brief update

Last weekend we went to Ft. Pierce (about three hours away) with the Miami volunteers. We visited the HM nuns there. It was a great, relaxing weekend. We spent time at the beach, had a cookout , played in the Atlantic ocean, jumped in a freezing cold outdoor pool, at night...and went kayaking. In December, yes. :) It was wonderful. I enjoyed it. I realized how thankful I am for these opportunities I have down here. God has been blessing me a lot, with a lot of great opportunities. I am thankful, that in giving my time and energy to others, I in turn, am being given so much.

I've been watching Christmas movies a lot lately..coloring Christmas pictures..making cookies...drinking hot chocolate. It's the most wonderful time of the year, afterall. 

Can't wait to be home. 

happy birthday

Happy 1st Birthday

 to sweet baby Nathaniel.

He's my favorite.

 He's walking in this picture... 

I saw him take his first steps.

He moves on to a different classroom now.

So sad..

 I'd say I've grown attached.

       So it goes.....

                      

Just another Friday

Breakfast and Books.

I do this once a month with Pace.

Last Friday of every month.

The girls read a book every month.

I read it, too.
We (the mentors) are paired up with one girl (the mentees)

and we go to Books A Million,

in Naples,

and talk about it.

Then we talk about, well, whatever we want.

What's better than coffee, discussion of books,

and good conversation?

Nothing. 

:)

Decided to do all activities outside today for After-School.

It's Friday, the kids have no homework,

so we read and played outside all day.

And they picked flowers, too.

Then, at the end of the day, we had to say goodbye to one of my favorite kids.

He's leaving the school, and therefore, leaving our program.

So sad to see him go.

We gave him a card, and I gave him some bubbles.

Another kid gave him a toy that he had just "won" that day in school.

It was the sweetest.

(Disclaimer: impossible to get all these children in a picture, at one time, without moving)

Thankful we drive past this house every day on our way home.

They are SO decked out for the holidays.

Puts me in a festive spirit.

Love it. 

:)

I am going to be so sick when I come home to cold weather 

in Cleveland for Christmas.

But it's okay,

I am so excited to see my family

and friends

and sisters.

:)

Thankful for this weather.

Washed cars and read a book outside today..

in November.

This is nuts.

This is my life.

Because I love them :)

A little Thanksgiving surprise for my family,

while they were over my uncle's for Thanksgiving dinner.

:)

thankful

Thankful.

For the sun in the sky, that brings warmth to my skin

For grace to endure every circumstance I'm in.

For love, and laughter, and those I call friend

For each new beginning that comes from an end.

For a family who loves me despite all my flaws,

For the ability to read, to write and to draw

For this town I'm in, Immokalee,

For the life that I'm given, and a spirit that's free.

For each struggle, each fear and each injury caused,

For the ability to take time to reflect and to pause,

On the life that I'm given, and it's purpose for me,

To be the best person that I can be.

For mercy, forgiveness, and the best kind of love,

That is constant, unconditional, and sent from above.

For a faith that moves mountains, and refreshes my heart,

For each new day, bringing a fresh, clean start.

I am thankful.

Pace Thanksgiving Feast :)

11-20-12

School of the Americas Vigil/Protest 2012

"Just down the road here is the School of the Americas. It's a combat school. Most of the courses revolve around what they call "counter-insurgency warfare." Who are the "insurgents?" We have to ask that question. They are the poor. They are the people in Latin America who call for reform. They are the landless peasants who are hungry. They are health care workers, human rights advocates, labor organizers. They become the insurgents. They are seen as "the enemy." They are those who become the targets of those who learn their lessons at the School of the Americas."

-Fr. Roy Bourgeois

This past weekend, November 16-18, I traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia for the School of Americas Vigil/Protest, put on by the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW). 

It was the 23rd anniversary of the massacre in El Salvador in which 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter, were murdered on November 16, 1989. The majority of their murderers were trained at the School of the Americas, here in the United States.

I remember learning about this in 2007, when I went to El Salvador. I visited the spot where these Jesuits were killed. I stood on the ground, the same ground, just feet away from where their lives were taken. That is where I first learned of the evil of the SOA.

The School of America trains military from all over Latin America.

Too many times, graduates of the SOA go back to their countries, and carry out horrific crimes, and torture and murder many innocent people, their own people.

So many innocent human lives have been lost because of the tactics and methods taught at 

the School of the Americas.

Some of the countries affected by the SOA are Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, to name a few.

It sickens me that these assassins are being trained...on our soil. 

The most moving part of the protest was the funeral/vigil, in which each name was called out of those victimized by SOA graduates...as each name was called out, everyone called out "Presente" and lifted up a white cross with the name of an innocent life lost on it, their age, and their country.

We made our way to the gates of Fort Benning, where we placed the crosses in the gates. (Photos can be seen in the video above).

It was a great time for reflection for me, as I sat there for a good while as people cleared out...looking at the crosses, the names, the ages...

