Ketsup

"Mt. Charleston"

Baltimore Blizzard

SC Snow

Ok we have to catch up.  I decided to test drive Aisha’s blog approach by giving you little snippets because it is now late February and a lot has happened since the holidays.  I was off of work for close to two weeks so you can probably imagine how difficult it was to adjust to normal life again.  I guess my body thought the same thing because as soon as I got back (actually on the car ride down) I started getting sick!  For the majority of January I was sick.  It was a kind of an on and off sinus/cold/clogged/blood vessel bursting cough type thing but nothing to really worry about.  It just made me drag and adopt a Nyquil diet but I was still able to get into a lot of great things over the last two months!  Let me fill you in:

 

January 7^th

My job has finally become more focused - it only took six months to get there!  My supervisor and I came up with a new project AND she has cut mostly all of my ties with the other organizations so I will solely be working under her supervision.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am.  The new project is (drum roll please) to create a website! Shocking I know since I have absolutely no experience with website design but I have to say I’m kinda getting into it!  However I have to give Google sites and its user-friendly templates a lot of the credit.  The website is called “Reducing Childhood Obesity in North Charleston” and basically it will be used as a community resource tool.  The purpose is to engage and inform students, parents, and community members in reducing the trend of childhood obesity in the city of North Charleston by supplying obesity facts, resource links, related articles,…, and what is being offered at the local schools and surrounding neighborhoods to promote active living and healthy eating.  I’ll be working on it for the next few months in preparation for the long awaited Community Wellness Initiative meeting in March.  We’ve only had one other meeting since I’ve been here so this is going to be a biggie.  Updates to come.  (Here’s the link if you’d like check it out: Reducing Childhood Obesity Website)

 

January 13^th

Maggie’s four Jersey girlfriends have just arrived.  They’re here til Monday.  It’s going to be a full house but we expect it to be a fun full house.  If anything it’ll be a piece of home delivered right to my front door.  Tonight we’re going to the Mill.  Duh, we have to introduce them to North Charleston!  And believe me, if you ever come visit me I’ll be taking you to the saaame place.

 

January 14^th

I just got pulled over for speeding and got an $81 ticket!  I spewed him a sob story and he told me to pull him aside at court and we’ll work something out. I half regret accusing the cop of discriminating against my out-of-state plates. We’ll see what happens.

 

January 16^th

I just returned from volunteering at the Riverfront Race Festival right in my back yard, the Navy Yard.  “Please go on”, you say? Ok well it was a race/festival that raised money for fine arts programs in Charleston County Schools.  Overall it was it was an interesting experience…that’s the optimistic way of putting it.  From the runners’ standpoint the race was a success.  From the volunteers’ it was unorganized and cold.  Joe, Will, and I were assigned to be a glorified cheerleader; we were dropped off in what seemed to be a rock quarry and told to cheer and point the runners in the correct direction.  We made the most of our rocky situation and climbed to the top of “Mount Charleston” as Will so eloquently named it.  We sat atop the pile and shouted things like “GO TEAM!”, “I LIKE WHAT YOU’RE GIVING ME HERE!”, “KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK YOU’RE ALMOST THERE!”, and “IF YOU GET WET YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR!” (again Will’s wit emerging).  Life was good.  We were enjoying the race and each other’s company…until then the rain came.  We decided it was a good time to make the long trek back because who knew when that little shuttle was going to come get us.  It took lots of walking and sharing of stories to pass the time but we finally made it back to eat some beer, shrimp and grits, which we were so generously promised!  Well what do you know, the shrimp and grits stands were closed (Due to rain? Depletion of S&G? Who knew).  Eh it wasn’t that upsetting.  We did get some free beer, which sufficed.  Now I’m back in my warm Manley home ready for a nap.  Hey races can be tiring for the volunteers too ya know! 

