My new favorite

Alright dudes. So, I have a Bucket List. Yes, I know I'm a mere 21 years old (bahahah) so you ask, why do I have a bucket list? I'll tell you why. It's so I can enjoy the things I'm doing RIGHT NOW. Why wait until I'm in my 60s or whatever to start doing these things?

I've done quite a few of them already: Skydive. Move to NYC. Visit Boston (ahem). Learn to knit.

There are also quite a few that I haven't done yet: Learn sign language. Write a novel.

BUT, there is one thing that I just started and it is my new favorite. It makes me happier than I ever thought something like this could.

I have bought and am now learning how to play the violin!!

I know I suck at it, I know I do, but it doesn't matter. I enrolled in a Beginner Violin Adult Education course in Brookline that lasts 8 weeks and I love it. There are 7 of us in this course and I love the group setting because I don't feel as pressured as I would in a 1 on 1 setting.

The majority of us have never played violin before and I love how eclectic our group is. One student is in his 70s, there are some who are probably 40ish, then there are others who are younger, but we all have this one thing in common: we all want to learn how to play and always have.

I have so much love for this I can't even express it!

Snow can be enjoyable...sometimes

Oh man, winter makes me so LAZY. I've had 2 snow days in January and did absolutely NOTHING during both.

Yesterday, in an effort to get out of my room and stop watching re-runs of 30 Rock, my friends and I went cross country skiing at Weston Ski Track.

It was a lot of fun!
It was much harder than I remember it being though. I think I fell...5 times maybe? But it was a good way to get out, enjoy the snow, and be active!

The Short-Haired Candlepin Bowler

I am the worst bowler in the world. Seriously, the last time I went bowling I bowled a 43. Pictorial evidence below:

So anyway, when my friends asked me to go bowling I wasn't really sure if I wanted to spend $10 to make a fool of myself (sidenote: holy crap it's cheap to bowl here unlike NYC where it costs $80 billion dollars - or maybe more like $20), but I agreed anyway. When we got to the place, all the lanes for 10-pin bowling were taken but they had some "Candlepin bowling" lanes open.

Ummmm, Candlepin? Apparently it's this crazy New England style of bowling where you have really small pins and a really small ball (with no finger holes).
We decided to try it and guess what guys? I'M ACTUALLY KIND OF OK AT IT! Woot! I can't remember my exact score but that doesn't really matter because I WON THE GAME and also I had only like 2 gutter balls. Uh huh, that's what I'm talking about!

In other news, I got my hairs cut!
Before:


And, 11 inches and some red hair dye later:

Side view

And now to really gross you out....
My hair! yes, I did send it in to Locks of Love. That makes a total of 32 inches that I've donated in my life :) yay!

Acupuncture

So it's gotten significantly colder in Boston in the past week. I'm chilled to the bone right now and cannot warm up!

I had today off work because we had our 5th Annual Un-Gala yesterday and all of us worked both Saturday and Sunday. Today was a much needed rest day.

I know I haven't been blogging much and part of the reason is because I have been suffering from some major headaches. Tear. To help with this though, I have been seeing an acupuncturist. And by seeing, I mean, had my first appointment tonight.



It was strange but very relaxing. First the guy asked me about my medical history and what was bothering me. I told him that it's my migraines that I think start out as tension headaches and will become migraines if I don't treat them.

I also told him that what prompted me making the appointment was the fact that I've had a headache ever since before Thanksgiving. I often explain it to people like this: It's strange for me to NOT have a headache.

Anyway, so he took my pulse and looked at my tongue (IDK) and then decided to put needles in my arms and feet. He put a warming light on my feet as well.

As I said, it was really relaxing and I'm hopeful that with more sessions it will help me more. I have an appointment for next week.

In case anyone in the Boston area is wondering, I went Pathways to Wellness in the South End, because they offer payment on a sliding scale (by income). I recommend.

Oh SNAP

Yeah, so I knew this whole keeping-up-with-blogging-during-my-term-of-service-thing was not going to happen. That's just how I am and we all know it!

So, instead of trying to update my blog on everything I've been doing, I'm going to talk about something in particular - I'm going to talk about FOOD STAMPS.