Thinking of the terror, the trauma, the fear, the torture.. that these people and their families faced..

Imagining if it were me..and I lost my family members...

It makes me sick, the evil that exists in this world.

And it makes me sick that such a place exists.

It makes me more passionate to stand up to injustice.

And to be a voice for the voiceless.

And protect the sanctity of each and every human life.

God Bless America.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is quick approaching, and I have much to be thankful for. At the top of my list is the experience I am having down here, with Pace, the Guadalupe Center, After-School Program, my community, and the work I've been able to be apart of to ally with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

During this time, we prepare to come together with family to enjoy a meal, in which we will stuff ourselves until we can eat no more, watch football, and fall asleep...

Let us not forget those who do the work (growing, planting, picking, harvesting), so that our stomach's may be filled. Let us not forget our farm workers.

Please take the time  to click this link, view this video, and sign the petition for Publix (a grocery chain in SW Florida) to sit down with the farmworkers of Immokalee, and sign on to Fair Food.

Publix has been resisting this for years, it's about time they come to the table.

http://www.change.org/petitions/publix-come-to-the-table-and-join-the-fair-food-program

happy birthday

Happy Birthday, Dad :)

Thank you for being so hardworking,

and such a  service-oriented man.                                                     

 Thank you for all the struggles and hardships 

you endure to provide for our family.                        

 I learned a lot about helping and saying "yes" to others, 

putting them first, from you.                        

 I love you.                                                                                                                           

                                                   
"So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us." ~Gaston Bachelard

the kind of days that make my soul happy

For those of you who know me, I am not a planner. 
I do not plan things.
Ever.
When I do plan, it is a very rare occasion, and usually a very uncomfortable experience for me.
I don't know, it's just not in me. I am more of a "go with the flow"type person. Take things as they come, wait until the very last minute to decide on things, etc. 

So.
Yesterday was one of those days where things just kind of started happening, ideas of what to do were formulated and then quickly implemented.

And it was awesome.


My roommates Vitina and Julie decided to go to Lake Trafford to paint, which was just such a beautiful idea, and if I could paint, I would have joined in that endevour. However, it was a beautiful day, and I could not pass up a journaling/reflecting/reading opportunity at the lake.

Vitina and Julie went ahead, and I waited on our friend Daniela. We got books and journals, and headed out a bit after. We parked ourselves on the dock, facing the lake, in the shade. I was ready to write, and Daniela was reading "If I Ran A Circus" by Dr. Seuss. (It was lying around our house, and for whatever reason, she decided to bring it along). I told her how I appreciated her reading Dr. Seuss, so she began to read it aloud, which was a beautiful reliving-my-childhood moment. I also thought it would spark my creativity as I prepared to write...

Instead, we attracted two young girls, who had come to the lake with their dad. They came up to us, and started listening to the book...Of course any people who were older in age, walked past us and looked at us like we were nuts, but the girls wanted in! So, we finished reading and they asked if we could read it again. I took upon this endeavour, and naturally my teacher instinct came out, and I had the girl read it, helping her sound out words, as she went. It was then that the girl said to me: "You're from Bookworm!" She caught me. She knew I was a teacher. She was in first grade, like I teach, but a different class. I pondered how she knew me, since I was hidden behind neon-green sunglasses.

But, she was right. :) How funny that her impression of teachers is now that they go read Dr. Seuss books at the lake on weekends. 

Daniela then brought up the idea of icecream, which naturally I was all about. So we told the girls we had to leave, but I let the girl borrow the book, having her promise she would bring it back on Monday (today-which she did). :) 

So , Daniela and I left, and decided that instead of neighborhood McDonalds icecream, we were going to venture out to Fort Myers, and while we were at it, we might as well go to the beach!  So, off we went. Stopped home, changed, got the wallets, keys, and headed out. It was a beautiful day, car windows rolled down, music blasting. A relaxing and fun day that we both needed, dearly.

We went to a place in Fort Myers called Love Boat icecream, or something like that. Best icecream I've ever had.

We made it to the beach to see the sunset, which was fantastic because I've been wanting to see the sunset at the ocean since I've been down here. It's almost been 3 months, and I finally got my wish.

After that, we came home, and Clarissa and I went to meet up with some friends to play volleyball at the park. Which I am SO excited this is becoming more of a regular thing as well, because I've totally wanted to play since I've been down here. However, I strained a muscle in my back, and so that kinda stinks. I've been heating it, icing it, resting it, and popping pills, so I should be back to normal soon.

Anyways, it was a fantastic day. So unplanned. So random. So good for the soul. So good. 

I believe planning has it's place, and some people find it really necessary, and heck-I'm sure I could benefit from time to time. But having each and  every minute of every hour of every day planned out is so unattractive to me. These random days of just up and doing things, going places simply because we want to...these are the days that make me smile the most. :)

Sunset at Fort Myers Beach

Love Boat Ice Cream

*Stay Tuned* There will be a blog coming soon about my thoughts on this picture, the adorable elderly couple over to the side, and love...