 

January 25^th

Today I went to court for my parking ticket.  Maybe I should rephrase that sentence because I never even had to go into the courtroom.  I followed the officer’s instructions and pulled him aside.  I really got lucky on this one because he deferred my ticket.  He said that if I don’t get another ticket in North Charleston for the next ninety days then I’m off scot-free. However, if I do receive another ticket then I will have to deal with this one AND the new one.  Phew I better watch my speed.

 

January 29^th

January is Mentor Appreciation Month so tonight Chicora Elementary threw a movie night for all mentees and their mentors.  Iyana and I had a lot of fun watching Toy Story and eating tons of goodies.  A decent amount of people showed up; I’m very happy and impressed that so many students (and adults!) want to be involved in this mentor program. 

 

February 8^th

I just returned from a very snowy, impromptu trip to Baltimore.  I learned that my Mom would be in town for a nursing conference so I decided to crash a visit she had planned with Shannon.  I originally planned on making a trip the following weekend to visit friends and celebrate Valentine’s Day with Christian but I figured if I could see my Mom, Shannon, Christian, and some friends all at once, that’s even better!  I just happened to visit at the best (or worst depending on who you are) time because Baltimore was hit by a huge snowstorm and the entire city shut down!  It was so tranquil and almost dreamlike. We walked all over the city and encountered more passersby than cars. I've never exchanged so many friendly glances and small chats with people in Baltimore...it's amazing how a snow storm really brings out a sense of community in people. I ended up being stuck there for an extra day but I can't say that I was sad about that.  I felt satisfied after getting my snow fix and was able to return to Charleston on good terms.

 

February 11^th

Tonight I had my first improv class!  I can’t tell you how excited AND nervous I was!  I felt like a little kid.  All day I kept imagining it to be a disaster.  I swore as soon as they were going to make me do whatever they were going to make me do I’d freeze.  I was so relieved to find out that it wasn’t anything like I had predicted.  The class was small (16) and everyone seemed pretty friendly once the ice was broken.  We played a lot of warm up games and then went into the “Yes And” games.  The “Yes And” games definitely put you on your toes.  You’re given a scenario and then the person next to you starts off with a detail.  You then, have to reply “Yes and…” and follow up with yet another detail.  For example let’s say my partner and I just won the lottery.  I would say something like, “I can’t believe we just won the lottery!  I’m going to throw the biggest party with my half!”  My partner would then respond, “Yes, and you’ll have to use some of that money to buy some friends if you want anyone to attend.” So on and so forth.  I’m so glad that the first class and all of my anxiety is over.  Should be smooth sailing from here on out…until my recital eek!

 

February 13^th

It snowed last night!! I heard rumors that this was the first snow in 10 years! I feel so lucky to have been here to experience a South Carolina blizzard.  It probably accumulated to only about one inch and was gone by morning but it was still a nice little surprise.

 

February 22^nd

So after participating in a poverty simulation a few months ago I decided to volunteer at one.  A poverty simulation is an educational tool used to teach ANYONE about the day-to-day life of someone living in poverty.  Participants of the simulation role-play the lives of low-income families.  The families vary from a single parent with multiple children to a single elderly individual.  The task of each family is to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities during the simulation by interacting with various community resources i.e. Social Services, grocery store, etc.  It is such an eye-opening experience and I’d recommend it to anyone.  Today was just the training and the real deal simulation is on Friday so I’ll let you know how it goes!  

I don't know what to title this one.

Lit up palm at the "Festival of Lights" l 

Channel Four News Anchors

Kiss from Kai on our ride home to NJ

Sand masterpiece at the "Festival of Lights"

My little mentee, Iyana, doin the splits :)

I knew I spoke too soon.  You know when the impossible becomes possible and you think it’s just too good to be true?  But then you are convinced that miracles do occasionally happen so you then put all of your skepticism aside and start to celebrate the good news!  Well that’s when the evil miracle-thieves come out to play!  These sabotaging miracle-thieves blindside you, kick you off your high horse, and steal your miracles away!  Haven’t you realized that this type of incident happens all the time and is the root cause of your initial skepticism?  So haven’t you learned from your last robbery?  No, because underneath that constant layer of doubt there is an even thinner and just as constant layer of hope.  Well this thin layer of hope brought out the naiveté in me and allowed myself to be robbed of the only miracle I ever wanted and deserved.  Schmiane. Is. Back.

            Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating but hey, it made for a good intro right?  I know I’m overdoing it with the miracle snatching metaphor but it is true that she’s back.  It’s true that this news made my blood boil.  And it’s also true that I feel deceived because I was duped into believing that people actually did hear and care about our concerns as lowly VISTA volunteers.  But thankfully her VISTA position has been redirected and since she’s been back I’ve had very little interaction with her and she is officially no longer my supervisor.  I guess I can settle for that.  Besides what more can I do without stressing myself out to the point of stroke?  Nada.  In the words of a good friend, “Just roll with it.”

            On another note, the month of December was full of holiday excitement.  The “Lunch Buddy” mentoring program at Chicora Elementary School paid for a mentor/mentee field trip to the “Festival of Lights” on James Island.  Overall it was fun.  After a very loud bus ride there we walked around to all of the park’s festivities.  Seeing the holiday lights and decorations really stirred up some holiday enthusiasm in me.  I was officially getting in the holiday spirit.  Little did I know, this spirit had no chance of surviving the night once I stepped onto the big yellow school bus to return home.  Let’s just put it this way…twenty-five 2^nd – 5^th grade kids hopped up on sugar, waving seizure inducing strobing souvenirs, singing seven different holiday songs at once is no health benefit for, well, anyone.  All in all, it was fun as well as a night I soon won’t forget.

            Not five days later I was back with the Chicora kids.  I volunteered to help with administering the H1N1 vaccine.  I didn’t do the actual administering, I just helped to distract the kids while they received it.  I’m not gonna lie, it was kind of fun.  Some of the kids were not even fazed by the idea of a shot but others were absolutely frantic over the idea and acted as if we wanted to remove his/her limbs.  My friend Michelle told me that this experience was described by one of the nurses as “a good form of birth control.”  But being around all of those kids also sort of took me back to when I was a kid.  The older I get and the less I interact with kids the more I forget what it’s like to be one…like things I was afraid of and how easily distracted and gullible I was.  And so it goes. 

            Another interesting event I helped with was the “Healthy Holiday” at Zucker Middle School.  My friend Becky was primarily in charge of it and did an awesome job!  The event was open to the families of Zucker students and focused on how to prepare a healthy holiday meal.  Earth Fare donated the food and volunteer chefs came in to cook a healthy meal for its attendees and also demonstrated how to cook it.  I set up a diabetes information table and also invited a REACH employee to come and represent the organization.  The event was a hit and everyone seemed to be REALLY fascinated by the five pound of fat simulation I displayed at the table.

            On the fifteenth of December I became famous.  Yes! It’s true!  A big race and festival are coming to the Navy Yard (a.k.a. my neighborhood) in mid January so you can imagine how much publicity and how many volunteers one might need to pull this off.  Well, to do just that my friend Celia and I lent our services to Channel 4 news.  We answered volunteer telethon calls during the six and seven o’clock news.  The camera must have panned to us five or six times!  Haha so maybe I was forbidden to even look directly into the camera and probably can’t put that on my show biz résume but it was still a fun and seldom-occurring experience! 

