Back to the Grind

It seems I have a propensity to stop blogging for weeks at a time. It's just procrastination. I've always been the type to push off doing something until I can't really wait any longer. This case is different, becaus although I do feel obligated to write something here, I also want to do it. I've been out of touch with this white screen and black Courier New font for too long. Time to let 'er rip.

Let me see, let me see... I'm in Sacramento. I assist teachers with daily duties at an Elementary School called Larchmont. The kids are in bad socioeconomic situations. Ohhh here we go. So apparently there's a "rainy season" in Sactown that goes from late december to late feberuary. Never having experienced a "rainy season" I wasn't totally sure what to expect. here it is: It's between 30-50 degrees every day and it rains. Every day. More accurately, it drizzles every day. We rarely actually get any full-fledged rain (maybe at night, I think I hear rain drops... hard to tell). So every time you go outside without a hat or hoodie you get about 1 drop on the bridge of your nose or forehead every 30 seconds. It's like Chinese water torture. More over, recesses are cancelled at Larchmont, inevitably leading to...

YAHHHHHHHAYAYAYAYHAFHOWEQOEFNEPCONUQAGAYHAYAYAYAAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYAYAYAYAYA

This is the sound that kids make when forced indoors with no physical activity for weeks at a time. Some sort of mix of a bellowing gorilla and a crying baby. And that's the background noise. When engaged in an activity with them, it resembles a circus. Kids being shot out of cannons to your left, a kid flying around on a trapeze to your right. One is furiously scribbling on a piece of paper than darkening his hands in the graphite right in front of you. When they can go outside they seem to be better at differentiating between study time and play time, but when it all meshes together they can't discern between the two.

On another note, the rain seems to bring down entire Americorps NCCC teams also. Last week was one of the most depressing I've had in a while. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact causes (kids with spring fever was certainly one of them), but my little family of 10 had a rough go of it this week. And of course it was all done secretly and passive aggressively. Every little thing seemed to aggravate everyone. Edgy would be an understatement. In fairness, it can't all be blamed on the rain. This was bound to happen eventually spending so much time with each other. that's the way these Americorps teams work, and that's why they trained us for 2 weeks on team dynamics, etc. For times like this. Too bad i forgot most of the stuff they told me. Also, I learned today that apparently when groups of girls spend a ton of time together, they start to have the same menstrual cycle!? Well, it was last week for my girls. Reminds me of this...
http://blog.syracuse.com/healthfitness/2008/02/having_a_happy_period.html

Other news - The team had been having a lot of issues with our Team Leader. He's just a weird guy and the girls feel very uncomfortable when he is around because he makes a lot of crude, unnecessary jokes. His stories would have you beileve that he is acutally superman, although he doesn't run around in a cape. We've just stopped believing them they are so far fetched. My theory is that he has heard all of these stories from acquaintances in his past (he's 31), and takes them as his own. Apparently he's had something like 30 different jobs, and has screwed his employers out of money numerous times. He's like a compulsive liar, but he lies about stupid shit which he thinks is cool. Anwyways, the team has kind of allied against him, but since none of us have any real authority over one another, it makes getting anything done as a team very difficult. Simple majority rules don't matter, there's too much politics. Right now it has subsided a lot. I talked to our Team Leader and asked him to step up more as a leader, and he has responded extremely well. I think he's growing on everyone else too. We'll see where this goes for the next 6 months.

I finish up at Larchmont this Friday. Really sad, these kids need peopel to stay in their lives for more than 2 months at a time. Just today I consoled a 6th grader who needs to choose by next week whether to stay in Sacramento with his mom or move to Mexico with his Dad (they just recently divorced.) He wants to do both. He's all torn up about it. Not a decision any of us had to make at 11. What do I say to that?

Next Project: Alpaugh, CA. Town of 700. Central part of the state, near Bakersfield. (Google maps that shit.) We are bulding bridges and trails at a national wildlife refuge for 2 months in the morning, and working with kindergarteners in the afternoon. All 10 of us live together in one house. Real World: Alpaugh. Get ready. In light of this, my next post will be dedicated to updating you all on my 8 teammates. Boom.