Bing in Houston from Tuesday to Sunday last week was a lot like being at summer camp. From the camp counselors to the bugs and crazy amounts of food, it was summer camp for big kids. But the cabins were nice and we all had a great time! It was a good time bonding with the people I will be living with for the next year. Stephanie, Lily, Becca, Ed, and I had an awesome time talking, laughing and even a little crying. We we're creating bonds and friendships and are going to grow change and inspire us all year.
Camp was a lot about bonding and learning about living in community but it was also about discussing the other pillars of JVC: simplicity, spiritulity, and social justice. Everyone has different definitions of these words and how to live them out. We shared our thoughts about how we should live and work together. It really was a week all about creating a new family and way of living.
It was great being in the AC cabins, eating tons of food, bonding, goofing off, exporing, and finding all of the Houston wildlife (did you know that there are Armadilos in Houston!?) but we got more and more antcey as the week went on. All we wanted to do was get to New Orleans already! We all took a short flight Sunday afternoon and landed in NOLA at 530. The minute we arived at the houses we were greated by about 6 former Jesuit volunteers and a bunch of our bosses from the different placements we are all working at. It was such a warm welcome with food and good stories included!
Monday we all were given a tour of a few of the placements. Each time the JV's who would be working at the placement stepped foot into their building it was like they were made for the place. It was incredible seeing everyone light up! Including Annie and I :) We saw the rest of the placements on Tuesday. Between the 11 of us here we are working at The Harry Tompson Center, Unity, the Distric Atternies office, Project Lazarus, the Innocence Project, and two local elementary schools. We are a busy group!
The houses we are living in are great. It is a duplex that shares a wall and a back yard but we have two separat front doors. They are very loved, used, and have a lot of character. Meaning some of the doors don't work very well, we are missing some decor matching, and there are quiet a few just plane broken objects chillig in the house. Although we have almost everything we could need and a ton of stuff we didn't know we needed. For example, as i was going trough the closet upstairs i cam accross two air mattresess and about 5 sleeping bags.... I guess we will be having lots of guests. Also we have more Mardi Gras beads than I can begin to count! They are on every door handle and hook in the house. I wonder where those could have come from....??? I think I'll be doing a big bead collage or wall art of some sort in the living room. My creative energy is going crazy here! The city is beautiful in it's own eclectic and loved way.
Something i learned about myself as we were introduced to our houses and started unpacking is that i am a nester: to the max! For those of you who know my Mom, this should not be a suprise. Monday and Tuesday afternoons i spent going through ever closet, drawer, cabinet, and shelf to see what we had in the house and what we could get rid of. It was facinating the memories, funny objects, crafts, cookbooks, beads, cloths, and just junk i found, haha. My roommates loved my nesting quality due to the fact that i left everything much cleaner and homier :) Although most of the memory stuff i left for the coming years. There were a ton of old journals, scrapbooks, and notes that really make the house the JV house that it is. My roommates were also great cleaning helpers. Ed (being the only male) is not afraid to pull out the vacume but said that he will need a lesson or two on the bathroom deep cleans. Becca and i are similar in our cleaning habbins. Then Steph and Lily are great at helping out, jumping right in, and getting things done. We also did a masive mopping of the much loved/used hardwood floors and moved around the furniture to make the rooms more welcoming. It is now really feeling like my home and my community is making it their own place!
Pictures will be coming soon but i wanted to updated you all in the mean time. Overall i am loving it here and cannot wait to call this city and the Harry Tompson Center my own!
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