the one with lots of discoveries.

let's see. it's been awhile. i'll start with a bit of a recap of the past week-ish. then on to funsie things.

i had training for AmeriCorps this week which was fun. i finally got to meet my site supervisor and learned a lot more about exactly what i'll be doing. i got to do some exploring of the community where i'll be working...it's definitely a 'project' neighborhood; although i don't like that term. it is public housing and there are definite problems...but at the same time..there's a lot of good things going on too. i'm excited to brush up on my español and finally get to work.

i got to go to the nashville farmer's market (here) for lunch with my co-workers. you must must must try jamaicaway (here). i had the veggie fry chicken..it's on the bottom right..and it's AMAZING. also the farmer's market accepts food stamps so i'm excited about that. well..i will be when i get mine. it's been quite an ordeal trying to get signed up for benefits but i'm hoping to have it straightened out tomorrow morning.

we went to a fun front porch show on thursday. some friends of a boy i work with put it on and it was amazing. they had pretty white lights around the porch and funsie folk-ish music. we got to see natalie prass who opened for jay brannan the other week. she's playing again this week and i'm excited about it.

um...one downer of the week was finding out adult men aren't allowed to live in public housing here. so even if a man is married and/or wants to be a part of his child's life...he isn't allowed to live with the family. for the life of me i can't figure out whose moron brain decided that was smart. after coming home and venting to nick about it for an hour i felt a little better..but it makes it really hard to try and focus on what i'll be doing here when i feel like there's so many bigger injustices that need to be fixed before we're able to really make a difference. i don't know..maybe i'm being a crazy..but it's still bothering me.  i know the work i'll be doing here will definitely change lives and make an impact but i don't even know how to say it...i guess it feels almost futile to work so hard knowing there will be so many more barriers to social justice even after i'm done with this year.

i started going to the gym here again. so that's exciting. and we had our apartment complex pool party yesterday. kelsey and i didn't win anything. boo. but we got some free/weird gifts ie: an all-in-one level/flashlight/screwdriver. yesterday i didn't do much. we ordered pizza and i caught up on some dexter episodes. today hopefully i can convince nick to either go to the dollar theater (well it's $1.50) or go to one of these beautiful drive ins:
Hiway 50
Stardust
Moonlite

and i'm excited for next week because i'll be helping out with the vulnerability index. i'll be going out from 2:30 to 5:30am for two nights doing surveys with homeless people..and if any of you really know me you'll know that this is the kind of stuff i live for.

as far as today...i posted on craigslist asking for free titans tickets just in case someone has some they don't want. but i'm gonna go ahead and say that probs won't happen. i also spent a solid few hours going through tons of websites/magazines to put together some funsie things for us to do in the next few weeks. they include but are not limited to:
Rock N Roll Trivia
Live on the Green
Southern Fried Festival
CupcakePalooza
and a Full Moon Hike

there's lots more but i'm tired of linking things. anyway. we also discovered a place called Cupcake Collection. they're the best cupcakes on the planet. i kid you not.

um. this week i work every day. friday we have our team meeting and it's gonna be weird to not see the rest of my team til then. i really don't have anything else going on. but hopefully i'll update soon. well if something fun happens anyway.