Boston ROCKS! Well, Lowell anyways. I haven't seen any of Boston except from the interstate. But Lowell? Well, last night we crashed the Brewery Exchange. Fun times. Tomorrow night we'll go back for Bull Riding. Tonight we're hoping for karaoke, pool and drunken darts at the PITA bartender. Savage, I know, but this is Boston and apparently all bartenders are required to be rude here.

I flew to Oakland from the Boston PSO at 10:30 pm (I'm a Philly girl so that is 1:30 am my time) and was so tired yet filled with excitement. I can't believe my cat and I made it in one piece! My supervisor from OTX-West (Oakland Technology Exchange) picked me up from the airport. I was missing one of my bags thanks to Delta but that didn't bother me because I was in Cali! My supervisor took me to my co-workers house in Alameda where I would be staying until I find a place. Him and his wife are really cool folks. They've never met me but they offered their home to me. We sat back and talked, ate expensive cheese and drank some wine (now that's my kind of greeting).

Comment from Mike Matthews on January 21, 2007 - 5:51pm

What up ma! See I told you Oakland would treat u nice.  :D  Hope ur bag shows up. My boss' went missing during the pso so don't feel alone. Keep us posted on your pivotal work for the betterment of humanity. -lol 

Comment from dana sou on January 24, 2007 - 1:08pm

Hey you! SO glad you and your cat made it. Good luck with your project!

Comment from Naomi Jimenez on January 24, 2007 - 5:23pm

Hey Dana! Thanks! Yeah my cat and I are doing well. He started eating and drinking again on Saturday night (he was too traumatised to eat for a day or so). I have been trying to get use to the time difference but they say it should take me a week to adjust. Other than that, I am doing well. I hope you are well and I will talk to you soon.

Later...

Naomi

Comment from Naomi Jimenez on January 24, 2007 - 5:28pm

What's up Mike! Oakland is treating me nice. I did get my bag back the next day so that's good. I have been doing a lot to get acquainted with how my job functions so I've been pretty busy. Anywho, I will keep everyone posted on my work here at OTX-West. Later...

Naomi

Comment from Jessica McCoy on January 31, 2007 - 7:48pm

hey naomi,

Jessica McCoy here, CTC VISTA living and working in Berkeley. We should get dinner/tea/drinks sometime. Also, I'm looking for an apartment right now, too. If you haven't found a place yet, let me know and maybe we can join forces.

Take care,

Jessica

Well I arrived in Boston for the first time in life last night to a scary 15 degree climate. Cold to many, but from someone raised in LA an experienced 80 degrees on Christmas, this was just flippin ridiculous.-lol You know how your foot tingles when it falls asleep, yeah that's how my whole face felt. I missed my first plane @ 620am from LAX to Salt Lake city but was on my on the 8ish am flight with a lay-over in ATL. Goodness gracious why couldn't I have gone to the pso in Atlanta, would've cut the flight in half. Anywho, I'm havin a ball out here in Boston where the accent is apparent. So many green trees and fresh water is foreign to me. It's like a new concept when you're accustomed to a smog filled road-raged infested city. I have like 1 of the coolest supervisors ever (Martin Cheesebouroh) of The Media Aid Center. Basically we give inner-city High School kids the opportunity to learn and get inolved with the film and media industry. We teach various software & build sound stages & TV studios in schools. In 07 I'm plotting world domination! I'm still at the pso so I've gotta be brief. Who've thought I be so darn chatty with my very first Blog entry ever?? Not Mike, no sir. Gotta run. Ya'll stay tuned.

Comment from Laura Hanley on January 19, 2007 - 11:46am

Hello from down the road in San Diego!   Best of luck this year with your VISTA experience!

~ Laura

Comment from Corey Funderburk on January 19, 2007 - 3:01pm

Ditto on Laura's comment. Welcome back to sunny So-Cal!

Two day PSOs are not so much like month long PSOs like NCCC has conditioned me for.

It lacks Red Cross Classes and creepy looking mannequins.

There's no driver training and pretending you can remember everything about a twelve passenger van for when you become the vehicle specialist eight months later.

There are no uniforms so there's confusion in the morning when suddenly you don't have to wear BDUs and make bigger decisions than "Should I wear my long sleeved or short sleeved grey shirt?" or  "Do you think I should wear the fleece vest?"

