Blur

The month of December was a complete blur, full of visits (Annie and Dana), my birthday, praying the rosary with church ladies, walking around the neighborhood with Mary and Joseph, and crazy weather!

Some pictures to explain:

{getting to school on my bday with Annie and getting hugs from all the kinders - 

it was 85 degrees this weekend which made the best bday EVER!}

{Birthday sign Colleen, Dana, and Paula made for me!  and all the kids signed}

{80s themed Birthday party at our casa}

{4 am singing in Spanish outside of the church... on no sleep after the 80s party}

{then we went to mass and ate menudo, cow stomach soup - sick}

{Christmas tree lighting in Santa Monica with other LA JVs}

{Dolores Mission all decorated for Christmas}

 {DMS Christmas program - 5th graders singing "Hot Chocolate" from the Polar Express}

 {all 30 of the 2nd graders in angel costumes!}

{8th graders}

Tucson Thanksgiving

This year, I spent Thanksgiving in Tuscon, AZ with one of my best friends and fellow JV, Jen (check her blog here!).  We celebrated Thanksgiving with two other groups of volunteers - the YAVers (Young Adult Volunteers - a Presbyterian organization) and the Mennonite volunteers who are in Tucson this year and have become close friends with the Tucson JVs.  Some pictures from the extended weekend:

 {Jen and Emily (L.A. JV) with prickly pear cactus lemonade - a Tucson specialty}

 {random large head in downtown Tucson}

{St. Augustine Cathedral - palm trees outside of church?  yes please!}

{at a Brian Lopez concert (Jen and her housemates are addicted to this guy).  

where else can you wear dresses and sandals at night at Thanksgiving?!  I love the Southwest}

{driving back from Tuscon to Phoenix to pick up some other JVs and then back to LA - only a 7 1/2 drive... with no traffic... with traffic?  I was in the car from 9am until 8:30 pm...}

{which is why Jen, Dave, Colleen and I decided to end the weekend with some Yogurtland!}

Quakers

This morning after going to mass at Dolores Mission, Paula, Greg, Colleen and I went to a Quaker meeting in South Central LA.  Greg is active in his religious exploration and during college he enjoyed going to Quaker meetings on the East Coast and thought that we might enjoy attending one together, as a part of the spirituality component of JVC.  I honestly didn't realize that Quakers were still active, but after talking to the people at the house, I found out that there are 4 meeting houses in LA.  The one we went to is the oldest one in LA and I think it must be dying out (reasons for this conclusion: 3 members, the house didn't have running water, they complained about how facebook is replacing the need for meetings of any kind). 

The meeting house looked very different than any other place of worship I've been to: it was a normal house with the exception of the yard decor.  A small sign over the door read "Gathering Place of Friends", there was a peace sign at least 5 feet tall, a huge globe of the same size, and a sign urging people to stop the execution of some man with a Middle Eastern sounding name.  We walked into the door and were greeted with a cloud of smoke coming from the wood burning fireplace (I currently smell like a campfire).  There were four people (all in their 60s and 70s) sitting on old sofas in a U-shape.  We went in and were greeted with a slip of paper explaining the Quaker meeting format - we would be sitting in silence, meditating for an hour, and in order to not harm the group's dynamic and experience, we should not be determined to speak or determined not to speak.  Meaning we needed to come in open, and if moved by God during the hour, we could speak what was on our mind or share any thoughts with the group.

During the meditation time, there were a couple cats wandering around our feet (the man living in the house later explained to Colleen when she asked how many cats he had, that he didn't have any cats if the police were asking because he refuses to spay/neuter the 10-20 cats that he feeds on a regular basis and having outdoor cats in LA is a fine of $300 per cat) meowing loudly, the fire was crackling and the sounds of the busy street outside were a constant buzz in the background.  I think the idea of meditation is so interesting, but I honestly have a horrible time of clearing my mind if I don't have any guidance.  I think I came up with about 5 lists that I really wanted to write down during the hour (ranging from things to do today to ideas for PE to what to do next year).  oops.  I didn't get much sleep last night, so concentration was not very easy. 

