Coach!?

So as I discover more and more everyday that I am not very good at consistently blogging, I am going to try to cover a week and a half in LA in a single post....

Last week was another busy, yet exciting week at Verb. My boss Christina put me in charge of collecting all of the liability insurance documents from all of our corporate partners. While this job doesn't sound too bad on the outside, it turns out to be very time consuming! Let me attempt to break down some of the numbers (I still don't get all of them): Currently Verbum Dei has partnerships formed with 66 separate corporations. Almost all of these are for profit companies with the exception of 5 or 6, which are ideally funded by separate companies that cannot current use students but still want to help the school. Some companies have one student working while others have up to 12, it really just depends on what they can use/afford. One job consists of a team of 4 students who are paid $27,500 (split 4 ways). This is the basis of the Cristo Rey model that allows for a reduced tuition.

Verbum Dei is required by law (and the contract we sign) to issue liability insurance to every one of these corporate partners for around $2,000,000 in case anything happens to a student while on the job. This essentially covers us. Also in the contract it states that the company is required to issue liability insurance to us for a similar amount of money as a secondary coverage just in case something severe happens so that the company is covered. In the past we have been keeping records pretty well of the certificates that we have issued to the companies, but have done a pretty awful job of making sure that we are issued insurance in return.

I spent most of last Monday sending out reminder emails to the companies that had not yet issued us insurance (around 55 of the 66 companies!). Responses ranged from "absolutely, here it is" to "What is this? We have never had to do this in the past and have been working with Verb for 7 years". So for the past two weeks I have constantly been sending out certificates, scanning copies of the signed contract, and processing the ones that I have received. Right now I have received around 2/3 of them, I will be having a party in my cubicle once the last one comes in.

I lead our spirituality night last week and used some paper plates I found at our house to do an activity involving the certain masks that we wear as individuals. It was stolen straight from the Encounter retreat, but I still loved it.

I have been wanting to get involved with activities all year at school, and last Wednesday I got the chance to actually participate in my first cross country practice. I ran like 5 miles with the guys and it was awesome. The current coach is good, but I think that they appreciated a coach actually doing the workouts with them as opposed to simply telling them to run. I now have 30 guys referring to me as coach whenever they see me at school, I can't honestly say that I was expecting to have that title given to me anytime soon!

One of Carolyn's friends from BC came to town last weekend, so we got the chance to show him around LA a little bit. Julie and I got free tickets to the Dodgers game from work, and it was fun to see such a beautiful stadium. The game was a blowout, and I must say the the Rockies looked good! One of the girls in another JV house got 10 free tickets to see Chivas USA and the Kansas City Wizards play that Sunday night (an MLS game for those who don't follow soccer). Chivas lost 2-0, but the stadium they play in was beautiful. I would definitely go back soon.

There was no school on Monday this week because of a teachers in-service, but the students still had to work. Since all the teachers were gone (including Christina and Mashanda) and there were no students on campus, it was essentially dead. I actually managed to be fairly productive with LSAT studying and doing a few other things, but overall it was a pretty laid back day. That night John led spirituality night, and he had us be silent for 2 hours using no electricity. It was crazy! It is hard to really appreciate how nice it is to read a book with a lamp until you have to read one with a candle. Overall, I really enjoyed the night.

On Wednesday we had our first league cross country meet! I was pretty impressed with the guys. We finished third out of five teams with definite room for improvement. I am confident that Varsity should be able to place second in league, which would be good enough to send the team to CIF finals. There were over 22 guys, and everyone of them finished the race.

Yesterday we had a hill workout for cross country. Because of work I am never really sure what days I can coach for sure, and luckily I forgot my clothes for yesterday so I didn't have to run (I may have died). The guys worked hard and I was really happy with how hard some of them pushed it. I told them I wouldn't forget my clothes next time......

After practice it took almost an hour to get back to Verb from the park because of traffic. This city is seriously crazy when it comes to rush hour traffic!

