I really am not good at Blogging

Hi friends,


I am really not good at blogging. I really had high hopes for this blog and unfortunately am not living up to par. Anywho, life in Philly has been swell. I feel as though I have fully adjusted to the city life. My internship is in full swing and going well. My co-workers are really helpful and I feel like I am really fitting into the group. My classes are going good as well. My one class, Power and Authority is challenging me to think in different ways than I am used to doing. My house mates are doing well too. Busy with their classes and internships. My roommates and I went to New York this last weekend. We spent the day on  a bus tour seeing a bunch of amazing things. For example, statue of liberty, Ellis island, and times square. The night before Alicia and I played broom ball with my bible study. For those of you who don't know what it is, basically running after a ball on ice (in tennis shoes) with a broom like pole. We played till 1:30 am and I left for New York at 6:45 am. Needless to say I slept on the bus, well, until a conversation in Portuguese surrounded me.  I made sure to have a piece of cheese cake and go to the m and m factory. Where else can you spend 17 dollars on m and ms and not feel really bad about it. It was quite interesting and they had sooo many flavors. I literally felt like a kid in a candy store. I have been teaching myself how to cook. I only have made 2/20 things. Tacos and burgers. Have no fear I have plenty of time! My apartment is getting warmer with the weather so thats good too. I have no complaints :) Also I put 100 photos on FB! Check em out!


High for today: Getting slightly hypnotized
Low: Having a funky phone alarm.

Hi all,



This weekend I spent in the lovely southwest part of Michigan. My sorority sister and I made the journey back starting around 9pm on Weds night. After about 16.5 hours of traveling I made it home. This weekend was spent with family and friends. It was so amazing to see all of the support I have at home. I have made it back to Philly and had my classes today. I am getting pretty tired so here is just a short note.


Sorry my blogging habits are not consistent.

:)

Hey all,


So writing these blogs have not been going all that well. I guess that's what happens when you get really busy. That's a good thing though. My roommates and I are definitely getting out and trying new things in Philly. Just today we went to the zoo. The Philadelphia zoo is the oldest in America. After, we went to Geno's Steaks. We only waited about a half hour. It was soo delicious! There is a huge standing competition between Geno's and Pat's. They are two VERY famous cheese steak places. Funny thing is they are across the street from each other. I even ordered like a pro. My internship is really going well. My co-workers are very welcoming and extremely helpful. I have been to meetings, court-hearings, home visits, and been able to make phone calls and such. I am learning a lot and getting a lot of exposure to the field of social work. My house is still pretty cold, but I am getting used to it. I have been sleeping on the couch to keep warm. Luckily it has been working.  Last weekend three of my roommates friends came to Philly. Two stayed with us! It felt like a big sleepover. Paula, cooked for us! She made homemade pancakes, banana bread, and chocolate cake. YUM! We also went to the aquarium in New Jersey last weekend. It was so, so much fun! We got to touch a baby shark and string rays. Last Sunday we went to a great church. I am pretty sure that I will continue to go there throughout the semester. I am coming home next weekend! Tuesday is my birthday! So much fun stuff going on right now in my life. Philly is great! God is amazing!



(My sandwich)



Love,

KT

9-5's are tiring.

I feel like I might have aged forty years this week. No, maybe not, but I have definitely been exhausted after this week. I have worked three days now and it has been fabulous. My work is about 1.3 miles there and it a refreshing walk in the morning. I let the lights plan my trip. Meaning, whatever the way the light is green I go. It is nice since my trip is usually never the same way. My supervisor and co-workers are wonderful. Everyone has been so welcoming. I even have my own desk and computer. We have made a lot of home visits in the past couple of days. It is nice to be around kids again. I miss being around kids, music, and driving out here in Philly. I decided tomorrow I am going to call the electric company because of the astounding bill. Hopefully there was some start-up fee or something that accounted for the high bill.  My family is coming to visit soon! I am sooo happy and excited!! Hm, well I should probably go to sleep! Hope all is well. Sorry this is so short!

