The Puffin Express

New Year, New Post

2011-01-12T08:04:00.007-09:00

I am officially moved into my new apartment (I had a shorter term renting/housesitting deal going on through early January.) While this means I have very little in terms of stuff, it also means that I am more settled than I was before in Sitka and will be more inclined to read through the stack of books that I have collected over the past two months (thank you to those of you who have added to this collection…I’m really looking forward to my winter reading binge.)

In terms of life here, I feel like I have work and then everything else. I really like the work that I am doing, particularly because so much of it is still primarily youth based. The vast majority of my work day consists of making phone calls and sending e-mails to coordinate resources and people and attending and facilitating meetings for our various prevention activities. Three of the biggest projects that I am working on right now are planning for Sitka’s spring season of Girls on the Run, a mural project focused on respect (have no fear, I am not the one painting the muralJ), and planning and organizing for future projects and programs related to youth and males in Sitka and the communities of Kake and Angoon.

1. Girls on the Run is so much fun! Girls on the Run is a North Carolina based program for girls ages 8-14, that combines training for a 5K run with self esteem building and empowering activities that help to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development for participants. As the project manager for Girls on the Run, I am primarily responsible for ensuring that all of the logistics are taken care of to enable the three teams that Sitka will have are successful. This process started in early November with recruiting fifteen volunteer coaches to lead our teams and will continue through mid-May when we host our season ending 5K run for the girls. In between there has been student recruitment (which the school counselors have been instrumental in assisting with), acquiring adequate time and space for each team, organizing the coaches’ training logistics, and getting all of the materials together for each team. This is arguably our most successful prevention program because there has been such a strong buy in from the community at large and the school district and the participants and coaches all love it. This is a program that could definitely continue to expand to include more participants over time (it includes over 20% of 3rd-5th grade girls right now) and could potentially be offered to boys as well if a program that was started in Charlotte a couple years ago is able to be expanded to Sitka. (www.girlsontherun.org)

2. In early October, Sitka held its annual Health Summit and as part of that, a mural project proposal from Sitka’s Domestic Violence Task Force was selected as one of four community projects that would receive modest financial support and the summit’s backing to be implemented over the course of the next year. As part of this project, the mural’s committee made up of a variety of individuals and community organizations is seeking to turn the mural into a process by which conversations and discussions will be happening community wide surrounding the word respect. The hope is to provide and allow people to have the space to share their thoughts on respect, what it means to them, and why it’s important, amongst other similar topics. The project is still very much in the planning stages but the hope is to engage youth and adults from the community in discussions and to encourage them to use art to express their perspectives and understanding of respect, which itself is a word that has innumerable meanings, particularly across different generations, cultures and genders. My personal hope is that this project serve as a catalyst for the community to not only begin to acknowledge the existence of racism, domestic violence and oppression within Sitka but to also provide an outlet for discussing what a healthy community is and allow the community to take further steps towards becoming a healthier one. (www.sitkarespects.wordpress.com)

3. As a community, there is a lot going on in Sitka with regards to the prevention of intimate partner violence and much of it is surrounding youth. This winter I am going to be co-facilitating a healthy relationship/life skills class at Pacific High School along with providing healthy relationships and domestic violence 101 sessions for Raven’s Way, which is a substance abuse treatment program for teens that is run out of SEARHC (Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.) The winter is also going to continue to include meetings about bullying prevention at the middle and high schools, developing and implementing programs for youth males, and providing a program for young parents and families that will build both skills and social networks for all involved.

Outside of work, Sitka has been a far cry from the east coast. While you all have been digging out of snowstorm after snowstorm, we have had a fairly dry, cold winter here so far. Not that I am complaining but it’s still very interesting for me that I am in a second Alaskan winter that does not rival winter in the northeast. Since I last updated this, I have had the opportunity to get outside a good amount and I celebrated my first Christmas away from home. In mid-December, Alex and her brother Doug came out to visit (thank you for being the top Alaskan finisher in the Anchorage marathon, Alex), which was awesome! They were able to experience the mayhem and wonder that is the SAFV holiday party for residents and others who we have worked with over the years, went on a bunch of hikes (they also ran all over town), baked tons of cookies/brownies and watched the lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. It was a really fun week for me and it was super fun to be able to show Alex around Sitka, and we had clear weather so she was able to see Mt. Edgecumbe and see Sitka at its best.

My Christmas, while I really missed being home, was really laid back and enjoyable. I went to a friend’s house for Christmas Eve where we had a big seafood dinner (he’s Italian so he insisted on having seven fish for Christmas) and I woke up super early to skype with my mom and siblings for Christmas morning, which made me really happy. I spent part of my Christmas morning at the JV house playing Buzz Word and drinking hot cocoa with Bailey’s (thank you Liz and coastie Chris!) and had a lovely afternoon at my boss, Vicki’s, house. There was a small group of us there, Meg made some delicious food and we just enjoyed each other’s company. Now, I am anxiously awaiting the weekend so I can get outside and enjoy the beautiful, clear weather we are having…it’s still getting dark far too early to enjoy after work.

Liz and Tango

Tango and Mt. Edgecumbe

The Swis on Mt. Verstovia

Eclipse on the Solstice

Full Moon in the early morning

Peer Pressure Post

2010-11-13T13:37:00.007-09:00

This post is coming after many months of not writing and several not so subtle prods from one of my JV housemates, Katie, who I think really wants me to close out the blog from my JV year and comment on life after JVC. Since I am finding this a very odd, almost awkward post to write I think I'll just list some general thoughts that I have.

1. After what seemed like several weeks of goodbyes and closing out my JV year with my community with a solid day of reflection, group sharing and bonding over a bear shaped collage, I officially ended my time as a JV on August 2. I don't think you're ever really done being a JV though...I mean, the organization's motto is Ruined for life, so in reality I guess the hard part is what lies beyond the JV year. Living simply, finding and maintaining some sort of community, having a spiritual life, and engaging in social justice in some capacity is just so much harder when you are not intentional about it. Intentionality is something that I think can be very difficult to maintain when you are not being challenged, taught and engaged each and every day with others who are seeking intentionality in their lives as was present in a JV community. I find myself struggling with certain aspects of life post JVC Northwest but overall I think that my experiences as a JV, with the Sitka community, with my JV community, with other JVs throughout Alaska and with the JVC Northwest staff have prepared me well enough to thrive without the structured support that being a JV provides.

2. I loved being home and being able to spend so much time with my family and catch up with many of my friends who I hadn't seen in a long time. Things like going to the mall were overwhelming experiences after a year in Sitka but for the most part adjusting to life back in the lower 48 went smoothly.

3. After a series of events, it became clear to me that returning to Sitka was a solid option and I applied for and accepted a new position at the shelter that I worked at last year. I am working as the Prevention Specialist under the shelter's DELTA (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances) Program which is funded by a CDC grant focused on reducing and ending intimate partner violence. Alaska was one of the original 14 states chosen for funding and Sitka is one of four sites in Alaska with a DELTA program. In this position I am going to be playing a role in a lot of programming at the shelter and community wide geared towards reductions in violence in Sitka. So far much of my time has been focused on catching up with all the information about violence prevention and the programming that currently exists in Sitka, statewide and is being planned. I am expecting to be heavily involved with programming for boys and men and with youth curriculum and programming such as Girls on the Run. GOTR is an empowerment program for 3-8th grade girls that uses running to complement positive messaging about the media, body image, self esteem and other topics to prepare young girls for adolescence and adulthood. There is a push statewide to provide some similar, complementary programs for boys, which at the moment are not nationally available and it has been extremely difficult to find community men willing to commit to developing and organizing such programs. So far I am really enjoying the new position at the shelter and am looking forward to being more actively involved in the community and in the prevention aspect of this work. I am sure that I will have more to add in the future.

4. Since I've been back in Alaska I have attended a teen leadership conference, Lead-On!, in Anchorage where I got to engage in conversation with and meet a number of teens and adults heavily involved in prevention efforts around the state and I arrived back in time for Alaska Day. Alaska Day was just as I had remembered it: fun, ridiculous and a community wide celebration. The weather held out enough to keep everyone dry for the parade and Coast Guard Search and Rescue demonstration and the Seattle Fire Dept. Pipe and Drums band was once again in town. Liz, one of the new JVs, and I had an absurdly long conversation with one of the drummers who enlightened us to the fact that Vanilla Ice is the greatest rapper of all time and that New Kids on the Block is the greatest band of all time.

That's all for now...I'll attempt to keep updating this more frequently.

Super Long Overdue Post

2010-06-07T10:28:00.005-08:00

Whooooops...it seems like the longer days and nice weather have kept me from updating this in a really, really long time. Rather than try to remember/write about everything that has happened in the past 2 months or so, I am going to take a page from ESPN and David Letterman and run a top 10 list of the time since my last update. (Note: This list isn't really a ranking with the exception of numbers 1 and 2.)

10. Children's Program Activities. In April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month, we sponsored a poster contest with the theme "If Kids Ruled the World..." and held a Family Fun Fair at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School. We had over thirty wonderful poster entrees from elementary school children and more than seventy children and adults attended the Fair which included lots of fun family activities such as bowling, an obstacle course, art projects and face painting. Along with the Fun Fair, I also helped out with our shelter's 5k run for its Girls on the Run program. Girls on the Run is a national organization that focuses on building self-esteem for elementary and middle school aged girls as well as introducing them to issues relating to teamwork, media literacy, healthy boundaries and relationships and a myriad of other topics that are meant to inspire and educate them.

9. Camping at Pirate's Cove. In early May, my housemates and I spent a night camping on one of the small islands off the coast of Sitka. It was a really nice getaway and community building trip and included lots of exploring, sitting by the fire and s'mores! The highlight of the trip for me though was sleeping out under the stars in a giant hammock with Katie and Greg.

8. Fishing with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Yesterday I volunteered to serve as a Big Brother for the day and joined them on a fishing trip that the local charter association offers to the program each year. I got to spend the afternoon on a boat called Triple Play with a really cool 8 year old, a Big Brother volunteer and Katie's boss' partner. We all caught a king salmon (Yay!!!) and we got to see gray whales and lots of eagles. Also, I had my first puffin sighting!!! Coupled with the fact that I filleted both of the king salmon that Katie and I caught when we got home, it was an epic day in Alaska.

7. Eagles. They are everywhere. I never get tired of seeing them or watching them fly, soar and even swim! I'm including pictures here because they work better than words.

6. Weather and daylight. The weather has been amazing! It has been mostly sunny for the better part of the past month and it's looking like we could have a repeat of last summer which I've heard was gorgeous. I also have to admit that I am a huge fan of the extended daylight that we receive here in Alaska. Last night it was not completely dark at 11:30pm and on Saturday night, the sky was starting to show signs of lighting up at around 2am. So, there is lots of light and added time to do fun things outside basically until it's time to fall asleep.

5. People here are awesome! From my co-workers who help me get through the day to my housemates who make community life so crazy, light and unpredictable and to the group of friends I've found here who are capable of being hilarious, serious and sassy at the drop of a hat. The start of tourist season last month has also brought with it the added bonus of charter captains from around the country and visitors from places such as England, Australia and New Zealand. Basically, when those people are around, I could listen to them talk all day long.

