Second week, Second weekend

Ok, I'm a dork. And apparently so are the rest of my new coworkers. We decided to take a picture of ourselves in the ropes course gear during our retreat last week. What can I say?

Last week was week two of training, which included more large group introductions to project based learning and assessments. On Thursday the staff from my school went on an overnight retreat to Sonoma. We stayed at a retreat center and ate great organic food while doing activities that would help us work together more effectively. We have to work so closely to create the first year of the school that it's pretty important that we be able to do this well. So we did a variety of activities, one being this ropes course. My partner and I fell from one of the high elements very quickly, which was hard for me and I got to do some good reflecting about dealing with outcomes I don't like and being ok with them anyway. It was a good but long week ending with this trip. All thoughtful, all exhausting.

On Friday night and Saturday morning I got to see Marian and Mark, friends from Bates. On Saturday we checked out the Lake Merritt Farmers market and Marian gave it the a-ok.

The farmers market was really lovely--it was busy, sunny and there were samples at every table. The fruit was succulent and Marian and I were particularly taken by the small, sweet grapes. I spent Sunday afternoon with my Dad and Louise in Campbell. Louise and I went shopping for things I need in my apartment and my Dad and I looked at some old pictures together. It is bizzare just stopping by their house and we all commented on it Sunday. Where are the suitcases? Such a major shift.

So, those are all the practical updates.

I wrote in an email today, (and this was a serious realization,) that I feel busy all the time even though I am not actually busy all of the time. I think it's because I am internally busy soaking up new information and contending with all the little things like getting around town or finding my shoes. I guess this is what moves are like. This weekend I have a goal of getting things hung on the walls. I am eager to feel like this is really my home and I think that would help. OK, a final picture for this post: me and my Dad. I found this on Sunday and brought it back with me. It's one of my favorites.

Introductions

Whew! One week down. Finishing the first week of staff orientation feels like a serious accomplishment. Plus I have been negotiating with the boxes and clutter in my apartment. I have no pictures of anything work related but here's an update.

5 days total. 3 of them with homework assignments. 2 days comprised of an intense project and strict time deadlines with 4 people I just met. 46 other people to meet and talk to who are all new to the organization and, luckily, 2 days with only the 10 staff members I will be working closely with. All of this equals exhaustion. For those of you who don't have the particulars, I am working for a charter school that is 1 of 4 run by a non profit organization called Envision Schools. I fell in love with this organization upon my first read through of their website and when I interviewed in June, they hired me. The school that I am working at, in Hayward, is about to embark on it's first year; as Bob Weintraub, my old headmaster would say, it's first voyage. When I first learned this, a part of me couldn't believe the irony. Last year, two colleagues and I started a brand new special education program at Brookline High School, a feat that nearly drove us to the grave. Starting something brand new takes an enormous amount of energy and, while exciting, can take over your life. So, when I heard I'd be having a "first year" again with ONLY 9th GRADERS I had a bit of a hard time. However, I am now starting to feel that contagious excitement about all the possibilities of this place and I know that much of the getting ready has already been done. The staff and the principal I will be working with are great so I am looking ahead with a little more optimism.

Getting my apartment ready hit the back burner until the weekend. The place is still not ready to be photographed but Tania convinced me to put up one of my favorite windows.

And a view from another window.

Here are some shots of the neighborhood I took on a bike ride around town. This one is a Lutheran church down the street. Such different architecture!

Other streets...

I live in a part of Oakland called Lake Merritt. The lake is about a 20 minute walk away and there are a few streets of shops that I have frequented off one end of the lake.

Although I am enjoying the neighborhood, I am far from settled and I look forward to coming home to an apartment that is free of boxes. I feel like I teeter between the excitement of being here and all it's newness and the longing for a little familiarity. I think I am mostly in what Rebecca reminded me the other day is called the honeymoom period of moving somewhere. Everything is new and exciting and fullfilling. Over time this gives way to homesickness and eventually adjustment to the new place. Even before Rebecca reminded me of this phenomenon, I had been noticing my fear that sadness was lurking around the corner. I am trying to be balanced about everything, but really if everyone I know would like to visit in the next three months I would be ok with that. I am a very accomodating hostess!

So, with this, I must get back to reading the book we are discussing tomorrow. Love to everyone.

Movin' on in

On Friday, my Dad and Louise came up to Oakland to help me get the place ready for my belongings to arrive. My Dad, always prepared, brought a special chair for his back so he could take a break.