Last night Julie, Carolyn, and I crashed the USC Newman center start of the year dinner. We got lots of free food and cake, it was great. Also we had some really good conversations with the people there. The priest was awesome and so was almost every student that we talked to. We ended up staying for almost two hours and they seemed really happy to have us there even though we essentially have no affiliation to USC! I am starting to like that school more and more, even though the priest did pray for the USC sports teams in the grace before the meal.....

Today marks the third day in a row that I have woken up before 6, so I am a little tired. BUT it is college Friday here so I am getting to rep the Creighton polo my mom bought for me, how can a day be bad when that is happening!?

I love and miss all of you! Update me on your lives, I know you are all doing amazing things.

Fight on!

So after taking a solid week off of writing, I decided that it was probably time that I kept posting!

Last week was a short 4 day week at work. It made me realize that faculty members love days off of school just as much (if not more) than students. I managed to take a full LSAT practice test on my day off, which was a very thrilling thing to do and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to kill 3 hours.....

Monday was not only a day off of school, it was also Mashanda's 40th birthday! Right from the beginning of the day Tuesday our office was flooded with birthday wishes. Her phone was buzzing with texts, she was responding to every ones wall posts on facebook, her husband sent her red roses (very smooth), everyone that walked by popped their heads in to wish her well, etc, etc, etc. She was in such a good mood, and it was an absolute blast to watch. I don't know if I have ever met a woman like her in my life. She gets to work by 7 everyday, never really leaves before 5 or 6, is hilarious yet serious. She is just a great person to work with everyday. I don't think I have gone a day yet without hearing the words: "Stupid-ass kids" come out of her mouth. All I can do is laugh when she says it because I know the only reason she says it is because she cares so much about the well being of the students.

Tuesday Julie led spirituality night and we focused on the works of Mother Theresa. I must say that she had some pretty amazing quotes/poems in her day. I would highly recommend them for anyone who has not read any of them yet.

Wednesday is my early day. This particular Wednesday one of the drivers couldn't make it. That of course meant that I hopped into a 12 passenger van with 8 Sophomores and proceeded to attempt my first entire route by myself. It was actually pretty cool. The guys were fun to talk to, and it was quite the battle over the radio station. I managed to make it to Pasadena and back while only getting lost ONE time (wasn't my fault, one of the stops got left off of my directions. So it doesn't count).

Last week was also overcast for the first few days. It was great! It reminded me of home and a good rainy day. It was also at that time that I realized how much LA people complain about the weather. I don't think they fully appreciate how perfect the weather is out here compared to the Midwest (or pretty much anywhere else in the country). I just have to laugh about it.

Thursday started out as a pretty slow day. I got my normal fix with my gas station crew and decided to fill up all of the vans. Hubert and Liz were great as always. That afternoon I got the chance to go to practice with the cross country team for the first time with Mashanda. I was awesome. It made me realize how much easier it is to get to know students when I interact with them away from the structure of school. Unfortunately I was not able to run with them (I was wearing dress clothes), but it was fun to just watch them practice and talk to Mashanda about different parts of the Verb athletic scene.

That night we went downtown for an art walk that LA puts on once a month. While the idea of an art walk usually would not appeal to me, it was actually really cool. Unfortunately the price (saw one for $50,000) was a little out of my range, but it was a blast checking everything out. John and I found an amateur artist to draw a picture of us in under two minutes for a dollar a piece, it was awesome.

On our way back to the car we were brought back to reality and why we were in LA. Walking past one homeless person is bad enough, but walking by 20 or 30 trying to sleep on the sidewalks is pretty hard to swallow. John works downtown and sees it everyday, but for the rest of us it was hard seeing something like that. It just doesn't make sense how so much money (art walk) could be a block away from so much poverty (man curled up on a curb in a sleeping bag).

