Now that June is here it means that the majority of the volunteers I went through orientation with are preparing to leave. Jane left last week. Seth leaves today. Janet will leave the 14th. Sara and Stacey are both leaving this week. And I leave in 27 days.
A lot of people here have asked me if I'll extend. I don't know the answer yet. Sometimes I think I might, but I still don't feel 100% about any decision. All I know is that I'm looking forward to going home for the month of July and spending a little time by myself and "processing" everything. Past volunteers have said it is a shock to the system, so I know I'll need that time alone.
Still, until then life continues on, perhaps at the fasted pace it ever has during my time at CAP. This past week we received some huge news: The Catholic Volunteer Network (of which CAP is a member which is how CAP receives the AmeriCorps award) was denied any AmeriCorps awards for the 2011-2012 year. Luckily, I'll still get my award from this year, so I don't have to worry about that, but ALL the volunteer programs which are members of the CVN will lose their AmeriCorps funding for 11-12. That's a ton of programs, including some huge ones like the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Thanks a lot, Congress.
Not too much happened this week... But on Friday some of us went to Seth's last game (it was much quieter than last time; a lot less rambunctious cheering), and beforehand I stopped in Berea at this awesome used bookstore called Robie & Robie's. Rachel at the MTV (Mt. Vernon) House told me she saw Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in there - a book we both love. The store looks like someone's attic library with books stuffed everywhere in a mildly haphazard way. I found another book that I wanted, but couldn't find the one Rachel told me about. So I finally asked the lady at the desk, not holding out much hope that she would know if it had been sold recently. However, she said "Yeah, it's right here. Oh, but I can't sell it to you. It's an Advanced Reader's Copy... But you can have it for free if you want." I was so excited, and I was glad that I had found a book to buy, because I would have felt weird just taking a free book from the store without something in exchange. So I was really happy going to the game. Afterwards, Seth's team (who are members of his church in Berea) prayed over Seth and invited the CAP volunteers to join in. It was really nice.
Yesterday I had considered going to Pleasant Hill with some of my housemates because there was a special "Adventure Day" event going on... but I think they just hiked and didn't do a tour. I'm really only interested in going on a tour because Shanna and I have already hiked some of the trails. Anyway, they left at a weird time and it didn't work out, but I'm glad because it opened me up to different (and better) opportunities. I went out to lunch with some other housemates and we drove out to Brodhead to get some ice cream (but ended up just getting ice cream at Aunt Polly's like we usually do because the place in Brodhead only had vanilla softserve). Then I went to Mike and Julianna's (former volunteer and current volunteer) wedding at camp. It was really nice, but hot! There was lots of dancing to a great soundtrack and smores!
Today I'm going to Knoxville with Janean and Meghan to pick up Shanna at the airport... and I don't know what else! I've never been to Knoxville before. This month is shaping up to be extremely busy at work, but I hope to continue to regularly blog during these last few weeks of my time at CAP!
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