Trusted the process!

fHi All,


I just kind of realized that I haven't posted in a few days. If I am going to do this blog thing I need to be more dedicated. Maybe you should come to Philly and make me blog. Just kidding, but come to Philly anyway! My weekend was splendid. I had another interview on Friday morning and that went well. They called to extend an offer even before I got back to the Philadelphia Center! Then my roommates and I went to The Franklin Institute. It is a very hands on museum with a strong focus on science. Friday night my roommate and I went to a poetry slam. It was so much fun and the people who got up and read a poem did a fantastic job! Such amazing stories they told through poetry. Saturday my roommates and I went to The National Constitution Center. It was a very busy place with all of these different medias going at once. It was very informative though. We did some grocery shopping that night and I saved over thirteen dollars from buying sale items! score! I went over to a friends apartment and we were going to watch a movie, but that did not end up going well so we decided to play euchare. My partner and I won two straight games! Sunday morning I went to church, a lunch for college students, and then a college bible study. The people there were super nice. The church was enormous! I then spent what seemed like a long time finishing up some homework. The chinatown apartment threw a super bowl party and everyone bought a dish to pass. The food was delicious. I spent more time talking/eating/playing cards than watching the game. Oh well! Today I had both of my classes. I also accepted my offer to The Support Center for Child Advocates. I am so excited and nervous! I better go to bed since I start tomorrow! Oh yeah, I am working on not being a vegetarian anymore.

Love and peace and everything in-between,


Katie

High- Finally having an internship
Low- My electric bill is 121 dollars for ten days! ahhh!!!!

Exploring!

Hello all,

Its yours truly reporting in from Antarctica aka my apartment!  So yesterday was 65 degrees out! My two friends and I spent 3 hours in Old City exploring! We saw Ben Franklin's grave site, Betsey Ross's house, bits of foundation from George Washington's house, Elfreth Alley(Our nation's oldest residential street), the first ever Quaker meeting place, a few gardens, and the American Philosophical society. Oh, and before that I had my first interview. It went well and she gave me an offer to work there. I would have my own desk and computer in an office with other younger social workers. It seemed like a good fit for me because there would be a lot to do. It would actually be intense work not just administration stuff. I still wanted to go to another interview or two before I made my ultimate choice. Last night my friend Elizabeth and I walked downtown for a couple hours. We stopped and tried a Philly pretzel it was so yummy. It was cinnamon sugar! Today I did a lot of little errands. Bought a pair of shoes, worked out, cleaned up the apartment, etc. Tonight I went to this Identity Seminar that was put on by the Center. It was really interesting and a lot of fun. I skyped with my daughter Hilary tonight!! It was so lovely to get caught up on happenings at Alma. Last but not least, I have another interview tomorrow! Its at the Support Center for Child Advocates. yay!!


High- finding these shoe pads that help me fit in my two pair of shoes!
Low- The fact that this website will not let me upload pictures some days!

KTTTT

Mixed emotions

Today did not go as planned. Unfortunately when I woke up I felt like I had been hit by a bus. You know those big yellow ones that drive kids to school. Yeah, that one. My whole body ached, mostly my head. My roommate Elizabeth had also felt awful. This was not supposed to happen seeing that we had made plans for today. As I could barely get out of bed I soon realized that it was probably not a good idea to do much and I probably would feel awful spending hours in a museum. So I decided to play it safe on the couch. My roommates and I had to go to the Center for our morning caucus check. I looked at my hopeful potentials and saw no change. Big surprise. I came home and had a nice breakfast consisting of a cheese omelet and a bagel. I also took a Dayquil and some ibuprofen in hopes to combat this cold or whatever it was. I did homework for a while. A lot of reading that I was a bit behind on doing. Early afternoon I decided to take a nap that lasted about an hour or so. I slept excellently and was not even a bit cold. That doesn’t happen often in my apartment. I went back to the center for our afternoon caucus check. One of my hopeful internships had been labeled “not available”. That was the third one. Bummer. I decided to go talk to my advisor and see if maybe I should consider other options. Before I could talk he told me that all of my hopefuls were a bust. He gave me a list of five more to read about. I was back to ground zero. I actually did not freak out or even seem to mind. Ironic, I know. I looked in the files and decided that I was not completely sold on any, well maybe one. I went back to him with a couple of questions and he directed me to go talk to another advisor, Deborah. She is seriously one of the sweetest ladies ever. She and I connect very well and I always enjoy talking to her. She also felt really bad and was really committed to finding me an internship I really liked. We talked through some of the internships and she offered more suggestions that I might be interested in and seemed like a good fit for doing. Luckily, I found three that I was very interested in and we contacted them all. Unfortunately, the first two options no one answered so we left messages. The last one the supervisor said she would call us back. Within twenty minutes she had called back. I now have an interview tomorrow at 11am. Woo! It is at Defenders Association, which is a nonprofit agency that offers services to 70% of the arrested people in Philly. The specific department is the juvenile social services and I would be shadowing a social worker. I will know more information tomorrow after the interview. After taking care of all of that I came back home and the girls made cheesy potato soup for dinner and I made grands biscuits. We can tell who the real cook around here is not me. J I skyped with my cousins for about twenty minutes tonight and that was really nice. It was good to hear and see my support system even from afar! If you want to skype I would love it. My friend Alycia and I went to a bible study with young adults and it was so nice! Everyone was so welcoming and I felt really comfortable there. I can definitely see myself going back. I got back around 10 and worked on some more homework and studied the organization I am going to interviewing with. Overall the day was a good one and I am feeling much better. I hope to get a good night sleep and wake up feeling rejuvenated!