If you are an avid blog-reader...

Might I suggest you check out my future sister-in-law's blog?

She is such a beautiful person, inside and out, and has a true heart and passion for everything good, true, beautiful and of God.

She just started her blog, and you can already see the gift for writing that she has.

http://inventionofawriter.blogspot.com/

:)

"you're learning to socialize..by yourself"

I had the most wonderful weekend with my lovely friend and sister, Laura. That gem drove seven hours from Tallahassee to come see me. It was such a good weekend. She spoiled me rotten. I'm not good at accepting people's kindness and allowing myself to be treated...but she made me. :) We went to Sanibel Island, and enjoyed the beach. We got some delicious BBQ food at Island Cow, a great restaurant adorned with cows. We also had some delicious mango sangria there :) We went to Goodwill, a very expensive Goodwill, might I add. Never been to such an uppity thrift store. I got a lovely little blue and white polka dot dress out of it, though. We went to see Pitch Perfect, at this wacky little movie theater in Fort Myers Beach. It was an independent movie theater, but kinda looked like a tiny college lecture hall mixed with a cheap restaurant. Someone literally came up to ask us what we wanted to order. I loved the movie, it was fantastic. We got a Red Box movie, and some pizza and crazy bread to end our Saturday night. It was so nice being with her, catching up, and listening to her wisdom about all my life situations. I needed this weekend. It meant so much to be with her, and have her come all that way to be with me. It means so much to know who my real friends are. And I've been learning a TON of that while being down here. God has blessed me so much. My soul and my heart were so joyful this weekend. I feel refreshed. :)

it's the small things..

Reflecting on my past week, I just keep thinking of my dear 1st graders. I love kids. I do. I hope to have some one day. Lots and lots. But dealing with 21 of them on a daily basis is hard for sure, and a real test of patience. I just keep reminding myself to love these kids. Love them as much as I can. Be patient, listen to them, show them attention and care for them--it's what they need, and some of them don't get much attention at home-and are handed mom or dad's cell phone to play with and keep them occupied. (I know this happens all over, it happens in Ohio as well, but my work and my focus is right here, on  these kids). 

I had a particularly rough day last week. I had a lot going on internally and the kids not listening was just to much for me that day. When they are not lining up, or talking in line, I simply wait. I wait for them to do the right thing before we walk, or continue on to our next activity. I was really upset, at my whit's end, and the kids could pick up on this. One of them turned to the rest of the line to yell "she's SAD!" One girl came up to me and quietly said "I'm sad for you because you're sad". The next thing I know, 5 girls are hugging me, saying "I love you". 

At the end of the day, I usually sit the kids down on the carpet and we talk for about 10 minutes about the day, how they think I felt about their behavior, how they felt, what they think they did right/wrong, etc. I was standing up there, looking drained (because I was), and a little boy came up and gave me a piece of his Halloween candy, and said "this is for you". It was the sweetest. (No pun intended. Just kidding. Pun very much intended). 

I come to realize that even in my hardest days, there is always some good to be found. Yes, sometimes you have to look very VERY hard for it...but it's there. It's the small things that move my heart the most and bring it the most joy. A smile, an "I love you", kids fighting over who gets to hold your hand, little birthday cakes made out of sand, colored pictures, painted rocks, and never running out of hugs...these are all little blessings I am given every single day. I am thankful.

:)

I am so ashamed with myself...I have not blogged in 27 days...I have SO much to talk about..SO much...I've been so tired lately by the time I get home from afterschool and morning placements (around 6pm)...then I eat, hang out with my community, and try to get outside for a walk or something...I guess blogging took the back burner, and I'm sad about it. I guess the best way to do this is to break my thoughts up into sections. So here goes, in the most condensed version possible...If you want more details on anything I'm doing, talk to me :)

Guadalupe Early Childcare Center-
I love the babies. I'm with them Tuesday and Thursday mornings, for a few hours. Feeding them, holding them, loving them, reading to them, and playing with them is, to some, a stupid way to spend my time, but to me it's something I feel very passionate about. I enjoy my time with them, yes even when there's endless crying and dirty diapers. They bring me so much joy, which is something my spirit has needed since coming down here.

Pace-
Love being there with the girls. Tutoring MWF from 8am-ish-to 1:30pm. It's great getting to know the girls more, help them get their work done, and just be with them for a significant portion of their day. Aside from tutoring, I also take part in other things with them such as the Heels and Reels competition. This was on a Saturday morning in Naples, and they did a fishing competetion against another school. We got to spend the morning/afternoon on a boat, and go fishing, which was such a fun experience. A couple volunteered their boat and their time with us that morning (as many others volunteered their boats as well for the rest of the girls). They were so nice and good to us, and another woman who was boating with us told me I had a beautiful smile and a beautiful heart. Which made my day, naturally. Another cool thing I get to do with them is once a month, take part in this Breakfast and Books program. The girls read a book (that I read as well), and then we go to a bookstore, have some coffee and pastries, discuss the book and I am able to kind of fill the role as "mentor" for a girl who I am paired up with. The book(s) we read for the first session which was this past Friday was "Stargirl" and "Love Star Girl". It was interesting. But I love LOVE love what I do here.

