Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving, you might know, is my favorite holiday.  I love Christmas and Easter, of course (I mean, who doesn’t?), but something about Thanksgiving has always made it my favorite day. When I was younger, this love probably had something to do with pumpkin pie and stuffing, and maybe it still does.  But this year especially, as I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home, I realize that I have so much to be grateful for: a supportive and loving family and friends, an excellent education, many opportunities to broaden my horizons, and now an incredible community and job. 

With hopes to inspire gratitude in our students, Theresa, Marcus and I took 8 of the older Urban Compass students on a field trip to the St. Francis Center in downtown L.A. on Tuesday.  SFC is a food pantry and soup kitchen that serves the homeless in a neighborhood not far from my house.  The kids had off school all week, so this trip was a chance to get them out of the projects during their break and show them a way to give back to their own community. The staff at SFC, including a fellow JV, did a great job helping our kids understand the situation of the people whom they served lunch to. They talked about causes of homelessness and helped the kids know what to expect during lunch.  I could tell that these kids, who are recipients of a lot of good will and donations through Urban Compass, were touched by the experience. Though they themselves don’t have much at home, many expressed interested in giving food to homeless people in their neighborhood. I was really proud of how well they did in talking to the clients. The students were polite, smiling, and happy to be there.  Afterwards, we took them to see a movie (Megamind…I’d recommend it!).

5th Graders serving sandwiches at SFC

Work this week was very chill. With no kids in the afternoons, Theresa and I were able to get a lot of administrative stuff done.  When I tell anyone that I work for an afterschool program full time, I undoubtedly get asked, “What do you do during the day?”  So, here’s the answer:

Since my boss and I are the only two full time staff that work for Urban Compass, we (well, she) are essentially responsible for running the whole organization. Though our program is small, we are a non-profit. This means we have to manage donors, apply for grants, recruit volunteers, plan the program, etc.  My responsibilities revolve around the programming; I run errands to get snack and craft supplies, print and copy worksheets for all the grade levels, manage the Verbum Dei volunteers, and help Theresa with whatever else she needs. I help her write any grants or letters that we send to foundations, put together newsletters and fliers about events, and write any program updates for the website or board meetings.  Together, we are responsible for all the little things it takes to run a small business.  I really like that I get to see this side of the non-profit world, and work up-close enough to see everything that goes on.  Though it doesn’t always sound like much, we are definitely busy!  So, with no kids to run off to pick up at 2pm this week, we were able to get a lot done – send off some grant applications and start preparing for the next board meeting and Christmas party.

On Wednesday afternoon, Casa DK took off for Phoenix for Thanksgiving. We made the 380-ish mile trip in holiday traffic in about 8 hours. Getting out of LA took forever, but after that it was smooth sailing through the mountains and desert.  The return trip yesterday took under 6 hours.  On the way down, we did a spirituality night with a twist: we went around the car and said things we were thankful for, big and small, until we ran out of ideas. I think it went for almost an hour!

There are two JV houses in Phoenix that co-hosted Thanksgiving.  Casa Bart was kind enough to let us crash in their house for the long weekend, and Casa Truth hosted a delicious and beautiful meal. The food was delicious and plentiful – there were about 35 JVs there for dinner and we were all beyond stuffed by the end.  One of the agencies, Brophy Jesuit College Prep (a Jesuit high school) even donated a keg for the occasion!  The meal was really wonderful.  We ate outside in the awesome backyard by Christmas lights and candle light. 

Thanksgiving dinner table

On Friday, a few of us went hiking in North Mountain Park, in search of a cool view of the city.  We found all that – and more.  At the peak of the mountain we found a stray dog. After she calmed down, we realized she was injured and terrified.  The boys decided we had to rescue her, so they valiantly carried her down the mountain and arranged for an emergency animal shelter to pick her up in the park. The dog, who we named Mariposa (“butterfly” in Spanish) bonded quickly with Zach and John and was really happy to be taken down from the rocky mountain.  We left in the trusting hands of some park rangers, who said they find 1-2 stray dogs per week in the mountains.  After the hike, we took a spin through “downtown Phoenix” and saw Brophy (Eddie’s alma mater!), both of which were beautiful. The downtown area was pretty small with few sky-scrapers, because Phoenix is a sprawling city.  Brophy was insanely beautiful, and definitely lives up to all that we had heard about it.