Goodnight!

low: waking up feeling bad.
high: my roommate did a wonderful job taking care of me!

 view outside my window!! 

Sunday and Monday

Well Monday is over! Hooray for that. Well, Mondays are not really that bad..except being in class for 7ish hours. I have my Power and Authority class in the morning and Abnormal Psych at night. Today for class we met at the 30th street station, which is an Amtrak station. We observed power and authority by using our five senses. Of course I felt obligated to buy a chocolate chip muffin to make sure I had every sense covered. Opps. In the afternoon my roomies and I went to the Magic Gardens. It was fantastic! I have never seen anything like it before. Magic Gardens is, "Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is a folk art environment, gallery space, and nonprofit organization that showcases the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar. Located at the site of Zagar's largest public mosaic installation, the Magic Gardens includes a fully mosaicked indoor gallery and a massive outdoor labyrinthine mosaic sculpture. The installation, primarily consisting of found objects and contributions from the community, covers half a city block with myriads of tile, texture, and color. A walk through the labyrinth will reveal sculptures from Latin America and Asia, bicycle wheels from local South Street shop Via Bicycles, Zagar's hand-made tiles, and mirrors of every shape and size."-taken right from the website. Tonight we had a mini kick off bible study which turned out to be pretty good. My friend made homemade cookies, yum yum! Yesterday I went to a church in Philly too. It was good and the pastor was from Holland, Michigan. After church we went to a Chinese New Year parade. Although, it only existed of like four dragons and firecrackers. Not like I imagined, but still pretty cool. I even got in a Sunday afternoon nap. First nap in a LONG time. It was lovely. I am still waiting on interviews, so I am going to take advantage of exploring the city! I'm done with classes for the week. I talked to my grandma today and she had mentioned coming home for a long weekend sometime. I had never really gave it much thought, but I started to consider it. I looked up flights in March and came up with $256 dollars round trip. Not bad. Any advice or suggestions? Please privately message me on FB. I want to hear your thoughts on possibly making the trip home. I am pretty tired so I should call it a night.

Love you all!

Low- Hearing a man scream at a women for riding her bike to close to his. It was scary. Really scary. There were plenty of men watching and they would not stick up for her. It was sickening.

High- Probably seeing the art!

 Sunday's picture of the parade

 At the Magic Gardens!

A Relaxing Weekend

Today was a decent day. I spent like 3+ hours at the auto show. It was the first that I have ever been to. It was pretty cool, but then again I like cars so that makes sense. After, some friends and I went to Fourth St cookies. It's this famous cookie place in Philly. I had a white chocolate chip cookie. It was sure tasty! I've attempted to do homework during the day, but that has been an epic fail. I have really no motivation to any type of homework. This is only a slight problem. I did make a good dinner. Cheese ravioli with Alfredo sauce. Not anything like olive garden, but it got the job done. I have kind of realized that I am not a natural cook. I can't just throw stuff together and make a delicious meal. I have been practicing with very, very simple dishes in order to hopefully prepare me to make something great. The last couple of days have been kinda rough. Feeling quite homesick. I'm hoping once my internship starts time will fly by and soon I will be home! Still no interviews (just because the supervisors have not gotten back to my advisor). Hopefully this week I will have the interviews and find the perfect internship! In the mean time I plan to relax and explore some more. My apartment hasn't been as cold as usual which is a plus, but I still wear a hat at night with a heated blanket to be safe. Hopefully this makes for a relatively cheap electric bill! We do have wifi at home! That was super nice and extremely convenient. Yesterday we went to a potluck dinner at this Simple Way house. The people were extremely nice and welcoming there.


Low: Witnessing a young boy get lost from his parents at the car show.
High: The autoshow!


(I am unable to upload a picture for whatever reason) Sorry!

See you on the flip side,


Katie

Waiting, not the game I want to play!

