So much has happened since the last post that I made to this blog. I created a new one for my Australian adventures (http://www.bgriffin19australia.blogspot.com/) and plan on updating that pretty frequently after my departure (only 15 days away!). As far as being home goes, my extended Christmas break has only recently slowed down to a near-halt (though I know this won't last much longer!).

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I kicked of 2010 at the Marriott. We had our annual New Year's celebration with a 1920's flappers and gangsters theme. It was a lot of fun; the entire staff was dressed up and acting the part and at times went a little crazy dancing around the ballroom (thanks to an egging-on from Bob Charest and his fabulous band). I worked and danced until 2am and then headed home for my first sleep of 2010.

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Exhausted as ever, I woke up on January 1st at 6:30am, after a 4-hour nap, and headed for the Portland airport. Because of a hyped-up snow storm, my parents decided it best for me to fly into Burlington rather than drive. My 9:30 flight was delayed until noon due to technical difficulties on the plane, but after watching three flights leave ahead of me, I finally boarded to Philly. Upon arriving in Philly, I sprinted to my second flight and made it by seconds, and only because it too was delayed.

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I made it to Burlington (finally) and went out with Chelsea for a while. After that, I met up with the Buffalo crew and we had our pre-departure dinner/get-together the night before leaving on our trip. It's so funny to think about meeting all of these people before leaving, remembering how we barely knew eachother only a couple short weeks ago.

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After a sleepover with Liz in her apartment up north, we all met at the MOVE office at 4:30 the next morning. We had a nice EXHAUSTED breakfast (I had slept very few hours in the previous couple of nights) and then headed to the airport. With only a minor pause at security, we made it to our flight. Before boarding we got in some quality bananagrams time (the first of many throughout the week) and a few got in short naps as well. We all basically slept through both flights (Burlington-Philly, Philly-Buffalo) and were brought first to our car rental destination upon arriving in Buffalo. This place may not sound significant, but it is where we first met our love, the Sprinter, that would be our vehicle for the week. The Sprinter got us to the St. Lawrence Guest House, our home for the week, where we had a fabulous meal waiting for us--authentic Buffalo pizza and WINGS. We also met Andy, our psuedo-tour guide and new best friend, who brought the EXHAUSTED group to Niagra Falls where we each acquired a layer of ice and froze our toes off for a glimpse of the beautiful sight.

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Over the course of the week, the 10 of us from Saint Mike's grew very close. During our free time, we often just talked for hours or played bananagrams. One night we even had a 3-hour game of Apples to Apples after a spectacular dinner. Dinner was always a great experience all week, too; each night, a pair of us would cook for the group. It was fun because we got to cook, experience the cooking of everyone else, and bond over an always-delicious meal. Sarah and I cooked on the second night and we made Perogies from scratch. It was a lot of work and we had to recruit others to help knead, cut, and stuff the dough, but the 70something saurkraut, ricotta, and potato perogies were all eaten and turned out better than I thought.

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When it came to the service portion of our Buffalo trip, as a group (and individually) I feel that we accomplished a lot. On our first full day, we were snowed in but painted the main hallway of the guest house. Sarah and I also helped the church's youth group do some tie-dying, as well. We were assigned schools that we would be working at for the week before starting on Monday, and I was sent to Saint Monica's school for girls with Sarah, Amy, Hillary, and Lily. The five of us taught Art and Gym throughout the week, organized and put together a library for the school, helped the sixth-grade English class paper mache and paint throughout the week, and socialized with the girls. A couple of us taught Spanish class as well as Science and Religion on various days. The school is made up of 31 5th-8th grade girls, all of whom are incredible. They all have such attitude and despite coming from less-than-ideal homes, they all exude confidence and have incredible senses of humor. Helping and teaching in this kind of environment makes me think that if I do end up teaching some day, It would be extremely rewarding teaching in an inner-city school such as this one.

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The school runs based on the Nativity model, meaning that they are a private, religious school that recognizes the talent within each student despite their odds. Most of the girls at the school are on full scholarship and are provided with a free breakfast and lunch every day. The days are extended, meaning that they attend from 8-4:30 every day. Classes run from 9-3 (I believe) and are followed by after school programs ranging from girl scouts to knitting club to basketball. Study halls also make up part of the after-school program, and during this time we were able to sit with some of the girls, one-on-one, and both tutor and chat.

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It was fun to spend the days at St. Monica's and then reflect with rest of the group about their time at the boys' school, St. Augusten. We all attended basketball games for both of the schools over the course of the week, and got to hear a lot about the adventures had at the two different schools. As I said before, all of us got incredible close (to the point where, despite us all having our own rooms, Me, Liz, and Sarah decided to sleep together in a tiny room with bunkbeds). A few of us got together on Saturday night back at campus (after flying from Buffalo-DC, DC-Burlington) and had a post-trip celebration. I came home the next day and have been nostalgic since.

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Last weekend, after a week that dragged on endlessly, I travelled up to Saint Mike's with Christina (surprise!) to visit everyone. The weekend was a whirlwind and I spend most of my time with Ricardo (Venezuela) and Yusef (Panama) when not hanging out with everyone together. Eleven of us went out for brunch on Saturday; on Sunday night Ricardo, Yusef and I went to the Skinny Pancake and then picked up John and Liz for some bowling. Afterwards, John, Liz and I went to 326 for a huge-group game night where we played Taboo for hours.

I stayed until Monday (thanks to MLK Day--no work!) and spent time with as many people as I could. It was sad to leave, but I'm heading back Friday so I'm extremely excited. I miss everyone like crazy already.

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SO here I am now, at work on a Wednesday, counting down the hours until I am back at St. Mike's and realizing how soon Australia is. I got an e-mail today saying that my pre-departure package is in the mail (including my plane tickets, detailed itinerary, participant list, etc.) and I should be receiving it Friday. I've started my Fiji readings (aghh) but, as excited as I am, can't resist procrastinating. I have to pick up gifts in Vermont and Maine for my Fijian host family and, of course, I have to begin PACKING. I have a lot of anxiety but also a lot of excitement. Exactly 15 days from now, I'll be sitting in the Chicago airport with loads of new friends, waiting to catch a connection to LA.

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Hasta Luego!