Downtown Phoenix

In the afternoon, we returned to Casa Truth for some fun and games. Each house chose a country to represent. We, along with Colleen from Casa Ita Ford, were Ireland.  Some other countries that came to compete were Colombia and Chad (they dressed as bros, because as they said, “every person named Chad is a bro”...they were funny in their popped collars and aviators...kind of funny).  Although the games didn’t really last long, we enjoyed hanging out with the other houses for the night!

Team Ireland

On Saturday, Casa DK peaced out bright and early to head back to LA. Zach and I were the lucky winners of an inter-house drawing for two tickets to the USC v. Notre Dame football game at USC on Saturday night. A JVC agency in Atlanta had the tickets and wanted JVs to use them, so our program coordinator had them mailed to our house, where we raffeled them off. The tailgate was awesome – Zach wore his green (he’s an Irish fan) and I wore my BC rugby shirt which is conveniently USC colors. Even though I have no connection to the Trojans other than living in the neighborhood, I was excited to root against Notre Dame!!  We wandered around the insane tailgate for a couple hours before the game, and then sat in the visitors section in the absolute highest row in the stadium.  Despite the pouring rain during the second half (yes, it rains in LA), we had a blast.  It was cool to experience one of the most historic college football rivalries!

USC Trojans mascot

Phew, that was long! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving…I’m thankful for my readers J

Lunch Specials

The highlight of this week is simple: Lunch.  On Tuesday, Theresa treated Marcus and I to take-out from PF Chang’s for two reasons: 1. She lost a bet on a basketball game to Marcus 2. Marcus got a full time job on Monday! He’s been searching since before he started with us, and scored a position as a Business Analyst. 

On Wednesday, I stopped by the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) Supervisor Appreciation Lunch in the gym.  The supervisors and student workers for all the Verb students were invited to a very nice lunch on campus so they could see the school and be thanked for their generosity.  I helped serve the delicious “soul food” meal of fried chicken, mac ‘n cheese, greens, red beans (YUM!) and gourmet dessert.  As a perk, I got a free meal! We also took home two trays of leftovers…one of the many instances of free food scored by the JVs.

On Thursday, Paul, the Vice President of Advancement at Verb treated me, Julie, and Zach to lunch at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles.  This is an LA landmark establishment that features – you guessed it – chicken and waffles.  Yes, on the same plate. Fried chicken, complete with gravy and grits, and waffles with maple syrup and butter. DELICIOUS.  Check out the menu…we all had the Carol C. under Paul’s recommendation. I can’t wait to go back.

On the home front, things have been pretty quiet this week. For community night, we watched Glee for community night (which is now a house ritual) and for spirituality night, our support people let a reflection on the life of our community’s namesake: Dorothy Kazel.  On Wednesday evening, Julie, John and I walked down to USC for a student film festival.  The movies were okay – some much better than others. We went because John’s friend from Fordham is working on the film festival tour (Campus Movie Fest). It was a nice night out!

This afternoon we are throwing a little Thanksgiving party for the students, complete with cookie decorating and LOTS of crafts.  I will post pictures next week! This week’s Simplicity Challenge at Casa DK is to not use the internet at home and to instead spend our time a bit more intentionally with our community. I haven’t missed it much since I am on the computer all day at work, but this weekend might be a bit trickier.  More soon, I promise! Thanks for following :) 

Sunshine & The Getty

It is mid-November (already?!) and a sunny 78 degrees in Los Angeles today.  This weather really does make everything a little brighter.  I feel so much more motivated to get out of the house and explore the city!   At the beginning of this weekend, I was a little tired of the city, craving air that’s not polluted and smoggy.  I had a great week at work, but was tired. My kids are fantastic – I really feel myself falling in love with each of them. I am continually amazed by their unconditional love. No matter how angry I get at them or how “mean” I am (particularly during clean-up time…it’s the most rushed and stressful part of the day), they run up to me with a huge smile and hug the next afternoon.  “Hi Miss Z!!” is one of my favorite sounds to hear.

[[Funny side note –my students can’t keep names straight. While they all know I am Ms. Z, they often mix up my name with Theresa’s (Ms. G…understandably confusing). Sometimes when they don’t at all stop and think before talking, they just holler “teacher, teacher!”  My favorite way to make a first grader laugh is to respond with a very loud, energetic “student, student!” Without fail, they start laughing and try again: “Miss Z, Miss Z!” Works like a charm. Yes, I’m a cheeseball with them, and I love it.  They think I’m funny (usually) and seeing them laugh at me is priceless.]]