After-School Program-
I LOVE teaching. I love my first graders. Yes it can get crazy, and stressful at times, but these kids bring me so much joy. Their hugs, "I love you"s, drawings/coloring pictures, always make my day. Plus a few of my kids have been helping me learn Spanish during their recess. ;) Such sweet children. They are the best! It's interesting because when I came down here originally (for a week in 2006), that's when I decided I wanted to teach. I did that for 2.5 years in college, then switched majors...Now that I am back here and filling the role as teacher, I am realizing how much I love it, and I might be called back to teaching. We shall see. I'm trying to be attentive to where God's calling me and what He wants for me.

CIW-
So...as stated before, I don't work at the Coalition, but I support it by going to the protests/actions/whatever they may have on the weekends. And just wanted to throw in here that, after  6 years, they finally got Chipotle to sign on to the Fair Food Agreement. Which is AMAZING. And I am SO proud to say that I got to be part of an action involved in the Chipotle campaign. :) Oh, and I got to take part in another action a few weekends ago against Publix. Hollerrr.

My Community-
Things are going well! We carved pumpkins together for our last community night reflection on Thursday! It was so much fun, such a good time. This past weekend, we had our HM Director, Sr. Katie come visit , along with Alejandro and Tania (the HM volunteers in Miami). It was a very chill, relaxing weekend, including dinner at the Seminole Casino, Japanese food on Saturday (yes, I ate with chopsticks the whole time), some wine, reflection, good conversation, a trip to the ocean, and today we played volleyball, I took a bike ride, I read outside in the backyard on the hammock, we got Mexican food...it was lovely. Good day. :)

I am sure I am leaving out SO much since it's been SUCH a long time...but I promise to be better at updating this more frequently. It really is something I enjoy. I've been getting letters, cards, and notes in the mail (grandpa, little brothers, family friends etc.) And I'm feeling so loved and thought of. Thank you for that. :)

Publix Protest

Chipotle Action

Heels and Reels with Pace

I caught the first fish.

First time at Lake Trafford (5 min drive from my house)

The little pond literally about a 3 minute bike ride from my house.

*Some of my kids*

Carved my very own pumpkin :)

All of em.

The roommates *please excuse the incorrect date from the camera on the photos*

My favorite part of the pumpkin-carving process. :)

"Miss, you should work here..you can be our teacher."

One of the girls I've been tutoring at Pace said this to me, and let me tell you...it totally made my day.

I gotta backtrack a second and say, that when I went to Pace and they asked what subjects I wanted to help tutor in, I said English and Reading were my stronger points, and Science and Math...not so much.

The majority of my tutoring so far has been in Math...kidding, right? Nope. Too serious.

The thing is, though I gave them my preference, I told them I would help with whatever was needed. They don't currently have a math teacher there. In other words, the girls have to teach themselves, and have unforunately been scoring pretty low on their online submissions they have to do.

I've been trying my best to help them, though I feel bad when some of their material stumps even me, at age 22. Let alone, they being anywhere from 4-10 years younger than me, having to understand it on their own...

This girl's words meant more to me than a compliment. It was affirmation that, even in my short amount of time here, I've already began to make an impact on people, and I am truly helping them.

I love it. I love encouraging them. I love telling them if I can do it, they can too. I tell them that we are co-learners, learning the material together. Yes, I have an answer key. But, no I will not just give them the answers. We will solve it together, and when they solve a problem, and their eyes light up knowing that THEY did it...that in and of itself is SO rewarding. High-fives abounding.


And as far as After-School with the little kiddos'...my GOSH! This one child, Angel, has been making me so SO incredibly proud. He is a handful, this child. He has ADHD, and as a result doesn't really focus or listen all to well. He doesn't read or write very well...at all. And I just recently discovered I need to be pulling him aside and working individually with him on his reading and writing. He gets to distracted otherwise.

When we started reading last week, he looked at the simplest Kindergarten book and said it was too hard...I walked through it with him, word by word, sounding out letters to words....and he would read it, and I'd repeat it back. This week...I was helping some other kids at a station, and he came up to me with a book in hand, reading it outloud and pointing to the words as he went along........SERIOUSLY?! HOW STINKIN' COOL!

And to add to it, when I had him journal last week, he wrote no words. Zero. None. Zip.  Then within two days of working with him, he had two sentences written. This child, I tell you! He is going to make my heart explode with joy, I kid you not.