4. Hiking, and lots of it. With the longer days and nicer weather I have gotten out on the trails a lot more than I was able to in winter. Since I last posted, I finally made it up to Picnic Rock on Mt. Verstovia with Meg and some of the Juneau JVs, have gotten out on Herring Cove and Mosquito Cove several times and went up the infamous Gavan Hill Trail last weekend.

3. Indian River. Two weeks ago, when it was sunny and in the 70s, I went hiking with a few friends along the Indian River trail and we jumped in! When I tell you that the water was both frigid and refreshing I am not lying. It was by far the coldest water I have ever been in and it was super invigorating to jump in from just off the trail.

2. Folk Fest. JVs got together in Juneau and hilarity ensued. There was lots of music, dancing, great conversations, barefoot soccer on the beach, and fun had by all.

1. Top Gun Party. Flightsuits, aviators, windmill high fives. Need I say more? JVs from Juneau, future and former JVs from all over and current and former Americorps volunteers reported for duty decked out and gave Maverick and Ice Man a run for their money.

Basically, the past 2 months have been a whirlwind and I am looking forward to our upcoming retreat focused on Ignatian Spirituality to slow down and hang out with my fellow JVs from around Alaska. Three of my housemates and I will be joined by Paddy from Juneau for several days of hiking and exploring in Denali National Park after our retreat. Until then, peace out.

Herring Season and Visitors

2010-04-05T10:34:00.005-08:00

The past couple of weeks in Sitka have been really fun! For starters, the Herring fishery, which is a multi-million dollar fishery, opened up a total of four times over the past two weeks and I was lucky enough to be able to watch one of them open up from the beach. It was really cool to watch dozens and dozens of fishing boats dropping their nets all at once and competing to catch as many fish as they could catch during the allotted duration of the opening. The herring fishery has also brought with it the return of the sea lions, eagles and humpback whales! I have seen these wonderful animals on a pretty consistent basis over the past few weeks but have to say that I am still continually amazed at how majestic the eagles look and are when they're flying and there is nothing like watching, and sometimes hearing, the puff of the humpback whale's blowhole.

The past few weeks also brought with it my first kayaking experience which was a lot of fun. While the actual motion of paddling in a kayak felt really, really awkward at first, being out on the water more than made up for those feelings of the awkward motion. The mountains seemed so much bigger, steeper and closer when I was out on the water than while walking around town or along the beach and watching the birds, otters and sea lions from the kayak was so different than seeing them on land. Being on the water gave me such a different perspective of my surroundings and the things that I see on a daily basis; it was a pretty exhilarating experience.

My cousin Matt and his friend Frank also paid myself and Sitka a visit and I have to say that they arrived at the perfect time to spot wildlife and had some of the best weather we have had over the past month or so during their time here. It was really fun for me to catch up with Matt and be able to show the two of them around and let them see what my life is actually like here, because unfortunately words truly can't do justice to this experience or the landscape of Sitka. We were able to go kayaking a bit, did a whole bunch of hiking and they were able to see a mama humpback and her calf (which I heard is one of the earliest sightings of a mother and calf in Sitka.) Matt and Frank were able to go out fishing and caught some rockfish and a king salmon! Aside from a little seasickness brought on by the rough waters, they did really well on their first Alaskan fishing excursion. It was a great week and I was really happy to have some visitors, so if anyone's interested in coming up, you'll have a place to stay and lots of fun outdoor things to do!

Aside from all of my outdoor fun, I still love my job and am doing my best to reflect on this experience, the JVC values, what comes next and life outside of Alaska. While my day to day activities in the children's program are kind of on the quiet side because of the small number of children we are working with right now, I have been fairly active in facilitating a men's focus group to bring men together who are interested in reducing and preventing violence in Sitka. The hope for this group is to bring the men together and see what kinds of actions or activities the men are interested in working on and leading in order to engage other men and young adults/children and promote a culture of non-violence and positive communication in Sitka. My biggest hope for this group is that it becomes entirely self sufficient so that it continues to meet and work towards a safer and less violent Sitka after August. Another project that I was working on, prepping and teaching a healthy relationships class for boys at the alternative high school, isn't going to work out because of some miscommunication between the school and our prevention coordinator that resulted in no boys signing up for the class. I'm a little disappointed that this class isn't going to happen because I think it's a class that the boys could benefit from and because I put a lot of time into preparing a curriculum but at the same time, the next person who tries to teach this class won't have to put a whole lot of time into preparing for the class.

This past Wednesday also marked a big step in Gov. Parnell's statewide campaign to eliminate domestic and sexual violence in Alaska, as Sitka joined 17 other towns across the state that held marches and speak out events. The shelter staff was joined by over 100 community members, including personnel from the Sitka Tribe, the mayor, and the Sitka Police Department and a number of people shared personal stories, thought and feelings on the subject of violence, abuse, the importance of working to prevent future violence, and the governor's plans. The event was encouraging in that there was such a large turnout from the community at large and it was inspiring to hear the words of others and add my own to the movement going on statewide.

Since this weekend was Easter, Meg and I put together a little party for the children and families that we work with that included an egg hunt, egg coloring, face painting and a carrot cake in the shape of a bunny! On Sunday, one of my least favorite days of the year, it was really nice to share a brunch with my roommates (even though I wasn't quite fully awake yet) and Greg and I went on a really good walk at Totem Park at low tide. While down there we saw a heron and what must have been 6 or 7 whales just hanging out (our theory is because the tide was out so they were stuck.) So we spent about an hour or so just sitting on the rocks watching the whales surface and dive and watching brave (or slightly nuts) kayakers and boaters approach. I was able to talk to most of my family and a couple friends which was really nice and I closed out the day by watching the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the opening game of the season and playing some cards with my housemates.

Winter has Arrived...in March

2010-03-14T14:28:00.005-08:00

Remember that time I wrote about spring being right around the corner? I spoke far too soon. We have finally started to have some winter weather in Alaska and have had snow (which we haven’t had since November) almost every day for the past week and a half! This has been both a bane and a boon to my life; on one hand everything looks really awesome and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the snow. On the other hand, the twenty minute walk to and from the elementary school is made much more challenging and I spend much of my walk to and from anywhere ensuring that I don’t slip and fall.

Aside from the weather, work has started to move towards more action oriented prevention work that has come out of all of the planning and preparing that I’ve been doing over the past several weeks. This past week, I co-facilitated a two hour healthy relationships and domestic violence 101 session for Raven’s Way, which is a substance abuse treatment program for teens that is run out of SEARHC (Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium) and participated in the Mt. Edgecumbe High School (public boarding school in Sitka that primarily educates Native Alaskan students from throughout Alaska) Health Fair. During both of these activities I realized the power and importance of both prevention work and early intervention. Without going into great detail, I had several teens ask me some pretty specific questions about what to do because they or their friends are presently in an unhealthy or abusive relationship. It was really powerful for me to be able to help empower these teens and provide them with resources and ideas about people in their lives that they could talk to, where to look for support in Sitka and beyond, and help to educate them about what an unhealthy or abusive relationship looks like because many of them had never received any education on that before. At the same time, it was also a very positive experience for me to talk to the teens and discuss what a healthy relationship looks like and certain key ingredients such as trust, respect and communication. I think that my favorite question of the day came from a junior boy at Mt. Edgecumbe who asked me if I thought there were any couples out there who never argued. I really enjoyed both his question and then our discussion about having respectful disagreements or arguments which are healthy for a relationship because neither partner is put down, controlled or overpowered and both are able to share their thoughts and perspectives safely and without fear. Coming up this week I am facilitating a men’s focus group that will hopefully bring a group of committed men from the community together and lead to some good discussions about the issue and prevalence of violence in Sitka as well as some ideas for actions that these men can involve themselves in. I’m hopeful that we might be able to get something like the White Ribbon Campaign or a similar campaign going in town, so if you have any ideas please let me know.

Outside of work, last weekend was Evie’s birthday and we had a nice taco dinner, hung out at the Larkspur (a local café), and then had a delicious chocolate chip cake that Katie had baked. On Sunday, I hiked up Gavan Hill with a slew of FJVs and had a ton of fun! It was one of those typical Sitka weather days where it was clear when we left, then got cloudy and snowy and then cleared up by the time we reached the ridgeline only to start snowing again for our entire hike down. Eileen, an FJV from last year, was generous enough to let me borrow her snowshoes for the hike and I have to admit that snowshoeing has become my favorite outdoor activity. It was a little weird walking in them at first but I gradually got used to it and I really enjoyed jumping off a mound in them and watching Meg and Emily ‘mountain sumo’ wrestle.

The highlight of the past couple weeks for me was a project that we did with the children in after school group where Sharon (our rural outreach coordinator) taught us how to make tiny replica native drums. Using elk hides, tough twine and the rims of jam jars we weaved our drums together, allowed them to dry for a few days and later put designs on them (pictures to follow.) The children, Sharon, Meg and I had a blast putting the drums together and the finished products turned out really well. Peace out from snowy, snowy, Sitka.

It's Starfish Hunting Season

2010-03-01T10:27:00.005-09:00

So the weather here has been absolutely gorgeous once again for the past week or so (sorry East Coasters.) As a result, I have spent a good chunk of time outside this week exploring the beach at low tide near Totem Park in search of starfish, crabs and any other little creatures that found homes in the tidal pools. Early on in the week, I found tons of starfish and was hanging out on the beach as the fog started to roll in, which was one of the coolest experiences I have had so far in Sitka because everything just started to disappear around me. While the fog was coming in, I also found myself engaged in a lengthy staring contest with a bald eagle...which the eagle clearly won.

My week at work was fairly low key once again. I finished up preparations for a healthy relationships class that I am teaching at the alternative high school in town, had some pretty successful lunch groups with the second and third graders and spent a lot of time hanging out and coloring with a two year old who recently entered shelter. Life in community continues to move forward, I feel like I am gradually learning more about my housemates, I enjoy spending time with them and I am still finding ways to get my "me" time. Lately, much of this time has been spent working on my Lenten challenge for myself (originally thought up by Greg), which is to write a letter per day. I like the intentionality of this particular challenge and know that it will help to strengthen relationships and provide an outlet for personal reflection as well.

On Friday, Katie and I walked along the beach in search of starfish, tried to walk to a buoy that we thought was on land (it was not even close to being on shore in case you were wondering), and watched an incredible sunset with a number of other people who had the same idea. On Saturday, I awoke to a phone call from my dad asking me if Sitka has a tsunami warning and responded that yes we do indeed have a tsunami warning system and that they tested a couple weeks ago. He asked me if it was going off right now and I was super confused, said no and he told me about the large earthquake in Chile. My first thought was about my friend who's doing JVI in Peru (she's safe and doing well) and then Katie and I started checking up on the tsunami threat to Sitka. Basically, the entire Pacific Rim received an advisory about a potential tsunami due to the warning to Hawaii and Latin America. I think the "wave" that arrived here was about a foot high (if that.)