Comment from Catherine Moore on January 18, 2007 - 6:01pm

Hello hotel roomie! Indeed, I imagine the VISTA will be quite different than the NCCC AmeriCorps experience, but definate props to you for pursuing both, and I still want to hear more about your NCCC experience!

Hi everyone! My name is Naomi and I'm from Philly. I headed to Oakland and I'm really excited to be serving in the beautiful state of California. It's a big move for me since I've never lived anywhere else. If I end up loving California (which I know I will), I will stay after my year is over. Well, I guess I will keep everyone posted on how things go. See ya!

Comment from Laura Hanley on January 19, 2007 - 11:38am

Hi Naomi!

I'm a CTC VISTA member down the road from you (okay, maybe a little further than just down the road) in sunny San Diego.  I started my service in mid-September and moved to California because of it.  I was born and raised in Indiana, never living anywhere else (except for a short year in Michigan my freshman year), so the move out here was a big one for me too.  As predicted, I've fallen in love and plan to stay out here and find a job when my term is up!  Good luck to you and welcome to California from one newcomer to another!

In service,

Laura

Comment from Naomi Jimenez on January 21, 2007 - 3:52am

Hey Laura,

Thanks for the California greeting! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who up and moved far from home to serve. I think I was the only one at the this years PSO that was relocating (I stuck out like a sore thumb with all my baggage and my cat). It's a little scary  because I don't know anyone but I am looking forward to this experience of living somewhere other than Philly. I hope to fall in love with Cali as well so I can stay when my year is over. Take care of yourself!

Naomi

I am blogging about my frustration over Andrea (or Andie as she loves to be called) not finishing her roll of film from Boston. She has all of these awesome pictures of Goof Troop goofiness and they're suspended in a disposable Kodak :(. They should definitely be on Flickr. So Andie, please finish the roll - take some pictures of Matt! So far he's like your snuffalufugus (sp?). I mean, how do we really know he exists? This is the scientific age, we need proof. Anyone who feels the same, comment so she feels extra guilty :) Love you Andie!

Comment from Laura Hanley on October 17, 2006 - 6:03pm

I second that!

Comment from Andrea Collopy on October 18, 2006 - 12:45pm

I guess you'll just have to come to Bingo Night so we can finish off the roll:) But even then, I'm just a poor VISTA, you know I don't have the money to develop the roll. I am going to wait until our service is over and I can afford it! jk Thanks for the reminder, I'll get on it!

Comment from Richard T. Anderson on October 23, 2006 - 10:36am

That reminds me i need to post more of my pics from the PSO, including fun with ducks in the park. I'll get on that. Can't help you with the Andie situation. I don't know here well enough. Hopefully this blog sets a fire under her butt or at least gets her ears buzzing.

Peace,

Richard

Good morning VISTAs!

I have finally found a website that fits my needs for posting pictures.  I liked flickr overall, but didn't like how there was a limit to how many pictures you could post since I wanted to use it for a number of pictures.  The site I found, Picasa, through Google, is exactly what I was looking for.  Although there is a limit, it's more than I think I could ever use, at least for the time being.  Anyway, I just thought I'd share my photos from PSO in lovely Boston!  Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/LauraEHanley/BostonVISTAPSO?authkey=aq0bkXY2qrJqC30Dw8gWhhG-nuU

Comment from Carl Seifert on October 10, 2006 - 1:19pm

Thanks for posting the pictures Laura! I hope all is well in Saint Diego. Those were good times at PSO. Its too bad the next time we see each other is very far away. oh well...

Peace

Carl Seifert
Computer C.O.R.E.
Alexandria, VA

i don't have much to say right now. but in the future this space will be filled with tales of my trials and triumphs as a ctc vista.

Comment from Tim Wescott on September 7, 2006 - 3:25pm

Nice first post. :-)

Comment from cheryl jerozal on September 12, 2006 - 9:23pm

i am awaiting your second! :p

This is the first official blog that I have ever written, very exciting. I've been here in Boston for nearly 24 hours (another first) for the Pre-Service Orientation. It's been great-- great cruisin', great people, great sight seeing (following the Red Line, you know who you are) and, of course, great blogging. When I leave here tomorrow I will return to San Diego, CA where I was born and raised and will also be serving, although an hour or so away from home. Laura Hanley and I will be living and serving together at a non-profit called Pangea Foundation. The specifics of our duties are still under construction but I'm definitely excited for the possibilities! I'm looking forward to meeting other Vistas in the area and maybe even doing some "social networking" which has gotten a lot of discussion time at the PSO.