Three Months In...

Wow I can’t believe that it has already been three months-time is going by so fast…I guess time does fly by when you are having fun! So we are a quarter of the way done with JVC and I feel like I am finally situated in Portland.
A few quick updates:
Work has been so busy lately. This past month I have been helping coordinate Volunteer training which has been an interesting experience because there was such little turn around from being trained to being a trainer. Also our training has been in Spanish and has been more culturally specific geared towards the Latino community. I am quickly learning that in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy continually educating oneself is so important.
I have also been working in the Restraining Order room at the Courthouse. This has been my favorite experience thus far. It is my main source of client interaction during the week and I feel like I am actually helping people. I am also helping my supervisor compile and write a grant. This has been such an incredible learning experience plus it has been nice to “write a paper” again. I actually miss writing research papers! Overall, I have been really enjoying work. My coworkers are wonderful women who are so fun and encouraging…and I get to work in a field of work that I am passionate about!
Community living has been so great lately. This past week we attended our first JVC retreat which was so fun. A main focus of the retreat was a personality test known as the Enneagram. You should all take it! (http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/). While at first we were all a little skeptical about being boxed in or labeled by a personality test, it has been quite helpful for our community. The test has provided an opportunity to better understand my community members. We catch ourselves saying things like…well I do this because I am this number…It is actually hilarious how we have incorporated the enneagram into our everyday conversations. Obviously because we are complex human beings we do not fit perfectly into a number but we all have numbers that we can identify with. For those who are wondering, I am a 7 with a 6 wing.
After three months of living together we are quickly starting to form strong bonds and are actually becoming more like a family that a bunch of roommates. I am so thankful for them!

Simple Office Joys

I am just going to ignore the fact that I have not updated my blog for over a month and half and just share moment of joy I experienced at work today.
2:30 is my least favorite part of the day. My food coma has worn off, I am tired at looking at my computer screen, and I still have a couple more hours of work. However to ease the doldrum of the 2 o clock hour a couple of my coworkers and myself head down to the vacant 2nd floor and dance our hearts out for ten minutes. We listen to a different type of music each time and we just let the music move us. Sometimes we chat, sometimes we dance in unison laughing and sometimes we are just in our own little worlds letting our stiff limbs loosen. It is really beautiful thing. I now look forward 2:30.

The Attack of the Bed Bugs!

It has been an eventful couple of weeks. About two weeks ago bites began to show up all over my body. As the week progressed I began to accumulate more and more bites until my entire neck was covered with bites and I had a line of six bites across my face. I washed my sheets and a sanitized my section of the attic but they continued. It was also strange because none of my roommates were getting bug bites. I moved downstairs for a couple of nights and I stopped receiving bites during the night! After a week and a half we decided it was time to contact JVC and talk about getting an exterminator to inspect our house. This came at an “unfortunate” time as I was conveniently leaving that weekend for Spokane for my mom’s wedding. So on Friday the exterminator confirmed that we had bed bugs, or rather, I had bed bugs and we must move out of the attic. I am surprised my roommates are still speaking to me because they had to move all of my stuff out while I was "vacationing" in Spokane. That is a joy of communal living; there were seven people to help clean out the attic in my absence. If anything this bed bug problem has brought us closer!
The exterminator claims that the bed bug problem was my fault, and I brought them from Spokane to Portland. Of course Portland would not have bed bugs. This is just one hilarious example of the fact that Portlanders believe their city is far superior to any other.
While my roommates were dealing with bed bugs I was at home celebrating my mom’s wedding! I arrived in Spokane Friday morning and was busy all weekend. I was able to spend time with Becky before she leaves for Germany which was such a blessing. Taylor and I spent the rest of the day running errands for the wedding. That evening was the rehearsal dinner. It was incredible. For dinner we have delicious pulled pork and instantly I decided I was no longer a vegetarian. I had actually been a vegetarian an entire month until the day before when my office ordered pepperoni pizza for lunch and I could not resist. Maybe I will try to be a vegetarian again…tomorrow! The rehearsal dinner was really beautiful and meaningful. My mom and Jerry thanked each person individually for their love and support throughout the years…by the end of the night there was not a dry eye at the dinner. Later in the evening I got to spend some quality time with my college friends. I love my community in Portland, but it was so nice to be with people who really know me and get me.
Saturday morning was the day we had all been waiting for…the wedding. Of course my mom and Jerry decided it would be in the morning and that there would be no alcohol or dancing…boring…but the ceremony and reception were actually quite nice. The ceremony was beautiful and a little long but we sang some of my favorite hymns and all the wedding guests took communion. It was so cool to see how excited everyone was for my mom and Jerry. Also my roommates from college were there which was really special because they know and love my family. The reception was fun and the waffle and omelet bars were delicious. People even politely laughed at my attempts to be funny while giving my toast. Overall the day was wonderful and the fact that my mom got married did not really sink in until I went home that evening and it was just my sister and I in the house. However my feelings of excitement for my mom overweigh my dislike of change and fear of the unknown.
Sunday morning my friend Nils and I were commissioned at First Presbyterian Church. I really enjoyed returning to the church of my childhood. I was disappointed that I did not get to attend New Community, the church I went to during college but being back in a familiar location was really comforting. I felt liked I belonged to a church. I knew the words to the songs, I knew when to stand and when to sit, and most importantly I felt welcomed.
Random Note:The thing that has surprised me the most about my experience thus far is that I realize how much I value communion and the ability to take communion with other believers. At my mom’s wedding all of the guests take communion and I felt strangely comforted by this.
This past weekend at home was wonderful; it was so good to see family and good friends and celebrate. However, I was excited to return to Portland as I am slowly starting to feel more and more settled here.

