I'm the new kid.

More to myself than anyone else, most likely, I am alive, and I still care about this blog. Yes, I still need to change the title, and I still need to document my first month in Lawrenceville, NJ, as well as being a VISTA for EducationWorks. But hey, baby steps.

The wonderful thing about being late blogging about things like this is that retrospect can be a very powerful memory editing tool. Of course, I lose out on quality, embarrassing entertainment when I look back on this later, but I can give a wiser perspective on my situation. Well, one month in a year can't make me a Solomon about nonprofits, AmeriCorps*VISTA or life, so stupid things might still surface.

I love it when everyone wins.

Living in Lawrenceville is pretty much what I expected; navigating this friggin' state, on the other hand, is not. This has been the dilemma since Day 1 of my arrival, and so far, neither has won me over. Thus, my verdict of living in NJ is at a standstill. I'm neutral - no wonder I've been craving all things Swiss lately: cheese, chocolate, Innsbruck.

Anyway, the townhouse community I live in is awesome. It's safe, in a great location and easy for running. Everything is convenient, and I am comfortable at any time of the day, no matter whom I see walking about, going anywhere. I have wireless Internet, cable, kitchenware, washer/dryer and furniture (albeit almost destroyed by the cat) at my disposal. Target, Walmart, two malls, Whole Foods, Marshall's, ross, DSW, BB&B, Blockbuster, Trader Joe's, downtown Princeton and Princeton University are all within a 20-minute drive from my house.

And the most glorious thing: a 10 to 15-minute commute to and from work. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING.

Needless to say, I love where I'm living, and I believe my little civic is my handy partner.

The three blizzards this past February, though, haven't been all that great because of my Civic. In a more suburban town, digging cars out is the norm and unplowed roads aren't uncommon. I must follow these wrongful ways of life, though, so I do kinda...not like snow as much anymore. Funny enough, snow days aren't that fun, either. You still have to rise before the sun and get ready in anticipation of no snow day. It's really no use to go back to sleep after you've gotten yourself together. You're also just stuck in the house and your work just gets pushed way too far behind. It's hard to work from home, too. Imagine that!

The only good thing out of my snow days is that I get to watch the TODAY show in its entirety, which always makes my day. That's my favorite part of the morning - what's yours?

Wow...this is much longer than I had intended, so I guess reflecting on my VISTA experience so far will come...later.

For now, March, bring me spring!

Round table discussions, fuzzy revelations

I have officially moved to Lawrenceville, NJ! But because I am not quite settled in yet, having had to leave right away for Philadelphia for my orientation, I will wrote about my new room this coming weekend. For now, I feel compelled to share a bit about my orientation so far. 

The core mission of an Americorps VISTA is simple: volunteer for one year to fight poverty in America. For one year, we live on food stamps and a poverty-level stipend to do capacity building projects for grassroots non-profit organizations all around the country.

I pounced on this with what I now see as premature excitement, not considering my sudden altruism as possibly only an impulse. Now I get to see if that can carry me through an entire year of the VISTA program.

As a group, we tackled and dissected the surfaces, stereotypes and causes of poverty. We shared stories, experiences, opinions and thoughts that demonstrated the many facets of poverty, a word that contains heavy baggage and issues bigger than I ever thought.

I'm still digesting and processing, so forgive me if I'm not very articulate in my reflections. What others shared today opened my eyes to so much I don't know. I don't even know how to tell someone where to get a cash checked without an ID. I only knew one person who didn't have a bank account and cashed all her checks right away. But she drove a car; therefore, she has an ID (driver license). And she had a house.

I can't begin to share what went on in my head today. How can I ever try to make a huge impact on such a widespread and iron issue? To help many of those in poverty, many things must change. The community and the wealthy need to offer resources for the poor who cannot afford them. The middle class needs to be rid of the selfish ambition that makes them believe poverty is a consequence of bad choices.

But, as I read in an article in The New Yorker, we love to believe that we support humanitarian efforts and causes; we're just not ready to feel the change in our individual lives. I'M not ready to change my life, I'll admit.

That's not a valid reason to drop out of this, however. I guess I'll have to dive straight into this, do it the hard way and just let the cold water wake me up to the horrors that go on under my nose. Sometimes I do feel foolish and uncomfortable and confused as to why I am doing this, but God's going to have to carry me through. This is His work I'm doing, and I actually found it so reassuring that I finally found a place where non-Christians didn't sneer at church or religious groups. The church is actually recognized as a great resource for the poor in these efforts, and that stayed with me through all my uncertainties and brief freakouts.

That's enough of a scratch, then, don't ya think?

Life

Oh hello, boyfriend from Ireland. Goodbye, my little civic with all my stuff shipping off to NJ. Oh hello, Las Vegas. Goodbye, friends and family. Oh hello, Parsippany. Oh hello, NYC. Goodbye, boyfriend going back to Ireland for five months. Oh hello, Linden. Oh hello, Lawrenceville. Hello, new home. Goodbye new home. Hello, Philadelphia. Goodbye, PSO VISTAs. Hello, new job.

That's a lot in two weeks.

New Decade!

I'd like to think of myself as "fashionably late" in welcoming the new year and the decade, but who am I kidding? I'm a week and a half late without a legitimate excuse. I have gone up and down Tetris levels too many times to account for not updating.

Part Two of  'How I Did It' is in progress. I'm trying to figure out how to break it all up so each entry is shorter without compromising the cohesiveness of the story. I am still determined to finish this project, though, because I do hope it gives some insight to some of you who have been in my position. Let's all encourage each other to keep on the healthy living, shall we??

In the meantime, I do think about other things. After all, the dawn of a new decade means that everyone goes into a mega-retrospective mood of not only occurences of 2009 but also of the first decade of the 21st century.

For the first time, I have made a few resolutions for this year. Normally I am skeptical of all this resolution business, since I've always had the mentality that if you wanted to do something, you wouldn't wait until the new year to begin. I still believe that, but now I can understand the freshness a new year brings. I, too, would like to change some things in my life, and goodness, it's such a rejuvenating thought!

My goals have panned out decently. I have been writing more, taking time off the computer, but I want to kick it all up a notch. Deactivating Facebook and cleaning out all my Internet profiles might be in order soon. I miss the purity of raw contact with the world.

So here's to actually keeping resolutions, all!

Slanche

Oh, and did I mention that I am also completely sold on a glass of wine before bed? Greatest thing ever.