Hello
friends and family! As you know I have just moved to Rhode Island to start a
year of service as a Lasallian Volunteer at The San Miguel School in
Providence. I am super excited for this next chapter in my life. SO even though
I have not had a blog since I was a freshman in high school (shout out to
xanga!) and I have never kept a journal or diary, I wanted to start a blog now
for two reasons. First, to keep my family and friends back home and elsewhere
“in the loop”… especially those who don’t have a facebook. Second, to remember
all of the amazing things that I do this year! I hope you enjoy what I write,
and if you don’t… well, stop reading it.
Another
thing that I am going to add to each day is something that my friend Danielle
told me about. It’s called a “Happiness Journal.” Every night you write down
the things that made you happy that day even if they are silly. Then you try to
write a quote to go along with it. So some days, even if I don’t have a full on
post/story… I’m going to do that =D
My
first post is going to be a heffer because even though I didn’t officially
start blogging I have been writing things =)
August 9, 2012
I
had a nice 2 hour flight from Chicago and arrived safely in Rhode Island. I
only had 5 minutes in the Pawtucket palace before I had to turn around and
leave so that Angela (another LV who is living in the house with me) and I could
make the train to Foxborough, Massachusetts to see the first New England
Patriots pre-season game! After taking a couple photos with some patriot
soldiers, we found our amazing seats! They were so close to the field since BMR
has great connections hah. The game wasn’t too exciting… only one touchdown the
whole time with the score at the end of the game being Patriots 7 – Saints 6.
BUT it was still a fun time because Angela and I had a chance to talk about
lots of things as well as the opportunity to listen to the scandalous stories
from the drunk people all around us. =p After the game was over, we had to make
the long trek back to the train… don’t worry we only went the wrong way a
couple of times. So we finally get on the train and there is still about 20
minutes until it leaves. We’re sitting there complaining that we wish it would
start going because we’re tired… And then all of the sudden they say stuff over
the speaker. Of course, I wasn’t paying attention… Then they say it again and
it’s “Once again [blah, blah, blah]… Boston.” Angela turns to me with a
panicked look on her face and says, “BOSTON?! WE NEED TO GET OFF THIS TRAIN!”
Just to make sure, she asks the man next to us and he indeed confirms that this
train is headed to Boston, not Providence. So we get up and dash off this train
and book it for the other one because we have approximately 2 minutes until the
train leaves! Luckily, we made it just in time and had a lovely long ride back
home. Needless to say, my first day here was quite an adventure. So excited for
the rest of the year =D
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Walk with Tucker before I left home
-
Ice-cream at Gillette Stadium
-
Almost getting on the wrong train
“This
is the first day of the rest of your life…” – Hold Us Together by Matt Maher
August 10, 2012
I
picked up my lovely car from San Miguel this morning… a wonderful Toyota Camry
with 170,000 miles on it. Besides jerking from the brakes the first 2 minutes
it was smooth sailing the rest of the way home. Although I’ll miss my car
that’s back in LGP, I think I will like this one. When I got home I went
straight back to bed until noon like a slacker. The rest of my day was spent
unpacking and putting stuff away until everyone else got home from work. Then
we ordered pizza and had a glamorous dinner in front of the TV! Definitely not
as good as Chicago pizza, but it still hit the spot.
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Opening the card from my family
-
The picture my mom sent of Tucker
-
Certain text messages from people
“Lately,
I’m beginning to find that when I drive myself, my light is found… Whatever
tomorrow brings, I’ll be there with open arms and open eyes…” – Drive by Incubus
August 11, 2012
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Making eggs for breakfast
-
Grocery shopping and not being able
to find my car afterwards because it wasn’t “my car”
-
Harry Potter on ABC Family
-
Going out to the bars
“We’ve
all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to
act on. That’s who we really are.” – Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
August 12, 2012
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Seeing the ocean for the first time
-
Eating watermelon, grapes, and
cheese & crackers on the beach
-
The smell of salt water from the
ocean and the taste of it on my lips
-
Going to the Starry Night gala
“It’s
always happy hour at the beach.”
August 13, 2012
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Going into Providence for a bit to
walk around
-
Finding Froyo World which will
satisfy until I get back home and can have Red Mango
-
First official community dinner and
prayer
-
Skyping with Jackie Markowski
“If
you support the community, they will support you.” – Jerry Greenfield
August 14, 2012
Today
was my first official day at San Miguel! We started the readiness camp for the
incoming 5th graders… which is basically like their orientation to
the school and a chance for them to get to know their classmates. I had a
wonderful time working with them today as well as the two 8th grade
volunteers. Too bad I won’t be actually teaching the 5th grade for
anything because they are absolutely adorable and they seem like a great class!