Good morning,


So the waiting game begins. Every morning a list called the caucus is updated about potential interviews or further instruction about contacting potential supervisors. Thursday was a pretty okay day. The morning was slow moving, but followed an amazing lunch at Max Brenners. In Philly this week is restaurant week. Which means that fancy, expensive places offer a discounted lunch for twenty bucks. The food was really great and I enjoyed the experience. The afternoon did not consist of much excitement. Waiting around for the initial caucus posting. At 4:00pm someone from the city came and talked about volunteer opportunities in Philly. There is so many ways one can give back to the city. At five we had a homelessness colloquium. It was really informative and inspiring for this man to give his story. There are so many different stories about the homeless population and it is truly heartbreaking to hear people talk about stereotype them.  Last night, my housemates and Jon came over and we played euchare. My partner, Elizabeth, and I won best two out of three! I'm not sure what the weekend brings, but as of now I am just waiting for that list. I can't believe it is 62 degrees out, but it is raining.

(This is the dessert I had yesterday!)

Low: Feeling bored
High: Hoping for much fun this weekend!








Love,
KT

It's already been a long week!

Hi all,

I promise I have not forgotten about the fact that I am blogging. Without internet at home and a lot going on it has been hard to blog. We should be getting internet at home any day and my blogging will continue. I spent all of last week looking at different places to live. I think about nine total. At the end of the week I was starting to believe I might be homeless. Well, just kidding really. At the final moment I decided to go with a group of four people to see an apartment I believed to only house four. I was quite bummed because I did not think I would be able to live with two girls that I really wanted to live with. We then starting talking amongst ourselves and realized that one of the rooms was big enough for three girls to comfortably live. Score!! The apartment seemed perfect... It was just the right size, perfect location, safe, and seemed like a quiet neighborhood. On Friday we went and signed our lease and our landlord was definitely not prepared. It took like two and a half hours to sign it after she prepared it. After that was all said and done two of the girls went to drop off some of their stuff. Come to find out our water heater blew. Ah! They had it fixed by the time we moved in. Good deal. Saturday we moved in and everything went smoothly. We also got our furniture delivered.  It is nice stuff too. Our couch is super comfy. Come to find out, we did not have hot water. Not okay. On Monday we found out that the heat setting on our hot water heater was never turned back on. Another downfall of our apartment is the heating system. The vents are towards the top of the apartment and blow directly on the windows. The first two days of living in the apartment were freezing. In total we bought four space heaters and I bought a heating blanket. Luckily, the weather outside is getting to be warmer and they came and put plastic on our windows. I’m hoping that it continues to get warmer in our apartment. We are really getting acquainted with the city and getting the grid like system down.

As far as the internship search goes I have picked six potential places that I would be interested in working at. The staff at TPC is working on seeing who wants to take an intern and getting me an interview. The internships are in social work. Some in a legal setting, a couple in a hospital, and one in a school. As of now I am waiting to see if I need to call for an interview or if my advisor is setting them up. I find out tomorrow morning.

We have had a lot of fun exploring the city, trying new foods, getting to know the others in the program. I am a bit homesick, but I am managing! I can’t believe my birthday is right around the corner. I love birthdays. I have both my classes on Monday. Power and Authority is on Monday morning. So far I really like the class. Monday nights is Abnormal Psychology. I really like having class only once a week. I need to make sure that I stay on top of my work and not procrastinate till Sunday night. I went to a zumba class. That was interesting. I could not really follow the moves, but I am still quite sore.

For the rest of the day we are going grocery shopping, laundry, and I am not sure what else. I attended an interviewing workshop and it was extremely helpful.

High: Really liking my roommates!

Low: It's so cold in our apartment!

Yours truly,

Katie

<--- This is me signing my first lease!

I'll treat this couch better than a baby!

Good Day fellow viewers, I hope you read this blog in high spirits! Today was my first day of class. I was under the impression that I would not have class the first couple of weeks. Surprise, surprise..I had a 2.5 hour class. It seems interesting, but to early to tell that I am going to love it or not. I already have a bit of homework. Nothing I can't handle, but I don't want to worry about it in the scheme of doing everything else. Today we dedicated to finding furniture. As a group we decided to rent furniture. I was super happy with this decision, mostly because I did not/pretty much refused to sleep on a gross mattress. The couches, chairs, dining room table, coffee table, beds, microwave is super nice! It is worth the monthly cost I think. We sign our lease tomorrow at noon tomorrow! Ekk! I also set up for electric too! It was super easy and you can pay online! Also there is another group of students renting in the same complex and one happens to be a good friend that I have made while being here. I was really excited. After getting furniture and electric squared away we had a social awareness seminar and Philly 101. Basically that means that alumni come and answer any and all questions we have about Philly. I might have asked where someone who is turning 21 should go on their birthday. I mean for anyone that might apply to, you know? Then I spent the evening walking around with friends in Old City. We saw a lot and it was so nice! Such as an ice skating rink overlooking the Delaware river, the Liberty Bell, and a Great Irish monument. Then we came back and checked out a local gym that is really reasonably priced. After, we spent some time watching more magic tricks and played a game of euchare. It was a pretty stress free day. Moving day on Saturday! So excited!

