today i'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about the americorps position i interviewed for earlier this week. although neither ideal nor glamorous, there are some very positive things about the job:
-Ruth, the program coordinator, said that art education can definitely be integrated into the tutoring
-it'll be a completely different experience, something i wanted to get from moving here
-i'd feel like i'm making a difference at a personal level
-who knows, it may inspire me to become a teacher
-the education award for student loans is big
-i have enough $ saved so that realistically it won't be difficult to survive on an americorps salary, especially considering the cost of living down here
-americorps is a great chance to open doors in the future, for grad school, jobs, teaching, peace corps or whatever. basically it's great experience
-it will be super challenging but potentially could be really rewarding as well. all the kids i'd be working with are 'at-risk', i.e. really troubled
-will help with my spanish, which i want to learn down here. it is my understanding that if I do work at the high school i will be working with latino/a students
-think i will be placed with high school kids; there are two areas, elementary and high school. two americorps members will be at the high school, and the rest (15 or so) are in elementary
-it's only a year commitment, and it'd coincide with joe's yearlong contract, so we'd be able to do something different after the year if we wanted to
I was with Holly from the museums all day today. I'm meeting with her tomorrow and she's going to check with the director about the job i applied for a while back. since she's the volunteer coordinator for the museums, i'd have no trouble staying active with the museums on a volunteer basis if i do decide to do americorps. i know there's weekend openings to help with art classes at the museum of fine art, so that is a possibility too.
decisions, decisions.
30 July 2006
29 July 2006
updates
what we've been up to:
joe worked all day friday. he's putting together a syllabus for his class which starts on monday. he also has to clean the ceramics room so will be going in tomorrow (sunday) to do that and prepare for class. yesterday i interviewed for an americorps position. the interview went well and they basically told me i have the job. i'm not sure what i will do; i may not accept the position depending upon what happens with the museum job i applied for earlier. i have to decide by tuesday.
my museum contact, holly, has been very helpful and encouraging about the open position with the museums. she's the one who checked out our house before we signed the lease about a month ago. i am meeting with her tomorrow morning for breakfast with a few other museum people. i also have plans to have coffee with her monday morning. she invited me to a city-wide 'arts luncheon' this coming friday which will be a good way for me to meet other people who work in the arts around town. obviously the museum job is a priority for me, but i'd hate to turn down the americorps position (tutoring at-risk kids) only to be left jobless...and i don't anticipate that the museums will do interviews for at least a few weeks. i hope to talk to holly about my chances and explain the situation to her early this week. i'll keep everyone posted.
let's see, last night we went out to eat with lots of joe's program people. it was cool to meet his co-workers. then the past americorps members for his program 'initiated' the newcomers, including joe, last night. that was pretty funny...i tagged along as a 'witness'. it involved a ceremony IN the Rio Grande. i was very glad i wasn't in the water, that river is really disgusting. i'll leave it to joe to describe the event in more detail...
today we got up and checked out the Railroad Museum; if i got the museum job I would be working both there and at the Branigan Cultural Center. it was interesting...we chatted with a volunteer there for quite a while. so far the people we've met have been really nice and happy to talk about the town and recommend things for us to do. we ate lunch in Mesilla at an italian place. then we went to the public library and got library cards and checked out lots of books about the area and area art. i'm halfway done with a book about the history of las cruces itself. our house is in the oldest part of town, so it's neat reading about all the places and people because it all took place within a few blocks of where we are.
joe worked all day friday. he's putting together a syllabus for his class which starts on monday. he also has to clean the ceramics room so will be going in tomorrow (sunday) to do that and prepare for class. yesterday i interviewed for an americorps position. the interview went well and they basically told me i have the job. i'm not sure what i will do; i may not accept the position depending upon what happens with the museum job i applied for earlier. i have to decide by tuesday.
my museum contact, holly, has been very helpful and encouraging about the open position with the museums. she's the one who checked out our house before we signed the lease about a month ago. i am meeting with her tomorrow morning for breakfast with a few other museum people. i also have plans to have coffee with her monday morning. she invited me to a city-wide 'arts luncheon' this coming friday which will be a good way for me to meet other people who work in the arts around town. obviously the museum job is a priority for me, but i'd hate to turn down the americorps position (tutoring at-risk kids) only to be left jobless...and i don't anticipate that the museums will do interviews for at least a few weeks. i hope to talk to holly about my chances and explain the situation to her early this week. i'll keep everyone posted.
let's see, last night we went out to eat with lots of joe's program people. it was cool to meet his co-workers. then the past americorps members for his program 'initiated' the newcomers, including joe, last night. that was pretty funny...i tagged along as a 'witness'. it involved a ceremony IN the Rio Grande. i was very glad i wasn't in the water, that river is really disgusting. i'll leave it to joe to describe the event in more detail...
today we got up and checked out the Railroad Museum; if i got the museum job I would be working both there and at the Branigan Cultural Center. it was interesting...we chatted with a volunteer there for quite a while. so far the people we've met have been really nice and happy to talk about the town and recommend things for us to do. we ate lunch in Mesilla at an italian place. then we went to the public library and got library cards and checked out lots of books about the area and area art. i'm halfway done with a book about the history of las cruces itself. our house is in the oldest part of town, so it's neat reading about all the places and people because it all took place within a few blocks of where we are.
