Ladies and Gents, training has begun!

Alright, it’s been a while. My mom and my sister, Lexie, came to visit so I’ve been busy soaking up as much time as possible with them. They arrived last Thursday and just left a little while ago. It was great having them here. It was great for my mom to get to see where I was and meet the people I’ll be hanging out with this year so she doesn’t worry as much. And it was just great to show off my sister to all my new friends. She’s awesome and I’m going to miss her so so so so much! AHH! Here are some of the things we did during their stay. Lexie and I went out with Robert, Matt, Jill, Lauren, Lizbeth and Sasha to smoke hookah at Shisha. Lizbeth tried to get the server’s number for me (he was very attractive, nice legs) but also married… oh well. We had the above mentioned girls over for some Taboo fun. On Labor Day Jill, Lauren, Sasha and I escaped the city for some hiking at Guadalupe Park. It was a little pricy, but we got to swim (in our undies… :-O) and relax on the shore “skipping” rocks, to no avail. They came over again last night for some Root Beer/Orange Soda Floats and some Tinto (Lauren's treat from Spain, it's red wine and lemon/orange Fanta).

Tuesday was our first day of training aka painting/cleaning up “J” St Park. It was a great way to bond and get to know some of the other core members. But today was our first official day of training and man o man, am I pumped. I just can’t wait to see what this year has to offer and to take advantage of as many of those opportunities as I can. Grant (one of the 6 amazing Team Leaders) and I were asked to come to a meeting on Friday with a representative from the Senator’s office. City Year is trying to actually meet with the senator so this meeting is to promote that idea and to tell them what City Year is all about so we can just have their overall support in the future. (Sorry, that’s vague… more details to come when I figure them out) Anyways, they want me to share why I chose City Year San Antonio. It made me feel special ^__^ The way they presented all this information to us today was great. The team leaders were so energetic and I was never bored, not once! And we were there from 9-5!! That’s pretty impressive. The idea of doing City Year a second year (hopefully as a team leader) has definitely popped into my brain… it’s too early to make any of those types of decisions, but I could see it happening. I’m even excited about the reading “homework” we have to do tonight.

Here’s another update! We’re going to have another roommate. Her name is Lilly (sweet, I know) she’s doing CYSA and she’s actually from San Antonio. She’s so nice and cool and has a dog named Wavy Gravy. She’ll be moving in Friday and we’ll be sharing my room. I’m so stoked to have another girl in the apartment I can barely stand it. Living with guys is great, more drama free, but the idea of Lilly living here just makes the apartment feel complete. Plus, Wavy Gravy is an energetic Aussie/Cattle Dog mix so hopefully she’ll keep Koda busy so Falkor stops getting picked on so much.

Overall, I’m ridiculously excited about this year. It's still been a lot of getting to know the people we'll be working alongside, but the kids I'll be working with have also been on my mind a lot lately. I can't wait to meet them and to build relationships. To help them learn and most definitely learn from them as well. I can’t wait to find out what team I’m on and to learn more about EVERYTHING! We’re going to this artsie/musicy/awesome festival thingy this Friday called First Friday. It’s suppose to be pretty rad. Until then it’s more training and bonding. I’ll write again soon. Promise.

Peace.