Week 5: Tuesday

I am feeling good about today. At work we FINALLY started the summer program classes and I think that we have a good group of kids and it will be exciting to hopefully get some "teaching" experience. I have been working on two major projects: documenting and uploading photos of work on Flickr ( I will put the address up here when I am done editing) and cleaning the entire art room. Both projects are finally making progress and I feel that they are at manageable states and it seems to be something that will be a big help to the 'art team' because no one really has time to do what I am doing but really needs it done. There is also a community service requirement to my program and I have decided to volunteer with a nonprofit that goes to homeless shelters where families live with children and they play with the kids for 2 hours twice a week while the parents attend some life enriching classes. So basically I will get to play with these kids every thursday night. I am really excited! I went to the training session this past weekend and I should be ready to start.

So many cool things are happening and I have already been here a month!

More to come,
Megan

I'm Back.

I know that I have not posted in a while but I was preoccupied with some things and I had a hard time getting myself to write. Part of it was the terrible Metro crash that happened last week. That really got me depressed more so than I thought. Anywho, I am back and I will post again soon hopefully!

Megan

Fire Alarm

So at 6:30 am we heard the fire drill go off and I unexpectedly had to get dressed and that took a while since it caught me off guard. Plus we used an exit that no one else really used so it looked as if we were the only ones that even acknowledged the fire and we were like.....uhhhhh.....is everyone just ignoring it??? But then the firemen came really quickly and there was no fire. Plus it was a little eye candy.

Also I am super excited because I found a recycling center downstairs in the apartment and we can do recycling!! Woohoo!

That is about all for now,

Megan

End of the Second Week.

Today was a really easy day at work. Basically this week I have been cleaning the art room....which means trying to group like items and give it some sense of organization. I think that it is just a good idea so that you don't waste money buying multiples of things and you can make some cool projects because they have a TON of stuff and a lot of it gets donated to them. So when I was not doing that I played BINGO with the kids. That is funny. They all act the same way....they get really excited about winning even though we rig it to where everyone wins an equal number of times. haha

I have also observed that a lot of interesting things happen on the metro. I have seen some really kind moments between people....and they are always spontaneous among strangers....and I have also seen some people be really rude and uncalled for. I really enjoy my 40 minute commute sometimes because I get to people watch. Except today on the way home it was SUPER crowded. I was so close to the people around me that we were within inches of touching and were basically hugging. It is funny that I get smushed between all of these business men.....it makes me laugh. hahahah

At work I am really excited because I am going to actually be teaching a painting class. Not next week but the week after. It will be really small...like 5 people plus me.....since I have never taught a class that seems to be the best. And so now I am trying to think of some lesson plans and it is kind of exciting to maybe inspire some people to be painters....and hopefully expose them to new ideas and to be more creative people. I also had an idea of introducing a new artist each day and having some examples or a handout or something so that at the end of the summer they will have been exposed to 14 major artists in history and I guess have a little bio or something. If anyone has any suggestions....I have some ideas of my own but of course any tips from anyone would be welcomed.

-Megan

Second Week: Tuesday

Today was very relaxed and not too hard. I got to leave an hour early which was nice and most of the day I spent playing BINGO with the kids and drawing with them. None of my roomates are here in the room now so I have been trying to use this alone time to get some work done and I cleaned up a little and am getting my checkbook straightened out.

The weather here was really stormy early this morning....then hot....then it stormed pretty badly when I got off work.

Currently I am enjoying the pink sunset from my bedroom window which is beautiful.

-Megan

Second week of work: Monday

Today I went to work for a few hours and filmed a class where these two guys were doing this project where they needed me to film them in the classroom. So I got a chance to film these 3 year olds...which is always amusing...and I learned a lot about them and how to deal with a 3 year old and also a bit about filming. That felt productive.

After lunch and a break I went to this place called the Foundation Center http://foundationcenter.org/ Check it out! It has all of this wonderful information about grants, proposals, nonprofits etc. and they have some free online class kind of stuff that you can participate in from your personal computer. If you want to know anything else about it just let me know and I can explain where some stuff is or you can use their search engine to navigate the website. Also....for anyone interested the website for my internship is www.centronia.org

Now I am going to do some school work and maybe watch a movie. Yay! Free time!

Megan

Contemporary Works

This morning my friend from Canada and I went to the National Gallery and visited their contemporary art section. It was so cool! All of the big wigs: Phillip Guston, Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Giacometti, Duchamp, Rachel Whiteread, Goldsworthy, Richard Serra, Pollock....cool right?

Holocaust

The holocaust museum was a very powerful experience. It took a while to get through but it was beautifully made and so intense. I think that the part that really got me was when I was actually able to go inside of one of the cattle cars that was used to transport real people. When I walked in I could feel the screams and torture of the people hunderds of people who had to be in that very car and experience the end of their lives. It was really powerful and I don't know how anyone survived. Also...things like the piles of shoes and anything that was actually touched by these people who died was really overwhelming. Something else that was nice was they had a wall with all of the known people who helped save people from the Nazi's killings by hiding them or getting them fake papers to save them. That was just as powerful to look at the way these people were willing to save so many in the midst of such propoganda and manipulation. It was a good experience and I am glad that it exists as a way to educate and remember victims by.