Week Two

This past week has flown by. I am starting to feel more and more comfortable at work. I shadowed a lot of the advocates this past week because my forty hours of domestic violence advocacy training does not start until September. On Monday and Tuesday I attended two different support groups. Support groups are led by the staff members of UNICA and all women who are receiving services from UNICA are encouraged to attend a weekly meeting. At these meetings women learn about forming healthy and non violent relationships but it is also a safe place to share about their experiences with domestic violence. The one I attended on Monday was very informal; the women were very chatty and laughing even as we were discussing very somber topics such as the cycle of violence. My experience on Tuesday was very different; the women were much more open and serious. I felt somewhat awkward sitting in a circle of women listening to them open up about the abusive relationships that they had been/ are in. I felt like I had nothing to offer, as I am 22, unmarried, white and barely speak their language. On Wednesday I traveled to Hillsboro with one of the other advocates and a client to obtain a restraining order. This was an interesting process as it involved a lot of paperwork and a lot of sitting around. Because we arrived late in the day, the client was only able to fill out the paperwork so I did not actually get to see the entire process of obtaining the restraining order. Helping clients receive restraining orders will be a significant part of my job after I am finally trained. This was my first full day of speaking entirely in Spanish and at the end of the day I stopped comprehending even the simplest questions. My Spanish still has a long way to go.
My community has been wonderful. It is so nice to leave work and come home to seven people who want to hang out and hear about my day. It is really great to move to a city that has a built in support system. However living in intentional community has its ups and downs. People have strong opinions about things I do not really have interests in like various ways to compost. Actually I think that most of our house conflict has revolved around composting which is hilarious because I like composting but have no strong feelings of if we should could compost meat or not. But for the most part my community gets along and we have a blast exploring the city, playing board games, and enjoying our incredible porch!

A lot has happened since I wrote my first entry! First a quick update. The Yosts and Sittsers headed to Cannon Beach for a short vacation before they dropped me off in Portland that following Monday. It was great fun and a wonderful ending to my summer. On Monday after saying some tearful goodbyes, my mom dropped me off at the airport to meet the rest of the new Jesuit Volunteers. I was instantly overwhelmed but quickly found someone who would be living in my community this upcoming year.
We arrived at Camp Adams and slowly people started trickling in. That evening to begin our week at Orientation, all 150 of us stood in a giant circle and received a traditional native blessing, welcoming us to the Pacific Northwest. Orientation week consisted of meeting tons of new people, answering the same four questions over and over again, singing silly camp songs, and slowly getting to know my new community. I really enjoyed Orientation but there were moments when I was ready to pack my bags and head home. There is something so appealing about being completely unknown but at the same time it is really intimidating. To be honest I was really nervous about my community at Orientation because it seemed like all the other communities had really clicked and meshed well. However as the week progressed our community began to bond and I grew increasingly excited about spending a year with them.
Before starting JVC I had never been to Catholic mass but by the end of week one I had attended mass three times and was slowly starting to understand when I was suppose to stand and sit. However the highlight of Orientation was the Missionary Liturgy. At the end of the Liturgy all of the new communities gathered in our own circles and received a blessing and a cross necklace from our area directors. It was a very moving experience to stand in a circle with seven strangers who I would be spending a year with in intentional community. As we stood there holding hands, I felt so reassured that JVC is exactly what I am suppose to be doing right now.
That Saturday morning we got on a bus and headed into Portland to finally move into our house. Orientation was really fun but we were all anxious to see the house, get situated and actually start work. When we arrived at our house we were so excited… our house is incredible! We have a small raised bed garden and a huge wrap around porch! The house has so much character and lots of JVC history. After some exploration and raiding of the fridge we sat down to discuss who would live in what room. I thought this would be a quick process but it ended up taking us three hours! After much discussion it was decided that three of us would be living in the huge attic and the other five would get their own rooms. After the long and tedious rooming discussion we spent the weekend exploring our neighborhood, moving in, and getting situated. The weekend was great as we all started to feel more comfortable around each other.
We all started work on Wednesday. My first day was a lot of sitting around reading manuals, but it felt good to finally start work. My boss and co workers are all wonderful and friendly women. They have made me feel so welcome and I have only been here a couple of days. My biggest concern right now is that my Spanish is not at the level I want it to be. Most of my co workers speak to me in English, which is nice but at the same time I wish they would speak to me in Spanish because I know that most clients I interact with will only speak Spanish. I feel that I am currently just waiting around but all my co workers assure me that in no time I will be super busy and overwhelmed but I am still waiting for that to happen.
Even though we had only worked three days, my housemates and I were exhausted when the weekend rolled around. On Saturday we went on a hike with one of our housemate’s agency and then spent the afternoon napping in our really hot house that has no air conditioner. That evening we got together with the other three houses in the Portland area and danced the night away. Sunday morning my housemate and I did a little Church exploring. We attended a church called Mosaic which neither of us really liked. This Sunday made me realize how fortunate I was to find a church I really liked while I was in college. That afternoon a couple of us went on a bike ride to explore North Portland which was a much better decision than sitting around our uncomfortably warm house. That evening our community had our first spirituality night. It was a really cool evening as we sat in our living room discussing the ways in which we worship God. Our community is unique in the fact that all eight of us are practicing some type of Christianity. Our main discussion focused on communion as each of us got to discuss the significance of communion. It was interesting to hear my Catholic roommate’s qualms about communion and about the Catholic Church in general. All of us have similar frustrations with our respective churches. It was neat to focus on similarities in our faith practices rather than our differences. Our first Spirituality night was a success.