I want you all to meet my students. I do. I so do. I think I will start doing about me profiles of them on here, so you can meet them one by one. Yea. Good idea, Amanda. I will get on that, tomorrow.

I just wanted to explain how awesome things are going so far. Tomorrow I am at the Child Care Center with the babies. So so very excited. Oh, and a sidenote on that...When I went last week, I talked with one of the other ladies who work in the baby room that I volunteer in. She asked if I was planning on having babies anytime soon...I said someday,not soon though..she then informed me not to wait to long, that 25 would be a good age probably...

Haha,  guess I got three years!

:)

PS-I REALLY hope you could detect my excitement in writing this...I am honestly SO EXCITED about it!!! Gahhh!

Good night! God loves you. You are doing a great job at living life and being you :) XO

you can learn so much from children

Made it through my first week of teaching after-school for the Guadalupe Center! *Phew*!  Like I believe I mentioned before, I have a first grade class, with 19 students, all of whom have been very consistent in showing up. I am fortunate to have two high school tutors as well, who are a great help to me throughout the program. For those of you who know me, you would know that I studied Early Childhood Education for  2.5 years in college, so this whole experience is right up my alley.

I'm not too sure what made me switch my major, and I have been feeling conflicted about it this week as I made preparations, lesson plans, behavior charts, etc. I kept thinking to myself: I LOVE this stuff! Soo...that is a whole other issue that can be thought about more in depth at a later time.

Anyways. The focus of this program is not only homework help (because some of the student's parents cannot speak or read English, they cannot help their children with homework), but also to do activities to be supplemental to what was learned during the school day. The focus is reading comprehension. It's been really hard this week, because a lot of the children are behind. The books they have (that they probably checked out from the school library) are above their levels...the books I have at home that I can bring in are also above their level, I am finding)...I find them just looking at pictures, and if there is to many words on a page, it stresses them out. A lot of them are more on a kindergarten reading level than first grade. The books in the classroom I teach in are off limits, because they were purchased by the teacher and also she told me when I spoke with her that most of the books, again, are above their level.

But I've been working on reading to them out loud for now, and going over Who, What, Where, and having them make predictions...they seem to enjoy that, so I figure it's a good place to start. I want to get more books for them though , that they can actually read.

My kids are all pretty well-behaved with the exception of one child. He is sweet and means well, but has a big problem listening. It's frustrating because if students are talking or messing around, I wait for them to change their behavior and make a better choice before proceeding. This specific child makes me wait...a lot...and therefore makes the class wait as well. Today when we were playing outside, he wasn't listening, again. I started to feel very frustrated, but then he came up to me with a little flower and gave it to me and walked away. I'm a sucker for these kind of things, it was so sweet. It reminded me to be calm and more patient and put things into perspective: he's an energetic child, he's been in school all day, and now he has to be here for a few more hours. Later in the day, he hugged me, when he really should have been sitting down. I hugged him back then asked for him to sit down, and he said "keep hugging me! I'm so tired!"

I also have to change my perspective and realize I have NO idea what his life is like. What are things like in the home? Who does he live with? Where does he live? How is he treated? These things I do not know, and will probably never know. I have to remember this for all of my kids. And in fact, I should remember this about everyone I meet. I don't know people's stories, where they are coming from, what happened in their day...these children remind me of this every day.

I start at Pace and Gaudalupe Center next week. I am so excited. My whole life down here will basically be devoted to the children, the youth, the young people. I'm all about it. I'm all about trying to make a difference in their lives now, and hoping it will carry on with them throughout their whole lives. I had so many amazing people mentor and be there for me, encourage and support me throughout my life. I love the fact that I am now in a position where I can be that for someone else.

Hoping whoever is reading this is having a most beautiful day. Keep a smile on your face, and remember: don't judge people to quickly. You only see the tip of the iceberg.

Morning placements...

are FINALIZED!

After going around town, having meetings with people, and looking into different organizations, I have finally finalized what I will be doing with my time down here. Mind you, it can be subject to change, and if I feel called somewhere else, I can always adjust my placements. We have the flexibility to do that.

We went to a ton of locations, and there is SO much going on down here that I want to be part of. Such great agencies and tons of amazing programs. BUT, what I decided on is the Guadalupe Center Early Childhood Program, and PACE-which is an alternative school for girls who are at-risk of dropping out. They have to have some kind of mental issue, emotional trauma, some form of abuse, etc. to be enrolled. I will be mentoring and tutoring them, sitting in on counseling sessions, and I have taken it upon myself to start up a club volleyball team for the girls. My roommate Clarissa is also on board with this, and will be helping me start it up. And, obviously, we have the after school program, which started today. The main focus of the program is reading comprehension. Good thing-I love books. :) I have first graders and I love it. I am so excited about everything going on down here.

I also plan on still doing Coalition events/protests on the weekends or whenever they are. I support it 100% and love the work they are doing. But I don't want to take on to much and stress myself out. I want to pick a few things, and do them AMAZINGly, instead of doing tons of things, and only doing okay at them.