Friday overall was a pretty uneventful day at work. Theresa (Carolyn's boss) decided to throw alittle part in the afternoon to show off their newly remodled office. It looks wonderful. I got the chance to talk with Lupe (the janitor) about the history of Verb sports and how they won 7 straight California state basketball championships and a national championship in the 70s. Right now they have 2 guys in the nba, I knew they were good back in the day but that shocked me! I also got the chance to talk with Paul who is the VP of fundraising for Verb. He is such a cool guy and clearly knows his stuff, hopefully he is a person I can get to know better. That night we decided to stay in and watch a movie. It was nice to take a chill night.

Saturdays in the fall are always the best, primarily because they feature large amounts of college football! Unfortunately when our tv is equipped with bunny ear antennas there aren't a ton of games on. Luckily the Notre Dame game was on (even though the result wasn't great), so John and I spent pretty much all afternoon watching that. We also found out the USC's first home game was that night against Virginia, so we figured that we would check out the tailgating for a bit. All I can say is WOW. The entire campus was filled with people. There were kegs everywhere, dj's, the marching band, kids, grandparents, everything. Everyone was chanting "fight on!", which is the incredibly creative USC saying. It was ridiculous. John and I ended up getting tickets for $20, so we got the chance to experience our first Trojan game. Overall it was fantastic, and I have no doubt that we will be going back there again soon.

Sunday brought some NFL football at a sports bar by our house, and as always a little test studying.

Yesterday (Monday) was back to work. I got to hang out at my gas station for a bit, went downtown to pick up a kid who wasn't feeling well at work, and got the opportunity to supervise my first J.U.G.. This stands for "Justice Under God" and is essentially a detention. It once again gave me the weird feeling of being an authority figure.

Last night one of our support people came over for dinner, and we all just hung out for an hour or two. Unfortunately our other support person couldn't make it because her aunt suddenly passed away, so I will make sure to keep her in my prayers. Also that night I got a very nice care package from Michelle (I was informed Ellie helped, so she gets a shout out too!), which of course my roommates and I loved!

Every morning when we get off the interstate to enter Watts there are always men standing by the lights walking between traffic asking for money. It is hard to ignore but it is almost necessary to do so in order to maintain my sanity. Today however a man came over and began to wash our windshield without asking. Almost immediately I recognized him as someone that i had talked to at the gas station only a week or two earlier. He told me his story about how he got kicked off of the football team in high school for too many absences and we managed to have a very nice 10-15 minute conversation. I began fumbling around for change in our car but the light quickly turned green and people behind us began to honk. I had no choice but to drive off. I know that none of us asked for our windshield to get washed, but I felt terrible all morning. Why am I so privileged and he is not? He is not a dumb man nor a bad person. All he has done in life is make a few mistakes just like all of us. The only difference is that he most likely did not have a support system. He did not know how to rebound. This is not reality for me, I can leave whenever I want. I am not trapped here. My stipend is more than he makes in a month. It just doesn't seem fair, and that is because it isn't. All he and so many others can do is fight on, and hopefully someone will be there to fight for them too.

Father G, Gospel Mass, and a long weekend.

Last Wednesday we got to go as a house to hear a talk given by Fr. Greg Boyle, who as I mentioned earlier is the founder of Homeboy Industries here in LA. The talk was in the absolutely beautiful new student center on USC's campus. This is the first year it is open, and I am starting to see just how much money USC really has as an institution! That being said, there were probably only 20 or so people besides the 10 JVs in the audience there to watch. Even though the audience was small, it really was a very inspirational talk about his journey and the stories he has are simply amazing.

Afterwards he took all of the JVs out for a beer at a bar right across the street. It was so cool how a man who has touched so many lives is still able to make time for a few JVs that just happen to live in LA. Recently Homeboy has gone through a lot of financial struggles, and I decided to ask him about the sustainability of the company once he retires/isn't able to work any longer. he wasn't really able to give me a straight answer and pretty much said that is will work out and that he isn't worried about it. At the time it disappointed me alittle bit because i would hate to see such a great company go away because of poor business planning, but I then realized that many people in this line of work simply do not think about those things. Business people tend to work in the for profit sector and social justice people work in the social justice sector. There is a struggle now as social businesses are becoming more and more frequent. For now we can just be grateful that people like Fr. G exist in this world.

