showing some wisconsin love?

okkkk...since it has been a while since i have updated this, i figured the easiest way to make sure i get everything in is to go day by day. then you can pretend you were there! it will be fun...promiseeee :)

WEDNESDAY- desiree and i spent the day at the center working on preparing binders for the mentors and tutors and folders for the parents. just some office work, organizing, working on some bulletin boards, and whatnot. on wednesday night, we went to the brewers game as a community. and despite my best effort to like baseball, i still cant :( i dont think i have the attention span for the sport!

THURSDAY- more folder stuffing and preparing for things at the center. after work, we went library and got our very own racine library cards. and they were having a book sale so we got some books for 50 cents! thanks racine public library :)

FRIDAY- back at the center getting ready and helping prepare for the students to come. we told our boss, shirley (who may very well be the cutest and sweetest woman in the world!) about the book sale at the library so she gave us some money to go back and get some books for the center. we really want to emphasize reading and get the kids at the center interested in books. so hopefully this will help me to jumpstart my reading too! then target to get some flashcards and bookmarks and stickers of course :)

SATURDAY- we had our CAP meeting on saturday morning. CAP stands for community annual program. its basically a day where all the members of the community sit down and set some goals and guidelines to follow for the year. we had our meeting at shirley's house and got to try our very first kringle, which is an omish pastry that racine is famous for. apparently barack obama even came to racine to get kringle this summer! on saturday night, we went out to dinner at a restaurant that is known for its pizza. it wasnt exactly like ny, but it was good. and it was nice to end our CAP day with a dinner out together. and thennnnn, being the exciting kids that we are, desiree and i spent our saturday evening going grocery shopping and watching a movie- good timesssss
ohhh, and i got to skype with court :)

SUNDAY- and then there is today. desiree and i went to mass this morning and then had a table set up after mass to register kids for the center. we met some people who are mentors at the center and a woman who is on the committee of directors. and then when we were finallyyyy finished with all of our work for this week, we spent the afternoon at the beach! the water was FREEZING, but the lake is really pretty and it was nice to have time to relax and do something fun


so overall, i am still not completely sold on wisconsin, but im still adjusting. its new and i need time to get used to everything. and i really feel that once i get into a better routine and start getting to actually work with the students i will learn to love the midwest (almost) just as much as new york :)

stars and gripes

so because i am sleepy but wanted to post something since i havent written in a while i thought i would do a list of "stars and gripes"...i promise to write more details later! but here is a short list for now...

stars to:
-tax only being 5.1%
-less humidity
-our community meeting today going well
-my room finally being finished and feeling like it belongs to me
-things being less expensive
-the lakefront being pretty

gripes to:
-not really knowing my way around yet
-adjusting to living in a small-ish town
-not knowing anyone outside of my community
-living in an area where i cant wander around outside at night
-not having a real routine set yet
-missing everyone :(

all in a days work

today was our first day going to the education center for work...nothing too intense. just preparing and getting acquainted with the center before everything starts on september 8th.

we spent the morning doing a mailing and getting binders ready for all the mentors that will be spending time with the kids at the center this year. in the afternoon, desiree and i met with shirley, the site director, to go over all our responsibilities and schedule for the year.

i am going to be in charge of tutoring in the center's library, keeping track of the attendance records, writing student and church newsletters, keeping correspondence with the mentors, organizing the incentive program, maintaining the bulletin boards, and running a weekly theme activity. during the days, we will also be helping other administrators at the center with whatever tasks they may need assistance with.

i guess writing it all in one place makes it sound like a lot of work, but from what i have gathered so far, it seems like it is going to be very similar to being an ra :) im sure there will be new and different challenges but maybe this wont be too far from what i am used to!

tomorrow its back to stuffing binders and helping out with whatever needs to be done before the center opens. and then the milwaukee brewers game on wednesday!

thats it for now...stay tuned for more updates!

pictures!

a few pictures so you can see where i am...more to come later :)


my room (so far!)


view from outside my window...on the "noisy" side of the street


lakefront

hey new home

so here i am writing to you from racine, wisconsin!

i arrived on thursday afternoon after 2 delayed flights and an extra $50 for luggage. we spent the evening unpacking and getting settled and then had dinner with our community members (minus brother leo who was away for a family wedding). everyone in the community is really great and i think that we are going to have a really good year. so far it seems like we have a good "vibe" and that everyone is getting along just fine.

on friday, desiree and i ventured to target to get some things that we needed to make our move in complete. and target is the same everywhere! which i like :) the area around the target has a lot of stores and restaurants and its not too far from the house so it will probably be an area that we go to often for anything we may need. we also went grocery shopping in the afternoon (which is going to be my community responsibility for the year) with brother mike.

today me, desiree, and evan walked into the "downtown" area just a few minutes from our house. there are a lot of little shops, the racine art museum, restaurants, and bars. apparently there are 26 bars within walking distance from our house and we have decided that each and every one of them is going to be on our wisconsin bucket list for the year! tonight we went to mass and had a little happy hour dinner in the backyard followed by dairy queen for dessert.