Anyways, I feel good. I'm happy. I'm excited. I'm ready to start my full schedule next week.

Yeee-haw. :)

My first protest :)

So there is this thing in Immokalee called the CIW (Coalition of Immokalee Workers).  They do a ton of amazing work, and have been for years, fighting for workers rights, better wages, and better treatment for the farmworkers. Ultimately, for justice. There is an ally office at the Coalition, where my roommates and a lot of our friends here in Immokalee work. There is Interfaith Action, Just Harvest, and Student-Farmworker Alliance (SFA).

SFA had this great event this past weekend called the Encuentro. Groups of students and people came from all over the country, who have chapters of SFA at their schools, to meet together, hear more about the Coalition, network, and strategize.

We partook in a protest of Publix (chain of grocery stores popular in SW Florida), and Chipotle. It was amazing being amongst so many people passionate about social justice, and picketing right alongside with the farmworkers themselves. The purpose is for them to sign on to the Fair Food Campaign-in short, agreeing to pay 1 penny for per lb. of tomatoes they buy, all of which would go directly to the farmworkers,and support education between farmworkers of their own rights (right to fair wage, right to report abuse if any goes on in the fields,etc.) and to agree to stop buying from growers if abuse is going on in the fields. Basically. I think I got it right. But it is such amazing work being done, and the CIW has already gotten Burger King, Subway, Trader Joes, and Taco Bell to sign on over the past few years.

The manager of Publix talked with some of the leaders, and took the letter they had. The manager at Chipotle on the other hand....refused to speak with the people who peacefully walked in and wanted to talk, he yelled at them to get out and had a security guard at the door. After we drove an hour, he refused to speak with them. Unbelievable. Chipotle prides themselves on being food with integrity, but its' leaders have anything but integrity. They pride themselves on taking great care of their chickens and pigs...but have no concern for the farmworkers, for people. Profit takes precedence over people. It stinks because I do like Chipotle food, but after hearing about how they are treating the workers, it makes me sick. Literally, my stomach hurts.

I am so glad to be able to stand alongside with these passionate people, in the pursuit of justice.


More info on the CIW: http://www.ciw-online.org/

More info on SFA: http://www.sfalliance.org/ 


Educate yourselves.

New year, New me (and it's not even New Years!)

Woke up this morning a bit early to call Vera at the Guadalupe Center to see what time she wanted us to come in. Preparing for the After-School Program (which starts the 18th-so excited!) requires a ton of tasks be completed-assembling binders, filing papers, making copies, making name tags, sorting the radios, etc. etc. So Clarissa and I have been going in a few days now, to help with the office work. I woke up to a text from her, instead, telling me we weren't needed until the afternoon. Which was great, because I so was not ready to leave my bed (lazy, I know).

So I slept a bit more, then Clarissa woke me up to do a workout video with her. Now the lazy part of me wanted to stay in my bed, but the smarter, more motivated part of me said "Sure!" and shot out of bed to go workout. Now, we did this video a few days ago, and my thighs are STILL killing me from it (can you say out of shape?) but I'm really excited to try and make some changes this year. I want to workout more, eat healthier (which I so totally have been doing-tons of veggies and organic stuff!), and just become overall healthier-emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think coming to Immokalee is a great opportunity for that.

I'm somewhere new. Away from my old surroundings, old lifestyle. It's a chance to, honestly, start my life over...or at least turn the page into a new chapter. I, thankfully, live with a great group of girls who are on the same page in terms of being healthy, eating right, and being pysically active. So I'm thankful for that. Feeling better about myself will ultimately help me, but not only me, but the people I come across and interact with on a day to day basis.

The great thing about new beginnings is they can start whenever the heck we feel motivated to create them. It doesn't just need to be January 1st. Why not start right now? September 6th, 2012?! What's stopping you, other than yourself?

Some other things I wanted to share though, are things I've really been learning while being down here, away from everything and everyone I know....the importance of friendships, relationships with family, keeping in touch with people when you aren't seeing them...at the core, creating and maintaining good, strong, healthy relationships with people. If you don't, they will crumble. You know that friend you've been meaning to call lately, but have just been to busy? Call them. Don't wait. You may not even know the joy you can bring to a person simply by taking a minute to call (or even text) them, to let  them know you are thinking about them. I took a walk yesterday around my neighborhood. And I called my grandma. And it was awesome. I spoke with her a few weeks ago when I moved down here, and honestly nothing ground breaking has really happened in between then, but I wanted to call her and we chatted for about 40 minutes. The joy it brought her, and the comfort it brought me to connect with family, was amazing.

Keeping in contact with Mom has been important, of course, as well as my sorority sisters (who let me just say have been AMAZING with keeping up with me, checking in on me, seeing how I've been and offering their support...I have felt so much love and empowerment from these girls, and I cannot express enough in words how thankful I am for them-not a day has gone by that I haven't heard from at least one sister, but most days more!). But honestly, keeping up with people has been priority for me. I've been trying so hard not to take relationships and people for granted-you never know when they can be gone.