            After this lollygagging with Chicora kids and basking in the glow of my television limelight I had to snap back into reality and get down to brass tacks.  Christmas was around the corner and I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to buy gifts. AGAIN.  I put on my creative hat and decided to make my gifts!  To achieve this I decided to learn how to make jewelry and apple butter!  Weird combo I know but somehow it seemed fun and fitting.  A few necklaces here, a bracelet and set of earrings there, top it all off with a jar of apple butter and voilà!  It was a very satisfying feeling to follow through with my plan!  Maybe if I’m poor like this next year I’ll be able to re-earn this feeling of satisfaction!  The end of the month was approaching and December twenty-second finally rolled around which meant it was time for my roommate Maggie and I to roll out for the holidays.  We packed the car, stocked up on Five Hour Energies, bid our farewells to Manley Avenue, and made our twelve-hour trek home to the Jersey shore!  My two-week break was much needed and though it flew by I enjoyed every minute of it.  My gifts were a success and it felt so good to be among family and friends.  I love you all and I hope to make it back soon!

VISTA Sundae

Building our KaBoom Playground!

BANANA Costumes at the Fair!
Halloween

It’s three nineteen p.m. on a sunny seventy-seven degree Sunday afternoon and I’m lounging in the Navy Yard’s River Front Park attempting to write a long overdue blog entry. Jealous? Not really? Oh did I mention that it’s also November and this beautiful weather ain’t no rarity? Well it’s true and this is why I’m starting to appreciate living in the south. A lot has happened since my last entry any the infamous Kathy Griffin show (which was AWESOME) and over the past month so let me catch you up…

As you know, my year of service here is dedicated to working with the Community Wellness Initiative (CWI) to promote active living and healthy eating in an effort to reduce obesity and obesity related diseases in North Charleston. CWI is a brand new initiative that has still needs a lot of structure and tweaking. Still a sore subject to me, I have indirectly realized that I was recruited into this position based on a large grant that never fell through. It seems that my supervisors got ahead of themselves and assumed they were a shoe-in for the grant money but soon found out that other than lint and crumpled old gum wrappers there was no money to be found in their CWI pockets. You know what they say about ASSuming. As a result they have an eager VISTA seeking work and productivity but no money to assist in this search. This, I have realized, is the sole reason for my lack of guidance and assignment description. I’ve now decided that if anyone’s going to make this a good experience for me it has to be me. I’m going to have to take matters in my own hands, grab the bull by its horns, insert additional analogies here, etc. Stay tuned.

I can’t get over how much has happened/changed here since my last chat with “ya’ll.” Let’s see…I had an interesting and fun Halloween (as a zombie 40s “Desperate” housewife) that ended at a 24-hour IHOP where I scared all of its customers with my cuts and zombie-esque features and tried convincing our waitress that she looked like Mena Suvari. I was on a Charleston morning radio show where I spoke about Diabetes Awareness month and healthy eating (still waiting on a copy to share). I BUILT A PLAYGROUND! BY HAND aaand as a bonus developed arthritis from it! I went to the Coastal Carolina Fair, judged a Sugar-Free Halloween costume contest at MUSC, gained another roommate named Mary, and became a “Lunch Buddy” mentor at a local elementary school. I recently went to an improv show and decided to take classes starting in January with VISTA Celia! Funny stories are sure to come! Most importantly I had a wonderful 26^th birthday thanks to all my friends’ and family’s birthday wishes. I was lucky enough to have Christian here for the festivities and to share such a special day with me! Thanksgiving was a Manley Ave. blast. All of the VISTAs who did not make it home for the holiday joined in on a potluck dinner! The following day a group of us took a day trip to Savannah, toured around while sipping on Bloody Marys, saw baby alligators while eating at the infamous Crab Shack, and on our way home "dropped in" to play some slots on a casino boat which turned out to be an unexpected 6 hour casino boat cruise! Christian ended up staying past his original departure date and decided to hitchhike home. It SEEMED like a exciting idea at the time but after his 26 hour journey back to MD I think his answer would be “no” if you ever asked him to do it again. Ahh life is full of lessons. The cherry on the top of my 2 month blog hiatus sundae is…drum roll please…Shmiane was fired! Our concerns were voiced which must have been the last straw for the Noisette Company Camel’s back. I can’t say that things here are perfect now but I can, however, say that the big Shmiane weight has been lifted. Cheers to weight loss!

time travel: the most emo entry i'll ever post i promise.

slackin at work
traffic jam!

