"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."-Ghandi

So yesterday morning Nadeem and I were interviewed for the radio via the high school journalism class. I swear we're celebrities here in this small town. It was really exciting being that I have never been on the radio before (unlike my little brother).

Once I was done with my celebrity duties I headed over to Headstart and was swarmed with hugs when I walked in the door. The kids have truly grown on me, most people who know me know that I don't really like kids so this has been a learning experience for me. I've found myself loving to play with them and just act young again. I did a lot of drawing and made more zoo animals out of play-doh! and even did some coloring. Yes mom, I colored-colored-colored. I drew some castles for some pretty princesses in my class who loved them and were so excited.

We left Headstart early so our whole group could go on a hike back to Icy Strait Point. Another local, Chris Budke, who works with the forest service lead us on the hike and discussed environmental issues here in Hoonah. Then it began to rain a good bit and we headed back to the bunk house where we had good discussions on being a team leader and the class you have to take along with it. Nadeem and I kept getting complimented by our team for having this trip so well planned, even when it seemed to us that it wasn't. That was really nice to hear especially since we have been working on it for so long.

Not long after we got back to the bunk house, Moto, our Japanese friend who kind of shadows us here came and made us a traditional meal of curry rice. It was delicious! We all really enjoyed it and it was the first time some of the team members ever used chopsticks, and that was fun to watch.

When we had finished dinner we went to the senior center for our Tlingit language class. Now that was a good time. Some of the words felt really strange today and others you couldn't help laugh while saying them. Don't be surprised if I start incorporating some of these phrases in conversations when I get back. Our teacher, Genevieve, used to be beaten when she was younger for speaking Tlingit in school so she has been trying to relearn the language. So it impressed her that we, and previous groups, have shown in interest in learning her native language.

After our class we came back and had reflection just like every night. Reflection always goes well and everyone enjoys learning each other's experiences during the day. We all were feeling pretty tired and delirious after reflection but we stayed up for a while serenading each other with old 90's songs. That should have been caught on tape.

More pictures will be posted tomorrow. I love and miss you all.

The one with play-doh and a carnival.

Yesterday morning at school I sat down at a table in the cafeteria full of 2^nd grade boys. The boy sitting on my right immediately put his head down when I sat beside him. He whispered something to his friend and then his friend yelled out, “I DON’T WANT TO TRADE PLACES WITH YOU!” Nice, right? Ha. The teacher then said to him, “In a few years you’ll look at this as a missed opportunity, having a pretty girl sitting next to you.” I knew then what was going on, as the boy, Robert, got up to leave I made sure to tell him bye, which only made him blush.

So that was a good start to the day. We headed off to Headstart and I was greeted with hugs from some of the children instantly. The best part of the morning was getting to play with play-doh!. I decided to make a walrus and a shark out of it and that led to the kids basically wanting me to make a zoo of play-doh! animals. I was decently good at it and think I may have found my next calling in life.

My play-doh! walrus.

Around lunchtime I got to go with the main teacher for Headstart, Edna, and 5 kids who will be kindergarteners next year to the cafeteria at school for lunch. It was good to see some of the other team members there with their kids and interact with them a little bit. After lunch we went back and played with play-doh! some more.

Jozlyn with her play-doh and dinosaurs.

I got a call from Roger’s sister, Rory (our connection to Hoonah), saying that Marc and I had gotten approval from the Hoonah Indian Association to work with them on some legal files for child custody and services cases. The work is extremely confidential so I am not allowed to discuss any of work we’ve done there. Which I’m pretty much used to having worked in a law firm for almost two years.

Being sassy with our food gloves.

When our work done there for the day Marc and I headed back to the school to get things started for the carnival that night. We worked in the kitchen with 3 other team members producing mass quantities of hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, and tacos. There were tons of people here for carnival, they said about half the town came out (which for here is a lot). After slaving over nacho cheese I decided to go check out our booth in the gym (where the main part of carnival was) and see how we were doing. Our booth was a bean bag toss game and we were pretty popular if I do say so.

The ladies at carnival.

