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!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
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.
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.
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