Okay, I'm super tired. I started falling asleep hours ago. I have really been noticing and learning alot about Immokalee from the people here, and what I am surrounded with. It opens my eyes. Makes me appreciate things, my life, and privilege more. It's moving. It really is. And I'm going to blog about it tomorrow.

So stay tuned...

(And honestly, it means SO much to me that you are still reading this blog...I know a lot of it is rambling, but I hope it's interesting rambling at least...Thanks for hangin' in there, I promise you the "meat" of it all will come soon. :)

After a brief hiatus...

Oh, shoot. It's been 9 days since I last blogged. Unacceptable. Haha, I apologize to those of you who check this on the regular and have not found any updates. I've been busy, sorta.

So LAST weekend, Clarissa's mom and cousin came down to bring the remainder of our stuff from Ohio. We spent the whole weekend with them, Friday in Fort Myers and Saturday-Sunday in Miami with Alejandro and Tania. Friday night we went to a club in Fort Myers called Montage (I think? Maybe?). They had Latin American music playing and people were dancing to it (not me, of course, haha) but it was fun to watch. We had a good time. Then we stayed in a hotel in Fort Myers. We went back to Immokalee briefly on Saturday to drop off our things (Clarissa and I met her family in Fort Myers the day before, so we hadn't been able to unload our bags yet). We also made a brief stop in Bonita Springs. We headed out to Miami, arriving there Saturday night...we stayed in a hotel that night, and brought Alejandro and Tania there to spend the night with us. We were going to go out, but this was during THE HURRICANE (dun dun dun). Our hotel was right on the ocean, and the TV kept scaring Clarissa and I out of our minds talking about the hurricane, winds, flooding, and TORNADOS (oh, joy, my FAVORITE!) We naturally were not used to this, being from Ohio. We don't get hurricanes there. We were in the RED ZONE, which meant TAKE ACTION...and naturally, we just kind of spent the night freaking out.

Needless to say, we survived. :)

Sunday we went to lunch at Bubba Gump. I had a burger. It was delicous. It was raining cats and dogs. Clarissa's mom and her cousin bought panchos. It was cute. We drove through some pretty heavy rain (aka HURRICANE WEATHER)...and dropped off Alejandro and Tania. Then we went back to Immokalee. Clarissa's family stayed and then left on Monday. They had been worried their flight might be cancelled due to the weather, but they made it.

This past week we continued on doing registrations for the after school program. We also put in a few long days volunteering at Guadalupe Center (where I most likely will be volunteering a few of my mornings for the whole year). I will hopefully be working with the kids there, but for now they needed a lot of office work help. I made copies, folded papers, put binders together, assembled boxes, and tons of other tasks. It's very rewarding, even though at times tedious, helping others out, taking some stress off them. A few days, we also did registration multiple times, morning and afternoon, so it's been a tiring week (only going to get better, of course, when our full-time placements begin.

This week we will probably be meeting with the various organizations around town we want to work with. A lot of you are probably thinking : "You've been here awhile now, Amanda. Why the heck hasn't your volunteering started yet?" Well, we are very fortunate to get to sort of, ease our way into things. We came down a few weeks earlier than needed, and have therefore been given time to get settled in, used to the environment, meet people, and get a feel for where we want to give our time. It's also given us weekends that aren't packed yet, to do some travelling (Fort Myers, Miami, etc.)  It won't be so easy to do  these things once we start our volunteering...So I'm thankful for how things are working out right now.

This weekend we went to Miami (again)! Clarissa and Alejandro were going to the J-Lo/Enrique Iglesias concert, so I came down to hang out with Tania. Saturday was also Tania's birthday, so we all got to celebrate with her. The weekend consisted of swimming and laying out, Cuban restaurant, and going out for Tania's birthday. Oh, and chocolate cake...duh! It was a pretty fun weekend, and we just got back...exhausted! We had to stop in Naples before coming home...Clarissa had to get new tires. So our first experience in Naples was in the Walmart Super Center. We had to wait for about 1 hr 45 min. So, we got some McDonalds. Big Mac's and chocolate milkshakes.....what? we were hungry....  we eat pretty healthy here in Immokalee, so when we go out to Miami, it's our time to splurge. Haha. And I bought a puzzle...because.... I like puzzles. And taking time for Amanda. Me. That's important. I've also been doing a lot of reading for fun lately. Thanks to our lovely Immokalee library-although I don't have  a card for that yet..Clarissa does. I like reading. I haven't been able to do any of that in so, so long.

Ah, tomorrow is Labor Day so we don't have anything to do really. Though there was talk of having a cookout on the beach. That would be lovely. Considering we haven't been to the beach yet since arriving here...shame.