Carnival was quite the experience. They even had a dunking booth outside in this 30 degree weather! We had so much fun interacting with the community and the kids we have gotten to know. I even saw Robert, from earlier that morning, in fact he dragged me to the carnival jail 8 eights, with me kicking and screaming. I would be standing around talking to the team and he would creep up behind me, grab me around the waist, and pull me all the way to jail. My ribs may be a little bruised but it was all in good fun.

From one of the eight times I was put in jail. As you can see, Robert napped a few of my team members as well.

When we got our fill of the carnival activities we went back to the bunk house and had reflection. I just have to say that I am so impressed with the team and how they are letting this experience challenge them. We talked a lot about recognizing our privileges back home and how that influences the experience for us. A reflection activity we did was A-HA! moments, which is basically saying a thought that you had during the day that makes you recognize your privilege or a new way of thinking. A lot of us talked about family, myself included. I said that I am so fortunate to come from a family where our love is forefront. We constantly tell each other "I love you" and "I'm proud of you". I am so grateful for that and I recognize that there are children in this community and all over the world that may never hear those things from their parents/siblings/grandparents, etc. My parents have always wanted me to pursue my dreams and have said that the world is my oyster and I can do anything that I put my mind to. For that, I am forever grateful.

"And when you dream, dream big

As big as the ocean blue

'Cause when you dream it might come true

And when you dream, dream big."

-Ryan Shupe

"We're so glad you're here!"

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was so excited, anxious, and nervous at the same time. It was our first day of service in Hoonah and our team was ready. I was looking forward to seeing how this day was going to affect them and how it would challenge their opinions and thoughts on service. I knew the day would bring touching moments for all of us and I was surprised when the first moment came for me when we got to the school.

The first thing we did when we got to the school, which is a K-12 program, we went to the cafeteria. Roger told us to go ahead and make friends with the kids and try to disperse ourselves. This intimidated me already but our team walked right into the cafeteria and immediately became friends with the students in there. I was so impressed with my team; they had no hesitation with a task that seemed daunting to me.

After some open gym time, we all headed off to our respective placements. Three other team members and I headed over to the Headstart program. Headstart is a pre-K program and those kids are bounding with energy! I immediately went over to the reading corner and started reading some books to one girl and soon after I was surrounded. I probably read about 7 or 8 books in 30 minutes and I could tell my voice was getting hoarse. We basically just spent the morning with them, playing and horsing around. They're learning about eggs this week and how many animals hatch from eggs not just birds. I even learned that octopi lay eggs!

Something our group thought was interesting about the program was that they let the kids serve themselves at lunchtime. Food is served family style and they have to eat something from every bowl/plate. They were very neat and didn't even make a mess.

A little while after lunch, Roger came to pick me up and we left to meet the local grandma of the community. Deborah Dalton is treasured by the community and even the kids love her. She is invited to the basketball games and given her own special seat. Our reason for meeting her was that she has a leaky toilet. Hopefully, it will be fixed today by one of our team members who has done some plumbing work before.

Last night we went to the Hoonah Indian Association and met with Mary Beth Moss, Owen James' wife. She told us all about the tribal council and the basic history of the Tlingit tribe here in Hoonah. It was all very enlightening. Another team member and I may be working with her with some legal work towards the end of the week but that is still up in the air as of current.

When we came back from the Hoonah Indian Association we had reflection. The comments we got from the team about the people we are serving here were profound. They recognize the need here and want to do what is possible to aid the community in whatever they want us to do. I think it should be recognized that there are people in my generation who want to make the world a better place and know that service is important in every community, no matter what the need/problem is. With that, I want to share this quote:

"I realize this may be a shock but, I can change the world, and I refuse to believe that I am part of a lost generation."

That particular quote means a lot to me and to the life I have chosen.

Right now, we are at school, waiting to go to class and my group is about to head back over to Headstart. Tonight there will be a carnival and we have our own booth! It seems like we're celebrities in this small tonight. Most of the people we've met have instantly said, "We're so glad you're here!" It is reassuring that the community here recognizes us and commends us for our work.

On that note, it's time for more storytelling and games!! And, I'm sorry there are no pictures in this post, I promise to post more soon.