Thursday we watched a documentary called "Bloods and Crips: Made in America". It was a movie dealing with the formation of these two major gangs in the South Central LA area. Verb is located in Bloods territory. Since the late 1980s over 20,000 gang-related murders have happened in this area. For years police and ambulances would not enter the projects at nights because it was too dangerous. People talk about wars in Africa and the Middle East, but it is shocking to me how a war in one of the wealthiest cities in the world could be ignored. There is no other word for it, it is a war. Take a drive around Watts, and it is clear to see that it is not over. When you drive through the projects by my school, dumpsters are pushed into the middle of the streets in order to prevent drive by shootings. The situation has gotten better, but it is far from over.

Friday before a long weekend = tons of businesses letting out early = pain organizing rides for 70 Freshmen working jobs! Christina has a broken foot, so she can't drive. That means Mashanda, Jeff, and myself drove all around town trying to pick up 14 year old boys wearing shirts and ties. I drove to two businesses in Pasadena and only got lost twice on the way there. I sure I looked great driving a 15 year old minivan around holding google map directions and talking on a cell phone (illegally.....) all at the same time! After work and a long week there is only really one cure, Happy Hour!

On Saturday the JV house in San Diego came up for the weekend. There are 6 girls and no guys in the house, which actually makes me very thankful that we have a multi gender house hold. I think it makes for a better dynamic. That night brought Verb's first football game! They beat the other team by 40, but it was fun to see some of the students in action. After the game John and I went to the Santa Monica JV house We didn't stay for a long time because we were pretty tired, but it was fun to see everyone.

Sunday I went to probably one of the coolest Masses I have ever been to. it was a two hour long Gospel choir Mass and was so fun. If you read Carolyn's blog (top right) she goes into much more detail about it! That day we faced the challenge of getting 11 people around LA with only one car. We decided to go to Santa Monica pier again and thankfully John stepped up and rode the bus with all of the San Diego girls (which took like and hour and a half). It was fun and was followed by a labor day party for all the JVs at the Santa Monica house. Pretty much everyone showed up, and it is so great when all of the houses get to interact together!

Monday was a chill day. Took the San Diego girls to the bus station, studied for the LSAT, and enjoyed the Boise State game with John on my computer.

I miss you all, sending much love back home and wherever everyone is!

Glow Parties and Gas Stations

Last Thursday afternoon and all day Friday saw an absence of Mashanda in my office. My boss Christina has her own office, so this meant I was alone for most of the time. One of the hardest things I have been trying to do so far is meet all of the students and try to remember their names. However, on Thursday I had the chance to watch over a study hall with two Sophomore guys. I ended up being a bad influence and talking to them half the time when they should have been doing their homework, but it was great! Anytime I get a chance to hang out with the students, it makes all of the monotonous work worth it.



So this weekend was definitely one that was full of excitement. On Friday we had our Verbum Dei staff "Luau". This was my first experience as to what an office party was like, and it was actually pretty fun. It was an afternoon event (from 4-5:30ish) so nothing too crazy happened, but it was fun interacting with the faculty/staff on a more casual level. Following the luau all of the JVs in LA (current and former) were invited to Homegirl cafe for a welcome party. Our program coordinators showed up too and it was a fun opportunity to hang out as one large JV community.



On Saturday I got to go to lunch with my cousin Zach who is in LA for the summer and his step-uncle (I think that is what he would be called....) David. David is an actor/producer who has lived in LA for around 13 years or so. He has been on Gilmore Girls, a bunch of Lifetime movies, and a lot of other things. So pretty much it was my first celeb meeting! We just hung out and chatted for probably 3 hours, and it was a blast. That night a former JV who is an attorney had a 30th glow in the dark birthday party at her apartment, so my house decided to bring the overall age of the party down and showed up.



Sunday brought plenty of LSAT studying, a free Shakespeare play in the park, and just hanging out.