As you may or may not know, Americorps Volunteers receive a very limited stipend. I'm talking 110% of the poverty level of the area you are serving.

Poverty is measured in different ways by different organizations. The Federal Government uses the "Orshansky Poverty Threshold" to measure poverty in the US. Orshanksy, an economist in 1969 who was working for the SSA, determined that the best way to determine poverty was by food. This is the equation she came up with:

$3.60 (the cheapest USDA Food Plan per day for a family of 4) x 3 (1950's studies showed families spent one third of income on food) x 365 = $3,942 (Any family of 4 living on less than this amount was considered poor)

The main issue with this calculation is the fact that it is pre-tax (income tax is about 1/3 of income -there goes your $ for food!). Also, it does not account for the variation of cost of living from state to state and between urban and rural areas. WTF, US government, WTF?

The government does include things like inflation, etc. So the 2009 Poverty Guideline for a household of 1 (ie: me) is $10,830!

So as I said, I am receiving 110% of the poverty level, so I can "live in the community I'm serving". The Americorps does take into account the cost of living for different areas, which is good, but since I'm at the poverty level in Massachussets, I'm elgible for Food Stamps.

Or, as us Mass'ers call it - SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). I recently applied for food stamps online and had to schedule a phone interview with someone from the Department of Transitional Services. I had to tell them my income, how much money I have in the bank, how much my rent is, if I'm paying for utilities, etc etc. So, I did that and now I have to prove everything and send them my lease, my bills, proof of identity, and proof of citizenship.

Once I do that, I'll receive $200 per month (this varies based on how much you are making, size of household and the area you are living in, obviously metro areas will get more, cause the cost of food is higher) that can be used at various grocery and convenience stores.

Now, I'm sure once I use it I will get different reactions. I know there's always been a stigma attached to food stamps, but they no longer look like play money, they look like a debit card:


I'm sure people will look at me and think that I don't look like I should be receiving food stamps, or that I'm taking advantage of the system, but this is obviously not the case.

I think an advantage to being on Food Stamps is that I understand what people need to do to get them. At the organization I'm working with, we determine if a school is eligible to receive our school-supplied filled backpacks if they have a certain amount of students on the free or reduced lunch program. Again, determining poverty by food, only one of the basic needs of people.

As an Americorps VISTA, our mission is to combat poverty, and I suppose the best way to learn how to do that is to live it yourself. You know, walk a mile in someone else's shoes, blah blah blah. Well, I am doing just that - I'm walking a mile by doing a year of service.

Bad Blogger

I've been extremely bad about updating this thing about my time in Boston and in the Americorps, so I'll give you the short version, and then hopefully keep up with this.

• Had Pre-Service Orientation in Philly, which was great. I met a lot of like-minded people, which did wonders for my outlook on my future. I thought I was one of a limited amount of people who value human service, philanthropy and volunteering, however, I learned that there are others out there who feel giving back is important.

The Liberty Bell, which was closed when we went.

• Moved to Boston and started with Cradles to Crayons. I've been there for almost 2 weeks now and it's been a lot of fun. We've had fun activities and I'm learning how everything works in The Giving Factory.

Me and my "Freedom Trail" Tour guide. Hells yeah.

Americorps!

So, as I've mentioned, I have joined AmeriCorps*VISTA. I have moved to Boston to do a year of service with an organization called Cradles to Crayons. It's very exciting and I'm really enjoying it so far.
A little about Cradles to Crayons:
We are based out of Boston and serve the homeless and low-income children in the community by providing kids ages 0-13 with the everyday essentials they need to feel warm, safe, ready to learn and valued. The second part of C2C's mission is providing the community with volunteer opportunities so they can get involved and make a difference.

These missions are fulfilled in our "Giving Factory" which is a large warehouse in South Boston. We get donations from individuals, families, businesses and organizations. Then, we have volunteers come in and sort through these items and make sure they are up to par (so the child can feel valued).

We also partner with over 400 social service agencies and the case-workers log on and create orders for the children they are serving. We put these orders together (which is called a KidsPack) and could have clothing, pajamas, shoes, toys or school supplies.

It's a really great organization and I'm super excited to be working here for the next year.