I spent Saturday night hanging out with Greg and a couple other guys from town which was really fun. We just hung out talking about politics and religion which was really cool. On Sunday, I started my day by giving a presentation about social justice to the Unitarian Fellowship in town which was quite the experience. It was really good for me to think about the role social justice has played in my life so far and I had a lot of fun engaging the fellowship members and responding to their many questions. After the fellowship, it was time for the Gold Medal game between the US and Canada in Men's Ice Hockey. I have to say that I don't think I have ever seen a better hockey game or been more devastated by a loss as I was when Sidney Crosby, the Canadian Panda, scored to win the gold medal. Overall I was very impressed by the performance of the US team in Vancouver, particularly Ryan Miller in net, Brian Rafalski, Chris Drury aka Captain America, Zach Parise, Ryan Kesler and Jack Johnson. This team is going to be scary good in Russia if Bettman does the right thing and lets the NHL players back to the olympics. That's all for now! Have a wonderful week!

Retreat in Juneau, Spring in Sitka

2010-02-22T10:21:00.008-09:00

So last weekend we had our second JVC Alaska retreat in Juneau, aka the capital city. We boarded our plane at 6 am for our less than 40 minute flight to Juneau and were met at the airport by Paddy (one of the Juneau JVs) and welcomed into their home a few minutes later by Avanti and funfetti waffles!! The Juneau JVs slowly woke up at relatively normal hours and after catching up for a while, my housemates and I went out to explore downtown Juneau, had some lunch and met up with the Anchorage JVs who arrived a few hours after us. Avanti led us all on a walking tour of Juneau where we saw the capitol building, some other government offices, the downtown area (which was really shut down for the season until the tourists start arriving again), and the governor's mansion. After our walking tour we met up with the JVs from Bethel and took a tour of the Alaskan Brewery that basically consisted of this really cool guy talking to us about how the brewery started, how they made the beer in the early days and about how the owners are trying to keep the brewery at a manageable size and not expand too much. It was a pretty sweet way to start the weekend because it was really laid back and almost all the JVs were there to catch up and chat before heading out for retreat.

Our retreat was held at the Shrine of St. Therese, which was absolutely beautiful and full of awesome wildlife, focused on social justice and was led by the executive director and volunteer coordinator of the AWARE shelter (a bigger shelter than SAFV) in Juneau. Personally, this retreat came at the perfect time for me and I got a ton out of the activities, reflection, and discussion that occurred throughout the weekend. I came back from retreat feeling refreshed, refocused and with some new thoughts, perspectives and ideas about social justice. I again had a lot of really good conversations with my fellow JVs about work, JV life, what comes next, and was really glad/excited to reconnect with Alex and Avanti and get some solid quality time in with them at points throughout the weekend and at lunch on Monday afternoon.

On Monday, after saying goodbye to the Bethel JVs and spending some of the afternoon exploring and hanging out in Juneau, the rest of us went to Bishop Burns' house in Douglas for a lasagna dinner. It was a really nice way to close out the weekend, Bishop Burns is a great man and a great support and friend of the JVs in Southeast Alaska, and we were able to watch some of the Olympics (several hours after it happened even though Vancouver is only one timezone away.) I now know what people mean when they talk about East Coast bias. It is truly frustrating to know the result of every event before I could even possibly watch it happen on TV.

I had Tuesday off because it was Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaska and I enjoyed the relaxation time and attended the parade and event held in honor of Elizabeth Peratrovich at the Alaskan Native Brotherhood Hall. Elizabeth Peratrovich Day honors the life and efforts of this woman in the passage of the anti-discrimination bill in Alaska in 1945. It was a truly powerful event to be a part of and included a partial recreation of the senate hearing that preceded the vote and dancing from several student groups from Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

Since then, Sitka has had absolutely beautiful weather that definitely has most of town thinking that spring is on the way. It has been clear and sunny for most of the week and I have taken full advantage of the opportunity to explore the beaches at low tide and just sit outside reading and letter writing in the sun. On Saturday, SAFV had its Family Fun Fiesta, our big fundraiser, which consisted of a wonderful Mexican meal and a dessert auction that was a lot of fun! It was great to watch the community come together and raise money for the shelter, a lot of fun for my housemates and I to help with the auction and it was really nice to see several former resident families in attendance. A few of the children asked me if I remembered them and when I told them that of course I did their faces lit up. I could definitely tell that it meant a lot to them and seeing them again meant a ton to me and serves as another example of why I love the work I do and am able to be excited about going into work every day.

I had a relatively low key day on Sunday, going to mass early and then exploring along the beach some more. On Sunday afternoon Greg and I watched the USA vs. Canada game, which was amazing! I really miss playing/watching hockey and seeing how hard the US team played was awesome! It's so great to see NHL players playing hard, blocking shots and giving 110% because they aren't getting paid to be here and are truly inspired by playing for their countries. That is all for now but I will definitely work on updating more often.

A long time coming...

2010-01-25T11:52:00.004-09:00

So I haven't posted anything in well over a month and that means that a lot of things have happened since then: SAFV's Holiday Party, a trip home to Long Island, several weeks back in Sitka, and Massachusetts electing a Republican to the Senate?!

In the week or so before heading home for Christmas, a significant amount of my work time was spent preparing for the shelter's holiday party for residents and a number of other women and families that the shelter has served over the past year or so. In total we had roughly 50 attendees and it was a really fun, uplifting event to be a part of. On one hand, the smiles and happiness that emanated from the women and children made all of the preparations, gift wrapping, and clean up more than worth it. On the other hand, the generosity that came from throughout the community and beyond was inspiring and humbling to witness and be a part of. In preparation of the party, we reached out to several local grocery stores and businesses for donations of party supplies and food and their responses were all very positive and garnered support from my own JV community as well as FJV help in the daunting task of gift wrapping all of the presents that Santa gave out at our party. The gift and goods donations that SAFV received during the Christmas season was overwhelming (I did not feel like I could see another Christmas gift after our party was over.) Each year the shelter receives a donation from the Today Show Gift Drive from NBC in New York and their donation this year was absolutely incredible. Given that both Meg and I are from New York we both got fairly emotional sorting through all of the gifts that they sent and thinking about their origin. The community support that SAFV receives is generally very constant and positive but the support this holiday season was incredible; we received a number of gifts from the local giving tree set up at the bank, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station donated their giving tree presents to our shelter's children and the shelter on the whole received a large number of donations (food and otherwise from Alaska Airlines in Sitka, the Coast Guard, the elementary schools and individual members of the community) that helped to provide a powerful holiday celebration and continue to enable us to better provide for the needs of the women and children that we work with.

A few days after SAFV's party, my roommates and I began traveling home for Christmas. Before leaving town though, I had the opportunity to celebrate the Winter Solstice with Katie and Greg by attending a Christmas parade in town and a bonfire at the home of a friend of Bridget's (our support person.) We had some great conversations, good food (I had a smore that was made with a Reese's Cup instead of a Hershey Bar!!!), and we sang Solstice songs. It was a lot of fun and a great way to close out our time together before Christmas.

After traveling for what seemed to be an eternity and spending a mostly sleepless night in Seattle (yes I was Sleepless in Seattle...that's for you, Mo) I finally arrived home in New York 2 days before Christmas. It was really nice to see my family and spend some time catching up with everyone at home and Christmas, while a very long day, was really nice too. I also had some time during my trip home to see a good number of friends who live in the area (and some who don't) and it was really nice to hear about all the incredible things that they are doing all over the country and to find that even though we hadn't seen each other in months (and hadn't really talked too often either) that nothing had truly changed with our friendships.

Upon returning to Sitka, it was nice to see three of my roommates in the Seattle airport and spend some time catching up with Greg about break and then the others once we were home. Since then, work has been fairly exciting with lots of changes coming to the shelter and some changes coming to my own work. With regards to the shelter, one of the families that I have been working with since I arrived finally was able to move into their own place!! It was really sad to see them leave the shelter but so life giving to see how happy and excited they all were about moving into their own home and being able to move forward together as a family.

With regards to my job, Meg and I are starting to work more closely with the shelter's prevention coordinator in hopefully getting some sort of healthy relationship class or curriculum in place at the local middle school. I have also had a few conversations with her and am going to begin facilitating a focus group of men from the community who are interested and hopefully committed to taking a stand against Intimate Partner Violence and promoting healthy relationships in the community. This is still in the very early stages of planning but I am thinking that the White Ribbon Campaign or some other community action that the men can take a lead on would have a positive impact in the community and begin to make some real change in the perceptions that many have of violence against women and reduce (and eventually eliminate) its prevalence in Sitka and beyond. If anyone has any ideas I am most definitely open to hearing them so please pass them along.

After 2 weeks of rainy and overcast days, it has been clear, sunny and coldish (high 30s low 40s) for the past week or so. My housemates and I have taken advantage of the weather and gotten outside as much as we can. We took a short hike with a few friends a couple weekends ago, had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and had a Sitka wide scavenger hunt for our community night which although I was soaked with rain was an absolute blast! Well done Katie for planning! On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Katie, Evie and I took advantage of a precipitation-less day to hike up Mt. Verstovia (pictures will follow.) The temperature seemed warm (I decided to wear shorts) but at about 1200 feet, it started snowing and we were walking through a few inches of snow. We aren't sure how high up we actually got but we turned back once the snow falling starting impeding our vision and there were 6+ inches of snow on the ground. It was a really nice trail with a lot of lookouts and I am really excited to get back out there in the spring. The clear weather and longer days (we are up to 8 hours of sunlight now!) has also meant that I have taken more walks down by Totem Park and along the beach at low tide. Meg and I went for a tide walk on Saturday and found lots of crabs, snails, an eel, and what we are told might be the barnacles off of a humpback whale (random I know but also awesome.)

This weekend also provided us with yet another unique opportunity: dinner with the bishop! On Saturday night we had dinner with Bishop Burns from Juneau and Fr. Scott at St. Gregory's. The bishop is a really personable man, gave what I considered to be a really good homily and really took an interest in learning more about us as individuals and reaching out to as and ensuring that we know how much he admires and appreciates all of the work we do as JVs in Southeast Alaska. He is what I always thought a bishop should be like but had yet to truly encounter in past experiences. At the end of dinner, he invited us to have dinner with him when we are in Juneau for our second retreat in a few weeks and we extended an invitation to him to watch any and all of the Conference Championship games at our house on Sunday. Now many of you will think that he would have politely declined and gone about his day. But since I have come to expect the unexpected this year, I knew that he would probably stop by for at least part of the game, and he did! He called us at the end of the fourth quarter of the Saints-Vikings game and came over to watch overtime with us. Even though he and Fr. Scott were rooting for the Vikings (basically Brett Favre) we enjoyed the end of the game. I am torn about who to root for in the Super Bowl but think I am going to stick with my admiration for Drew Brees as both a football player and an individual who is truly working for change in New Orleans and root for the Saints in two weeks.

Aside from all that has been going on, I recently read John Krakauer's book about Pat Tillman (Where Men Win Glory) and I highly recommend it. I have also spent a good amount of reflection time thinking about the challenges I have and continue to face this year, the ways I am challenging myself (and can further challenge myself), how I am challenging my housemates, how I am being challenged by them and what it all means. It is definitely a lot to think about but it was really beneficial to explicitly think about my challenges, the way that I am approaching them and realizing the impact that they are having on me as I go through this experience.