Part of my job is to take all of the vans the students ride in when going to work and filling them up at the gas station down the street. Normally this is a job that I would not enjoy doing, but that all changes because of the people that I interact with. There are three main employees that I get to interact with almost every single day. Hubert and Kenny are the two guys that help with the basic upkeep/running of the station. They wipe down the machines, take down the number of the van I am filling, and always have something to talk about! Yesterday I found myself in a conversation with Hubert about his trip to Palm Springs and the Friday before I was talking to Kenny about how he doesn't like the Lakers anymore. Liz is the cashier at the station, which in this neighborhood means that there are several inches of bulletproof glass in between us. That being said, she is always kind and willing to help me out when I need it. Who would have thought that a guy from South Dakota would be making friends with gas station attendants in Watts? Probably not me, but I love that it is happening!

Don't forget those who normally get forgotten

Last night as a house we had our weekly spirituality night. One of my roommates John brought up in discussion that one of the best services that people can do for one another is to simply treat others kindly. It seems so easy, but many of us fail to do it.

Educators, teachers in particular, are very overworked and underpaid. That being said, many of them have huge hearts that keep them going. Even more overlooked than the teachers/administrators are the janitors. Here at Verb there are two full time janitors Lupe and Gustavo, that are the epitome of service through kindness. Lupe has been here for over 30 years and is still going strong. When I was here for orientation he told me that this place would seem foreign at first, but after awhile it becomes home. When we has faculty/staff Mass he gave everyone in the room the sign of peace, this place is his home.

Gustavo has been here for 15 years, almost the entire time he has been in the US. He immigrated from Honduras, lives with his father, and takes the bus 45 minutes each way to work alone. Most of his family is in Chicago, but he cannot afford to take time off work to visit. He is one of the nicest people here and always talks to me when I see him.

Never be above anybody, and always try to treat people kindly!

On a side note, Creighton started today. It makes me sad that I am not back there this year. It went too fast!

My First Real Post

Hey everyone!

So I just finished up my first full week in LA and I decided that it was time to get this blog started…..

I spent the first five days of my JVC experience in Apotos, CA at orientation. It was at a retreat center called St. Francis located right on the pacific ocean about 45 minutes from San Jose. It was an absolutely perfect place for the year to begin. The orientation was for the 90 or so people participating in JVC in the states of California and Arizona.

I arrived in San Jose the day before orientation began and spent the night with 6 other future Jesuit Volunteers (JV’s) and 4 JV’s that were on their way out at one of the houses located near Santa Clara University. 2 of the future volunteers happened to be two of my roommates: Julie and John. Everyone was great and it was a fun, less stressful way to begin my JV year. The next morning our program coordinator (Andrew Carrol) picked us all up in a van and took us to Apotos.

That first afternoon a few of us decided to walk up and down the coast before the retreat started. I have never spent much time by the ocean, and it was pretty surreal to think that I will be living near one for the next year of my life!

Everyone I met at the retreat was great, and it was amazing to find myself a part of such a large, united community. Probably the most important people I met were my four other roommates. John is from Massachusetts and went to Fordham in New York. Cara is from a suburb of Washington D.C. and went to St. Josephs in Philadelphia. Carolyn is from a suburb outside of Philadelphia in New Jersey and went to school at Boston College. Julie is also from a suburb of Philly in New Jersey and went to school at George Washington in D.C.. We all found out who we were going to be living with in June, so it was great to finally be able to put faces to the names of my roomies for the next year.

Orientation was overall a very good experience. The people I met were great, the food was good, and the location was beautiful. However, by Tuesday I was getting pretty anxious and just wanted to get to LA instead of waiting in Northern California for another couple of days. Wednesday we had a missioning Mass in which we all officially became Jesuit volunteers and were given a cross to symbolize it.

Thursday morning some of us woke up at 5:30 and drove into San Jose to pick up rental cars. After a quick prayer, all of the casas (houses) located in Southern California took off on our drive to our new homes. Our house got split up, so I ended up riding down with two girls from another house located in LA.. It took about 8 hours to get there, but around 5 we ended up at our new house!