27 July 2006
more photos
alright, i've finally had some time this morning to post some photos of the new place. also have a few of the nearby organ mountains. here's a small sampling; if you are interested, check out the album on shutterfly. cut and paste this link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZs2TJwyasPO
In other news, Roy and Nancy left this morning. they were a tremendous help with everything...don't know how we would have done it without them.
i'm going to go check out the museums this afternoon. i have an interview tomorrow for the Americorps position i applied for a while back. it's tutoring school-aged kids. i'm kindof torn though because i really want the museum position, but i won't hear about that for awhile. ugh.
joe has already started working and he's teaching a beginning ceramics class starting on monday. more later, i'm sick of computing!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZs2TJwyasPO
In other news, Roy and Nancy left this morning. they were a tremendous help with everything...don't know how we would have done it without them.
i'm going to go check out the museums this afternoon. i have an interview tomorrow for the Americorps position i applied for a while back. it's tutoring school-aged kids. i'm kindof torn though because i really want the museum position, but i won't hear about that for awhile. ugh.
joe has already started working and he's teaching a beginning ceramics class starting on monday. more later, i'm sick of computing!
26 July 2006
flora
this is in my adobe-walled yard. the house you see is the neighbor's, not ours. notice the size in comparison with the door. here's more:
25 July 2006
made it
we (meaning joe, his parents and I) made it to las cruces about 11pm sunday night. the drive was long long long. oklahoma and texas were both gross. didn't have any major issues except the fact that we were going so slow the whole time due to the trailer. olive has been fairly freaked out however.
new mexico was the prettiest landscape on the drive by far. lots of mountains...and i think we cut through a relatively flat part of the state. we took the mountain pass through to LC and it was really neat coming in to the city that way for the first time...could see all the lights below. the organ mountains are close to las cruces. they're jagged on top. also found out about a nearby ski resort that's huge (elevation 12,000) so am looking forward to that. wish i would've brought my snowboard.
sunday night we stayed at a hotel in LC because we didn't have keys to the new place (got in too late). monday morning we finally got to see the house for the first time. first impression is that its super cute. bright and airy due to enormous windows and lots of wide open space inside. our bedroom, the loft, is really nice...and also cool because the a/c (swamp cooler) is up here too. the place is about the perfect size for us.
pretty much done with unpacking at this point. although we've been so busy we haven't had too much time to explore the city. there's plenty of time for that since i am now unemployed.
one of the best parts of our place is the yard. think i'll wait until the pictures to explain. took some photos but blogger is having issues with uploading today, so i'll dump a bunch tomorrow.
that's it for now. i've picked up on a random wireless connection so not very sure about it's reliability. we will get our own wireless installed this friday, so it'll be easier for me to keep this thing updated.
adios.
new mexico was the prettiest landscape on the drive by far. lots of mountains...and i think we cut through a relatively flat part of the state. we took the mountain pass through to LC and it was really neat coming in to the city that way for the first time...could see all the lights below. the organ mountains are close to las cruces. they're jagged on top. also found out about a nearby ski resort that's huge (elevation 12,000) so am looking forward to that. wish i would've brought my snowboard.
sunday night we stayed at a hotel in LC because we didn't have keys to the new place (got in too late). monday morning we finally got to see the house for the first time. first impression is that its super cute. bright and airy due to enormous windows and lots of wide open space inside. our bedroom, the loft, is really nice...and also cool because the a/c (swamp cooler) is up here too. the place is about the perfect size for us.
pretty much done with unpacking at this point. although we've been so busy we haven't had too much time to explore the city. there's plenty of time for that since i am now unemployed.
one of the best parts of our place is the yard. think i'll wait until the pictures to explain. took some photos but blogger is having issues with uploading today, so i'll dump a bunch tomorrow.
that's it for now. i've picked up on a random wireless connection so not very sure about it's reliability. we will get our own wireless installed this friday, so it'll be easier for me to keep this thing updated.
adios.
22 July 2006
on the road
am currently in wichita, kansas at a hotel. we left minneapolis this morning at 7:30 am, and got here at 10:30 pm. it is taking more time than anticipated because the uhaul trailer prevents us from going over 55 mph...due to poor trailer design not towing capacity. which is too bad. even so we will push to las cruces tomorrow; the shortest path there from wichita is roughly 700 miles. aside from the slow pace, things are going well. olive is pretty stressed and won't eat or drink in the car. we snuck her in the hotel room now so I hope she'll rehydrate herself. We let her out of the carrier during the drive--she just stuffs herself on top of boxes and looks calm but freaked.
will write more later.
16 July 2006
it begins
this is my new form of electronic communication . the purpose is to document my transition from minneapolis to las cruces, new mexico.
am actually still in minnesota for the next week. we are driving down to new mexico beginning july 22nd. before then i've got lots to do, and will be working full time until the 21st. tons of packing left and arrangements to be made and money to be spent.
should be exciting.
am actually still in minnesota for the next week. we are driving down to new mexico beginning july 22nd. before then i've got lots to do, and will be working full time until the 21st. tons of packing left and arrangements to be made and money to be spent.
should be exciting.
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