Week 3, in pictures

CPR and First Aid training at the Red Cross. I am certified in both now. This is some of us, doing chest compressions. The rescue breaths were more comical.








Learning more about spectrum disorders (especially autism) as well as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and more. Plus, teratogens during pregnancy and their effect on babies.














Getting caught in the rain today with a newly purchased, non-waterproof reusable grocery bag, stuffed to the brim with food. I think my sugar is a little clumpy.








Getting kasha knish at a Jewish bakery with my boss (buckwheat, more delicious than the potato knish pictured) after a tough day of home visits (she also got me a cupcake).








(from xkcd.com), I will remind myself in the future to cram future international package contents into tiny boxes, so as not to incite the tall box fury of the USPS. Also, Japanese addresses are written differently than here.















Phone calls. Lots and lots of phone calls. Thanks everybody!
<3 (yes, my phone looks like that. bright but primitive, I know).

so this is service

This is pretty belated, as I originally started writing it September 19th, after my first week at my site. It's as though last weekend was almost entirely unproductive. Oh right, it was.

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After my first week of training, the AmeriCorps group hung out on Friday night (at a house in Manayunk where four of the girls live). We had all done a group service project at Philabundance that afternoon, where we sorted and stacked donated food products. I have never seen so many Curry flavored potato chips or Oreo Cakesters in my life, and it took a lot of willpower to not dive into the candy bins. It started raining (which I was caught totally unprepared for) on our way back into the city, and it continued as Behdad (my Manayunk bus buddy) and I waited half an hour sans umbrellas for the #9 bus in Center City by the bridge over the Schuykill. The bus then crawled along on its route, despite taking a shortcut to avoid I-76. I indulged in a nap once home, though I'm attempting to do away with these on weekdays. I usually wake up around 7AM, 7:30 if I'm driving and earlier or later depending on special meetings. I'm a bit of a night owl, but am trying to actually sleep by midnight.

Saturday was my roommate Melissa's birthday, so our celebration mainly entailed attending the 4PM Phillies game since she is a sports journalist and huge fan. Little did I know, baseball games here involve hours of tailgating in the parking lot. I learned the exciting new game of Washers, which is sort of like horseshoes. Then hours of sitting (or standing if you bought standing room only tickets to the sold-out game), eating more food, drinking more beer, cheering, and booing. The Phillies won, and I was completely knackered by the time we left the parking lot. I'll post photos once I change the name on my picasa account, as per my mother's suggestion. Quite a few people came over afterward to continue the birthday celebration, but I fell asleep upstairs by 11PM or so.

Then there was the first week at my site. It began very differently (and much more busily) than it ended, although I'm not sure if this will be the usual flow to my weeks here. Home visits galore, meeting the rest of the staff (all ladies), getting a very informal La Salle tour, figuring out timesheets, etc. The home visits are a near-daily occurrence, where we go into client's homes and provide them with help accessing services through other agencies. This can include assistance with Welfare (finding the nearest regional office which may be many miles away), food stamps, child health insurance (CHIP or medical assistance, depending on income), rides to medical appointments through LogistiCare, and other such actions. Several of the people in this office (center?) work with my supervisor's main program (Health Intervention Program for Families, HIP for short) and a few others work on another grant-funded program, Sex After Marriage (SAM). Guess what that one is about. I'll be helping out with both for my field service work, which will take up most of my hours here. There will also be other, smaller projects to work on (flu shot drives, grant writing). I also get to attend many a meeting with various agencies. I'm a huge fan of these because I like networking and learning about random topics (asthma in children, teratogens and genetic defects, child dental resources, medical and hospital personnel structure so far) along with the occasional free breakfast.

This week was much of the same, but with an AmeriCorps group training on Monday at the Red Cross to get First Aid and CPR certified. That's right, if you're choking or unconscious, I'll take care of you. We're doing self-defense training on Monday at a karate school, which should be interesting. I took embarrassing photos of everyone wrapping themselves up in bandages and giving rescue breaths to the dummies which I need to upload. Our group's social committee has started a weekly happy hour at various locales. I love trying new restaurants/bars, but will probably have to start skipping out or smuggling in my own snacks. This stipend does not cover much fun, but we as a group are always on the lookout for free or cheap stuff to do.

