Idaho last weekend, Montana this weekend!

So this past weekend our landlords Frank and Shelly invited us up to their lake house in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! I know what a bunch of you east coast people are saying..."Idaho!?! Did you find some good potatoes? hahahahahahaha!" This is what I would say too if I were still on the east coast and someone told me they went to Idaho for the weekend. But seriously, it was so beautiful on the lake. I posted some pics of the lake below because if I tried to describe it, I wouldn't do it justice. Funny story: While we were there, Frank's brother John offered to give us a tour of the lake on the boat. We all went and were out there for over 2 hours. When we were less than a mile away from the house the boat ran out of gas! Since Kristy and I were at the front of the boat we had to paddle with the one oar we had to a neighbor's dock which fortunately was close by. It was a pretty amusing site watching Kristy and me paddle to the dock. The neighbors were able to fill our boat with gas but for some reason the boat still wouldn't start so one of the neighbors gave us a ride in his car back to Frank and Shelly's. Now that is some Idaho hospitality!

This weekend we are going to Missoula, Montana for a folk festival. Missoula is about three hours away from Spokane and I'm looking forward to the car ride down with all 6 of us in one car haha!

As promised in my last post, here are some pics of our house:

The front of the house

The kitchen

Dining room

Family Room

Family room with Oscar Romero quote

Me and Emily's bedroom

My side of the room

Here is the community:

Sean, Emily, Katie, Molly, Kristy, Me

Gosh aren't we cute!

Pics from the lake house:

I wish I had taken more but I forgot to bring the camera when we were actually on the boat.

In Spokane!

Hi everyone! Sorry for taking so long to write in this thing. We don't get internet access in our house so I'm not sure how frequently I'll be updating. Anyway, I have been in Spokane for a little over a week. We arrived two Saturday's ago after a 5 day orientation in Portland. Orientation was fun but a bit overwhelming. There are over 120 JV volunteers in the Northwest so it was a lot of people to meet all at once. The best part was finally being able to meet my community members. I'm living with 5 other people-Sean, Emily, Katie, Molly and Kristy. So far it's been great, we're having a lot of fun together :) For the first time, JVC has decided to have 2 communities in Spokane so we are right across the street from 6 other volunteers.

Our house is really cute and cozy. JV's have been living in the house for years so there is lot of character. I'll take some pictures when I have a chance and add them to the blog so people can see it. I started my job at St. Margaret's last Wednesday. The first week was very overwhelming because Laurie and I (the other JV) were just thrown into the mix. It's pretty much all on the job training and learn as you go so the first week was a bit stressful. We pretty much will be doing anything the staff needs us to do. This includes answering the phones, going to the food bank, picking up furniture and helping with programs the staff has. I think the best part of the job will be is that Laurie and I are allowed to create and run our own programs and creativity and innovation are encouraged. Laurie and I have brainstormed some ideas and once we get a little more acclimated we hope to get things rolling.

For the past week we've been trying to get to know the city a little better. We are right across the street from a Safeway which is great because none of us have a car so grocery shopping is easy. We are also a few blocks from Gonzaga University and will have access to a lot of their facilities. Most of us are working at places through Catholic Charities so the executive director gave us all of tour of our workplaces. (The executive director was a former JV and a graduate of Fairfield!) Let's see, this past Saturday Molly, Kristy, Katie and I biked into downtown Spokane. The downtown area is really nice-lots of shops and restaurants but with our stipend of $80 a month we will only be able to window shop and stare at diners eating haha.

I'm currently at a wonderful little coffee shop right now. (sorry this entry is so random and scattered, if you're looking for a nice organized blog then you shouldn't be reading this!) They serve all fair trade, organic and shade grown coffee. It reminds me of Port Coffeehouse in Bridgeport. They have free internet access so I have a feeling I may be spending a lot of time here.

Well, that's all for now. I'll hopefully update the blog more often so people don't keep bugging me about it (*cough cough Dad :))

Hello!

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! I've never blogged before but I thought that this is the best way to keep in touch with a lot of people so I figured I'd give it a try. When I was younger, my dad always encouraged me to write in a journal so I would start one and write in it everyday for a week but then I would forget about it and the journal would be abandoned. So...hopefully that won't happen with this but I'm not keeping any promises!

As you know, I have decided to join the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and leave in 2 DAYS!!! I arrive in Portland, Oregon for a weeklong orientation and then head off to Spokane, Washington where I will be working until next August. I'm living with five other Jesuit Volunteers (JV's) who I will meet at orientation. Now, what exactly will I be doing with my job? Well, my official title is Resident Supervisor (it just sounds so professional!) at St. Margaret's Shelter. St. Margaret's is part of Catholic Charities and is a shelter specifically for women and their children. From what I gather, the type of work I'll be doing sounds like it varies from trying to find permanent housing for the women to helping organize a Christmas-Adopt-A-Family program. I know the job will be an eye opening experience for me and I'm really looking forward to it because I believe that in order to better understand the complexity of poverty one must be in direct service with those who live it.

Right now, I am feeling both excited but nervous. I'm ready for a change and a new experience but at the same time I'm really going to miss my family and friends a lot. It's strange knowing that I won't be going back to Fairfield in September after doing that for the past four years.

Oh and just to explain my title, whenever I talk to most people and tell them that I'm going to be in Spokane they always ask or assume it is near Seattle. Just to clarify, Spokane is NOT near Seattle. In fact it's on the completely opposite side of the state and is a four and a half hour drive away. I'm actually right near Idaho so if anyone wants some fresh Idaho potatoes I can cross the border and find some. Then I could mail them but by the time they get to you they may be spoiled.

Ok, well on that note the next time I blog I'll be in Washington so look for updates!