When we arrived at our casa, we were greeted by three of the five people that lived in our house last year. Eddie, the JV I am replacing, took a full time teaching position at my high school which has turned out to be extremely helpful getting started. They pretty much gave us the run down of our house and gave us a few tips. If I have any advice for people who are still in college, it is to live less fancy while in school so that everything else after that seems nice. I loved my college house, but I must say that this JV house is an upgrade. It is located about a mile from USC’s campus (beautiful!), and it isn’t in too rough of a neighborhood. It is definitely a lower income neighborhood, but it is mostly families and seems to be fairly safe.

The next day one of my roommate’s bosses picked us up and took us to everyone’s work sites so that we could see what everyone would be doing. John is working at an employment agency called Chrysalis located in downtown LA. Cara is working at Homeboy industries, which is a place designed to help gang members get a fresh start. Julie and I are both working at Verbum Dei High School located in the Watts neighborhood in South East LA. Carolyn is working for an afterschool program called Urban Compass, which is located on Verbum Dei’s campus. It was a fun day and a great way to see all of the locations we will be working at.

The next day we needed to take care of some basic house duties: grocery shopping, buying a vacuum, and various other things. We are limited to spending $90 a month per person on food and $100 a month per person on whatever other expenses we have. It isn’t a lot of money, but it will help us try to rid many luxury items from our lives and force us to depend on one another for things like shopping for food.

At the end of the night we managed to make it to Santa Monica pier just around sunset, and it was great. However, I didn’t take into account that it gets pretty cold on the ocean in California so we didn’t not stay too long. After the pier we met up with another JV house in LA and went to a Spanish bar called La Cita in Downtown. They had free concerts all night, and it literally felt like we were in a foreign country. Everyone was speaking and singing in Spanish. Even though I didn’t understand much (I will try I promise!), it was a great experience.

My Spanish got even more practice when Julie and I ended up going to a Spanish Mass on accident the next morning. It was a holy day that had something to do with Mary, so the place was packed! It was a great church and I am sure we will go back soon.

Monday marked my first day of work. It was orientation for seniors and freshmen at the school, and it was also orientation for me. I was introduced to all of the freshmen as Mr. Petersen, and let me tell you how weird it is to hear a little 14 year old boy in a shirt and tie call you Mr. Petersen for the first time. It made me realize that I am not in college anymore and have to get used to the real world. I hung around most of the day with Eddie (the guy I am replacing) and my wonderful co-worker for he next year: Mashanda. I must say that she is about every personality that a person could have. She is hard to explain without meeting, but the best thing I can say to describe her is to picture a strong-willed, hilarious, hard working, middle age African American woman. I know it is going to be a fantastic year working with her.

I also found out that afternoon at the school BBQ that moms are pretty much the same wherever you go. When I told one of the student’s mom’s that I wanted a hot dog, I was handed a plate with 2 hot dogs, mac and cheese, beans, and corn on the cob. When we were walking to lunch, Mashanda turned to one of the students who was walking by and said: “Black man eating watermelon, now that’s a stereotype right there.” I could have died laughing hearing that!

The rest of that day and the next was filled with meeting 266 students that I was trying (and failing) to remember names, being called Mr. Petersen, and filling out seemingly endless paperwork in order to get the students ready for school. Being a Cristo Rey school, all of the students are required to work jobs in order to supplement their tuition. Mashanda, Christina (my boss), Larry (the guy who sets up the jobs), and myself are essentially in charge of the work program that the students participate in. And trust me, the process of setting up jobs for 266 high school boys is not an easy one. If you want to know more about the school and the Cristo Rey system, check out the link below to watch a quick video made on the school.

http://www.verbumdei.us/video/snapshot/snapshot.html

Tuesday night was the first spirituality night that we had as a house. As part of JVC, every house is supposed to have one spirituality and one community night a week. We started off the year by each stating our hopes and fears evolving the 4 pillars of social justice, spirituality, community, and simple living. It was a great way to hear everyone’s thoughts on something that is so crucial to the next year.

