Yesterday, Danielle picked me up around two and we headed to Rachel and Pat's. By three, I was in the car and on the road with Erica, Rachel, Sam and myself in one car and Pat, Margaret, and Danielle in the other. Wilbraham, MA is about an hour and forty five minutes away, so we were all at Erica's house by five. Her mom had made spaghetti, salad and breadsticks for us (they stood no competition to Memom's spaghetti, but it was still good) and we ate dinner and got to know her mom. It was funny because after listening to her mom, we can all see where Erica came from. haha. They have all the same mannerisms and, while are very different are also very similar. The best part was watching the two of them interact because it was just so funny. Erica's mom was telling stories about when Erica was little and was dragging them out a bit. Erica is not the most patient person and was just getting so frustrated. It was hilarious.
After a great dinner, we headed to Bright Nights. I was in Danielle's car with Rachel and Sam. I felt bad because no one really wanted to go in Danielle's car, but we ended up switching throughout the weekend, so I guess it worked out. Bright Nights was awesome. It's three miles long and has everything from jumping frogs, to Santa in a sleigh, to a cannon firing a cannon ball. It was so cool! You move pretty slow, so it took about an hour and a half, but it was totally worth it.
We came back to Erica's and went to the basement* for the night. We tried playing Trivial Pursuit, but none of us were smart enough for that, so we played Scattegories for a while. Then, we played 30 Second Mysteries, which was so cool! There are different cards and Erica would read them out to us and we would try to solve the "mystery." So for one of them, it was like "a man was found dead lying face down in snow. It hadn't snowed in weeks, but there were no footprints surrounding the man. How did he die?" There were a list of clues that she would read out and after each one, we would try and guess the answer. We got pretty good at it.
This morning, we woke up and got moving around eleven. By twelve thirty, we were out the door and on our way to the original Friendly's. Erica hyped this up so much that I was expecting this huge restaurant, but it honestly looked exactly like every other Friendly's I've ever been to. After an hour and a half lunch, we got back in the cars (I was with Erica and Sam) and headed back to Boston.
It was such a fun weekend and nice to get out of the city for a change. As I said before, I love going to people's houses, meeting their families, and seeing where they grew up. Plus, I just love hanging out with the team because I don't think we went more than twenty minutes without laughing. I am thoroughly exhausted, but it was totally worth it.
Tomorrow, I start my three day leadership academy (NELA). I'm super pumped and can't wait. I was looking at the schedule for tomorrow and it looks awesome. We start the day at nine (hello sleeping in!!!) and have sessions on community building, your leadership brand and education policy & inequality (I'm most excited for that one. There are team building sessions, IJ groups, and a panel with City Year leaders. The day ends with a huge talent show, which should be fun. I am so excited and can't wait to experience it. Stay posted!
*The idea of basements to me is fascinating because we don't have them in Virginia Beach. It's so weird to think that you are underground but still in your house. Plus, there are no windows, so you lose all concept of time. Example- this morning I woke up and thought it was six, when, nope, it was ELEVEN. hahahahah.
P.S. If you haven't seen this article yet or talked to me about how upset I am over this article, you should probably do so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/
Newt Gingrich is an idiot.
“Start with the following two facts: Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of ‘I do this and you give me cash’ unless it’s illegal.”-Newt Gingrich
Really? 1. That's one of the biggest and most untrue generalizations I've ever heard. 2. I think he needs to come spend a day in my first grade class and learn the difference between a fact an opinion. 3. meet the parents of my students and I think you'll meet some of the hardest working, underpaid people in the country, despite the fact many of them are living in poverty.
Sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading!
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