Next time: a more timely post, photos, and why you should hold on to the rails on the bus.

the craigslist ad for my apt.

This is the ad I replied to during my desperate, weeks-long apartment search (with several transmission-killing car trips up the interstate) which resulted in me living here. We have a really nice futon in the living room along with tons of floor space, so visit and sleep over. The basement is home to Steph's chinchilla Peanut and turtle Taby, along with my wine collection.
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1 roommate needed, large Roxborough home (Roxborough/Manayunk) (map)

Three young professional women (ages 25-26) are looking for a fourth roommate (male or female).
Details about the house:
- 3 story house with 4 bedrooms, 1 full bath, and unfinished basement with washer and dryer
- Large living room with wall to wall carpet, a large eat-in kitchen with a dishwasher and garbage disposal, gas hot water heat and gas cooking
- Enclosed backyard with patio and a front porch
- The available bedroom is 10x10 with a closet and window.
- Utilities will be split between 4 people (gas, water, electric, cable, Internet).
- Upon signing the lease, the first month and security deposit will be due.
We are looking for someone who is laid back (no drama please), neat and clean, and most importantly responsible. Also, NO smoking in the house.

This house is perfect and we are excited to find a fourth person to join in! We are easy going, fun girls who will be great roommates!

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Week 1, AmeriCorps Training

My first week as an official AmeriCorps "volunteer" began last Monday, September 8th. The 16 of us met at headquarters (henceforth known as HQ, located in Center City) at 9AM sharp and embarked on a week-long journey of icebreakers, paperwork, powerpoint presentations and various team-building exercises. Basically, we are all part of the Philadelphia HealthCorps which is part of the National HealthCorps (along with sites in Pittsburgh, Chicago and North Florida). We will each serve our positions at different sites, though 6 have the same job helping with prescription assistance at various health centers. The rest of us are performing our service in other capacities at different non-profit health centers. If you're really interested in the details of this, I could explain it. I got to hear a lengthy lecture on the Philadelphia public health system and am learning more about it firsthand every day. The complexity and funding issues make you root for universal health care if you weren't already.

There was much talk of 'The Corporation', but it turns out this refers to The Corporation for National and Community Service, created by Clinton during his first term. The divisions of AmeriCorps and its other complexities make it very hard to explain, so we often describe it in comparison to the more familiar Peace Corps or Teach for America programs. We received an extensive handbook of policies and regulations, and many additional handouts on such topics as food stamps, service hours timeline, and pay periods (our favorite). We got a briefing on HIPAA, probably the 10th in my lifetime. We also got our tentative schedule for the year, so I now know which of my Saturdays are dedicated to service projects (11/22 is the first) and which Mondays we will learn self defense training (9/29).

I'm now in the midst of my first real week at my site. I will certainly describe it better later, all without violating any HIPAA rules. The time as well as the busyness of the days are taking their toll on me; I plan on going to bed around 11 tonight.

In my next post: an account of my first Phillies game, photos galore and pointers on not looking lost while wandering unfamiliar neighborhoods.

soapbox derby photos

These were my favorites of the ones posted by ku- on flickr here, used with permission. The rain didn't let up, so I was quite wary of using my camera. You've got to love the display of 'Benergy' in the second one.

anticipation

Tomorrow is my first day of training at the Health Federation of Philadelphia's Headquarters (that's right, HQ) which begins at 9 A.M. sharp. I should be sleeping, but simply had to share some highlights of my first week here.

