I have a feeling that that will be the theme of my year here- part of the appeal to me for sure. The house wasn't exactly ideal. Though, for the price, you really can't beat it. I stole the idea of a blog from my neighbor Kelly, who actually posted the above picture of her own on her blog, but mine is just a mirror image. It is pretty spacious. It has three bedrooms. The master bedroom is the biggest, with the perks of having a bathroom and a tv jack in it. The other two bedrooms are still decently sized though and share a bathroom. We have a kitchen with a dishwasher and a washer and dryer (a huge plus)

I am living with two other VISTAS; Michelle and Ashley. Michelle is from Pennsylvania and Ashley is from Virginia. The three of us live at the end of Manley Ave along with some other VISTAS. Although we are all VISTAS we are doing different things. It is nice that there is a community of us all going through a lot of the same things; Lack of money, hard work, and living far from friends and family.

Before I go any further I should probably explain what it means to be an Americorp VISTA. Americorps broadly implies service for non-profits. VISTA stands for Volunteers In Service To America. It specifically works to fight poverty to America. So basically, if you are a VISTA, you are working to fight poverty in whatever town/sector you are working in.

I am fighting poverty in the Chicora/Chereoke section of North Charleston. North Charleston, one of the highest crime rates per capita in the United States. I also happen to live in North Charleston, about two miles from school, at the level of poverty. Doing so ensures that the VISTA worker is on the same economical level as the people they are serving. Honestly, I just feel like I'm living like I was in college, just working a lot harder, haha.

It's hard to say what my role is exactly at Chicora Elementary School.
On one hand I am the Americorp *VISTA
I've also been called the Community Liason
or, the Volunteer Coordinator
I've also heard the Mentor Coordinator
but in reality I am also the person who checks in tardy kids, the person who picks up the phone, the person who counts at hand outs for class, the person who runs the back pack buddy program, the person who takes minutes at meetings, the person who is supposed to launch a student run newspaper, recycling team, the public relations specialists, the grant writer, the person who asks kids where their pass is if they are roaming the hallways? and part of the parenting commitee.

Yeah, it is a lot. But I don't want anyone to think that I am complaining. I feel fortunete to have my first job out of college to come with so much responsibility and so many learning opportunities. I did Americorps to move to a new city (check) get some job expeirence (check) be consumed in a life that I knew little about (almost a check) figure out what I want to do with my life ( in progress) among other things. I know a lot of people would not be able to do what I am doing. It definitly has been an emotional rollar coaster and a lot of self reflection already. But I am excited and ready for this adventure!