In the beginning

So where do I start?? I spend 5 days in Houston orienting and retreating while an already amazing relationship with my communitymates (Anne, Cara, Cait, Kate, and lauren) and yes i just put them in alphabetical order, this teaching gig is already influencing my daily life. The first day we got into New Orleans we had a big bbq with former jesuit volunteers and some other people who are involved with the jesuits. the next two days we toured the city going to where everyone is going to work (9 different places) so that gave us a pretty good sense of what is around the city. the next couple of days were pretty much a blur. I started on Wednesday at Success Preparatory Academy as a 4th and 5th grade teacher's assistant for 5 different teachers. This can mean many different things. For example today i made enough copies to fill an entire filing cabinet but today i was also trained as a reading assessment proctor. what a reading assessment proctor does is give the students words, sentences and stories to read while we are scoring them to see where they are according to the benchmark. Other than work I have gone out a couple times. A handful of us went to bourbon st. where we vowed to never return. the next day I went with a few girls to an amazing blues show at a bar near our house that was soooo amazing. I would tell you about all the food but im afraid i will get fatter just typing it.

love
Ms. Roca
aka ana

whimsical week of wine with a wonderful woman

This week has been so relaxing and amazing that I have to tell everyone about it. It started off by a day of shopping in Camarillo at the outlets, so that I can look like a classy teacher and not like a bum right out of college. After lunch at In-N-Out my mom drove us the rest of the way to San Luis Obispo. That same day I went on a great hike with my brother and his girlfriend Giana where we walked under buzzing electrical lines and passed through beautiful landscape. Then we all went out for drinks and visited the farmers market in downtown San Luis Obispo where I ate an amazing tri-tip sandwich. The weekend was spent watching the Tour de France and eating my mom's delicious food.
On Monday my mom and I went to Tolosa winery and had a very lovely picnic on the back patio while wine tasting.

The next day we grabbed sandwiches at Sextant winery (chicken, brie and fig! yes please!!) and since they have a silly rule that you can drink outside we decided to go to Baileyana winery which has always been my favorite in slo since it is built out of an old school house. While we were there we listened in to a very interesting conversation that a group of women were having. They were talking all about their mothers' sex lives and it almost made me vomit up my delicious sandwich. This is when I realized two things 1. I am so lucky to have a wonderful beautiful mother who loves my dad. and 2. I realized why my mom always told me to never talk about her private life, even to my closest friend (I never have and I never will mami!). After a few tastes we decided to get to gettin' away from those crazy ladies. 

I have been soaking all of this up since i know that in a matter of weeks I will be working full time with amazing people. I have been spoiled by mom this whole summer and I am not taking it for granted.
Also this week i found out who I will be living with an where I will be living. It is insane how these little details makes everything so real and so close. I am getting closer and closer to a life changing experience and I'm freaking out! but I know that it will all be fine in the end.....I hope

sitting waiting wishing

Even though I feel like a bum, I am enjoying my summer so much it is ridiculous. I don't remember the last summer that I have gone to the beach more. So far I have been to the dog beach in huntington twice. The first time I took my sister's dog Who Dat (go saints!) and everything was fine and relaxed, if not boring, then I took my dog Emilio, who proceeded to pee on two strangers' beach chairs, and pooped in the water while some little kids watched. I have also been to my favorite beach, crescent bay in laguna, with my dear old dad once, and then again with my cousin veronica. yesterday my dad, vero, her girlfriend bailey and I went to crystal cove where we had a wonderful day being tossed around in the big waves. This is where I had flashbacks to my childhood when my dad would take me into the water and I thought I was going to have a heart attack while being taken under by the huge tsunamis coming towards me.

Other than going to beach, what feels like every other day, I have also visited the phenomenal LACMA in downtown los angeles where my cousin vero, bailey and I saw the Tim Burton exhibit. We soon realized that we were in the exhibit for three hours. i dont think i have ever spent so much time in one exhibit. there was everything from napkin sketches, movie costumes, short films, oil paintings, to Polaroids and installations. whenever I go downtown I am reminded of how lucky I am to live in a city with so many amazing things to do. there is no way to be bored in los Angeles.

 My favorite part of this summer has definitely been the Grease sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl. One of the last times my grandfather was visiting us we went to The Sound of Music sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl and ever since we have been looking to go again. When I saw the Grease sing a long I knew that we needed to go. So my sister and I got all decked out in our 50's get-ups and we were off. After a few glasses of wine, i was singing like an angel and dancing like John Travolta.
All in all the summer isn't even over and it has been one of my favorites in a very long time. I have been preparing mentally and spiritually for New Orleans and relaxing with my family is the best way to do that. 

the beginnings

In one month I will be moving to New Orleans, Louisiana from Los Angeles California. I decided to apply to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after hearing amazing stories from my friends who have already gone through the program.....plus I needed a job. I will be living off close to nothing, since one of the Jesuit core values is Simple Living. I will be working at Success Preparatory Academy as a teacher's assistant which exactly what I want to be doing with my life. I will be living in a house with 5 or 6 other volunteers, which will be pretty easy since i have had roommates for the past 5 years at the University of Oregon. So far i have raised $700 for the Jesuits, if you would like to make a contribution you can here, anything helps!

Currently I am enjoying my time off from school with my family, going to the beach, hiking, and spending time with friends. I truly miss all my friends in Oregon, especially my rugby girls and COE fellow cohort members. I still have no idea where I will be living, or who I will be living with, but I will keep this page updated as much as I can. Now all I can do is wait.