earthquakeeeeee

I've been super busy at work since we're wrapping up the Natural Helpers pilot project. We have our final dinner celebration on Monday so I've been working on the program for it all week. I've still got so much errands to run after Monday. I hate deadlines!

Wednesday (6/23): I was sitting in my office by myself just working on some stuff quietly when suddenly I felt everything around me tremble. It lasted about 5-10 seconds and immediately I looked around and wondered if it was an earthquake. But I shook that idea off quickly...earthquakes never hit NY, right? Wrong. I got some texts about the earthquake and then I went on facebook and saw that other people felt it too. Is it weird that everyone got so incredibly excited over a natural disaster? I was so over-the-top psyched about it because this kind of stuff never happens. Even though it occurred in Canada, that tremble was still something rare that mother nature doesn't bring over to the east coast. Pretty awesome!

Brian made some pho today and it was definitely different eating home-made pho but it was delicious! I had the crazy itis after eating it and passed out while watching the bachelor lol. Then we went to grab icecream at abbots but it was mosquito infested so we ended up at friendly's where we got two huge desserts that i ate the most of lol that's a lot of calories i wish to forget about :(

Anyways, looking forward to this weekend!!

Pseudo Jamaica haha

Since the weather was beautiful out today, we decided to have a make-up bbq for yesterday. Miranda came down to visit! It was really nice seeing her again :) Michelle, Miranda, and I laid on the grass in the shade and it felt really nice, kind of like a vacation, because the skies were so blue and the grass was so green and the weather was absolutely wonderful. The guys played ball and then we all ate the ghetto hotdogs and burgers haha. Viet took me on a driving lesson around the park (thanks!!) and then we all went to Brian & Dan's place to swim in their complex's pool. It was very refreshing but too bad it got cold very soon since the sun went away. It was nice though, I don't remember the last time I got into a pool lol. Dried off/sunbathed on the grass. It felt super nice. Then we dried off at Brians and went home because the guys were starting poker. Good day, felt so relaxing!

Little NYC

Finally had some taste of the NYC lifestyle in Rochester. 

Went out to TGIF Friday's for drinks with Farmer, Mike, Luna, and Brian. After that we went downtown to Tapas (177) for some of the "best martinis in town" haha. It was actually pretty cool because the atmosphere kind of reminded me of St.Marks all over again haha, although it definitely can't compare. There was a dj playing music downstairs and it was set up all chic and edgy. Had a "177 martini" and delicious garlic bread with olive oil dip. yum.

Drank at the bar for a while and watched these people dance to techno/trance and tried to figure out how people dance to this kind of music. It was just a lot of fist pumping and moving around lol. Observing only because I'm gonna go to the club One tonight to listen to Farmer DJ there and it'll be trance/techno and I'll have to learn to dance to that type of music haha. I miss my hiphop :(

Rained today (saturday) so BBQ and beach plans were canceled. Boo :( It's okay because we're watching Smashmouth tonight at East Ave & then head over to One. So good to take a break from work!

Natural Helpers

I started work last week and just started getting used to my tasks. I'm glad I worked here the past year as as student because I knew what kind of stuff we did so I was definitely more efficient. Cindy is the student worker and she's been really cool and helping me out with my tasks. 

I went to a Natural Helpers meeting with one of my bosses (Natural Helpers is a pilot project my boss is running. She seeks out natural helpers of the rochester community and holds these meetings to find out what motivates these people to help out and be leaders of their neighborhood. Most of these people come from drug-ridden and poor neighborhoods in Rochester.) It was incredibly inspiring to hear from these wonderful folks about the work they've done to drive out drug lords and clean up their streets. They've seen a lot throughout their life time and spend their life making their run down neighborhood into something safe and worth living in. I never felt that motivation in my neighborhood in NYC. In fact, I never even thought about having some sort of collaboration between all the residents to make it a better place for everyone to live in. Everyone just kind of does their own thing. I don't even know my neighbors really. But apparently in the meeting, the participants lived in areas where each block had a block leader and block clubs. The block committees meet weekly or bi-weekly to discuss what needs to be done and who needs help with what. It was really interesting to see this dynamic because I've never seen this kind of thing, at least not from where I've lived. They're like this collective family that works together and helps each other out--it's something I see as crucial in surviving in low-income neighborhoods that are always crime and drug-ridden. I'm really grateful for these people's efforts. Go natural helpers!

This weekend I went to the public market for the first time in Roc. Everything was pretty cheap and the food was fresh. I bought some pluots and random stuff like gum haha. I also got a pretty handkerchief dress. The best thing I got was these 800 thread count bed sheets for under 20 bucks. I'm so used to cheap 200 thread count ones because they cost around 20 bucks too so this was a steal! It felt soooo good and smooth on my bed. I don't think I can ever go back to 200 thread count lol!  I got a baby blue colored set and it had a satiny sheen to it because of the higher thread count. Must get more of this!

Had hot pot with a bunch of people. It was delicious! We bummed there from 5:30PM-2AM. We played this card game called Munchkins and watched a movie and some HIMYM. I hope the weather gets warmer so we can hit the beach soon!

Anyways, I'm really missing home. Talking to my friends back home just makes it worse because they're always going out and I wish I could be there! It's kind of boring in Rochester during the week. Nobody really goes out at night or does anything because they're busy or working super late. I have to find something to do soon! 

Beginning of Life in Roc

this past week has all been a blur to me. Came back up to Rochester on Sunday and spent the first two days unpacking and getting settled in. My room is pretty comfortable and homey so I'm happy in my new place. Hung out a few times with the Roc people and spent the rest of the time at home, bumming. I really need a car :( But went to the East End Festival this weekend, although we got rained out later on. It was pretty cool, there were these rock bands playing and tons of motorcycle gang members from the Warthogs. They all had matching leather vests with their state stitched on it. Everyone had a cup of beer in their hands and were just chilling like it was spring break in Rochester lol. Shopped with Ed this weekend and was quite fruitful (yes!). Had work orientation the past two days and it was honestly the longest, most torturous initiation into full-time work ever lol. It was from 8am-4pm and it was straight talking. I was pretty excited to get things rolling though--I've got health insurance, life insurance, and a pending retirement fund (lol how about that!) My legit (non-orientation) first day of work is tomorrow and I'm super excited!