tomorrow, desiree and i are helping register students for the education center and then monday we will start working at the center.

so overall things are good. i am still getting settled and need to finish putting up all my pictures before i really feel at home but i am much more at ease now than i was. i really think that things will turn out to be really great here and i am excited to see what the next year will bring!

ready or not, here i come...

so it is official...after hours upon hours of procrastination, a week of deciding what i will want to have with me in the next year, 2 suitcases, and a dufflebag, i have finished packing!

tomorrow i will say peace out to the east coast and step onto the scene in the midwest- i really do hope they are ready!

but whether they are ready or not, and whether i am ready or not, i am going. i can't believe that summer has gone and it is already time for me to move! when i booked my flight, august 19th seemed so, so, so far way, and now it is here! but such is life...

but keep reading my blog and checking in to see what i am up to. and send me mail if you are feeling extra nice :)

next time i write to you, it will be from about 1000 miles away! wish me luck, i'm off to change the world!

dear racine

dear racine, wisconsin,

tomorrow, i, catherine ann elizabeth calogero, will be gracing your lovely city with my presence for an entire year. i am writing this letter to you now as a sort of warning for what may ensue. i apologize in advance if my behavior in any way shocks or offends you or any of your residents. please understand that new york city and wisconsin may have different standards of what is and is not acceptable and that i will do my best to keep things under control. i will admit that i am nervous to be hanging out with you for an entire year, but i think we will get along just fine. please be patient with me and i promise to do the same.

with all my love,
cath

READ THIS!

i have just started to read the alchemist (thanks jenn!) and even after reading only the introduction, i know that this is the PERFECT book for me to be reading right now! so i wanted to share the intro of the book...i think it will really help me get adjusted to my new journey



"all i know is that, like santiago the shepherd boy, we all need to be aware of our personal calling. what is a personal calling? it is god's blessing, it is the path that god chose for you here on earth. whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend. however, we don't all have the courage to confront our own dream.

why?

there are four obstacles. first: we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. we grow up with this idea, and as the years accumulate, so too do the layers of prejudice, fear, and guilt. there comes a time when our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. but its still there.

if we have the courage to disinter dream, we are then faced by the second obstacle: love. we know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. we do not realize that love is just a further impetus, not something that will prevent us going forward. we do not realize that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey.

one we have accepted that love is a stimulus, we come up against the third obstacle: fear of the defeats we will meet on the path. we who fight four our dream suffer far more when it doesnt work out, because we cannot fall back on the old excuse: "oh well, i didnt really want it anyway." we do want it and know that we have staked everything on it and that the path of the personal calling is no easier than any other path, except that our whole heart is in this journey. then, we warriors of light must be prepared to have patience in difficult times and to know that the universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how.

i ask myself: are defeats necessary?

well, necessary or not, they happen. when we first begin fighting for our dream, we have no experience and make many mistakes. the secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

so, why is it so important to live our personal calling if we are only going to suffer more than other people?

because, once we have over the defeats- and we always do- we are filled by a greater sense of euphoria and confidence. in the silence of our hearts, we know that we are proving ourselves worthy of the miracle of life. each day, each hour, is part of the good fight. we start to live with enthusiasm and pleasure. intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently unbearable; the latter goes on for year, and without our noticing, eats away at our soul, until, one day, we are no longer able to free ourselves from the bitterness and it stays with us for the rest of our lives.

having disinterred our dream, having used the power of love to nurture it and spent many years living with the scars, we suddenly notice that what we always wanted is there, waiting for us, perhaps the very next day. then comes the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.

oscar wilde said: "each man kills the thing he loves." and its true. the mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. we look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either. we forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far. i have known a lot of people who, when their personal calling was within their grasp, went on to commit a series of stupid mistakes and never reached their goal- when it was only a step away.

this is the most dangerous obstacle because it has a kind of saintly aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest. but if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of god, you help the soul of the world, and you understand why you are here"

i swear i am going to start packing tomorrow...

well worth the wait?

so i realize that it has been FOREVER since i last posted on here and i apologize for that. but i feel like i now have some good things to share and hopefully (fingers crossed!) it will be well worth the wait!

i just returned on monday from 10 days in philly for orientation for the lasallian volunteer program. overall, it was a great experience, i met some really great people, and it really confirmed why i am about to embark on this journey, buttttt there were points during the week where i was not so sure about the next year of my life.

i feel like since orientation and probably until i leave i go through phases. the first phase is one of "omg...this is a terrible mistake...i have no idea what i am doing" and the other phase is "this is the right decision...i am going to really enjoy the next year...and i am excited to leave". and after thinking about it more and more, i have decided that this is probably somewhat normal.

it is getting closer and closer to when i will be leaving and i think with me realizing the little amount of time that i have left in my familiar environment, it is all becoming more and more real. its not that i dont want to do this, but its the unknown. its different. and for every bit of excitement i have, there is a bit of nervousness.

so ive decided to stop thinking about whether or not this is right and take the last 2 weeks of my summer to be with the people who are important to me, do things that i can only do on the east coast, and enjoy myself!