Day Five - A Conversation Between Jamie and Ankush

Ankush: Hi Jamie!

Jamie: Hi Ankush.

Ankush: As I sit here contemplating what to write, I can’t help but wonder what all the international people around us are talking about in their native tongues. I can only imagine they are chatting about what a wonderful experience they are having in one of the greatest cities in the whole wide world!

Jamie: I would have to wholeheartedly agree! They are all such intriguing folks! Maybe they are also sitting there wondering what we are talking about. I think that we are also experiencing wonderful things in this magnificent city! Did you enjoy yourself at Terence Cardinal Cooke today? I know I sure did!

Ankush: I sure did! It was a great learning experience, but I have to admit it was nothing like what I expected.

Jamie: What were you expecting? Personally, I think I learned a lot despite the fact that I was unsure of what to expect. The social worker that spoke to us today, Thomas White, talked about how many families of the residents at TCCHCC are completely unaware of their family members’ illness. I never realized that families could be completely out of the loop!

Ankush: Yes, that sure was surprising! It’s very sad that they have to hide the truth from their own families, the very people that are supposed to love them unconditionally. But that’s enough about Mr. White; I’m ready to talk about our experience with the residents! Upon first walking into the cafeteria, there was an aura of awkwardness. Almost immediately, a hilarious resident named Scott called each of us over asking our names and telling us jokes. Jamie and I really wanted to play dominoes so I grabbed them off the cart of goodies and we situated ourselves at a table in the back center of the room. Once Amber saw what we were up, she also joined. Unfortunately, Yvonne, the volunteer coordinator at TCCHCC, had to coax one of the residents to play with us. His name was Billy.

Jamie: Billy was an adorable old man who carried around an old tattered suitcase filled with week old free newspapers and poems that he wrote. We played one game of Dominoes with him, but after Ankush won he decided he no longer wanted to play. Then Mr. Earl Roberts came over to our table to play Pitty Pat. He showed us how to play the game, and we quickly caught on. Amber and Ankush quickly grew tired of the game, but Earl continued to play on and on. Throughout the game Earl would interject bits of information about himself. We found out that he came from beautiful St. Thomas and had two daughters. Later, Killian, Carly, Bree and Mohammed joined our game. It was kind of disheartening because I felt that Earl didn’t open up as much as I wanted him to. But I realized that although I may have felt like there was little conversational exchange, we may have brought a little change of pace in Earl’s day.

Ankush: Like Jamie said, I was quick to get sick of Pitty Pat. I moved to the table next to us where I found Cheeto (RA-chi-ta) and Susan playing an action-packed game of spit while Semhar and Shally watched. Soon after, a new resident walked in and parked herself near our table. Cheeto asked her if she wanted to play cards, but she politely declined. While watching this encounter I couldn’t help but notice that this resident seemed slightly distressed. I continued watching her from the corner of my eye while I engaged Semhar in an intense game of spit and noticed that she kept a close eye on what we were doing. Cheeto, most likely picking up this, asked the resident a second time if she would like to play cards. Although she once again declined the offer, this time she came closer to the table and said she would just watch. Eventually, the resident asked if they could play the matching game, and what happened next finally made me understand our role at the clinic. Even though she did not talk much, we could all tell that there was a marked improvement in her mood as the game progressed; after each pair was made, she would smile and pump her fist in the air and was becoming more and more engaged in the process. This culminated in her asking if we were going to be back tomorrow, sort of putting the cherry on top of a sundae made out of love.

Jamie: That sounds lovely, Ankush! A sundae made out of love sounds astoundingly delightful! I had a similar experience with my new friend Belen. I met her after I got tired of playing Pitty Pat. I learned that she was born in Puerto Rico and was the only daughter in a family with five sons! Belen used to be a hairdresser, and her name means ‘Bethlehem’. I loved it when she told me that I had beautiful hair. She told me that I should grow out my hair and never cut it, and I am going to listen to her! J It made me sad when I realized that Belen had short-term memory loss. She asked me how many siblings I had so many time that it pained me a little more each time she asked. But similar to Ankush’s experience, I think Belen enjoyed the time that we spent talking together about our lives because she asked me if I was going to come back again, and I was so happy that I was able to tell her that I would indeed be returning the following day. She was excited to hang out again, and I have to admit that I am anxious to see Belen again, too. I wish I could be able to tell her that I will always visit her, but sadly that is not the case. Did you enjoy the concert that LifeBeat: Hearts and Voices put on for the residents? I particularly loved watching the residents swaying and clapping to Elijah Rock and Billie Holiday’s Summertime. And did you also have a good time at Darbar? Yay! Happy birthday to Craig! Nom nom nom Indian food :)

Ankush: Yes, Darbar was great! All in all, I really enjoyed our experience thus far at TCCHCC and I can’t wait to go back tomorrow! Even though it may seem like we’re not making a huge impact by just playing games with the residents, I really feel like they enjoy having us there, even if it is just for a change of scenery.