Preface: I started this entry ten days ago and began it out of frustration and anger. Take my

tone lightly seeing as things have (slightly) changed since then. I considered deleting the entire thing

and approaching this entry with a different mindset. But instead of denying these potentially

reoccurring feelings I decided to include them while adding a not so "whoa is me" ending :)

Rewind to 10 days ago:

I knew this would happen. I aimed to write in this blog once a week but it's been more like once a month. I will try to do better I promise. Right now I'm sitting in my pseudo office at the college of nursing and figured "hey what better time to write in my blog than when I'm doing nothing at work!" I know it's just a temporary emotional/frustrated/confused/unmotivated mood that I'm in right now but I can't help feeling anger toward myself, my VISTA site, or Americorps in general...I haven't quite figured out who's to blame here.

I'm feeling spread so thin among different supervisors, sites, and projects that I can't even keep track or tell them apart anymore. I know things will improve and become clearer soon but it's the lack of patience I have in getting there that is the problem. Since conversing with fellow VISTAs I know I'm not alone in these feelings of frustration. A lot of us volunteers seem to be thrown into things without much training or experience (though I assume this is common within the non-profit world). A lot of VISTAs that I've met are feeling unsatisfied with their work because there's nothing or not enough for them to do!

Another contributor to these feelings is the discovery of whom my VISTA supervisor/coordinator really is. Let me tell you a little story... [In order to preserve anonymity I will refer to her as Shmiane (phonetically spelled Shmeye-anne iif you catch my drift)]. When I first began my service here (I thought) my supervisor was fantastic. She went out of her way to make my parents and me feel comfortable about the move and everything that went along with it. She made sure to personally meet my parents, take them out to breakfast, and even invite them to their church. It seemed that Shmiane really wanted to make her new VISTAs feel at home. Although a few issues arose along the way (i.e. taking a few extra weeks after move-in to furnish the "semi-furnished" apartments, making harmless yet unnecessary comments about other VISTAs, focusing more on VISTA social events than on giving SUPERVISING me etc.) they could easily be overlooked since I knew (well thought rather) how good Shmiane's intentions really were deep down. But the breaking point was when Shmiane spitefully and unjustifiably did not let my roommate Maggie move in to our house after driving 12 hours from New Jersey. She claimed that Maggie never informed Shmiane of her move in date and time. As a consequence, and since traveling with her cutie patootie pooch, Maggie had to quickly find a pet-friendly hotel in a unfamiliar city to spend the night. This unnecessary issue was later nipped in the bud when Maggie victoriously found an archived emailed that had been previously sent to Shmiane in late August which stated her exact move in details. IN YOUR FACE. I'm leaving out many many details and other events but I don't want to waste both your and my valuable time...but I think you get the gist.

Fast forward to the present:

It's currently Sunday Oct. 18th and I'm sprawled out on my couch eagerly awaiting the Kathy Griffin standup show tonight! My friend Ashley and I, the day before the deadline, entered The City Paper's drawing to win free Kathy Griffin tickets. We promised to take the other if either of us won...lo and behold Ashley found the golden ticket and her lucky date is yours truly! I'm super stoked if you can't tell.

In other news my mood has taken a near 180 degree turn. My anxiety's peak came to a head when I realized that the specific project, my VAD (VISTA Assignment Description), that I am expected to complete by the end of the year and soul reason for me being here has not even been addressed. Though partly my own fault, I assumed that the projects currently being given to me were my VAD. It finally clicked that I have a whole other individual job to do other than the side tasks I've been given. Silly me, I thought that everyone knew this and was guiding me in the direction of VAD completion. After expressing my frustrations with another VISTA site supervisor I realized that I have to take charge if I want anything accomplished. I realized that though everyone knows I'm an Americorps VISTA they may not necessarily know what that means. (I guess I give people too much credit sometimes.) Since my newfound enlightenment I've sat down with one of my many supervisors and "reminded" her of my assignment. I still have some other supervisory "reminding" to do but I already feel more motivated and purposeful.

