My dream is to be free

Wow- sorry it took me so long to write on here again. I hope everyone's holiday season is cheery and bright.
My thanksgiving was a lot of fun- I went to Rya's new apartment on Long Beach! You can see the ocean from her windows and it was amazing being able to run on the boardwalk. Then I obviously stuffed my face with great food, but other than that I got to see all of my Long Island friends which was very necessary! I love this program and the people in it, but there is certainly a stronger bond with those friends who have lasted through the entire "life changing" college experience and I missed them dearly.

After Thanksgiving we just got back to the grind with the program- they gave us our numbers of how many service hours we have each completed and thus far I have about 600 hours in just over 3 months. I only have to complete 1700 for the whole program but I will absolutely go over that - and most people do. The physical Monday/Friday service projects have been getting harder because of the weather. There was one Monday that was so cold I could not feel any fingers or toes, or my nose for the entire day. I used to complain about how cold it was going from class to class, or from the house to the car...but now that I am outside in it for 8 hours those little moments seem like NOTHING :-P All in all it was a good day- we were building stairs in nature trails (which was a little frustrating having to dig many holes into frozen ground) and then we widened a bunch of trails and did more invasive cutting.
Invasive species I officially DESPISE:
-Phragmites
-Honeysuckle
-Multiflora rose (has CRAZY PRICKERS >:-0)
and my "all time hate" award would have to go to Bittersweet- its insanely viney and grabs onto other trees and pulls them down- breaking them and stopping their growth. Their root system is so intricate that intertwines with other tree roots and one bittersweet plant can have an underground root that will take acres and acres of land. I spent so many days digging roots and cutting and pulling them off trees and then last weekend we passed an Inn that was called "Bittersweet Inn" and it had Bittersweet (that the owners planted) EVERYWHERE!! All over the fences and arch ways, there were wreaths made out of it!!!!! The people in my car were like "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!" One of the members had to talk me out of taking lopers to the entire Inn. But do not dismay because I will go back there one night on a secret mission- dressed in all black with a stocking over my head and lopers in one hand, a handsaw in another. Oh yes...it will happen. Just kidding!! Kinda.

At Self-Reliance I have been working on a Teachers workshop that I did on Thursday!! It was for the Junior Solar Sprint and I had to teach teachers how to teach their students about the program and I had them make their own model solar cars. It was four and a half hours long and fun, but stressful in the beginning because 30 min before it started my supervisor (who was supposed to do a Photovolaics presentation at the workshop- and had the projector for my presentation) called me and said she was on the side of 195 (highway off Cape) because her car had broke down. So I called a teacher at 4 C's (Cape Cod Community College) and asked if he could possibly do it- and he did!! I was so grateful and the night ran smoothly after that. I was a little scared in the beginning that the teachers were going to see how old I was (we had just been corresponding through email and phone) and not really respect me because I am obviously just out of school- but they did and they listened to me like kids!! Ha it was great.

We have also volunteered at the Fire Station to sell Christmas trees (the reusable ones that come in pots- then when you are done using them you can plant them in your yard and you are not killing any trees!! I know I know...you are all really pumped about this too) and we also did a Christmas party for a place called the Children's Cove. This is a center for kids who have been physically or sexually abused by adults in their lives. Their stories are so disturbing and I cried when I heard some of the things that happened to them which I won't repeat here. But somehow they live with what happened to them and they move on- they are so strong I honestly do not know how they do it. But back to the party- we set up about 20 booths that they could make T-shirts, ornaments, raindeer food, candles, decorate cookies, Spin art (that was my booth! :-) ) and the list goes on and on. Then Santa came and gave them all presents. It was a great hit and the kids loved it. Its always nice to have something they can look forward to when they have dealt with so much disappointment from people they were supposed to be able to trust in their lives.

Alright- well I have to cut it short. A few of us are going to Barnes and Noble to wrap christmas presents to raise funds for our MLK Day project in January.
Enjoy your holidays!
:-)