Kid Power

Well I have begun working at Kid Power but so far it has been a little dis-jointed. On Monday it was almost as if they weren't ready for us to start. There was a lot of stuff (games, art supplies, gym equipment, yoga mats, etc.) piled in the office because the summer camps had recently ended and they hadn't gotten around to sorting it all out so there wasn't really anywhere for us (Alisha and me) to be. By the end of the day some of the other staff had begun sorting through the pile and organizing the items. They gave us random tasks like making calenders on posters and grading pre and post tests from the summer camps. On Tuesday we didn't go to our jobs because we had an Urban Safety seminar in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. It was close enough to walk to so after lunch our house walked over there together. There were two other groups in this seminar with us. One was a volunteer group like ours and the other was an EMU/Bluffton semester group. The students are here for internships. It was nice to meet other young people in the city. The seminar was more than just telling us how to avoid dangerous situations but rather how to be proactive in our neighborhoods and make the city as a whole safer. We were also shown techniques to use in the event of a robbery or how to twist your wrist so that anyone holding on to your arm lets go. It was pretty interesting and the lady who led it was full of great stories. After the seminar we ate pizza which was great because it was pizza and free! Then we went for a long walk as a house along with a few of the EMU/Bluffton students. By the time we got home we were all beat but since it was still early we played rook. I had never played before and neither had Anne or Cara so it was an interesting learning experience for all of us.

Today when we got to the office it was a completely different atmosphere. All of the summer camp stuff was gone and there were two desks made up for Alisha and me. We began working on the calenders but were then given a pile of documents that we needed to attend to. Since we are going to be in DC public schools we need background checks completed and TB tests. We were then sent off (around 10:30) on what turned out to be a very long scavenger hunt of sorts across the city. First we were going to get some papers notarized, but they wouldn't accept my temporary Iowa license. So after being at the bank for around 45 minutes we left with only Alisha's papers notarized. We went back to our place to get my passport and then stoped by some local banks to see if we could get my papers notarized there, and of course none of them had their notary in today, so we went to the CVS to see if we could get our TB tests done. And no, they don't do that at our local CVS. So next we went on a 30-45 min metro ride to Tenlytown to their CVS where they have a Minute Clinic. By now it was about 12:30. We left the clinic at 1:30 and headed back to China Town (where the office is) and went back to the first bank to get my papers notarized. It was about 2:10 by the time we got back to the office and were finally able to eat our lunches. We ate quickly because we went with one of the other staffers to a Bi-lingual Montisori school for their Kid Power after school program. The kids were wild. They didn't really listen when the adults talked and were constantly roaming the room or playing with random stuff. This seems to be the norm at this placement. I am glad that I won't be there for the whole year. But I will probably be back several times over the next few weeks. It is really nice to be able to see how these programs generally run but I hope the kids I am with are more accustomed to listening to adults and staying focused. The last of the kids was picked up around 6 and we left soon after. We got back to the house around 6:30 and I was feeling ready for bed. Instead of going straight to bed we all ate and talked about meals for next week. We played a game of dutch blitz as well before all retiring to our rooms. I am feeling very tired after these last few days so I need to get to bed.