And, on an annoying note, my fingerprints got rejected so I have to go re-do them. Quickly. It's super stressful and annoying, and if you are a person who prays, say one for me. Please. Right now. Thank you.

Sigh. That might be it for now...if I forgot anything, I'll be sure to add more tomorrow or sometime this week.

Oh, I got an awesome tan in Miami this weekend. In September. :) Love bein' in Florida..

:)

Yo hablo un POQUITO de espanol.

Yesterday and today, Clarissa and I have been helping out with the registration and enrollment for the Guadalupe After-School Program, where we will be teachers come September 18th. Being that Immokalee is about 80% Hispanic, the majority of people we come across speak Spanish.

Now...I took two years of high school Spanish. But this was near 6 years ago...my Spanish speaking skills are pretty limited. Our duty would be sitting down one-on-one with whoever was registering the children, and asking them necessary information to fill out the forms, and explaining policies.

Mind you, I was scared out of my mind Wednesday night. I'm a worrier, people who know me pretty well know this about me. I worry. I overthink. I overanalyze. I think of the worst possible case scenarios, and begin feeling these potential feelings I might feel if things go how I imagine them, so on and so forth..you get the picture.

I wasn't so much worried that I would sound like a complete fool (though that, too, was a concern),but I wanted so badly to be able to understand what people were saying to me, and I wanted them to understand what I was saying to them. It was all about the communication. I wanted it to be as stress-free as possible.

My housemates were super helpful in giving me the necessary Spanish phrases I would need, translating English into Spanish, and practicing with me. But, still I was nervous. Some advice that Vitina gave me that really seemed to ease my mind and help was: They are thinking the same thing as you, they probably feel bad that they are coming to you and don't know English. You would give them some comfort by smiling, being friendly, and showing them that you are making an effort to speak their language.

It's so true. It helped.

I jumped into it the next day (Thurs.) and it wasn't so bad! I, thankfully, had a few English speakers, as well as some Spanish speakers. But I did it! Some Spanish came back to me, and I was able to gather the information I needed from them. I went back today, and was more comfortable this time. There were some struggles in understanding some pronunciations and spelling, but I generally did pretty well in working with the other person in trying to understand one another, even if it involved them writing things down for me.

Communication is a beautiful thing. Having a degree in Communication (wow! sounds crazy saying that!), I have come to appreciate communication and interaction between people more and more lately. At the end of the day, we are all people. Even if my Spanish is not brag-worthy, I'm proud of myself in that I am able to speak it well enough to put others at ease.

It's a small world, after all.

Each and every day that I am here, I am more and more convinced that the world is seriously SO small! It's TINY! Seriously, though, everyone knows everyone. I was talking with my housemates the past few days, getting to know one another..and turns out one of my roomate's friends' is doing another volunteer program with one of my best friends.....in Chicago!  Another housemate of mine, knows a whole bunch of people I know from the University of Dayton. A fellow HM volunteer who is serving in Cleveland this year, told me she ran into someone who knew me..turns out it was the brother of my best friend. SO many people down here are from or affiliated with Ohio-Norwalk, Dayton, Steubenville...it's crazy all the connections people have and how intertwined everyone's stories and circles seem to be. And how so many people end up down here...it's crazy. The world is so small. I've been drawing so many connections lately. I love it.

iCommit

We had our first Community Night last night. It wasn't exactly complete, since Julie is not here with us, yet. But we had one, none the less. Community is once a week, when all four of us will come together and have dinner, then do some reflection or some kind of activity together. It could be prayerful, it could be fun, it could be relaxing...Last night Clarissa cooked some delicous Mexican-style pasta, I cleaned up afterwards, and Vitina prepared reflection. After some tea and discussion on where we are at with our faith, she encouraged us to write or journal a personal commitment for what we wanted to commit to this year. It was to be our own words, in whatever form we felt led..a prayer, a poem, brainstorming words or ideas, etc. I want to share with you what I came up with.

"iCommit"

iCommit...to be open to God's plan for me and go where I am sent.

iCommit...to put myself last at the necessary times.

iCommit...to see everyone I meet through God's eyes, and work on unconditional love.

iCommit...to let go of any preconceived notions, fears, or doubts I have about this year and be open to what is ahead with new eyes.

iCommit...to serve others with an open mind, open heart and open arms.

iCommit...to sacrifice for the betterment of others.

iCommit... to be willing to step out of my comfort zone and enter into "unfamiliar territory".

iCommit...to pray for those I meet, my community, and the entire HM Volunteer community.

iCommit...to be aware of and attentive to my own needs, so that I am a better, more fully present asset to the community.

iCommit...to be open and honest with my community and trust them with my thoughts and opinions, my struggles and my joys.

iCommit...to give God the time to break and rebuild my heart.

iCommit...to respect everyone I meet and appreciate our unique differences.

iCommit...to live simply, love deeply, and serve fully throughout this next year and my entire life.

iCommit.