After the meditation, one of the ladies, a woman name Marge, provided lunch for the 8 of us as well as a constant stream of stories.  She told us about working at Wounded Knee, her father's union organizing in Detroit, being in Mississippi during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, getting arrested (I don't remember what it was for), living in South Central LA, working as an attorney in housing law, etc.  Basically think of anything super left-wing and she's probably done it.  One of my favorite stories she told was about when she had computer problems.  She called the company and asked the man who picked up if he was in India.  He said yes, and she proceeded to tell him that she likes people there and respects what they do, but she told him to organize a union for the Indian workers.  She told him all about how to form a union so that we could get jobs back to the US because then the prices for labor would be equal and everyone would be happy.  She also told us that one of her proudest moments was when she got fired by Nixon (not quite sure why?).  And then she said people were always telling her that she was a radical, and it frustrated her because clearly, she is a conservative.  Paula and I looked at each other like, "who is she and what planet is she from??" 

There was a lot of political bashing going on and a lot of "the US is going down the drain".  It was super interesting to listen (it got a bit long after the 2nd hour of conversation), but at the same time, I felt like there was bit too much despair and feelings that the US is hopeless.  I disagree.  I think we need to find a more moderate ground, instead of being so far left and radical, I think they could revise their ideas to make more gradual changes.  I was also a bit confused as to what the Quakers do today.  We heard lots of stories of activism in the 1960s-1980s, but not much about now.  Maybe this was a poor sampling of people. 

Overall, they were very giving and kind, but I'm not converting anytime soon.  I missed having guidance for the meditation and having any structure.  Also, I like bigger worshipping communities (4 people?).  And more formalities, being in a house was weird.  It was very much the stereotypical cat lady home.  Yay for new experiences though!   

 
ps - last night, we had a Harry Potter themed party to celebrate the release of the last movie in theatres.  I didn't get any pictures, but keep an eye on Colleen's blog for me as a dragon, Colleen the house elf, Paula the unicorn and Greg as Prof. Lupin. 

Thankfulness

This year, we have been so blessed to have received so much love, support, and guidance from family, friends, former JVs, and co-workers, helping us to be better workers, community members, and people.  To attempt to repay some of these people in the LA area, my casamates and I decided to host a little get-together, formally known as the "Thankful Party".  We got a little crafty and pulled out those kindergarten art talents to make turkey hand print invitations (trace your hand, color on feathers, add a gobbler, feet, and beak) for about 30 individuals who we wanted to recognize. 
On Wednesday night, after hours of baking and time in the kitchen, we pulled off our dessert party and had a wonderful turn out.  I wish I had taken pictures, but since I didn't, I wanted to share some of the recipes that we used.  Paula made pretzel kisses (small pretzels with a kiss melted on top with a Reese's Pieces on top) and apple cider (smelled amazing!), Greg made pumpkin pie (his first ever!), and Colleen made brownies. I made caramel corn, Dutch apple pie, and pumpkin gooey butter cake (I had to give a shout-out to St. Louis in the middle of all these Georgetowners!). Yum! 

Caramel Corn
Adapted from DamGoodSweet, by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel found on Orangette

about 10 cups fresh popcorn popped by any method, lightly salted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pop popcorn.  Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, whisking often, until the mixture reads 250°F on a candy thermometer, about 3 to 4 minutes (I guessimated since we don't have a thermom and it worked). Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and vanilla. Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (if it lasts that long!).
Yield: about 10 cups


 Dutch Apple Pie (amazing!) 
via Heart of Light

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
6 - 8 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp lemon zest
3/4 cup heavy cream

Pecan Crumb Topping
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt
3 tbsp butter

Place sliced apples in pie shell. Mix together the cream, spices, sugars and salt and pour over the apples. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the crumb topping. Place all ingredients except the butter in the food processor and pulse until you have a fine mixture. Add the butter and pulse several more times, until the mixture begins to come together and become crumb-like.

Remove the pie from the oven briefly and layer the crumb topping over it. Put the pie back in the oven and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned. The apples should be tender, but not completely soft.


Enjoy!

{Image via here}

3Rs

Awhile back when our FJV friend, Fumi, visited he bought us some "classy" beer (Heineken).  We put the bottles in the recycling bin, but a few days later, after staring at the gorgeous green color, I thought they could be a pretty sun catcher in the kitchen window.  Add some cheap Walmart daisies, and Casa Ita Ford made the insideJVC blog!  yay!

