First day on the job

Okay, so this entry will be brief. But I just wanted to say that I survived my first day on the job. AND I came home happy.  It looks to be a busy, busy year ahead, but I'm looking forward to the fact that I will always have something to do (probably 7 things, actually).  I'll write more once I manage to find some free time.

Also, I really am loving DC & my housemates so far (Sara and Jodi), and I'm pretty pumped about my job and my future housemates, too. Woo!

AND, one last thing, here's the website for where I work, if you want to browse all the amazing things we do: breadforthecity.org

My welcome to DC: A Glenn Beck rally

Travel was pretty easy today, once I remembered what airline I was traveling with. I had a thirty minute layover in Detroit and I had to change concourses and walk ALL the way from the end of one to the end of the other concourse to find my gate. I was sweating by the time I arrived, but we didn't board for another 10 minutes and then were delayed another 15 minutes while we waited on other passengers. So, we finally left a half hour after our scheduled departure time, and from there it was clear sailing.

My room is blue. It's on the third floor. It's hot! Let's see I have a small closet, a wooden dresser (with drawers that don't liked to be opened or closed), an old swivel chair, a nice desk, a bed with a plastic mattress cover (Slippery!), a floor lamp which stands at a diagonal because it's broken, and my curtains are an interesting shade of yellow or green...hard to tell.  I swapped a tilted desk chair (I was diagonal like the lamp when I sat on it) for a blue swivel one. I added a table runner over one of my shelves to make it feel more homey, but I think it just looks like I threw a table runner on top of a shelf. And then on the bulletin board I added my one focus for the next two weeks and my inspiration: A graph my dad printed that plots the "Function of MCAT scores and GPA to Acceptance Rate." I added a nice orange push pin right to the mark where I want to fall--a high enough MCAT score along with a high enough GPA to reach an almost 80% acceptance rate.

The two windows I have are on the back wall of the room and they face the "backyard," which is at least a patio and two nice big trees. On the brick wall behind our house is a mural, something to the effect of an island, an ocean, and maybe a volcano? I'm hoping that this is quieter than the rooms that faced the street, but our neighbor seems to have his backyard decked out for parties, so who knows!

Tim, an MVSer who is in the process of packing up and moving out, lived in my room the first year he did service. He said it was HOT in the summer and WARM in the winter. Since I can't stand being cold, I figured sweating through the summer wouldn't be too bad. But, I'm about to find out if I can handle the heat, because it's supposed to get hot again next week.

Also, Glenn Beck is having a rally this weekend to "reclaim America." Talk about being thrown into the political chaos of the nation's capital. Drama, drama, drama. (I won't be in attendance, fyi).

DC here I come!

Tomorrow I'm flying to my new home!  Like I told my dear friend Rachel, I am 1/3 excited, 1/3 anxious, 1/4 uninterested, and the remaining fraction is yet to be determined.

My anxiety level is particularly high because in 15 days I will be taking the Medical College Admission Test (the MCAT),  for the second time.  I already warned my roommates that I won't be very sociable for the first two weeks, and I promised to come out of my room once the test was over.  So, on September 11, please send me some good vibes, confident vibes, stellar physics vibes, hope-your-brain-doesn't-fry vibes...that sort of thing.

Feel free to add me on skype if you want: ejnafziger
Or email is fine: ejnafziger at gmail
If you'd like to send me some snail mail, let me know by email/fb/skype and then I can send you the address.

The things I'm anticipating about this next year:

In no particular order:

1) going to lots of free concerts

2) walking places or using the bus, just like in Peru (except in English)

3) PARKS! 

4) weekend camping trips outside of the city

5) struggling to communicate in Spanish with clients at my placement

6) attending a small,"rebellious" church

7) a schedule

8) working at a local farmer's market and in return getting some yummy produce

9) living on a budget (don't know why this is actually fun...but I really am looking forward to it)

10) people watching

11) more people watching

12) getting involved in social justice stuff. Campaigns, marches, petition signing and whatnot. 

13) trying to create a garden or finding a community garden to grow my favs: mint, green beans, and raspberries! Heck, I'll even grow some tomatoes while I'm at it. 

14) cooking

15) buying in bulk/ not shopping at walmart

16) meeting new people 

17) Jordan getting back to the States & visiting me in DC

18) holidays in DC

19) visiting Joel in Bolivia over Christmas

20) being away from home for a year

21) helping my parents get better at using skype

22) NOT taking the MCAT ever again (this is my dream, after I take my Sept 11 test)

23) making plans for next year

24) Guster's new album

25) Seeing Guster in concert (I think I'm addicted)

26) Not having spring break in the dead of winter. (But I suppose its sad not to have a spring break at all, huh). 

27) trying to live more simply

28) trying to live by the philosophy "Just ask" (at least some of the time)

29) getting married in Las Vegas... (jk, jk)

30) only 2 weeks of vacation....oh wait, NOT excited about this. 

31) earning money for all of my future educational pursuits (thank you Americorps)

32) learning from my neighbors

33) living in the same place as Barack Obama (for the second time, I might add. I was only a few miles from his home in Chicago, a couple of summers ago).

34) finding hole in the wall, mom and pop restaurants to make my favs

35) joining a pick up women's soccer league

36) did I mention my boyfriend is coming home? 

37) did I also mention I will be DONE with the MCATs for the rest of my life? (please, cross your fingers).

38) living somewhere with all four seasons

39) having friends not get married so much. Or maybe I should say not having so many friends getting married all at once.

40) summer music festivals

41) sweet lectures and museums in DC

42) Living with my peers, but not in a dorm!
44) Dance lessons? why not? Yoga? who knows!

First up, San Antonio

So, I'm heading to Washington, D.C. for a year of voluntary service. Although there are a lot of reasons why I decided on MVS, I really have very few answers to the basic questions like: Where are you living? Who are you living with? What will you be doing? The broad strokes include "the city" "3 girls and 1 guy" and "working at a clinic." 

Gimme like a month or two and I'll come up with something more concrete, I'm sure. 

First though, I get to take a road trip with three friends down to San Antonio, Texas for a weeklong orientation. We're crossing our fingers that it's not just a whole week of get-to-know-you games and walk-a-mile. :)  Also, with luck, we won't be perpetually sweating in the 100+ degree heat. 

After Texas, I'll be at home for a bit and then hit the road (or rather, the air, since I'm flying.) at the end of this month. Should be a fun time.