Wednesday and Thursday were on-site orientations for the students work sites. When I say that the students work jobs to supplement their tuition, I don’t mean that they are scrubbing floors at the high school. The majority of the students work for companies such as Nike, Sony, Delloitte and Touche, Law Firms, etc. Wednesday I had the chance to take a sophomore transfer student named Oscar to one of the regional Wells Fargo corporate headquarters in Long Beach. Since it was only an hour long orientation, I just stayed with him and got to meet everyone and take a tour of the office. This was Oscar’s first job ever. His immigrated from Mexico and are supporting his adult brother who has a learning disability. When I asked him why he transferred to Verb (Verbum Dei), he told me that it gave him a better opportunity to go to college.

It made me think of how everything was so much easier for me growing up where I did. I never had to worry about paying for school. Going to college was almost the rule, not the exception. The public schools in Sioux Falls were good; it wasn’t necessary to go to a prep school to get ahead. The kids I will be with this year have some major hurdles to get over, and it seems for a lot of them that the Verb is the best option kids and parents have to climb those hurdles.

On Thursday I took another load of 3 kids to Loyola Marymount for their orientation, but was not able to stay for the entire thing. When I picked them up (a Junior, Sophomore, and Freshman) I could just see the excitement in the freshman’s eyes and how he talked. It made me laugh and feel great for him. After doing plenty more filing back at the school, my house went to Santa Monica for a free concert series they have in the summer. We just chilled on the beach, drank some Two Buck Chuck wine from Trader Joes, and talked. It was a great community night.

Friday was our faculty/staff retreat at Loyola Marymount. I remember when teachers would have those back at O’Gorman, so it felt weird to be considered a part of a high school staff. Loyola is Gorgeous! It is on a bluff and overlooks the entire city of LA. The retreat was very laid back, and it was good to interact with the rest of the staff at the school. Two of the Homeboys from Homeboy industries (where Cara works) came and talked to us about their stories. The things that they went through are incredible. Hearing the stories of ex-gang members really puts into question the methods used for law enforcement in this country and how gang violence can be addressed. I am planning to read “Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Greg Boyle (founder of Homeboy) soon, and would recommend it to everyone.

The weekend brought about a much-needed break. We had a party at our house with all of the other casas in LA, because on $100 a month it is pretty hard to go out in a city like this. One of my cousins (also named Zach) was able to come too, so it was nice to reconnect with some family while out here. We have access to Loyola High School gym, so we managed to get there a few times to work out for free. Saturday took us to Venice Beach, which I must say is one of the most unique beaches I have ever been too. Muscle Beach, skate parks, street ball, a pretty awesome boardwalk, etc. It was a fun (and free) way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday was another chill day. We went to an English Mass this time, but the non-native speaker leading it might as well have been speaking Spanish. I managed to sneak off to USC for a few hours to do some much needed LSAT studying in one of their libraries. They had an alumni football banquette outside and fraternity recruitment, so me strolling through campus in a University of Arizona shirt and gym shorts kind of stood out like a sore thumb.

We had dinner with a former JV named Rose who is an attorney in LA, and it was quite the entertaining dinner. She ended up inviting us to her 30^th birthday party next Saturday, so the connections here are endless!

Overall it has been a great experience so far! I am missing all of my friends, family, Michelle, and parents. If anyone has any desire to escape the snow come winter, please feel free to head out this way. I would love to see some friendly facesJ

Sorry this was so long, I left some out, but I promise to make it more frequent next time! Miss and love you all.

Zach

Heading out today!

So tonight at 5:25 my journey will begin when I leave Minneapolis for San Jose, California. From there I will have a 5 day orientation with everyone in the Southwest region of JVC (90 or so people I believe) before I make the drive down to LA next Thursday. Hopefully then I can start updating this attempt and begin telling my story!