School Update

Old picture, but an update on school:

I LOVE MY JOB!!!
I could not have asked for a better placement.  DMS is one of a kind.  I love how it is grounded in Jesuit traditions and everyone is religiously focused, but in a very different way than I grew up with at my grade school.  The students have monthly meditations with the priests, youth minister (Paula!), and other people on the church staff and they learn about Catholicism in a more personal way, learning to think about why they belief things and developing a closer relationship with God.  Our faith is also very closely tied to social justice, which I think is very important for kids to see and experience from a young age.  Also, the entire staff is amazingly supportive and friendly.  One of them advised me to try to increase students' excitement about PE and following the rules by having points systems and more recognition, so now on the side of the school building, along with my lovely rules poster (see below), I have a "Stars of the Week" poster with a star for each class.  I pick one student who is following the rules very well that week to be the star for their class and their name is written on the star and then they get a certificate to take home to their parent(s).  Also for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, we have a competition going in which they can earn a max of 10 points for each class and then I record the points on their class's points thermometer.  4th grade reached their first goal of 50 points and so we played kickball (their fave) and had a water balloon fight :)  I think they just really enjoy getting to hit me with water balloons.

Rules for PE are simple; just shoot for the STARS! 

Halloween - JVC style

Some pictures from our San Diego fiesta.   

JVC style = super cheap homemade costumes (our shells were painted roasting pans!)

{Casa DK (Jersey Shore cast) and Casa Ita Ford (Ninja Turtles)}

 

{if you couldn't tell, I'm hiding in my shell.  We're so photogenic.}

 {Paula, Greg, Colleen and me}

all pictures stolen from the awesome Casa DK girls - thanks!

Best. Fieldtrip. Ever.

Dolores Mission has been building up its arts program over the past 5 years.  A few weekends ago, we went to the art benefit that began 5 years ago under the leadership of one of the former art teachers.  The benefit was held at a Mexican restaurant in Pasedena that the teacher's parents own.  Through donations and the auction of about 15 students' artwork, DMS raised over $25,000 in just one night for the arts program.  One of the main items that this money goes to each year is field trips to various art museums throughout the LA area.  The goal is that by the end of their 9 years (K-8) DMS students will have visited 9 different museums, one each year.

 {stolen from Colleen: us at the fundraiser: Andrew (our program coordinator),

Colleen, Greg, Greg's friend Omar, me, Paula M., Paula C.}

The sixth graders went on their field trip this Friday to the Getty Villa in Malibu and I was lucky enough to be asked to go with them.  According to the self-guided tour guide, the Getty Villa was modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.  Over 1,200 works of art from the Getty's collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities are displayed as well as 2 visiting collections of ancient glasswork and Roman and Greek Theatre items.  It was amazing to see stautues of gods and goddesses that have lasted over 2000 years. As we walked through, I realized that I had completely forgotten the the thoughts of 12 year olds - every naked statue led to the eruption of giggles.  One of my favroite exchanges I overheard was between a boy and girl next to a statue:

Girl: Eww!!! that is so disgusting!
Boy: Calm down, everyone's going to see one sometime.
Girl:  If I have to see that thing, I'm never getting married.
Soooo mature :)

Some of the kids in my group's favorite collections were the coins, glasswork, and jewelry.  Along with the collections inside, gardens containing plants from the Mediterranean lined the inside and outside courtyards.
 

 {Almost all of the busts and statues were actual pieces from 2000 years ago.  

I would not have wanted to be the person he was staring at!}

 {Naked man on rock... tee hee hee!  :)  }

 {Getty Villa Gardens - I love LA weather!}

 {my awesome group of 6th graders}

After the museum, the art teacher, Clarence, decided that it was sacreligious to be in Malibu without going to the beach, se he surpiristed the kids with a trip to the Santa Monica Pier.  It was a beautiful day in the mid 90s without a cloud in the sky (weirdest November weather I've ever seen) and the kids had a blast.  We played in the water (some of the kids got completely soaked in their uniforms - oops) and the students realized that their were shells and animals in the ocean which led to over an hour of exploration.  It was awesome to see the kids digging up tiny crabs and clams and getting so excited about what they were finding.  I had so many asking all about the animals and I showed some of them their first sand dollar they'd ever seen.  Yay for curious little biologists!  After some fun time in the sun, we walked up to the pier and got frozen yogurt, them hopped back on the bus. 