Brief Word About Massachusetts

2010-01-25T11:40:00.003-09:00

Given the little knowledge I have of what the election was like there, I was really surprised that a Republican candidate would win a Senate election in the state of Massachusetts. However from the little that I now know about Scott Brown, I have to say that I am not all that surprised and am actually happy that he was elected. I think that the current health care legislation really needs to be debated and well thought out and that honestly was not going to happen without breaking the Dems' magic number of 60 senators. He also seems to actually be qualified to be a senator given his academic background and his time spent as a state senator in MA. His platform makes him seem like someone who supports sustainable energy (something that is really important now and in the future) and reforming education and making the system as strong as we possibly can. Having said this, he and I clearly do not see eye to eye on several issues but he is the senator that MA and the U.S. need right now to ensure that any reforms to health care are not done too shabbily and actually will benefit the people of this country by hopefully bringing costs down and making insurance and medical services affordable for people to access and utilize.

Simple Living

2009-12-06T13:57:00.001-09:00

This is the first of what I hope will be several entries that discuss my reflections on and experiences of living with each of the four JV core values: Spirituality, Social Justice, Community and Simple Living. I would like to start with the value of simple living because personally it was one of the values that I probably felt least comfortable in understanding as I embarked on this experience more than a year ago when I actually made the decision to apply only to become a Jesuit Volunteer and began working on the application, interview and placement processes. I think that it is really important to understand exactly what JVC Northwest views simple living as and to understand the place that I was at when I first began my journey as a JV during the application process.

According to the JVC Northwest website, "JVC Northwest challenges each volunteer to live a simple and reflective lifestyle, an alternative way to living in a consumer society. JVC Northwest stresses spiritual values over material possessions and invites volunteers to integrate their faith by working and living among those who experience poverty and oppression. This helps volunteers to experience the lives of those with whom they interact on a daily basis and to raise their consciousness to the human needs surrounding them. Often, volunteers find that living simply opens them up to a more joyful way of life, appreciating small wonders that often go unnoticed in everyday life."

Ten months ago, my own perception on simple living was as follows: I understand a simple lifestyle as one in which an individual’s basic needs are being met (i.e. food, clothing, and shelter) but in which a conscious effort is being made to refrain from products that harm the environment or other people and from buying unnecessary items. I feel that a commitment to a simple lifestyle would put my passion for social justice into my daily life as I would be more aware of what I am spending money on, where the item comes from and how it affects that area. I also feel that a simple lifestyle that is not focused on consumer goods or relying heavily on the internet and technology would provide an environment that is more conducive to building strong, positive relationships with other people and would enable me to be more present to my faith life, my personal needs and my experiences.

My own views and experiences of simple living have definitely evolved over the past ten months and more importantly over the past 4 months while living in Sitka. Given that my basic needs (housing and food) are being met by my community’s monthly checks from our placements, my monthly stipend goes a long way in Sitka. I have very few needs outside of food and shelter and have been able to use my stipend for mailing packages and letters, getting coffee or hot chocolate at one of the coffee shops, various community events that require admission (assuming it is one of the few that we aren’t volunteering at) or the occasional beer or meal out. Here in Sitka (where we have very few big chains) it is very easy to buy locally and not support a large corporation like Wal-mart that routinely run small businesses out of towns and treat their workers unfairly. Since our arrival, my housemates and I have strayed away from purchasing items from the tourist shops that line the main strip in town. While many of the locally owned shops also cater to the tourists during the summer months, supporting the local economy and people was and is something that I feel is particularly important especially when these tourist stores close down for half of the year when there are no longer cruise ships coming through. I have also come to learn over time that one of the big social justice/simple living issues deeply impacting large portions of the Sitka population is the ever present battle between commercial fishermen and the charter companies (we will not purchase fish from the charter companies.) I am not exactly the most articulate and knowledgeable person to be summarizing this issue, but from what I understand, the charter companies will over fish the area with non-Alaskan visitors (who pay thousands of dollars for their trips) during the summer months which makes it really difficult for the commercial fishermen to make a living, not to mention the ecological impact that over fishing has on the waters surrounding Sitka.

Aside from influencing how I spend my money, being intentional about simple living has permeated my life in a variety of areas. As a community, we decided not to have internet in our house and it has truly been a blessing and allowed us to grow individually and closer as a community. Towards the early part of the year we borrowed internet from a neighbor and that often meant that someone in the house was e-mailing or using the internet after work. I personally have thoroughly enjoyed writing letters and postcards, along with the occasional birthday card, to friends and family and taking the time to 1) think about what I want to say in it and 2) legibly (I think) writing a letter and sending it out via the post office. I cannot even begin to describe how excited I get when I receive a letter in the mail. For me, I feel that I put a part of myself into every letter that I write and I feel that I am receiving a part of someone else when I receive theirs as well. I find letters to be more meaningful and I will keep working to improve my letter writing because it is something that I find to be calming and is something that I think is really important, especially when e-mail has become such an ingrained part of our society.

My time in Sitka has also provided me with ample opportunities to take in and enjoy nature and the little things in life. Since arriving four months ago, one of my favorite things to do is walk around Totem Park either on the beach or in the woods. The views from the beach are absolutely gorgeous (mountains, downtown Sitka, the sky, etc.) and the tranquility of the woods is unparalleled so close to town. I have probably walked around Totem Park at least once a week since the beginning of September, whether it be by myself or with my community members, and it continues to be a place that provides me with new experiences, thoughts and views every time I visit. Over the past month or so, with the wind gusts being as high as they are, I have been thoroughly amused at watching the ravens attempt to fly through the gusts and instead be blown backwards. I am not 100% sure whether this is really mean or not but it is a lot of fun to watch. I am anxiously awaiting another snow storm (crossing my fingers for this weekend) because the forest and the area up and down Indian River, which runs through Totem Park, are absolutely gorgeous during and immediately following a snowfall. I also have found that my day to day activities can be stopped if the sky is clear enough because the snow covered mountains, especially Mt. Edgecumbe (the volcano), are breathtaking. Every day I continue to find myself in awe of my surroundings and I hope that this trend continues throughout my life whether I am in Alaska, Long Island or anywhere else in the world.

When hanging out around the house, I have really enjoyed just being and enjoying the comfort of home. Whether I am journaling (about God, my job, life, or absolutely nothing at all), writing letters, playing games (ranging from Apples to Apples to card games to a game my house made up), conversing with my housemates (about work, politics, faith, Lost, or just joking around), or reading, I love my house and the comfort and environment that it provides.

At work, I have definitely gotten more comfortable with accepting the little victories and not necessarily focusing on the end result as much. In this way, I have been able to get really excited about figuring out that one of the children in shelter (a year old) absolutely loves country music (Taylor Swift obviously) and Lady Gaga as well as get excited about the fact that another child was willing to give hi-fives today and did not hit anyone (in my world, this has become a huge deal.) Having lunch with a group of second graders is something that I look forward to every Tuesday and seeing one of the children laugh or smile during group or while playing in the playroom is something that can make even the longest, worst day turn around in an instant.

My experience and understanding of simple living have definitely evolved throughout this year but I am certain that I do not (and probably cannot) fully comprehend the impact of living simply on my life at this time and have definitely had times this year where I have lived far from simply. What is the one thing that I do know for sure about simple living? Over the past four months, I have experienced simple living (and powerful emotions and thoughts) in the little things: smiles, laughter, ravens, snow, nature and handwritten notes and letters. So I urge you not to overlook the little things in your life; watch the sun rise or set; write someone a letter; walk along the beach or through the woods; read a book; have a real, meaningful conversation with another person.

Sitka Updates

2009-11-30T11:10:00.000-09:00

While things have been relatively quiet in the month of November at the house, Sitka and at work, the past week was fairly exciting. Unfortunately this past week, our friend Marcus, the local youth minister, moved back to Juneau to take a job with the state. It's definitely better for him long term but that doesn't mean that we can't be selfish and wish he were still here. We helped him and his dad move his stuff out of his apartment and then watched The Taking of Pelham 123 the night that he left on the ferry. After saying goodbye to Marcus, we had the luxury of having our first visitor to Alaska who was not a member of JVC staff. Greg's buddy from SLU, who is a JV in Tacoma, came up for the long weekend and it was really nice to have a visitor (hint: come to Sitka!) We went out to a little bar in Sitka that we generally had avoided because it is usually empty but we ended up having a really good time. It was a quiet enough atmosphere that you could actually have a conversation and the bartender was hilarious! She definitely gave Greg a run for his money...always having something to say to him and sometimes leaving him with no response. It was a fun night. We had a fairly busy Thanksgiving as well. When I woke up, Katie was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade which reminded me of watching the balloons get blown up last year with Brian and Mo. Good times. Katie and I decided that we were going to play football with some FJVs and friends from the community which was a lot of fun. A bunch of high school students from Mt. Edgecumbe (local high school for Alaskan natives from throughout the state) played too, so we had a really good group of people together. After the game we hurried to get ready for our first Thanksgiving meal. We were invited to 'dinner' at 1 at the home of two parishioners from St. Gregory's. It was really nice to converse with them and Fr. Scott and they seemed to really appreciate having company for the holiday. During the visit we had some good conversations about history and the wide variety of historical artifacts that adorned their living room, ranging from every type of Alaskan license plate, to glass fishing buoys (from Asia), and a large number of pictures/paintings/images of wolves. After having an enjoyable time there, we went home, got everything together and moved over to the house where Greg was housesitting. Greg, his friend and I started getting preparations underway for deep frying our turkey. The girls (not thinking he could find one) told Greg that he could deepfry the turkey if he found a fryer and did it on his own. Contrary to what the girls say, no one was in any danger at anytime and the only casualty was the turkey who wouldn't fit in the pot originally and had to be cut into pieces. While it probably took us a little longer than it should have the turkey turned out really well and the girls did a great job at finishing off the preparations for the sides while fearing for our lives. Dinner turned out really well and it was really nice to have our own little family Thanksgiving.

I worked on Friday and had a much busier day than I had anticipated having. After doing a variety of little things for the children's program in the morning (and planning on getting ahead and planning something for our after school group on Monday), I did some women's advocacy in the afternoon. While it was quite difficult to hear the woman's story (and feeling not entirely comfortable because I hadn't really done too much advocacy for women thus far) it turned out to be a really good experience. While I can't talk too much about it, I was able to advocate for her in a variety of ways and was able to present her with information to help empower her that would allow her to advocate for herself as well.

Over the weekend, the art galleries opened themselves up which was really cool because there are so many really talented local artists and I saw a bunch of prints that I will probably look into getting later in the year. Saturday was a pretty low key day and involved a lot of relaxing and letter writing. We all spent Saturday night at the housesitting gig, playing Scattergories and watching one of my favorite movies, Up! It is so, so good! On Sunday, we attended St. Gregory's annual first Sunday of Advent mass at Centennial Hall that was presided over by Bishop Burns from Juneau. It was a really nice mass that included three Baptisms and the Confirmation of four others and culminated in a large potluck lunch for the parish community. A number of student dance groups from Mt. Edgecumbe provided entertainment and it was a nice afternoon.

The weather also continues to be consistently inconsistent, ranging from sun, snow, rain, hail, sleet to thunderstorms and changing on a whim. The only constant lately has been the winds whipping off of the Gulf of Alaska. They were really rough this weekend and caused the airport to shut down for several hours due to boulders on the runway! Only in Alaska.