Alaska-The Final Frontier

Okay, so we made it and I have two days for you to catch up on.

On Saturday we caught an early flight to Juneau. The flight in was beautiful and landing on a runway surrounded by mountains was amazing. The scenery here in Alaska is absolutely breathtaking. If you haven't been here yet, you should definitely make it a priority.

After settling in at the hotel and grabbing some lunch, at a Subway that I think we overwhelmed, we headed out to Mendenhall Glacier. I never thought I would see an actual glacier in my life but the opportunity presented itself and I am so glad I got to see it. The pictures I took of it and the surrounding area don't do it justice.

The Mendenhall Glacier

The whole team (minus Roger) at the glacier.

Once we had finished taking in all the sights at the glacier we went back to the hotel and got some rest. We drove into the town of Juneau that night for dinner and ate at a restaurant that was known for its seafood, but me being me ordered the ribs instead of the local catch. The ribs were kind of tough and now I'm wishing I had gotten the salmon or halibut (oh well, you live you learn). After dinner we had reflection and went to bed.

The view from the ferry before we left.

The next morning we had to get up early again to catch the ferry to Hoonah, our final destination in Alaska. We all scattered around the boat taking pictures of the scenery and at some point a number of us ended on a part of the deck that was supposed to be off limits and we got yelled at. Funnily enough, the getting yelled out lead to us being invited into to meet the captain and go to the front of the boat. While there, we got to meet the first engineer who decided to give us the "whole-meal-deal" tour of the boat. We saw the engine room, the septic room, and the very back part of the boat. It ended up being the highlight of most everyone's day.

Some of the group on the tour of the boat, here we were on the back of the boat and first engineer, Matt, was discussing propellers and what not.

Coming into Hoonah on the ferry.

When the tour ended we pretty much prepared for our arrival into Hoonah. We took lots more pictures and took it all in. Coming into Hoonah we were met by Roger's brother-in-law and he took our luggage back to the bunk house, where we will be staying for the week. It was about a mile long walk to the bunk house and soon after we got there a local, Owen James, met with us and talked to us about hunting and trapping in the area. I felt a sea otter pelt for the first time in my life and it was one of the softest things I have ever felt. Then we went on a hike with Owen at the old cannery and to Icy Strait Point. Along the hike we got to see a sea lion poke his head out of the water and growl/make those sea lion noises at us, so that was pretty exciting/terrifying especially after we found out that that particular sea lion was around 1200 lbs.

The part of the forest we saw on our hike to Icy Strait Point.

The beach on our hike at Icy Strait Point.

We ended the hike by throwing snowballs at each other and just enjoying each other's company. Back at the bunk house we made dinner, played a competitive round of Battle of the Sexes, and had reflection. Our schedules for today were set out for us and we finally got a decent night of sleep.

I'll try and update tomorrow on today and all the activities we've done because I have to wrap this up. The school day is over and I need a nap, horsing around with pre-k kids will wear you out. :)

Airports, the Light Rail, a Space Needle, and an Olympian

So the day of traveling to Alaska did not go according to plan, but what came out of it was worth it.

We didn't arrive in Juneau at 9:40pm as previously stated; in fact, we didn't make it to Juneau at all. Due to snow and poor visibility, our flight to Juneau was canceled and we spent the night in Seattle.

To tell the story accurately I guess I should make it clear that our whole group was not traveling together yesterday. Roger and Nadeem flew out with about two-thirds of our team yesterday morning around 6am. I then flew out with the remaining members at 9am. The entire group ended up together in Seattle, but we were still supposed to be on two different routes. My group had two more connections to make before reaching Juneau and they only had one.

Before my group had to start boarding the plane and we were all just hanging out with the rest of our team, I ran to the bathroom so I wouldn't have to deal with the gross ones on the plane. When I came back to the gate a few members came up to me saying that my flight to Juneau had been canceled. At first, I thought this is some sort of really cruel joke they're playing on me just to see me freak out and brushed it off. Unfortunately, it wasn't a joke and I did slip into a slight panic mode, seeing as our luggage for the week was about to end up in some remote town in Alaska and the next flight Juneau appeared to be filling up. We ended up finding out that all flights to Juneau were canceled and thus began our scramble to find lodging for the night.