Not knowing every task and project I've been given as well as what's specifically on my VAD I'm sure this synopsis seems a bit vague. But the important thing is that since learning my true role here I now know that I have more power and discretion as to what I should and shouldn't be doing. ALSO some of the ideas I have floating around concerning my VAD include: creating radio (and hopefully TV) PSAs encouraging "Active Living and Healthy Eating"; in addition to (and with the same purpose) implementing a community garden in the Noisette community that a (still undetermined) student group with maintain. My life here is slowly but surely falling into place which is helping to set my mind at ease :)

P.S. If anyone has suggestions or advice I'd love to hear them!

KaBoom

top pic) i'm officially a MUSC volunteer. bottom pic) farmer's market at marion square in charleston

I'm on my third week here in the Navy Yard.  So far so good I must say.  Aside from a few kinks in the road i.e. my lawn growing well over knee length and constant spider invasions I'm feeling quite comfortable on Manley Avenue.  I should probably bite my tongue but I feel compelled to admit that sometimes I'd prefer having to deal with roaches and rats like I did at my old house.  But I guess it's a compromise I have to accept and appreciate if I'm going to live in a one story house in a tree shaded neighborhood with central air and plenty of parking!  But I digress...  To compensate for these obstacles, my house is slowly coming together, my AC has recently been fixed, I'm getting to know the neighborhood a little better, my jumps of fright have declined to an all time low (maybe only 2 feet high rather than 5) after hearing strange noises at night, and my living allowance plus moving reimbursement were deposited into my bank account $$ cha ching $$.  

This past weekend a few friends (Ashley, Erin, and Michelle) and I went to visit our other friend Becky.  She and her husband live in a beautifully decorated and perfectly located house on the Isle of Palms.  We relaxed on the beach while talking and watching a million adorable puppies trot by.  The sunshiny scenery and close proximity to the beach almost made it too difficult to return back to Spanish Mossy Manley Avenue.  But with some group effort we all made it back to our little neighborhood for a fun filled night of card games and beer.  I have to say, it's been extremely nice having weekends (as opposed to working).  I highly recommend having them ;)

My work week in general hasn't really changed a whole lot.  I'm still spending a portion of the week at Noisette and the other portion at MUSC.  HOWEVER, as you can see I'm finally an official volunteer at MUSC.  It took a lot of running back and forth on campus plus a Tuberculosis screening shot here and there but I now have clearance to act (kind of) important.  There are also a lot community activities coming up to look forward to.  For example, I'll be attending a "three day celebration of lowcountry cuisine" called "Taste of Charleston" at Boone Hall Plantation next month.  In the same week I'll also be going on a three day VISTA retreat in western? northern? SC.  A few interesting things that I've already done include a poverty simulation hosted by East Cooper Community Outreach (moultrienews.com/news/ECCO-to-hold-poverty-simulation-event-2009-09-09T06-24-54).  It was really interesting and surprisingly fun?  Kind of a potentially non pc way of describing it I suppose.  It was very eye-opening...is that better?  But basically it was a role playing event which was supposed to simulate living in poverty.  Another really cool thing I attended was a community planning of a sustainable KaBoom playground (kaboom.org).  KaBoom is a playground building inspiring non-profit.  They recently chose a neighborhood in N. Charleston to build their FIRST green and sustainable playground.  With the help of sponsors and volunteers KaBoom designs and builds amazing playgrounds in neighborhoods all around the country.  I should also mention that KaBoom uses playground ideas created by the children living in that community (which was the most fun part of attending the meeting).  I'm looking forward to "build day."  I'll make sure to post some pics...

