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 112th 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.
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| Paulie D, Sammi, The Situation, J-WOWW, and Snookie |
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| 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!
Carolyn - do you have water ice in California or is that a Jersey thing? How about Gelati's?
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