Roger was able to book us on a morning flight to Juneau for the next day and we would all be able to travel together. I then spent a good hour to 45 minutes with a Priceline representative and hotel manager in Juneau to cancel our reservations there for the night (I am no longer a fan of Priceline; William Shatner you have failed me). Our luggage ended up not being lost and we found a hotel in Seattle for the night. So after a mini-crisis with the flights, we were able to get everything together fairly smoothy for a night in Seattle.

On a side note: while waiting to hear if all flights to Juneau were going to be canceled that night, a team member came back from getting food in the terminal and said that Apolo Anton Ohno (the Olympic Speed Skater and former Dancing with the Stars Champion, for those of you who may not know) was here in our terminal. Needless to say we all jumped to our feet and ran to find Apolo. We found him handing out leis to passengers going on a flight to Hawaii; he's the new face/spokesperson for Alaska Airlines. We played paparazzi for a bit and even managed to get a picture with him as well!

So after all kinds of excitement taking place at the Seattle airport, we left for our hotel. En route, the team collectively decided that we should take the Light Rail system to see the famous Space Needle building downtown. The trip on the Light Rail was an adventure on its own and far too expansive a story to tell on here, so just ask me about when you hear from/see me.

The Space Needle was pretty awesome. We all enjoyed the views and took an ungodly amount of pictures of the Seattle skyline. Once we all got our fill of the experience, we headed back to the hotel.

We woke up super early this morning to catch our flight to Juneau and we are anticipating the adventures that wait for us there.

And I'll upload those pictures of Apolo soon. :)

The time has come!

The planning is done. I am, for the most part, packed. Now, I just have to wait a few more hours before we leave.

The journey to Alaska begins tomorrow morning and we will all arrive in Juneau around 9:40pm Alaskan time. We're hoping for smooth flights and no crying babies on the airplanes (or at least I am).

I am filled with anxiousness and excitement. We have been building up to this point since May of last year, when Nadeem and I found out we were going to be team leaders. Which brings me to my next thought. Getting to know all the other team leaders for Alternative Spring Break has been amazing. I feel fortunate to have found a group of people here, at a school with 30,000+ students, who feel the way I do about service. I wish them all luck as they and their own teams head out this weekend to serve other parts of the world and I can only hope that their trips will be as meaningful as I feel mine will be.

On that note I leave you with this quote from Margaret Mead:

"Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

P.S. Yes, Mom, I did remember to pack socks for the plane ride. You've taught me well. :)

The "Photo" Post has arrived!!!

Alright I finally got my computer after waiting about a month, blah!

So I am currently in the process of transferring all my old junk from my dinosaur-like laptop to my new, pretty macbook :) and I have promised you all a picture post. Here are some pictures from our service retreat:

My co-leader, Nadeem, is the one pulling apart the log and team member, Marc, is on the right in the flannel. We spent the morning portion of our retreat cutting logs and then transporting them to a nearby Habitat for Humanity village, where at least one family relies on the wood for heat in the winter.

Here are some more team members, from left to right: Jeff, Morgan, Emmie, and Kimberly.

On the left is Kent, another team member, and on the right is our Faculty Advisor, Roger. Kent decided that he'd rather split logs the old fashioned way.

Keena and Susannah about to deliver the second set of wood.

Me with a truckload of wood.

So there are a few faces to put with names at this point. I will be updating this thing the whole trip so be looking for more pictures!

On a similar note, ASB (Alternative Service Break, if you haven't caught on yet, ha) was in the news twice this week. The program was outlined in an article for the newspaper here at NC State called "The Technician". The article can be found here:

http://www.technicianonline.com/features/alternative-spring-break-offers-service-based-alternatives-1.2183340

I'm sure you all can find a familiar name in there. ;)

ASB was also on the local news this past Monday as well. My co-leader Nadeem was interview for it. Watch the news segment here:

ASB on TV!

This should keep you all busy for the time being and make sure to check in again soon for more posts!!

Only two days until we venture off to the beautiful state of ALASKA!!!!