Also, when you first go in there are two stacks of these little booklets and one half is labled male and the other half female. So I picked a female card and it is this little biography / story of someone who actually lived during the holocaust. It really got to me because I instantly became attached to her as a person. Here is an individual and in some way I am responsible for her memory and her story is being passed on to me. Erika Neuman is her name....and her birthday was June 12, 1928. She survived the Holocaust but I feel really strange having her here infront of me. It is really extraordinary.

-Megan

Weekend coming to a close.

Today should be a good day. I am going to work here for a couple of hours trying to finish up some of my school readings and a writing assignment. I feel so much better today now that I worked yesterday and got a lot done on my to do list. Today will be manageable and I will be able to go see some DC sites. It looks like it is going to be hot today....which is not my favorite but I have no control over the weather of course! Not much to write home about at this moment but last night was fun because we walked up the street and got some late night ice cream which was super awesome....yummmy. I got like this chocolate peanut butter one. Couldn't resist. =) I will probably have more to say after I visit the Holocaust Museum....I feel like that will be a powerful experience.

-Megan

End of the first week of work.

This week has been really nice. I have had a variety of experiences and Friday was such an interesting day. In the morning I helped with the VIP breakfast thing. It was supposed to be a way to try and get donors and people to actually come to CentroNia instead of just giving money because I guess the idea is that when they actually get there they (as individuals) will fall in love with it and want to give more. It was nice because they had some people speak about how the organization has impacted them and also free breakfast =) which was great. So my role in that was to be an extra pair of hands for this art project. There wasn't enough adults for each child so I got to sit in and participate. I worked with this little girl who was so cute! And we were like best friends in 5 minutes. I love that.

At the end of the day there was a concert put on by this group of high school guys that do the after school program and they practice a lot and they have a recording studio in the building. So they did this live concert and it was sooooo good. It was great. I helped prepare some stuff for it and it was just amazing to see these kids really use their time in a productive way and choose not to live a "street" life so to speak. It is one of the many amazing benefits of being at this place.

Today I am feeling a little bit stressed with all of the stuff that I need to do. During this week I really have not had time to sit down and get work done because I have had so much to do but I am going to have to take today as a work day and I will have to not be really social or touristy. I don't want to get behind and I need time to read and etc. So...my goals of sight seeing...I am going to go and finish seeing the more contemporary section of the National Gallery and then I also want to go to the Holocaust Museum thing. I will probably do that tomorrow because tonight I am going to this event that my Palestinian roommate is going to in response to conflicts with Israel. It is kind of an event where I can learn more about what is happening with that whole thing.

It should be a good weekend and I want to really get some stuff done while I feel up to it and motivated.

Also, sometime in the next few hours I am going to go to this event at my workplace....it is kind of like an art day. There will be different things that the kids have made and also some artists will be selling some stuff. I want to go check it out and then go to target.

I am feeling good about it. I guess that is all for now. Back to work.

-Megan

Third day of work.

Today was great. Work went really well and I got a lot done and I love the people I am working with! After work I was proud of myself for taking the bus and walking to class. My class was really good and I think that we will cover some really good materials. The crazy part happened when we left class and I had to walk about a half a mile to the metro station in a torrential downpour. The water was rushing down the streets and sidewalks and my friend Jade and I were sharing an umbrella! It was so insane. I was soaked and then had to ride the metro and it was dark and I was squealing like a little kid. It was super fun.....sort of. But now it is late and I need to do laundry.

Peace Out.

-Megan

Second Day.

Yesterday was my second day of work and it was really nice to meet some of the kids. They let me sit in and observe a 4th grade class and a 2nd grade class. Um....that was insane. It was funny because the majority of them were boys and it was really interesting to see what they talked about (which was mainly Star Wars, weapons, how their native country basically had more weapons to destroy the other countries.....I guess that is normal for boys.) It just made me laugh because they were really intrigued with me for a few reasons, they don't get much exposure to white people and so I am sure that was fun....also I was a new person so they had a lot of questions and things to ask me. For example. "Do you like weapons?" So I didn't answer that one. I am still in observation mode right now and am just looking and soaking in the environment and soon I will hopefully be able to get to know some of them a little better and not feel overwhelmed by the screaming and yelling that goes on at all times.

Plus...today I think I actually might possibly get my desk. =) Yay office!

Okay, off to work.

-Megan

First day of work.

Today was my first day of work and it was really nice. I met a lot of really nice people that I am going to work with and the kids seem really great and I love it so far! Today was a good day because I made it on the metro to work and did it all on my own! Yay!

I didn't take any pictures today and I will elaborate later.

-Megan

First day on the job.

Today is my first day at work and I am excited and nervous of course. (typical combination for me) I think that the first obsticle is that I need to make sure I can navigate the metro by myself (which will be easy) and find the building once I get off of the metro (should be easy) and am on time and hopefully there are not any metro delays because I am not quite as familiar with the bus system yet. The people I have been cooresponding with from my work seem very very nice and that makes me really excited to go there.

I think that I am going to put the majority of my pictures on facebook and some of them on here. So if you are a picture person you can look on facebook. =)

There doesn't seem to be anything eventful to write about at the moment so I am just going to get ready to leave and hopefully successfully get there.

-Megan

PS. I have not seen Obama yet. =(