Also, I haven't blogged in awhile, my apologies again. So this blog might be a tad bit long. I've been very busy and have a lot to talk about :) So given that I understand how hard it can be sometimes to read things about other peoples lives when it goes on and on, I'm going to let you pick and choose what you want to read by labeling everything at the beginning of each paragraph with what it will talk about :) As some may know, one of the new popular social media craft blogs "Stumbleupon" allows you to "stumble" across your specific interests. So use that idea with this blog post and "stumble" across your interests of my life :P
NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENTS:
This past Tuesday and Thursday my group (a random group we were all put into) and I started our DC engagements. While I am here we are all required to do 24 hours of community service. I have done a lot of community service so far in my lifetime, but doing community service here is so much different. Here I'm not helping out with a 5K, a Walk for something, or just a company that needs help with an event. Though those are still great acts of service, what I'm doing here in basically just experiencing a whole new kind of community service. Here I am volunteering to help out with those in need. When you think of DC, you think of Washington, DC the states Capitol and politics politics politics. But in my experience living here in just this short week, I've learned that there are two parts/cultures to the states capitol; Washington & DC. One is the regular federal Washington that you all know of, and the other is the part that you don't really think of when referring to here. Obviously I knew coming here that there is a lot of homeless and poverty, but it's easy to be caught up in the reality of being in DC and to come in naively not thinking necessarily about the poverty it holds. So this past week, and this up coming week the program has set up our neighborhood engagements with an organization we are going to help out. Then after that we choose what to do with our remaining hours.
This past week my group was put with an organization called "Age-in-Place". Basically in a nut shell it is a free service available to all persons of 60 years and older, of low to moderate income, who are living in their homes in Washington, DC ward 4 & 5. The service is provided by volunteer teams, and the service includes; yard work, house cleaning and painting. So on both Tues. & Thurs. my group and I cleaned house for two elderly woman. Both were so unbelievably sweet and were so grateful for us. We were able to do something for them that they can no longer do, and what was even better was that there were about 6 of us, so we were able to accomplish A LOT. We didn't do any yard work, but we were able to get things done inside. On both days we all divided up and took different rooms. Me and one of the girls took the living room both times, and others would take bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. We cleaned blinds, vacuumed, re arranged things, threw out tons of things, dusted, polished, etc. The houses were sparkly clean when we left :)
This upcoming week my group and I will be working with elderly people again but for a different organization. After that we decide what we want to do with the rest of our community service. At the moment I am thinking about working in this pregnancy clinic that is here. Another one of our groups has been volunteering at, and have really enjoyed it.
Us with Mrs. Adams. She is 89 years old and has been living in her house since the 60s. This is also my group that I do the community service with (we get partnered up in specific groups)
Then this is us with Mrs.Vaden. This woman had SO many clothes and shoes that her and Sarah had to go through so she could get rid of some. She had the hardest time getting rid of her shoes, she had to close her eyes every time Sarah put the shoes in the bag. NATIONAL CATHEDRAL
Last week we decided to venture off on Wednesday to the National Cathedral. I knew this church was beautiful, but when I walked in I honestly couldn't shut my mouth. It was so big, the architecture was absolutely beautiful, and the details on the walls were so intricate. The reason why we went there was for Evensong. This is when the Cathedral choristers sing, and there is also a little service that goes with it. It was so peaceful sitting in these pews that are built for a giant, and just leaning my head on the back, closing eyes while listening to the choir. It was beautiful and it was so easy to think about the beautiful creations the Lord has made. The voices of the people in the choir were heavenly, and the majority of them were actually really young, though they didn't sound like it.
WEEKEND FESTIVITIES
This past weekend was really rather adventurous. It started off with going to the movies on Friday night to see "One For The Money" with Kathryn Heigl. I don't usually do this, but hey since I'm already talking about it why not write a short movie review! So this movie just came out this past Friday (1/27/12) and stars Kathryn Heigl (like I said), Jason O'Mara, Sherri Shepherd, Daniel Sunjata & Nate Mooney. Heigl plays the role of Stephanie Plum who is a spunky born and bread Jersey girl. Though she lost her job 6 months ago, and recently lost her car to the debt collectors she still keeps her jersey attitude in check, and doesn't really worry. However, of course she is desperate for some cash so she turns to her sleazy, greasy cousin for a recovery agent position at his bail bonding company. Getting the job she decides to take on Vinnie's (her cousin) most expensive case; reeling in former cop and murder suspect, Joe Morelli. The fact that there is a hefty paycheck involved if she gets him is only half the reason she wants to throw him in jail. The other half is because irresistible Morelli had the pleasure of seducing her and then dumping her in high school. So she now finds it necessary to throw him in jail. Only knowing how to use pepper spray and never have touched a pair of handcuffs, she finds out her job isn't as easy as she thought when she ends up involved with more than just one murderer. This movie is thrilling, and hilarious. It's a cute movie, but if I could do it over again I would just rent it :)
Anyways... One of the many things I am going to miss when I leave in May is the Eastern Market. This is a market only a few blocks from me (very convenient). I would compare it to the world market in Cleveland really. It is open all week long, however, on the weekends is when all of the vendors come and it turns into an even bigger market! There are all sorts of things being sold; one section might be hats and scarfs, another is cards and jewelry, then there are sections for fruits and sections for vegetables. I went with my roommates earlier in the day (it was a roomie outing :). I ended up coming back with hummus, black bean dip, salsa, and lots of fruit. It is all SO good. Although it better be good considering it's all I'm going to be eating for awhile since I went through almost $200 in my first week :( In my defense to of spent that much though is backed by the fact that first shopping trips always cost the most because you have to buy all the staples. :)
Later in the afternoon this past Saturday I got to meet up with a friend of mine whom I went to high school with. She goes to American University here in DC. We met up at a place called "Dans Chili Bowl", which is this little chili place that I guess they say is "Home of The Famous Chili Dog"! I've also read that a lot of celebrity cooks from the food network have visited there. The fun thing is that it's only here in DC! So you all will just have to come here if you want to try it :) And trust me, it's worth it! Cassandra and I both got chili cheese fries and they were de-li-cious! Then she took me to this little random frozen yogurt place called "Mr. Yogatos", and I don't think I could have gone to a cooler frozen yogurt place then this! This is why...