- I got Greta (my 10-year-old VW Jetta) back on Thursday after my 4th trip to IKEA. She is running well so far and we're all rooting for her to last a while longer. My room here is a little more set up, though my bed still isn't actually in the frame and my walls are bare. Oh right, and the total lack of a bookcase. Even though I brought very few (boxes of) books here, I still need one of those. And Greta had several treats in her trunk from one of my many attempts to move stuff, including my fondue pot, wine glasses and a box of 96 Crayola crayons. You know, the important stuff.
- I now live within 45 minutes of Elyse, so I attended her party in Wilmington Friday night. I had to take a long detour due to construction on I-76 but actually know my way around the suburban outskirts of the city pretty well by now, thanks to my adventures in between hotels the other week. That's right, I go out of the state to party. It's weird to be so close to so many other states: NJ, DE, MD, and a mere 80 miles from NYC.
- I attended the Red Bull Soapbox Race in my neighborhood on Saturday during the torrential downpour brought on by Tropical Storm Hannah. It was pure madness. Hopefully I can borrow some photos to properly illustrate the insanity of the event.
- Today marked the Eagles' season and home opener against the St. Louis Rams. This entailed me and my roommates (along with one of their boyfriends) sitting in the living room with two pizzas, 34 buffalo wings, 10 BBQ wings and a 2-liter of Pepsi. The Eagles won and the Phillies won their makeup game during the same time. Yes, Philadelphia is a sports town. Richmond is not. One of my roommates is a sports journalist, so I'm already learning players, records and other such trivia. Say what you will, but it's a fun way to spend Sunday afternoon.
- I've had some good phone converstions and e-mails with people recently but have very little to offer since I haven't started and have yet to get hopelessly lost in the city (yet). This will change. Call me. Or make my gmail inbox fuller.
- Cheese is really, really expensive here. The more gourmet, less mass-market ones are actually pretty comparable to what I'm used to paying, but Kraft, Sorrento and the other makers of low-quality shredded cheese products sell for quite a bit. If you come visit, please bring cheap cheese, Virginia wine (illegal to ship it directly up here and it's not in the wine & spirits stores) and assorted 6-packs of beer (you have to buy it by the case at beer distributors here; I long for beer runs at 11:45PM to Sheetz). I will in turn show you the wonders of Tastycakes, Amish produce, and cheesesteaks. Yum.

the adventure begins

I'm here. I have successfully arrived in Philadelphia (still in the rental car), schlepping the rest of my 'stuff' across state lines and visiting my parents and a few friends in the process. I'm technically "moved in" but still have yet to properly assemble my bed or find a way to hang more than 10 items in my closet. As of tomorrow, I will have made 3 trips to the nearest IKEA and 2 to the Bed Bath & Beyond of my choice, returning items that simply will not fit in my 10' x 10' square. But I'm no longer living in a suitcase, using travel-sized bath products and staying in suburban hotel rooms with only the cable TV to keep me company. That is how I spent much of last week, assured that my car's transmission repairs would be done the next day. Eventually I had to give up on waiting around for Greta, though they tell me that I get her back tomorrow. It's amazing how a crack in your manual transmission can lead to the death of a clutch, leaking of fluid and over two week's worth of worries. Aside from the moving in process and the car troubles, things are great. My roommates are wonderful (but super busy compared to my boring week of furniture arranging and store returns), this house is great (3 stories plus a functional basement, lovely backyard and front porch, well-equipped kitchen) and the neighborhood is blissfully quiet. I'm a 45-second walk from the nearest WaWa which should satisfy my cravings for glazed blueberry donuts and late-night hoagies if nothing else.

I start Americorps training on Monday and will be doing that M-F, 9-5 in Center City for at least the next week. I'll meet everyone in my program and hopefully will learn some valuable skills before I hit the streets, so to speak. I already met my supervisor and most of my coworkers at La Salle University, where my actual placement is, when I was here a few weeks ago during the apartment hunt. This should be an interesting experience and certainly a valuable break from higher education. I still plan on going to grad school somewhere next fall to get my Masters of Public Health, but that could change.

I've said my goodbyes to Harrisonburg, Richmond and New Kent over the last few months but still plan on making occasional trips back as time, money and my car permit. My friends and family are now located over a pretty sizable portion of the Eastern United States, with a few more in the far-flung reaches of Europe and Asia. I'll try not to be glued to my computer and phone so that I can actually go out and experience Philadelphia, but I'm going to try my best to stay in contact with everyone.

Tomorrow entails grocery shopping, bookshelf arranging and what is hopefully the last day of purchasing flat-packaged furniture.