After much anguishing about the apartment hunt, I decided to go with one that my friend Alison had seen and was offered to me last Wednesday. This enabled me to get it ready and bring up furniture I have had stored at their house all before the movers arrive. Which is tomorrow. I haven't seen my belongings in about 2 1/2 weeks so I am excited about this. However, receiving my belongings isn't all I get to do tomorrow. I also get to have my first official day at work. What? you say. School in the beginning of August? Well, not school exactly but I am embarking on three weeks of training/planning before the actual start of school. No dull moments yet.

Final trip reflections

Alright, so before I move on to the updates about my real life, I need to wrap up a few things about the trip.

• Driving across the country is a great experience that I highly recommend. I have a totally new appreciation for how geographically, culturally and even liguistically diverse the country is. It sometimes makes we want to break out in horribly cheesy patriotic songs. Seeing brief snapshots of places in the rural areas to the cities was inspiring. I have a deeper bond with this place I live and I wouldn't trade that for anything.
  
  
• Travelling with someone who can make you laugh is invaluable. No matter how grumpy, anxious or exhausted I was, Katharine cracked me up. Once she made me laugh by pointing out that one of her antics would have made me laugh three days earlier when I still thought she was charming. When we realized that I became rather unweildy when I got hungry or missed a meal, Katharine looked at me sideways and annouced officially, "Three squares a day for you. No matter what we have to do to make it happen so you don't turn into Voldemort." Katharine helped me to pull out of my funks and laugh at myself, which in turn allowed me to be open to all the wonderful things the trip had to offer.
  
  
• I've said it over and over, but I think that something unexpected that I learned is that what's outside the window during the long drives is as much a part of the sightseeing as walking around different cities. Watching and appreciating the landscape was moving. Katharine and I often had very different experiences with what we were watching (I was hearing Hayden's "The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God..." while Katharine was pondering poverty cross culturally during our rainstorm.) And that is great. The scenery outside can prompt almost any kind of realization and allow one to lay out an issue and truly wrestle with it. And when that gets too tiring there's bound to be a trusty motel 6 around the corner.
  
  
• This road trip served an important purpose for me in this exact moment in my life. It provided a transition between Boston and California. Had I hopped on a plane after my teary goodbye and ended up in San Jose that afternoon, my system would have undergone a huge shock and I would have felt thrust into the stresses on this end. Instead I was able to spend several days journeying through the country before this life change, thinking about it and being fully distracted from it. Laughter and awe were two of the most powerful forces during my days and I needed that. I needed a separate trip to focus on, to enjoy and to help me believe that I was really, truly going to end up in California after all of the work and painful goodbyes that made it happen.
  
  
  

There is a final word I must say about our third beloved companion on the trip.

RIP TomTom

You served your fellow travelers well, never giving up when they veered off course, yelling incessantly when they took a bathroom break, recovering from heat stroke and refusing to complain when you were stuffed under the seat or in the glove compartment at every rest stop. There were signs something was wrong, such as when you tried to send us to the post office and we ended up in someone's yard or when you begged us to "turn around immediately" in the desert. It was all too much in the end and if you were half as tired as we were, we understand why you refused to turn on during our last day on the way to the airport. Your elusive menus and inability to recognize attractions such as the Grand Canyon or Graceland were quirks that we will miss dearly. You kept us on the course and we will search for the perfect fuzzy tennis shoes before we lay you to rest. Goodbye TomTom.

Final stats:

Distance covered: 4,152 miles
Number of GPS devices working by the end of the trip: 0
Plants alive at the end of the trip: 2/2 (!)
Number of chain restaurants eaten at: 4 (all local, mind you)
Number of Harry Potter books finished: 1
Number of times tears were shed due to laughing too hard: 3
Number of times we listened to "Jackson" by Johnny Cash: 8
Meals with vegetables in them: 4

All in all, a success.

From Green to Golden

So, I'm here and am finally recovering from the lack of sleep that has plagued me for so long. The road trip was more than I could have hoped for... a real transition out west but also an awe inspiring one. The terrain alone across the country is incredible, nevermind the sights. I thought I'd post a pictorial retrospective of the ground we covered.

1-3. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

4. The Mississippi River, Tennessee

5. Guthrie, Oklahoma (my sister's backyard)

6. Route 66, Oklahoma

7. Outside Amarillo, Texas

8. On the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico

9-12. On the way to Flagstaff, Arizona

13. Grand Canyon, Arizona

14-15. Nevada

16-17. Between Bakersfield and San Jose, California