Rules of Yogato:
- If Mr. Roboto comes over the speaker system and you sing along,
you get 10% off yogurt. - Try your luck with a trivia question. Get it right for 10% off, but get it wrong and 10% is added.
- If you will wear a yogato stamp on your head, you get 10% off.
- If you can recite the Stirling battlefield speech from Braveheart in a great scottish accent, you get 20% off yogurt.
- Order a yogurt for 30 consecutive days and we'll name a flavor after you.View 30 Day Champions
- If a customer suggests a topping or flavor which is then adopted, that customer receives a 5% discount for life.
- If anyone can stump Steve on trivia regarding Seinfeld or "The Rock," 10% off yogurt.
- Anyone wearing a kickball uniform and has played hard (evidenced by dirt on their knees) will receive an automatic 10% off yogurt.
- Reenact the entire 47-second Michael Jackson Thriller dance for 20% off. Perform a shorter choreographed dance (such as the Hitch Q-Tip dance) for 10% off.
- Dress up like 80's tennis legend Bjorn Borg and receive 25% off. Sing "I'm Too Sexy" by RSF in his Swedish accent to bump it up to 50%.
- Seinfeld Mega-Challenges:
Rules 9 and 10 added on Mr. Yogato's first birthday!!!
- Challenge 1: Bring any Seinfeld minor character into the store for a picture with the Yogato tie and receive 10 free yogurts or all-you-can-eat for a week.
- Challenge 2: Create an edible Yogato pasta-structure (i.e. Fusilli Jerry) and receive a discount in percentage points equal to the height (in cm) of the figure.
- http://www.mryogato.com/
Real fun right?! I was so happy that Cassandra told me about it, because it was just too fun. We ended up getting the stamp on our foreheads, and un-scrambling their word of the day! It was great hanging out with her and catching up :) She told me a lot of fun low key places in DC, which was very much appreciated! Obviously coming to DC to visit all of the Smithsonian's, and memorials is wonderful, but being a resident here it's fun to know about all the other cool things there is to do.
DOWNTON ABBEY NIGHTS
Now I don't know if any of you have ever heard of "Downton Abbey" or not, and if you haven't you better stop reading my blog right now and go watch a trailer for the episodes! About 20 or so of us here in the apartment building have become addicted to this show, and will schedule nights around watching it. It's that good I promise! I don't want to spend too much time explaining it, but it's a British show with the first season set in the time era of the sinking of the titanic, and the second covers the years 1916-1919. The third season comes out in Fall of 2012. The show has won a lot of awards too! It seriously is so addicting because of how wonderful it is. So I think you all should go on and watch a tailor on PBS.org. Seriously, forewarning I'm not done writing yet, so it's either my life or Downton Abbeys :P
Like I said... It's an all apartment event :)WEEKEND FESTIVITIES CONTINUE...
Church on Sunday was fabulous! I am proud to say that I visited my first African American Baptist Church, and oh my lanta was it a blast! I swear there was never one dull moment. When you hear about an African American church you usually will be told that there's a lot of arm raising, loud singing and lots of joy to praise the Lord... and well, that's a pretty safe accusation to go with! We had so much fun going, and yes, we were the only white people there. It was wonderful, I know that I'll for sure be going back. We raised our hands just as high and sung just as loud as if we had been going there for years! After church, since we were already in China Town we stayed for the Chinese New Year parade! It was a lot of fun to experience between all the colors, and dragons. Check out my fun pictures!
Start of the parade
Miss District of Columbia
Wizards cheerleadersI wanted to take this time to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog! It's a great feeling to be told "I've been following your blog" :) Continue reading, and I hope you all enjoy!
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