Definitely the best field trip I've ever been on!

 {they built a little pond in the sand and were trying to collect crabs in it to observe}

 {6th Grade with the Santa Monica Pier in the background}

 {yay for the beach!}

{exhausted on the bus.  the 6th grade boys are some of my favorites}

Halloween!

I know I've been really horrible at posting about my year, but I finally remembered to bring my camera with me to school on Friday and captured some smiling faces that I couldn't not share.  These kids are amazing and are the reason (along with the amazing teachers!) that I love my job!

We had an amazing Halloween celebration because LA LOVES Halloween.  I've never seen people like it more.  And it also gave the kids a safe place to celebrate the holiday and to have fun throughout the year.  The student council has been selling food at recess once a week to raise the money for this carnival.  There were games (I went in the dunk tank!), candy, hot dogs (wrapped in bacon, of course!), costumes, and, like every party in East LA, loud music and 4 "jumpers" (huge inflatables).  


The teachers all dressed as characters from Toy Story, and I was nominated to be Barbie, since I'm the only blonde at school (among all the teachers and kids!).  Here's what I looked like (sort of):

And the kids!

 One of my fave first graders.  He's Mayan (I think?), so he has a long pony tail that is always braided and some kids confuse him for a girl, but the hair worked perfectly for this Star Wars costume!

 I was trying to get just a picture of the vampire, but all the kinders are in 

love with getting their pictures taken, so I got the "tough boy" look :)  The vampire is the kid who stuck his middle finger up at me at the beginning of the year and now he is one of my favorites.  Lesson learned: don't judge people too soon!

 Bobbing for apples - gross!!

 Some 3rd graders (it's a class of 12 boys and 4 girls - waaay too much testosterone!)

 2nd grade brothers.  this is one of the cutest families - they have an older brother in 8th and he is such a protective older brother even though he's one of the "cool" kids in the school.

 I love this face

 Mrs. Vargas, the 2nd grade teacher getting ready to be dunked!

"Nerd" was the most popular costume this year

After the celebration and working the Haunted House that Colleen put on for the afterschool program, I went with the rest of my casa to San Diego for Halloween weekend and we got to have some fun with the other LA casas, the San Diego girls, and 2 casas from Phoenix.  And I had some of the best fish tacos ever.  Yum!

ps - Happy Dia de los Muertos!

HOT

"hot": capable of giving a sensation of heat or of burning, searing, or scalding

Merriam-Webster defined this word perfectly.  And it's definitely how it felt Monday in LA, when we experienced the hottest temperature on record for the city at 113 degrees.  It was completely insane being out on the playground in it.  The kids kept going though, playing kickball and football.  They're champs.  To top off the day, the power went out a couple times during the day too. 

Thanks for the warm welcome, LA!

Here's an entertaining article about the weather and the National Weather Service's thermometer that broke as a result of the temps: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hottest-ever-20100928,0,329968.story

Highlights of the Past Week

We just got back from a sun filled, gorgeous weekend in San Diego (Joe, you seriously need to move there so I'll have an excuse to keep going there!) to hang out with some of Dana's college friends and experience San Diego.  As San Diegans would say, it was chill. 

I'm using my precious internet time right now to research grad school programs (right now the School Counseling program at USD is looking pretty awesome), so I'll be writing more later, but some pictures until then:

 {free tickets to the Chivas professional soccer game - 1st row!}

 {awesome Mexican style cheering section}

 {LA Greek Fest 2010, hosted by Tom and Rita Hanks!}

 {Greek Orthodox Cathedral inside}

 {outside}

 {me, Greg, and Dana}

 {a DMS donor donated his luxury suite at Dodgers stadium to the teachers for a game.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.}

 {my date for the night}

  {view from the box}

p.s.:  please say some prayers for those affected by the shooting in Boyle Heights over the weekend.

Oh yah, we are close to Hollywood!

Waiting outside the Ellen Degeneres Show/VMAs taping. It was a 10ish hour trip, but totally worth it considering the guests of the show were Lady Gaga (in her meat costume!), Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Beiber (!!!!), Katy Perry, Jaden Smith, and the guy from the Old Spice commercial (random...).  

{Colleen, Greg, me, and Dana}