week 2!

i swear this is a whole different world down here! sometimes we go to the store or something and i feel like i should have used a passport to come here! it is ridiculous...but i LOVE it.

so the actual work thing: we have just been training a lot, there are about 25 classes to learn such as candles-how to make candles, geodome-how to make a sound structure using rope and sticks, fire-how to make a fire [we, as teachers, need to use flint to make them!] and a lot more.. then we need to learn all the trails and everything here, they often intersect and are not marked because of another aspect here: Leave no trace. LNT is a great thing that i have never heard of but am starting to feel very strongly about. it is a program that focuses on making your impression in the woods as little as possible...we do things around camp to enforce it and i think it is just great. we are also doing something at meals which we call "ort" organic recyclable trash aka i pound of ort can feel 4 people in other countries. so, at meals we challenge the students to not take as much food and if their school can be "ortless" they win a paper plate on the ceiling. which i think is also a great tool to teach people about how much food they should take. anyways, we also trained on the high ropes course, which was absolutely terrifying and challenging for me! it was split up into 3 days, day 1-belaying and the climbing wall. day 2- burma bridge, catwalk and the v-swing. day 3-the zip line. so why was this challenging for me? well, i never do high ropes, and not only did i have to do them, but i also had to be trained in how to run them. and the toughest part was getting over my fear of hurting my knee as i climbed the 35 feet up a tree to the zip line...it was walking up towards the platform that i thought i was going to quit my job. haha. we climbed up the staples in the tree and it was just scary. womp womp. haha, but i did it 4 times and each time it was a little bit easier, but still horribly scary. also, actually sending someone off the zipline the first time was a little nerve wrecking BUT i did it 4 times and i feel so accomplished!

i do really like it here. it is super relaxed and i feel very much so in my comfort level. i feel like i have a lot to learn, but that i am also able to contribute a lot as well, which makes me feel better about myself and my abilities to be able to do this job.

on a side note, i got a voice mail on monday after a VERY long day of work and it was from city year. and I GOT THE JOB. bahhh. so basically, i am so confused on what to do with my life after may! this job finishes on may 20 and i am going home after..but then if i take the cy job i will be moving to nola in JULY! which is absolutely amazing...but then i have so many fears/questions/issues both emotionally and economically. see, this job i have now, although it is amazing, i do not get paid a lot, but i dont have to pay for a place to live or for food...also, if i take the job next year, i get a $5 pay increase/day and then a $200 bonus if i decide before the end of the semester if i want to come back. also, at this point i am fairly certain i will be an assistant director this summer at camp, not to mention that i make money on the weekends and then family camp. so i feel pretty stable in being able to say that i would be able to pay the bills and everything until at least December if i want to go that way. but then, if i decide to work in nola, i get paid less than i do here, and have to get an apartment and buy food and wont be able to work at camp/have that extra stability there money wise. [i rarely spend my summer camp money, i spend maybe $30 a week and that is money i usually take from lifeguarding in may/june] so i just feel like i am going to be economically living pay check to pay check and barely being able to get by... BUT i also feel like if i do not take this job it will be something i regret for the rest of my life. for the past 2 years i have felt very strong about a-wanting to move to new orleans and b-trying to work in a situation like that. SO that is my dilema....

and in reality i know i am most likely not going to be able to afford going to new orleans and it legitimately is breaking my heart because it is honestly something i feel so strongly about. i wish more than anything that i would be able to afford it, or that money was not an option...