Early November

2009-11-09T11:02:00.002-09:00

The weather continues to amaze me. The first week of November was similar to the month of October: cool, mostly cloudy, and windy with the occasional rain storm. Work has continued to go well and one of the families had a great week. They were able to acquire funding for a deposit on a house rental and they moved out! It was incredible to see how happy and excited the kids and mom were to be moving into their new place and it has inspired me to see the family's successes. The shelter is still crowded with a large number of children which means that we are really busy in the children's program. While it is wonderful that the women and their children have sought safety and advocacy at the shelter it is really tough to continue to see the shelter full and needed for direct services. This became particularly clear to me yesterday while attending a presentation that Katie was giving at her boss' fellowship. She did a wonderful job presenting her reflections on seeing ourselves and beyond ourselves and leading a guided reflection that led to each of us composing a poem about our thoughts on sight. My own personal reflection led me to think about liberation and unity. In the discussion period following her presentation, an older gentleman (in his 80's and a retired doctor) raised his suspicions about the existence of child abuse and domestic violence in the world, because in his experience as a doctor and visiting pediatric wards he had never seen child abuse and thinks it is one of those things that is made up. Another man asked people to raise their hands if they know of a child who has been abused or were themselves (every person) and thankfully Katie's boss ended the discussion right after that because I was not in a great place to be having a discussion with this guy. I was livid for a large part of the afternoon and couldn't believe what I had heard earlier in the day. It really made me take a step back and think about the need for and importance of trainings focused on Domestic Violence and child abuse in communities and for professionals (such as doctors, teachers and police officers) who might not fully comprehend the issues (or choose to ignore them) and will come into contact with victims and other individuals impacted by these abuses in their occupation. Thanks for letting me vent.

Halloween Week

2009-11-08T13:22:00.002-09:00

So the week after retreat was spent almost entirely on getting things together for Halloween at the shelter and for Halloween and Katie's birthday (All Saints' Day.) Meg and I experimented and created a paper mache pinata by blowing up a balloon, covering it with 2 layers of paper mache (we left a hole in it so we could fill it with all kinds of treats), then put 2 layers where the treats were placed and painted it as a 'Happy Pumpkin' which won a very close vote over a ghost or a witch. We also got all kinds of fun foods and decorations together and started preparing the children's playroom early on Friday when all of the kids were at school. We had lights, jack-o-lanterns, spiderwebs, and Halloween themed garland and streamers. There were Halloween cupcakes, ants on a log (celery, peanut butter and raisins), pretzels, monster teeth (apples with almonds) and apple cider. The party itself was an absolute blast and the children definitely had a good time (as did the moms and staff who attended.) Meg dressed up like a pirate and I as Harry Potter (I proudly walked around town with my scar and cloak after the party.) During the party the children painted pumpkins, got their faces painted by Meg, tatoos from me, and played a few fun games such as pin the face on the jack-o-lantern and we led them through a creepy little story that had them reaching into paper bags to touch "guts, brains, eyes and intestines" and culminated with sticking their hands into a box marked with a ? that one of the moms had her hand in! It was great to see the kids interacting with each other (those living in shelter and those no longer in shelter) and they all seemed to really have a good time.

After that epic afternoon, I went with a few of my housemates to the haunted ship that the Coast Guard had on their ship in town. It was awesome! Particularly because my housemates are what I would call jumpy and sometimes they do things without thinking, like swatting or punching things that jump out at them. On Saturday night we attended the Stardust Ball hosted by the local radio station (we got free admission for agreeing to help with the cleanup), Raven Radio, and it was definitely an experience. My housemates and I dressed up like Ms. Pacman and the ghosts from the arcade game! The ball was really fun, there was a great band (the Gourds who cover Gin and Juice) and there were lots of awesome, ridiculous costumes. Among my favorites from the night were our friend T who dressed up like Mr. T (complete with mohawk), a guy who dressed up as the kid who floated away in the balloon in Colorado, the two radio hosts who dressed up like French royalty and my favorite costume, a man who dressed up like Levi Johnston (Bristol Palin's ex.) Only in Alaska I told myself.

Sunday was Katie's birthday and even though she did not want us to acknowledge or celebrate her birthday we all ignored her. We had a bunch of people over for a potluck to celebrate Katie's 22nd and it was fun and relaxing (which was super necessary for me after the busy week.) In the end I am pretty sure that Katie had a good time and might be over at least some of her negative feelings about birthdays.

Long overdue post

2009-11-02T11:30:00.003-09:00

So the past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy up here. Over the past 2 weeks I have celebrated and experienced Alaska Day, gone on retreat in Wasilla (the town where Sarah Palin was mayor), and celebrated Halloween!

Alaska Day
Alaska Day is October 18 and it commemorates the 1867 exchange of Alaska from Russia to the United States. While it is a state holiday, Sitka is the only place that actually celebrates it and celebrate they do. The whole celebration lasts an entire week and includes a large number of events and hundreds of people flowing into town from all over Alaska and down south. My housemates and I officially began our Alaska Day celebration on Friday night by attending a concert put on by the 9th Army Band from Ft. Wainwright in Fairbanks. Prior to attending the concert I had expectations of seeing an orchestra dressed in tuxedos or dress uniforms playing classical music. That was most definitely a false assumption! The band played in their camo and band t-shirts (which were awesome...they had a polar bear on the front) and played a wide variety of music ranging from 1950s rock and roll to funk to Rob Thomas and Toby Keith. It was an awesome show and a great way to start the weekend! After the concert we met up with a bunch of Americorps volunteers and saw Where the Wild Things Are. Greg and I were really excited about seeing this movie and I have to see that I was not disappointed. I thought that the movie was really good but I don't think that I felt happy at any point in the entire movie. It was a really, really heavy movie but it was well done and I could definitely feel what the characters were feeling.

Saturday brought relatively nice weather (50s cloudy and dry) and a trip to the U.S. Coast Guard open house! It was most definitely geared towards families with children but I made the most of it. My housemate Katie and I were by far the most excited people at the base. The hangar was full of representatives from the fire department, police department, the local search and rescue team, the Coast Guard and the Army. We had the opportunity to go on a C-130 airplane, a Blackhawk! and a Coast Guard Jayhawk (a modified Blackhawk.) I met a rescue swimmer from Rhode Island (he saw my red sox hat and I noticed a red sox patch on his helmet) and chatted with one of the pilots for about a half hour about the helicopter (while sitting in the cockpit), life back east (he went to the Naval Academy) and sports. It was totally random but I learned a lot about the aircraft and it was a great conversation. My housemates and our support person were convinced that I had enlisted on the spot and I am pretty sure that they see this as a very real possibility before the year is over. NOTE: I have no intentions of joining any branch of the military so don't worry. After the Coast Guard open house we explored the Russian Bishop's House, which is part of the National Park system in Sitka and is directly across the street from our house. It was interesting to learn about the Russian history of town and the way that it continues to exist today as the chapel is often used for services. We had a relatively quiet night at home playing card games with a couple friends and gearing up for Sunday.

Sunday was by far one of the busiest days I have experienced in Sitka so far. I got up early and went to mass and then headed over to the docks for some blackened Cod and rice with Greg which was absolutely delicious. We stood along the water and watched the Coast Guard and Army helicopters circling the harbor preparing for their flyover of the National Cemetary Memorial service. Shortly after lunch we headed up the street further into town to get a spot for the parade. It was a total community effort. There were groups marching from the schools (the high school marching band in matching rain jackets and xtra-tufs), community groups, local businesses, the Coast Guard, the army, bag pipers from Juneau and the Pipe and Drum band from the Seattle Fire Department! After the parade we headed over to the house where Meg (my supervisor) was housesitting to wait for the Coast Guard's rescue demonstration near the bridge. This was without a doubt one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life! One of the rescue swimmers jumped into the water from a boat and waited to be "rescued" by another rescue swimmer who jumped out of the helicopter. It was really exciting and it happened about 200 feet away from where we were standing! We could see everything and were getting hit by the spray created by the helicopter! After dinner, a few of us went back to Meg's to hang out. Her and I baked some cookies and then we all headed out to the Pioneer Bar to hang out. There were 8 of us and it was entirely JVs and FJVs. After about an hour or so of hanging out, the bagpipers from Seattle marched in playing! After they finished playing, they stayed to hang out too. The atmosphere is one that is very difficult to describe but it reminded me of St. Patrick's Day. It was a fun time and a great end to the weekend.

Retreat
After a busy week at work, we departed for Anchorage very early on Friday morning to meet up with the JVs from around Alaska for our first retreat. We picked up the Juneau JVs on our flight and rather than sleeping for the roughly 2 hour flight to Anchorage, I found myself deeply engaged in conversation with a Mormon missionary from Idaho (the Juneau JVs thought that we knew each other.) We had a nice discussion of different theological issues and differences between Catholicism and Mormonism and we talked about his mission and my JV year. He acknowledged pretty early on in the conversation that he was not going to try to convert me which definitely helped in keeping the conversation going. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and I got off the plane carrying the book of Mormon which the other JVs found extremely amusing. Sometimes I wonder how I get myself into these situations but my hosuemates are definitely getting used to the fact that I will inevitably get into a conversation with some random person pretty much wherever we go.

The retreat itself was really good for me and my community! It was not an intense retreat like Quest, Manresa or a Kairos but it was one that helped me evaluate my own perspective on how I am doing in community and at work, helped our community share our own thoughts on what is important for us in community (we created a community tool box full of little rules and advice that we think are important for us living in community) and brought us closer together as we had a really good affirmation session where we shared about how each person has inspired, challenged and pushed us this year. There was a good amount of free time built into the weekend which was awesome because I got to spend time with Alex and Avanti and I got to bond with JVs from the other houses. I had a lot of really good conversations over the course of the weekend, I loved hearing about the various placements that people are at and it was great to talk to JVs working at other domestic violence shelters throughout Alaska. I also feel like it will now be a lot easier to call and e-mail other JVs because I didn't really feel that connected to the other Alaska houses prior to this weekend.

The retreat also featured a coffeehouse social where members of various houses performed some dances/songs. Katie, Evie and Natalie serenaded Greg to their own version of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" essentially because he left the house a few days early for retreat to hang out in Anchorage and gave them enough time to 1. come up with this idea and 2. practice. It was one of the funnier things I have seen/experienced this year.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

2009-10-12T12:27:00.001-08:00

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (as well as Breast Cancer and Disabilities Awareness Month), so I have decided to dedicate a post to sharing relevant statistics and information related to domestic violence and sexual assault because this is a cause very close to my heart given my position in the Children's Program at Sitkans Against Family Violence and has a huge impact on the lives of millions across the United States.

Domestic violence is a pattern of coercive behavior where one person chooses to use violence or the threat of violence to have power or control over another in an intimate or family relationship. It manifests itself in a variety of ways, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, and child abuse. Physical abuse generally is seen in direct acts of physical violence, in physical actions that put another at risk (throwing something or shooting a gun toward them), or in threats of physical violence like pointing a gun or other weapon at another person or telling them that you are going to kill them.) Emotional abuse plays a significant role in domestic violence because it can and often does emotionally and mentally destroys another person through insults, ridicule, demeaning language and humiliation. It also includes varying levels of manipulation, controlling or limiting access to finances, friends and family, or threatening to hurt a child or pets. This pattern of abuse is what defines domestic violence, not a singular act of physical violence. The acts of violence coupled with emotional abuse keep family members or partners living in fear.

