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.