But at least I’ll know 2 of my 8th grade students when classes start
in a few weeks! =) The morning was basically routine stuff and a getting to
know you game, but after lunch we got on a bus to head to Lincoln Woods where
the boys could swim in the lake or play games in the open field. Overall, a
great day… I even heard one of the students say, “BEST. SCHOOL TRIP. EVER.”
Wonder if his mind will change later this week or next week when we do more
fun-filled trips. =p I am just super excited to be a part of San Miguel
Providence and am looking forward to the upcoming school year!
When
I got home I hung out for a little bit before I had to start making dinner for
the first time for my community! I made some delicious lasagna (if I do say so
myself) as well as some garlic bread and salad. It was also my first time
leading prayer, which I also think went well. I am so happy to be adjusting to
community life =)
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Meeting all the 5th grade
students
-
The two 8th graders being
such great role models
-
Seeing the students bond with each
other
-
Making dinner for everyone
“Life
is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
August 15, 2012
Well
it was a torrential downpour when I woke up this morning, meaning that my
commute to San Miguel was insane! The streets were so flooded; it was scary.
But needless to say I somehow made it to school alive and was super excited to
shake the hands of the 5th grade Miguel men this morning. After
another routine morning, we filed into the bus to head to the bowling alley! I
had an absolute blast bumper bowling with my two 5th grade
teammates! They were even being super gentlemen and kept picking up the ball
for me before I could get to it myself… it was so sweet! I could tell that all
of the kids had a great time. For some of them, it was their first time
bowling! It was awesome to see them cheering on their classmates and getting so
excited when they did well.
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Seeing the 5th graders
smiling faces as they came back to school this morning and shook my hand
-
Playing Connect Four at break time
with one of the kids who claimed “I could never beat him.” The first game he
“let me win because he didn’t want to beat a girl.” The second game, however, I
won fair and square.
-
Bowling
-
A conversation I had with one of the
students. He looked at my hand and goes, “You’re not married?” When I told him
no, I’m only 23… He replied, “Oh. Well you should get married. That way you
won’t be lonely.” After I laughed and said that I wasn’t too worried and that I
have time he stated, “You should be married in 2 years. I give you 2 years.”
-
Hearing that one of my besties,
Kristen Yarka, was offered a junior high science position! So excited for her
and the fact that we can share ideas!
“You
have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself
any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And
YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” – Dr. Seuss Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
August 16, 2012 (TODAY!)
Well,
I’ve been in Rhode Island for exactly one week… and so far, I’m loving it. I
treated myself to some Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee on my way to work which
always puts me in a good mood. Today we had an all-day fishing trip with the
students! It was all of the 5th graders, the two 8th
grade volunteers who have been with us all week, and several other 8th
graders coming to help out. The park and lake we were at was absolutely
gorgeous. It was so adorable to see all of them cast out and to watch how
excited they got when they actually caught a fish! As for me, I did a great job
supervising, hah. All of the kids had a blast and it was so wonderful to see
how proud they were of the number of fish they caught. (Don’t worry – they put
all of them back in the water. We didn’t lug back 200 fish.) The only bad thing
that happened is that one of the 5th graders got a hook stuck in his
leg and it was scary and he had to go to the ER to get it taken out. =/ but he
was super brave. Other than that, a pretty good day!
After
community dinner and prayer, Brother Dan, Gloria, Angela, and I went to go get “Awful
Awfuls.” (Apparently it’s an east coast thing.) They are kind of like milkshakes
but they aren’t thick. The slogan is “Awful Big, Awful Good.” Let me tell you,
my strawberry awful awful was DEFINITELY good, but I could have taken a bigger
one! It was delicious and a great way to end the evening. =)
Things
that made me happy today:
-
Meeting more of my upcoming 8th
grade students
-
Watching the boys fish and how
excited they got when they caught something
-
Seeing how the 8th
graders helped the 5th graders fish and also how they are trying to
“train them” to be Miguel Men =)
-
Awful Awfuls and conversations
outside the restaurant
“Hakuna
Matata. It means no worries…” – The Lion
King
Hopefully
you enjoyed my long winded post! Until next time… <3 Carly