Anyway, this weekend has been a perfect combination of relaxation and activity.  After 3 of us in DK hit up the various branches of the LA Public Libraries for DVDs, we’ve watched many of the movies we took out.  [Another side note – for community night last week, Zach and I picked out a DVD called “Do you Want to Dance?”…it was an instructional dance video promising lessons for ballroom dance, latin dance, country line dance, and even wedding routines.  It was kind of a dud, but I’m on the search to find a good one that will teach us all the merenugue!]  So, Friday was a movie night followed by a Saturday morning of catching on TV shows. 

In the afternoon, I went to the Getty museum with Julie and her friend Ingrid who is visiting this weekend. It was absolutely phenomenal. It is a new, beautiful art museum in the hills to the north of Los Angeles with breathtaking views of the whole county and the water.  My favorite part was the central garden, designed by an artist (not a gardener or landscaper). The colors, smells, sights were the perfect combination of beautiful.

View of LA from the Getty
Downtown Culver City is in the middle and downtown LA is in the distance on the left

The Central Garden

Julie and I found a tree changing color!
We miss fall!

On Saturday night, we found a fantastic Mexican joint by USC where I ordered a chorizo burrito that would have made my father oh-so-proud! This morning we returned to Holy Name for a beautiful Gospel Mass. Overall, another great week in the City of Angels.  Let the church say AMEN!  Today, John and I went grocery shopping (we make a great Food4Less team) and then spent a couple hours getting creative in the kitchen…here’s a shot of our pumpkin pie and homemade granola!!

Too bad I forgot about the granola because I was writing this...now it's a little burned.

A 6ft map of LA county in our kitchen

Three Months In...

Over the course of this week, I thought a lot about how my personal and our community commitments to JVC’s four values are shaking out. Today marks three months of JVC, and it seems to already be flying by. Our community is doing really well, but living in LA makes Simple Living challenging – we rely heavily on our car, live in a city very prone to waste and pollution, and are in the midst of what is arguably the Mecca of consumerism on the West Coast. Having time with our Program Coordinator this week allowed us to brainstorm more ways to challenge ourselves not only in terms of simple living, but ways to get involved with other work for justice.  Taking on the JVC experience is a lot to figure out, and I'm grateful we have an entire year to do so.

A bit about what I have been up to lately...

Two weeks ago was chock full o’ Halloween celebrations at Urban Compass. On Wednesday, we celebrated Theresa’s birthday and Halloween with cookie decorating, pumpkin painting, games, and other fun crafts. On Thursday, we went to LMU for their annual “Fright Night,” a program put on by campus ministry for inner-city schoolchildren.  We had a great time, though it was a long night!  The haunted house, hot dogs, and dunk tank were some of the favorite activities. On Friday, Theresa and I served hot dogs at 112^th St. School’s harvest festival in the afternoon instead of holding Urban Compass. We got to hang out with all the families from the school and see our kids dressed up in costume for the costume parade! It brought me back to my days at Bret Harte J

After work on Friday, we piled into Barney and drove down to San Diego for the weekend. The lovely ladies of Casa Maura Clark hosted all the So Cal JVs for a Halloween party on Saturday night. On Saturday, we explored Coronado Island and downtown San Diego – both SO beautiful!  On Saturday night, Casa DK took over a bathroom to bronze and gel and spray to prepare ourselves for our Jersey Shore cast costumes.  We looked so good and were a huge hit.

Paulie D, Sammi, The Situation, J-WOWW, and Snookie

We happened upon a beach volleyball on Coronado Island...in Halloween costumes!

From Monday to Friday, our JVC Program Coordinator, Andrew, stayed at our house for his area visit. He met with each of us one on one, all of our supervisors, and even came to Urban Compass for an afternoon with the kids to see what my job is like. He also got to drive some Verb kids to work in Pasadena with Zach.  He participated in our Spirituality Night and took us out for pizza for Community Night.  On Friday, we all went to LMU for a day-long Community retreat. It was a beautiful day and so nice to be off work with time to hang out with my community.  We spend a lot of time together in the evenings, but a day to have fun, reflect, and bond was really wonderful.

This weekend, my friend Tony from BC was here in LA for the last stop on his bi-coastal farewell tour before leaving for JVI in Nicaragua. It was great to see him! We met up with his friend (now my friend too!) Tamara, an FJV and BC alum who is working and living in LA. We went for a hike at Will Rogers State Park and then drove to Diddy Riese, a famous ice-cream sandwich shop near UCLA. Delicious!

More updates/reflections soon. Thanks for reading!