Transitions and Changes

I am sitting in my room surrounded by a pile of things I am suppose to pack in only a few bags and boxes as I head out tomorrow to be a Jesuit Volunteer in Portland for a year. Of course I left packing to the last minute and of course I am finding any possible distraction to keep me away from the packing. I am so excited for this next phase of life but as I reflect on my procrastination I realize that packing makes everything seem so real. I am moving and starting a new life in Portland. Tonight will be last night in Spokane, my last night in my mom's house, my last night on the porch swing, and the last night of familiarity for a while.
Change is good, exciting, and so so scary. The past four years of my life have included so many changes and this summer was a wonderful break from constant instability and change. This summer has been so good and has gone by way too fast. I worked for my dad, spent time with family and good friends, studied and took the GRE, one of my best friends got married, and I tried to enjoy all that Spokane had to offer. And now it is all over, and it is time to look forward. It is harder than I thought it was going to be, I loved this summer and all the wonderful memories. Saying goodbye to my dad today brought unexpected tears as the reality of leaving started to set in.

Graduation

My Sister

Lauren's wedding with new and old friends

However this time of change is coming at the perfect time as my family is also going through many transitions. My sister is transferring to SPU. I graduated from college. OH and my mom is getting married in a month!!! I am getting three new step-siblings, a crazy and fun new family, a great step-father, but that also means my mom is moving out of our house on the South Hill and is starting a new life with Jerry. So much change, so much newness...However it is the perfect time for me to start a new phase of life as my sister and my mom are also beginning new and exciting adventures.
So next week I am going to be a Jesuit Volunteer working as a domestic violence advocate for Latina immigrants. I am actually going to get to use my degrees in Spanish and Peace Studies...my parents are pleased that I am putting that expensive education to use! However this job intimidates me-it is entirely in Spanish. I have not spoken Spanish in over two months! I am anticipating feeling inadequate quite often. Also I am 22, white, and single-how am I going to be able to support and advocate for Latinas who are older than me, are married and most likely have children-will they trust me or think that I am some silly girl with can't speak spanish? I know that I have to surrender my anxieties to God and have an open mind as to how God will use me this year. This is going to be a year full of growth and I am excited to see how I am stretched and challenged in my job.
The four pillars of JVC are simplicity, social justice, community, and spirituality. I love what the organization stands for and I am excited to be able to live out these principles in everyday life. However, I am not Catholic and I do not know much about the Catholic tradition. I have received several interesting responses when I tell people I am doing a Catholic program. My personal favorite was the question "you aren't going to become Catholic are you?" It was said in a tone of voice that implied they thought that would be a grave sin. I honestly don't know what I think about Catholicism but I am excited to have a lot of my misconceptions about Catholicism dismissed and learn from a practice that is so rich in tradition.
One of the fun aspects of JVC is that I have seven other roommates and we all signed a contract saying that we are committed to living lives of simplicity with a focus on social justice, community, and spirituality. I feel that these four components where very present in my living situation at Whitworth but I am so excited to see how my seven new roommates think about these four pillars.
So tomorrow I am off. Tonight will be spent attempting to pack and say goodbye to a few friends. And then this weekend my mom, sister and I will be spending a few days at Canon Beach with the Sittsers and then Monday they drop me off and the year of simplicity officially begins...