We moved! Last week Bread For the City received its Certificate of Occupancy for the new office that was built next door, so this week has started off chaotic. On Friday we moved all of our equipment and admin stuff to the new space and then left for the weekend. For some reason it felt as if the organizing was going to be finished by the time I started work on Monday, but...no luck, for some strange reason. The new clinic has double the number of exam rooms and also has space to start dental and eye care as well, once we're up and running. Our old building is still being used by BFTC, but this time legal and social services will have some space to expand. Actually, right now they have closed the second floor to do construction to improve/update the building, but eventually the administration, development and finance departments will also have some new space to work in. The plan for this expansion has been in the works for a number of years now, so it's very exciting to see all of the planning come to fruition.
So today was a little hectic as we tried to get the phones to work (which didn't really happen), tried to explain to patients the new protocol that we are using in the new clinic, and then solve a hundred other little problems that cropped up. But it was really fun! I don't think of myself as a person who particularly enjoys big changes like this, but I almost enjoyed myself today. It was exciting to be a part of this new change for the clinic and to roll with the punches as stuff came up. Granted, the some of the patients aren't exactly happy about the new changes, and so I had to suffer more than my fair share of complaints. Nonetheless, it's nice to be in a new space and to try to figure out how to make the new process run as smoothly as possible. Brainstorming all the time! I love it!
As far as the rest of life goes, there's not too much to update on. For Thanksgiving break, three of my housemates and I took a bus up to New York City and wandered around Manhattan for the weekend. We walked around practically all of Manhattan, saw the Macy's Day parade, plus all the typical NYC stuff (Ground Zero, Empire State, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Madison Av, Brooklyn Bridge, etc). We were able to stay in the MVS unit's apartment there, which actually is a part of MennoHouse (so there's plenty of folks who live their full time or who are guests just passing through). This, along with walking almost everywhere, helped to make the weekend a little more cost-friendly for our meager MVS budgets :) We had a great time, but were extremely relieved to return to DC. It was strange, almost. NYC seemed to be "too city" for us, and DC ended up feeling like our small town that we were coming home to. DC seems a bit more relaxed and diverse (plus there are less people here!), and I was so glad to be back in my little city. ha!
I'm getting excited now for my family's trip to Bolivia to visit my brother. Santa Cruz, 95 degrees, humidity! 11-ish days and counting! I feel like I've been using my spanish enough at work that, with Joel's help, we should get along just fine down there. Plus, Anna is a little spanish machine! I'm pumped to have a warm Christmas (strange!) and to spend some time with my family (ten days!). Can't wait.
Hope all of you have some fun holiday plans in the works, whether with close family, host families, old friends or new friends. And since I probably won't write again before it's time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