High-Finding nice furniture and having it delivered on Saturday!
Low- My foot kinda hurts.

Fun fact- America's Most Historic Mile is in Philadelphia!

BYEE!,
Katie!

Life is a highway.. heck no. It's a rollercoaster!

Telling by the title of my blog you can only imagine that today has been quite a day. Luckily, with a happy ending! It started o ff pretty decently. We learned a lot about the placement process and what we should expect. We spent a lot of the day walking around looking at places to live. I had a great lunch at Little Italy! We thought we would really like this place and then didn't like the neighborhood so we were so bummed. I thought I was not going to be able to room with two of my friends that I have made. At the end of the day I got an apartment that I am sooo happy with! There is five of us total. I have two roommates which is a bit tight, but definitely doable! Its a two bedroom, two bath, living room and kitchen. It has carpet, washer,dryer, frig, and oven! Plus it has a doorman and is very safe! I just am sooo happy about it. We are also living with two international students from China. Tonight for dinner I went with a bunch of people to a Viennese dinner. I actually liked it!  It was really cool to sit by and chat with a kid from Vietnam and hear about his culture. So I'm a happy girl!! I have included a picture of the complex.


Low: Seeing the neighborhood of the apartment we really wanted. It didn't feel very safe.
High: The relief of having a place to live.

South Philly, Center Philly, and North Philly, Oh my!

Hola. I had a really great day today. I spent sooo much time walking and becoming familiarized with the various neighborhoods. I viewed seven apartments today and really like the first two. I like the south side of Phily. The neighborhoods have a community feel and I really like that. Also, it is very much a good place for people around my age. Good food and hangout spots=score! Anyway, so I basically did that all day. Excluding a lunch and a dinner break, which were both decent. It kinda stinks with the housing arrangement because the group members are torn on what they would prefer to live so it makes me feel like I'm in a hard spot. In the meantime I am making new friends! I really feel like I have gotten to know people in the program and I like that feeling A LOT. I thought these posts were going to be more interesting, but then I realize when I write them they tend to be kind of boring to read. I'll work on that ;). It rained most of the day, but the temperature was fairly decent. With that being said, I have to use a picture I took yesterday because I was unable to take any today. Not that it is relevant to you at all. I have been craving a donut all day. I walk past Dunkin Donuts all the time. Tomorrow I think I will get a donut actually. Yeah that sounds great. Also, this blog is not grammatically correct. So, I guess deal with that. Yeah, well I take suggestions/comments/concerns/etc.

(The picture is a view from my hotel window)

Low: Walking in the rain without an umbrella!
High: Feeling better about navigating.

Peace and love!

Camel (inside joke)

I have survived the tiring second day. I slept exceptionally well even sharing a bed. I was the third person to shower today and that made me late and I was really rushed. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. After an introduction and history of the city we explored the city for about four hours. Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the USA, which is pretty cool. We learned a lot of factoids. We explored the city for about four hours today with a lunch in between the tour. It was delicious (cheese lasagna). After the tour we talked a lot more about housing, which unfortunately did not reassure me of my anxiety about the living arrangements. Oh well, we will see, I suppose. Tomorrow is going to be a day of viewing a few options. We had an international dinner with decent food. The different choices were Korean, Thai, Italian, Philly Favs, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines.  The hummus was soooo good! Tonight was spent playing euchre and watching some incredible magic tricks. This kid from Vietnam was absolutely amazing. Euchre was fun, my partner and I won three in a row. I can't believe how incredibly tired I am! I plan on relaxing and getting ready for bed really soon.

Goodnight!

Low: Being hungry and not having food in the hotel room
High: Hanging out tonight, seeing the magic tricks.

Picture of the day is what I came back to in my hotel room!

First Things First

Well it's official. I have made it to Philadelphia and I am going to try to do this blog thing. My travels were pretty painless. I talked with a girl that went to school out here and she was pretty nice. My roommates are really nice too. Everything seems to be going smoothly. The hotel and the view from my room is nice. My only concern thus far is who I am going to live with this term. Also I think I might be the only vegetarian in our cohort, which is one of the reasons that I lost our second ice breaker. Which leads me to continue to question how long I am going to be a vegetarian. After orientation stuff I went out with my roommates and some others. It was nice to get out and look around and we got hot chocolate from a cute cafe (which is what I choose to take a picture of it).

Daily High and Low:
Low: The taxi was a bit expensive!
High: Getting to talk to others out here!

Yours truly,

Katie