All in all I'm doing well down here in SC though I do miss everyone in MD and NJ!  I hope you're all doing well and please come visit me whenever you feel the need for warmth!  I'm not opposed to sharing especially since there's enough to go around.

movin down south

top pic) one of my first nights. lacking a table, chairs, and the motivation to unpack my dishes doesn't prevent me from doing what I do best: eating and watchin my favorite ladies. 

bottom pic) my house :)   




When I returned from my Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) in Atlanta, GA I had about a week to pack up all of my belongings in Baltimore, MD and say my farewells.  I had such mixed feelings.  I was really excited to make a much needed change in my life but I was also really sad to say goodbye.  I am used to uprooting myself (i.e. college, studying abroad, etc.) and creating a home elsewhere but this time it felt different.  I had genuinely made a home in Bmore...afterall I had been there (off and on) for about seven years.  Other than my (then) current job situation I was quite content in Charm City.  I lived only three hours away from my parents, had wonderful friends, an endearing boyfriend, and fabulous roommates one of which being my best friend and sister.  Though it was sad, considering what I would be leaving behind, I couldn't overcome the intense and not too common feeling of total assurance that this is what I was meant to do.  After some major packing and a memorable goodbye party I was ready to head down south!

 On Friday the 28th of August, my parents and I finally arrived in North Charleston, SC.  I soon realized that the term "approximate location" used on the google maps street view option has complete validity.  The house I was assigned to was, well, not exactly what I pictured.  But hey, for $25o/mo. including utilities, I really couldn't complain.  After some serious cleaning and unloading I was ready to start a life in my very "humble" abode.  My parents left on Sunday the 30th...and that is when I finally asked myself, "Am I really doing this?"  I experienced sudden but short lived panic spells for maybe the first half of the day.  I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way.  It's not like I haven't been in a situation like this before.  But I just chalked it up to being a common feeling I've had in past/similar situations that I chose not to remember.

The next day I started work which was only two blocks away from my house!  Ok let's just take a minute and explain my work/living situation.  This gets kind of confusing (I'm still trying to understand it) so try to stay with me.  I, as well as a handful of other VISTAs, live in the Navy Yard http://www.navyyardsc.com/.  It's an old naval base that closed down in the 1990s.  Since then the property was sold to the Noisette Company  http://www.noisettesc.com/over_whatisnoisette.html.  The Noisette Company has turned the Navy Yard into a sustainable community (a.k.a. a model of The New American City) focusing on the idea that "cities must be equally responsive to social needs, environmental responsibility, and economic vitality."  The Noisette Company hopes to improve, perfect, and spread this concept to other communities.  Soo within this company there are non-profits helping to achieve these goals.  I work for the one of these non-profits called the Noisette Foundation http://www.noisettefoundation.org/.  Within the foundation I am working with the Community Wellness Initiative (CWI).  The Noisette Foundation has partnered with the Medical University of South Carolina - College of Nursing (MUSC- CON) to work with this initiative.  I will be working half of the week at the Noisette Foundation and the other half at the CON to, in essence,  prevent obesity and diabetes in the impoverished areas of North Charleston.  I will spare you the other details haha as if I haven't detailed enough already.  Anyway, I started work on the 31st and unfortunately it's been pretty anticlimactic.  I've done a whole lot of sitting at my computer (which I am so not used to) running odd and I mean odd errands, and occasionally (the most exciting part) going over to CON to be overwhelmed with information and future tasks I will be expected to complete.  But not to worry, I know things will change.  

I've been down in the Lowcountry (coastal counties of SC) for little over a week now.  Since then I have (surprisingly) already started to appreciate the distinct smell of the nearby paper mill, battled large hairy spiders in my living room eek!, encountered the cutest little frogs I ever did see, dodged a familiar "Carolina grocery store bagger incident", and began working in an office that belongs on a movie set.  Most importantly I've already met some amazing people.  I'm surrounded by people who are going through the same experiences that I am and who also share most of the same values and beliefs that I do.  This helps to reassure me that I will make it through my one year VISTA experience.