I also wanted to briefly address a very common question/belief/myth about domestic violence: If there is abuse/violence why don't women leave? There are a variety of reasons as to why a women would stay with a batterer. Sometimes she has been isolated to the point that she has nowhere to go and no one to turn to. There is always the fear of increased violence (the separation period is often the most dangerous and lethal time of a relationship involving domestic violence.) She can also be afraid of being unable to financially support, feed, house and clothe her children if she leaves. She could be afraid that no one will believe her, of what the courts, police and Office of Children Services will do to her, or of what the kids and society would think of her. She also probably loves her batterer. I know that this seems counterintuitive but she loves the man that he was before he starting being physically violent and she is hoping that the violence will stop and he will again be that man. As you can see, there are a seemingly infinite number of reasons that someone will stay with a batterer.

The following are a number of facts related to domestic violence and violence against women in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, roughly 1.3 million women each year are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year in the United States and nearly one in four women in the United States reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend at some point in her life. In 2005, 1,181 women were murdered by an intimate partner.

Domestic violence also has a huge impact on the lives of child victims and witnesses of violence in the home. An estimated 15.5 million children in the United States live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year, and seven million children live in families in which severe partner violence occurred. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, in a single day in 2008, 16,458 children were living in a domestic violence shelter or transitional housing facility. Another 6,430 children sought services at a non-residential program. The impact on children continues to be felt for years after as they are at an increased risk of depression, experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a host of other effects that include social isolation, physical effects such as bed wetting, stomachaches, headaches, trouble sleeping, etc. Children who have been victims of or witnessed violence are also at high risk for substance abuse and engaging in unhealthy relationships either as perpetrator or victim.

In the state of Alaska (with a population of roughly 650,000) , the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault are among the highest in the U.S. According to the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, in 2005 there were over 6,000 reported cases of domestic violence in Alaska and 524 forcible rapes reported. These numbers do not reflect the actual instances of domestic violence and rape in Alaska because many victims do not report. A National Crime Survey showed that almost half (48%) of all incidents of domestic violence against women were never reported to the police. The murder rate for women in Alaska is disturbing: for non-native Alaskan women it is 1.5 times the national average and for native Alaskan women it is 4.5 times the national average. In Alaska, more than half of these murders are domestic violence related.

During the month of October I challenge you to learn something more about DV and its impact on our friends, our families, children and our communities.
The following are lyrics to a song called "The Wolf" by Catie Curtis that a local musician played at our Domestic Violence Awareness Month kickoff event:

When my daddy lived here, I never worried
When my daddy lived here, he read me stories
And I never was afraid when the endings were scary
'Cause my daddy would say, "I will keep you safe when the wolf comes to the house.

Now my mother has a boyfriend,
She let him move in
She let him tell her that she's just a fool
And I've heard them fighting, I heard him knock her down
I try to read at night, but I don't like it now

'Cause when the wolf lives in your house
You can't get him out
When the wolf lives in your house
You can't get him out

My mother tells me we are a family
But I don't want to be, I have a plan
Yes I'm waiting for the day when I am stronger
And I will step in the way, I'll make him sorry

When the wolf lives in your house
You can't get him out
When the wolf lives in your house
You can't get him out

Online resources:
Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: http://www.andvsa.org/
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.ncadv.org/
National Domestic Violence Hotline: http://www.ndvh.org/

Bye bye tourists, hello fall in Sitka.

2009-10-05T10:56:00.004-08:00

Last Tuesday marked the arrival of the season's final cruise ship meaning that a significant number of stores and businesses will now be closing until tourist season starts up again in the spring. The closed stores are definitely noticeable but the lack of foot traffic through town has been the biggest adjustment for me in my daily routine. I can now walk from the house to work and not see anyone along the way. This is something that is rough because the tourist wear (lots of college sweatshirts and jackets) and slow moving pace through town provided a lot of enjoyment for me but it also means that Sitka will finally be able to be itself. I am really excited about this because now everyone in town is locals and there are lots of fun activities and events throughout the fall and winter such as Alaska Day, Whale Fest and the monthly grind, which is a community wide talent show (from what I've heard.)

Since Jamie left, we have gotten a lot of rain here which means that my rain pants and xtra tufs have become staples in my daily wardrobe. Over the past few days though we have had some really great weather. On Friday it was bright, clear and very sunny. I worked a half day because I had put in a long day for SAFV's Domestic Violence Awareness Month kickoff on Thursday and was able to go for a hike with my housemate, Evie, on Gavan Hill. The hike up the hill to the ridge line itself is pretty steep and not exactly the most scenic but the view from the ridge line was absolutely incredible. We could see dozens of islands that lay further out in Sitka Sound towards the Gulf of Alaska, the snow covered mountain peaks surrounding and beyond Sitka and the town itself. While the hike was tough and definitely left me with a sore knee it was well worth it. I'm hoping for at least one semi clear day each week because I'm not sure there is a more beautiful place to be when it's clear.

This week also signalled the start of SAFV's safety presentations and lunch groups in the elementary schools. Meg and I presented on basic safety rules, big problems (ones that are dangerous, scary or against the law), safe adults and safe/unsafe touch to 6 first grade classes at Baranof Elementary this week. This week we will present the second half of the information to the first graders and begin our presentations to the kindergarten classes. We will start our lunch support groups at Baranof in a couple weeks which should be a lot of fun. Our lunch groups at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary started last week and we have groups of second, third and fifth graders. We basically meet with them, eat lunch, go through each person's highs and lows (rose and thorn), talk about what we are excited about and if there's time, we will do a small little art activity. The groups include students who are currently living in shelter, may have lived in the shelter at some point or are chosen by the school counselor as someone who could benefit from the added support (whether there is domestic violence in the home or not.) These groups are short but after one week I could definitely see that the participating children both enjoyed themselves and seemed to benefit from the extra support of both peers and adults. This week will be a big one because Meg is going to a conference in Anchorage and I will be running lunch groups and giving safety presentations on my own. I'm looking forward to it and am excited to be in the schools interacting with the children.

On a community level, this week has been really good. We have been really supportive of each other's work events, attending kickoff events for Disability Awareness and DV Awareness Months as well as getting together with Bridget, our support person, for a delicious dinner and a good conversation about gender and its impact on our lives and our community dynamic. On the whole, we feel that our community is one where gender is a non issue for us with chores, leadership, and the activities that we do when we are hanging out with the exception being that Greg and I enjoy taking in some football on the weekends and the girls really enjoy knitting/crocheting. This week has also brought me a lot closer to Evie and Greg because they have been very supportive of me and I have found them extremely easy to open up to and talk things through. One of the funnest parts in community though this week happened on Wednesday when we tried our first energy free day. We had a pretty good first showing and I thoroughly enjoyed ending my night by having Evie read us The Indian in the Cupboard in candlelight.

Jamie's visit!

2009-09-28T11:01:00.003-08:00

So last Saturday our community was joined by our area director, Jamie, for a several day visit. It was her first trip to Alaska and we were all really pumped to 1. see Jamie and 2. have a visitor! We attempted to welcome Jamie to Sitka by each standing somewhere different along the road between the airport and our house (maybe 4 miles) holding signs that said "Hi Jamie." This of course didn't totally work out because her flight got in a little early and the Sitka airport is literally one room. We ate some halibut (a gift from a random fisherman) for dinner and then took Jamie on a little walk around Sitka because it was a pretty nice night. We went back to the house and played some cards for a couple of hours and just started catching up on how things were going so far in town for us. On Sunday we went to St. Gregory's for mass and since she was a visitor, Jamie was welcomed by Fr. Scott and the community. After mass we went on a hike of Herring Cove which is just as beautiful in the rain as it is in the sun so that hike was a lot of fun.

On Monday morning I had my one on one meeting with Jamie which I had really been looking forward to. We walked around Totem Park a bit and along the beach because the tide was out and it was really good for me to talk about how things were going and about each of the four values. I have and continue to live them out on a daily basis, but reflection on and conversations about specific values are not always happening so it was good for me to focus on them and talk out my thoughts and struggles with them pretty clearly. I think that some of these reflections will probably be finding their way to this blog pretty soon too.

On Monday night, Jamie led a spirituality night for us and it was awesome! At least it was extremely powerful and inspirational for me. Jamie read a few excerpts from a book whose name escapes me at the moment but is a compilation of photos and interviews and focuses on liberation theology. Following the excerpts we had several questions to reflect on and we shared our 3 favorite phrases in a circle so as to create group poetry. This reflection really got me to thinking about where I am and am not seeing God in my experiences in community, at work, in nature and in the Sitka community. We all talked for about an hour after reflection about some of these questions and I think that my perspective and approach to my spirituality is in the process of being refocused so as to get the most out of this experience and not miss out on the truly important and powerful experiences and lessons that I am engaging in here.

Rather than summarizing every day and little thing that happened during Jamie's visit, I think that using just a few examples would do the trick:
1. Reading children's stories from the 1960's and The Indian in the Cupboard out loud while a couple people fell asleep at 8pm.
2. Many trips to the White E for books, Alaska Day sweatshirts and ridiculously cool hats that Jamie found.
3. Yogurt and lots of it.
4. A self-care training session for SAFV that stressed me out.
5. Jamie giving directions to tourists after 2 days in town.
6. Feeling like Jamie had been living with us for weeks and not a few days.
7. 1 month until retreat!

Herring Cove

2009-09-18T10:40:00.004-08:00

On Monday, I worked a half day because I had training from 6-9pm and because it was a beautiful sunny day in Sitka I went for a hike with Katie and Evie on the recently opened Herring Cove Trail. It was a really nice hike with a huge variety of natural features: all of the steps utilized rocks naturally there, a large number of little waterfalls coming down from the mountain, paths that cut through logs and large boulders, a view of a large waterfall and snow capped mountains, and it connected with the Beaver Lake trail which is a loop around one of the mountain lakes. It was such a beautiful sight, the weather was perfect (sunny and low 60's), and it quickly became my favorite trail.

Saturday in the rain

2009-09-18T10:21:00.006-08:00

This past Saturday, I had domestic violence training for 6 hours with SAFV along with about a dozen community members (including 3 members of my house.) The day's focus was on presenting some facts about domestic violence to the community, helping to explain why victims stay with their perpetrators, and beginning to talk about the impact that domestic violence has on individuals, families and communities. It was a long day but I found the conversations interesting and one video in particular that we watched presented a number of interviews with DV and sexual assault survivors, their families, and included interviews with perpetrators. The perpetrator interviews were particularly striking because each of them was in a different place of awareness of their actions and gave a perspective on the violence committed that I had never been exposed to before. I personally feel that it is important to understand and approach an issue from every direction and found this aspect helpful in beginning to understand and question why someone would abuse a loved one rather than trying to question why someone stays with an abuser (which often is the case in the media and in American society.) The blame often is pushed onto victims both for their abuse (they somehow caused it) and for staying with an abuser out of fear, financial security, lack of an adequate support system, lack of knowledge about community resources or any number of other reasons that help to explain why someone would stay. I have 2 more Saturday trainings and 2 Mondays left so be on the lookout for further reflections on what I see and learn.

On a much less serious note, Greg and I rode our bikes to Kelly's Pub on Saturday afternoon to meet our friend Ben (from Ohio) for the USC-Ohio St. game. This little trip deserves mention here because the pub is almost 2 miles from our house, it was raining hard, and it didn't open until 5! I was extremely surprised because this game started at 4 and I for sure thought that a sports bar would be open for a game between 2 top 10 teams...nope! The three of us walked around for a half hour having a really good conversation about JVC, Americorps, faith and Sitka and eventually got into the pub for the game. It was really nice to just kick back, watch a game in that atmosphere (even if we were the only people there) and make a connection outside of the house. After the game we went to a bar in town to watch a band called The Glorious Youth Parade perform. Words cannot adequately describe this experience. It was a pretty big band with a variety of instruments, the public defender on lead guitar and others dressed up in crazy outfits, including one man who I am pretty sure was dressed up like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons.

Thoughts on today

2009-09-11T11:38:00.005-08:00

It’s 11:30 a.m. here and I don’t think I could possibly be in a place more different than New York. The tallest building is only a few stories high, the pace of live is very slow and relaxed, and there are eight million less people. I slept in this morning because I am going into work at noon (I have training tomorrow), took a shower and looked at my phone. It said 8:46. Even eight years later, I can remember every little detail about that Tuesday and the days that followed. I remember the sound of the fire engines rushing past for twenty minutes as I filled out a survey for the JSEA. I can remember sitting in Mr. Dimichele’s class when Mr. Dougherty announced that a plane had hit and the discussion and questions that followed. I remember sitting in advisement with Dr. Tricamo for what seemed like an eternity before lunch. I remember sitting in the quad after school with Jon Spagnola and Mr. Dimichele while waiting for my aunt and cousin. I remember meeting Johnny and Bobby on the subway at 59th St. I remember seeing the smoke all along the south shore from the LIRR and I remember my dad picking me up at my aunt and uncle’s in Baldwin. Time and distance have done little to alter my feelings and memories from that day and being so far from home and people who understand the feelings has been a struggle today.

But I am hopeful because I know tomorrow will be a better day. The rays of sunshine sneaking through the low lying clouds here remind me that the sun and light are still there (and always are.) The dozens of Coast Guard members who are volunteering throughout Sitka today remind me of the unity and national pride that reverberated throughout America that day and in the days that followed. My own experiences since that day have shown me that together we can do anything that we set our minds to. So I leave you today, as I pray for peace, unity and solace with hope for the future.

The following are some quotes, poems, prayers that I have found to be particularly striking on a personal level and wanted to share with you:

A QUIET HERO

Some men die a glorious death full of fanfare and fame
Others die so quietly we hardly know their name
It doesn't matter how they die, the void they leave is great
He died a quiet hero, there really is no debate ...
He saved the lives of others, snatching victory from defeat.
~ Author George G. Howard ~

St. Ignatius’ Prayer of Generosity
Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Deo et Patriae—For God and country

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.

If You’re Out There (John Legend)

If you're ready we can shake the world
Believe again
It starts within
We don't have to wait for destiny
We should be the change that we want to see

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

2009-09-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

After finally getting Evie back from her work trip in Juneau, we talked about everything she had missed when she was gone and about her time in Juneau and about what to do on Sunday afternoon. So, we decided to ignore TLC's advice--"don't go chasing waterfalls"--and four of us decided to hike the Indian River trail with hopes of reaching the waterfall 4 and a half miles away. The weather was great for most of the hike as it stayed pretty clear and I was able to hike in shorts and a t-shirt for most of it and the river was full of salmon making their way upstream to spawn and die, so unfortunately a lot of the trail smelt of dead fish. The trail itself is pretty flat for the first half or so with several bridges crossing over the river that provide great views of the clear water below. About an hour and a half or so into the hike we ran into Meg and Eileen who were on their way back from the waterfall with a few friends (including a husky) and told us that we were about forty minutes away from the waterfall. After leaving them, the trail grew thinner, steeper and rockier as we approached the trail's end. Eventually we reached the waterfall and my only reaction was one of shear awe. It was majestic and giant (I haven't seen too many waterfalls so I have little to compare it to) and Katie, Evie and I felt the need to get closer. We "carefully" manuevered through and around the river to approach the falls and got within about ten feet of it (as well as soaking ourselves in the process.) The spray was freezing yet refreshing at the same time, it was really misty and pretty tough to see when you were right up next to the falls, but it was a beautiful sight.

We soon realized that it was 5pm, that we had a 2 hour hike back ahead of us and wanted to get out of the woods before dark, so we started back. Along the way, I had a really great conversation with one of my housemates about our time in Sitka so far, potential future plans, what has been challenging so far (relationships, adjusting to life here, and spirituality, among others), and things we are looking forward to, particularly a visit from Jamie, our area director, and our fall retreat so we can see and catch up with the other Alaska houses. About halway through our walk back, Katie yelled and showed us the largest bear print I have ever seen; I am pretty sure it was bigger than a dinner plate. Needless to say, our pace quickened and we started singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as loud as we could in an effort to avoid this large bear. We all made it home safely so overall I would say this outing was a success and I fully support anyone who wants to chase waterfalls :-)

Sun!!!

2009-09-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

So we have had 4 extremely beautiful, sunny days in a row! Since Monday I have spent a good chunk of time outside, enjoying the weather, mingling with tourists, and taking in the landscape that is all around me. I have also been a bit of a tourist myself this week as I have been taking pictures of one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, the water, the mountains and even the moon! (I must admit that I almost forgot that it existed because I haven't seen it since arriving in Sitka.)

On Tuesday, while I was taking some photos along the water, I offered to take a picture for a lovely married couple from Idaho. After I took their picture in front of their cruise ship, they insisted that I let them take one of me in front of the ship too. Being polite, I obliged and now have my very own Sitka vacation photo! Following this encounter, I enjoyed my lunch along the water and just enjoyed being outside in the sun (I know that the rain and darkness will eventually dominate the weather here.) Rather than trying to unsuccessfully describe the weather this week and using the phrase "a picture's worth a thousand words" as my inspiration, I am just going to share some of the pictures that I took.

1-11=-1 and other fun things

2009-09-02T20:02:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, Marcus, the St. Gregory's youth director, invited us over for dinner on Friday night. We enjoyed a nice dinner of pasta and vegetables and conversation over some white wine. After dinner we played a marathon of a poker game that I eventually won (I am terrible at poker for those of you who didn't already know that.) We obviously did not play for money because no one in the room makes enough money to do that :-)

On Saturday, I enjoyed a quiet morning at home while Greg was at work and the girls were on a boat cruise with Evie's job at SAIL (Southeast Alaska Independent Living.) It was really weird having several hours of complete quiet but I took the time to do some laundry, clean the kitchen (it was my week to do that), write some letters and enjoy some relaxation time after a long week at work. We had a pretty relaxing afternoon as well and after dinner we played this card game called "hand and foot" that Evie taught us. We ended the night playing some cards, my housemates enjoying some local beers (I wasn't feeling too well so I stuck to tea), and watching The Office. The weather was pretty chilly and raw on Sunday so after enjoying some french toast and heading over to mass, we spent the afternoon watching the Bourne Identity. Natalie is now hooked and anxiously awaiting her chance to catch the last two chapters of the series.

For our community night, we headed over to the video store and enjoyed some arcade games that they have in a back room. I forgot how much fun pinball is! Afterward, we headed over to the house that we are house sitting for the next 2 weeks. The owners have gone on a hunting trip and have left us to care for their 2 cats, chickens, rooster, and ducks! The girls agreed to stay at the house for the first night and after spending a few hours there playing cards, I realized that I will not be able to stay over there because my allergies were flaring up pretty good.

On Monday, following a beautiful day in Sitka and a fun night working childcare at the shelter, we all headed over to the new house for Spirituality night. Before we could hang out with Jesus, however, we had to collect the 7 chicks who had been let out earlier in the day from their pen. The 7 of them had assembled themselves on top of the owners' compost bin and did not want to move. After some coaxing (both verbal and physical), the chicks all were back in their proper place and I felt like the Cesar Millan of chickens. I was responsible for spirituality night this week and after Greg's wonderful reflection involving the book Matthew's Meadow last week, I decided to use a reflection exercise that I had participated in and led many times at Holy Cross called life graphs. Essentially everyone is given a blank piece of paper and a pen or marker and reflects on the events in their life that have been important, influential and that have shaped them into who they are today. We focus on both the positive and negative experiences because it is important to note that everything that we experience is integral in molding the people we are and hope to become. I closed by reciting St. Ignatius' prayer of Generosity and I think that the reflection went really well. I really enjoyed learning more about where each of my housemates is coming from and enjoyed reflecting on what events and people have helped to mold me and sharing that with my housemates.

Weekend fun

2009-08-22T16:10:00.004-08:00

The past two weekends have been quite fun and busy. We started our weekend off last week by watching Newsies on Friday night as a house! It is such a great movie but it wasn't quite the same for me as watching a group of middle school boys from the Regis High School REACH perform it live as they did in the summer of 2006. On Saturday we had a relaxing morning at home and spent our afternoon with Eileen and Meg (an FJV from last year and my supervisor.) Eileen took us exploring along the beach and huckleberry picking, where Katie did her best Blueberries for Sal impression by eating nearly as many berries as she picked! For those of you who are like me and had never heard of huckleberries, they look like blueberries but are a bright red color (some can be blue though) and have a more tarty flavor. After we picked enough berries Eileen taught us how to properly clean the berries and get them prepared to make jam. Once it was time, it took a total team effort to turn the berries into the twelve half pints that we were able to make and save for later.

On Sunday, we all went to church at St. Gregory's where a retired priest from the Bronx resides! In the afternoon we went hiking with Eileen along Indian River and saw the very beginning of the Pink Salmon run. It has finally started to rain so hopefully the salmon will start running soon. We hiked for about three hours and the weather was constantly changing from sun to rain and back for the entire time. After our hike, Meg and Eileen invited us over for fish tacos where Meg was house sitting. Dinner was delicious and it was nice to hang out with them before our work week started.

Last night we had our first meeting with Bridget, an FJV and our support person. We had some brownies and ice cream and shared our motivations for applying to and choosing JVC Nortwest as well as our thoughts on which of the four values we felt would be the easiest and hardest for us to engage in, as well as our greatest fears for the year. For me, I think that what I am most afraid of is getting too emotional in my job; I am worried that at times I might get overwhelmed with emotions and be unable to give 100% in my job or separate what I experience at work from my own life and emotions. For this reason, I am blessed that I have such a strong support system here of my housemates, support people, FJVs and my coworkers on whom I can turn to help ensure that I am taking care of myself and dealing with things that come up and impact me one way or another.

Today, our house participated in a charity basketball tournament! Eileen financially backed our team to help benefit an organization called Young Alaskans Building Affordable Housing that she works for. We called our team the New JVs and had very low expectations for our team because most of us have never played basketball outside of gym class or pickup games in high school. We lost both of our games but we got awesome t-shirts, it was a great time and an even better cause!

Work--part of the reason I am here

2009-08-21T17:28:00.002-08:00

So I started work on Monday of this week. I am working as the children's advocate at an organization called Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV.) My job consists of several parts that are all related to and focused on ensuring the safety and advocating on behalf of children both at the shelter and in the community. Part of my responsibilities will include childcare to help give moms a chance to participate in group meetings and attend appointments in town. I also will be an advocate for the children's needs as they arise both in and out of shelter and will be working on helping with planning and organizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities, Child Abuse Awareness Month and various holiday events for children. Once school starts, I will be helping to facilitate lunch and after school support groups and making safety presentations in the elementary schools.

It was a very busy, hectic week but I am really excited to have finally started and have an idea of what my job will be like and who I will be working with. My supervisor is Meg (an FJV from last year) who has been really good at introducing me to everyone, walking me through the procedures, and helping me understand both what we do in the children's program and how we do it. She has also been really great and checking in to make sure that I am doing ok both with the work and with adjusting to being here. Self care is something that she and SAFV stress and is something that I know will become more important as the year goes on (just like it would become more necessary later in the semester at school.)

After a week at work, I am starting to feel comfortable with my position and am adjusting to working a full time job. I was exhausted several days after work but also very fulfilled because I feel like I am doing something that matters. I feel that I have learned a LOT this week and am excited for what lies ahead. I am excited to learn more as I get more comfortable with my daily activities, excited to work with the children and anxious to get started with the school presentations and support groups.

Sitka!!!

2009-08-13T10:30:00.007-08:00

We arrived in Sitka on Saturday August 8 and were met at the airport by a slew of FJVs, our supervisors, and support persons which was awesome to say the least. Once we got to the house we brought all of our stuff in and talked for a few minutes with some FJVs who gave us a rundown of the house and Sitka. Our house is wonderful! We live above a business offering tours of Sitka, have 4 bedrooms (I am sharing a room with Greg, who I am sure will be featured here often), 1.5 bathrooms, a kitchen with more spices than I ever thought possible outside of a restaurant and our living room, which came fully stocked with books, comfortable couches and enough art supplies to power a kindergarten class for at least a year. Greg and my bedroom has one of the greatest views I have ever seen: when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see is the harbor (about 100 feet from our house) and mountains just beyond that that are often met by clouds along their peaks or just in front at a lower altitude. On our first night in Sitka, my housemates and I went out and explored the town. There are a good number of little shops along the main street along the water that seem to be geared towards the large number of tourists coming in from the cruise ships as well as a bunch of restaurants, coffee shops and pubs. We walked around further and saw the Russian Orthodox Church Cathedral as well as Murray Pacific (where we all got our Xtra Tuffs which are these boots that everyone in Sitka wears to stay dry) and a lighthouse on an outer island.

On Sunday morning, Eileen (an FJV from last year) took us to mass and had breakfast with us. Afterwards she drove us all around Sitka showing us where the trailheads for several trails were, took us to one of the largest sand beaches in Sitka (think maybe 30 feet of shoreline), and showed us where the roads end (there are 7 miles of road on each side of town.) Later on, she introduced us to Tyler, a local 3^rd grade teacher, who is a friend of the JVs and offered to take us fishing on Monday and Tuesday.

At 9am on Monday, along with Greg and Natalie, Tyler took us out to get ready for a day of fishing. After picking us up, Tyler taught us how to bait, which meant piercing the hook through the eye of a salmon’s head and ensuring the other end came up on the other side. We baited 15 hooks like this because we were going to lay a long line (think Mark Wahlberg in The Perfect Storm), hoping to catch some halibut when Katie and Evie returned on Tuesday to pull it up. After laying the long line and dropping a basket for crab, we set out to catch some salmon in Katlian Bay. Along the way I saw a seal and my first bald eagle!!! Before we got into the shallower water where the salmon were waiting to head upstream (they haven’t been able to head upstream due to the lack of rain this summer) we practiced casting and then started really fishing. Between the 3 of us, we caught about a dozen pink salmon and we headed for shore. Tyler then taught us how to fillet the fish (cut off their meat) as well as clean them off in the salt water to prevent the spread of bacteria and took us on a hike around Katlian Island where we saw thousands of salmon in the river, a bear bed and bear tracks! When we returned home, Tyler showed us how to bake the salmon that he had cased (gutted) and how to properly store the fish so that we can freeze them and have them in a couple weeks or months. Dinner was delicious and it was so exciting to eat something that we had caught ourselves.

Meet the Housemates

2009-08-13T10:10:00.004-08:00

Before I get into describing the wonder that is Sitka, Alaska I figured I would briefly introduce you all to my housemates for the next year.

Evie is from just outside Seattle and went to Western Washington University. She found out about being accepted to JVC and her placement in Sitka very recently and is really good at mimicking accents. Last night she guided us along a quest to find our individual spirit animals. Mine was the owl!

Greg is my roommate and just graduated from St. Louis University. He grew up in Buffalo, went to Canisius High School (yay Jesuits!) and played ultimate Frisbee in high school and throughout college. He traveled to Africa for a class on International Social Work and Development so I am super pumped to share experiences from Tanzania and work through some of our shared experiences and challenges that we continue to face following our respective trips.

Katie is from about 45 minutes away from Baltimore and graduated from Mt. Saint Mary’s. She will be working for Big Brothers Big Sisters and also took 5 children’s books out of the library as soon as she got her library card; last night she read Fish is Fish to us aloud like kindergarten teachers do.

Natalie is from Southern Illinois and went to Marquette University. She is working with me at Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV) as a women’s advocate and is a great artist who has really taken to making origami cranes over the past couple of days.

Commissioning Liturgy

2009-08-11T10:07:00.002-08:00

This mass gets its own entry because it might have been the best mass I have attended in a really long time (potentially rivaling Baccalaureate Mass and 7pm mass…sorry Paul.)The music for mass was great, including a Zulu gospel acclamation, a second year JV gave a fearless and inspiring reflection on her JV year right after the Gospel, and all 123 JVs in the Northwest were commissioned as were the JVC Northwest staff and board. We were called up by our area directors, who prayed over us, presented us with Jerusalem crosses (like many have received on retreats like Quest or Kairos), and gave a final blessing of their hopes and support for our community. Mass concluded with a spirited singing of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Freedom Medley” where Fitts the Friendly led a train throughout the gymnasium and we concluded in a giant circle. It was an incredible way to close out the week and really inspired me about the level of community and support that exists among all of JVC Northwest. This week really reinforced my decision to serve as a volunteer in JVC Northwest because the entire experience was so personal and community oriented.

JVC Northwest Orientation

2009-08-10T20:36:00.012-08:00

Arrival at orientation (and much of orientation) was a surreal experience for me. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by several members of the JVC staff who were responsible for checking us in. As I approached the registration table, I was greeted with a giant "I know who you are!" and hug from my area director for Alaska (who I had never met prior to this) which really set the tone for the rest of the week for me.

Our first night included dinner and a Native American smudging ceremony in which cedar was burnt and each of us was invited to take the smoke in our hands and brush it over ourselves. We did this because it is believed that before a person can be healed or heal another, one must be cleansed both physically and spiritually of any bad feelings, negative thoughts, bad spirits or negative energy. This was a very new, unique and freeing experience for me and I think that it united us all together, opened us up to our surroundings and enabled us to enter the week in complete openness to all that we would hear and experience.

During orientation, each day was set aside to examine one of the JVC values: Social Justice, Community, Spirituality, and Simple Living. We began each day with songs that words cannot do justice for. To quote someone explaining JVC songs to me before I arrived, "it is basically Jesus Raffi." We had a variety of speakers (mainly Former JVs and people working in organizations in the Portland area) that included Fr. Jack Morris, one of the founders of JVC, who I was able to talk to before I left. He shared some stories about Holy Cross (one involving his honorary degree) and offered his hopes and prayers for my time in Sitka. It was really powerful for me to be able to meet and speak with him because he is the one who started it all and has spent his live working for peace and justice, including making a peace walk from Tacoma, WA to Bethlehem (where Jesus was born.)

Throughout the week the speakers sparked a variety of conversations and thoughts for me, however the most challenging and interesting quote for me came during the Top 10 list of JVC during Community day when one of the presenters shared the following quote with us: "Forgiveness is the letting go of all hope for a better past." I had never heard this quote before and had never thought of forgiveness in that manner before. I feel that this quote is one that will continue to come up for me over the course of this year and is one that I know will challenge me to grow spiritually, emotionally and socially.

The toughest part of orientation though was saying goodbye. One of the great things about orientation was that I met so many great people; one of the worst things about it though is that because we are in different parts of the northwest I may never see these people again. Saying goodbye to the people I connected with over the course of the week was weird but we were pretty positive in our hopes to keep in touch and someday meet again. The end of the week also meant that I had to say goodbye (for now) to the other 10 Holy Cross JVs and Mo, who came to visit us on Thursday and will be serving as a JV for 2 years in

Peru

. The JVC staff and family really put 110% into ensuring that each of us felt at home, was challenged, that each session served to benefit us individually and communally, and that a tightly knit community among the new JVs was established. Some of us plan on passing books (and letters) on throughout the year in order to stay in touch…it is something I am very excited about! It is also great to know that there are so many people serving in dozens of communities throughout the world; it is inspiring and serves as a reminder to myself and my community in Sitka that we are not alone.

Portland

2009-08-03T20:20:00.002-08:00

So I left New York on August 1st with four of my incredible friends from Holy Cross for our pre-orientation adventure in Portland, OR. On Sunday, Alex, Avanti and I took Portland's version of the subway downtown to the Saturday Market, a gigantic market full of a variety of little shops, henna tatoos, caricature artists, and tons of food and locally brewed beers (Portland has something like 30 breweries.) After exploring the market we walked around downtown eventually finding our way to the Rose Test Garden (which was actually pretty cool) and of course the Oregon Zoo! We started by visiting the animals of the Great Northwest...mountain goats, black bears, and we tried to see the cougar but he was hiding. The highlight for me of course was seeing the sleeping Polar Bear who was hanging out in the shade under a sprinkler because it was 90 degrees outside. After the zoo we met up with Jeana, Lauren and Sarah and went to dinner at the Rockbottom Brewery (highly suggested by one of Portland's finest) where we consumed what we coined our "last burgers" and enjoyed some of the local brews and some good company. Eventually we headed back to the hotel and took in some Shark Week on TV.
On Monday, we headed back into the city to have lunch at the Blueplate Diner, which appeared on the Food Network and had one of the best ice cream floats I have ever had. Finally we decided that we should go to orientation and made our way over to the airport where we met a bunch of other JVs, some of the JVC staff and headed off to Camp Adams in a bunch of vans.

And So It Begins

2009-07-27T10:09:00.002-08:00

I have finally given in and created this blog to share my thoughts and experiences over the next year while in Sitka, Alaska. This blog takes its title from the name of the dynamic Global GUTS team of Matt Talbot, Dave Floyd and myself and will give me an outlet in which I will attempt to be witty and also share some interesting stories. Sadly Sarah Palin is no longer going to be my governor (something that Brian Regan has attributed to my impending arrival) but I think that I will eventually recover from this shock. Much more will follow once I have been properly oriented into JVC Northwest next week in Portland and have arrived in Sitka.