Jamie: I agree. I think that our stay at TCCHCC will only get better. I feel like just as we start to get to know them, we’re going to have to say goodbye. So my only wish is that we could spend more time there with the residents. I think our entire group feels the same way. I can’t wait for our next day with everyone at TCCHCC! Always remember, in the words of Scott, "You're too blessed to be stressed!"

I just got hugged by Spiderman

FIRST DAY OF BEAUTIFUL WEATHER IN NEW YORK CITY!!!! As our fourth day in New York City, and our second day volunteering, this has been, and probably will be the most interesting day yet. We have talked, walked and even danced our way through new experiences and challenges. The day started out fairly normal, getting up and meeting down in one of the rooms at 11am to discuss what the plans were for the day, and how we were getting there. Today was our first day at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center, where we would be working with HIV/AIDS residents, or as they called it, the discreet unit. We traveled by bus to the center in East Harlem, right next to Central Park. The Health Care Center is a beautiful, and fairly big, building that treats many disease in the advance stages. It is one of the few clinics that cares for Huntington's Disease patients. When we got to the center around 12:30pm we ate lunch, and then made our way to a room where we would stay for the next 3 hours. Here we talked with a man, Adam, who is the coordinator for volunteer services. He talked with us about the center, its history and residents, as well as some of the people that work at the center, and what their main goal is:

Reflection of Terence Cardinal Cooke Center Mission:
"Life is no less beautiful when accompanied by an illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, mental or physical handicaps, loneliness or old age."
- Terence Cardinal Cooke

Adam's love and excitement for his job and patients was truly admirable, I know that we all hope to feel the same way as the week and our volunteering progresses, as well as with anymore volunteering we do in the future. As a group we watched a movie on the health center and talked more about the rules and what to expect while volunteering and working with the patients. As we waited for another speaker to come talk to us about his role at the health center, we bonded more over stories, all ranging from roommates peeing on things to interesting animal deaths. You can say we have all really started to connect with each other and have grown quite comfortable as a group. For the last hour of the trip, Thadeus, a man that worked with the residents, spoke to us about his experiences and research. He had quite the insight on life and AIDS. Specializing in mostly substance abuse experiences, Thadeus talked about what he knew well, and also about his opinions on the issue. After the speakers had ended, we rode the bus back to the hostel and quickly changed for the alumni dinner.

The alumni dinner was at a cute, Irish pub in Times Square. Here we met with not just alumni from University of Maryland, but alumni that has been on Alternative Spring Break trips, as well as faculty and staff that had been on the trips. These alumni are now living in New York City, working and taking with them their experiences from these trips. The other ASB group, learning more about immigration in NYC also joined us, many of them which we have not met. The food was great, and we networked with awesome alumni that had so many experiences to share with us. I know that most of us plan to take the experiences we are learning this week on to whatever great things we do with our lives. After the dinner, we went back to the hostel to reflect on the past couple of days, and how we felt about everything that had been going on and what we plan to expect tomorrow. What would have been a 20-30 minute conversation, turned into a 2 hour discussion. As a group, we discussed everything from "bad decisions" relating to AIDS to trust to religion. Not only did we all open up about our opinions and how we felt on all these subjects, but we really gained an understanding of what people find offensive and how we should handle offensive words. We finally finished our discussion and decided to go out into Times Square on the first day of nice weather!

Stepping off the subway onto 50th street, we searched for St. Patrick's Day paraphernalia, and of course ice cream! Walking through Time Square, we stopped and waited, took pictures of everything, and even got Craig a birthday hug from Spiderman!! Since at 12am it officially became Craig's birthday, I had felt obligated to tell that to everyone we ran into, however that came in handy. And soon we found our ice cream.. 8 blocks later, after standing around waiting and many pictures taken, we came across Cold Stone. The line was long and the music was blasting, but we didn't mind, It's New York! The workers kept insisting on we dance, and when the Cha Cha Slide came on, none of us could resist. And soon, we were dancing, well I should say sliding and Cha Chaing, down the line. Not just with ourselves, but with total random strangers as well, it was great, just what New York is all about. And again, I felt it necessary to announce to the guy that is was Craig's birthday, who shouted it across the whole room and embarrassed Craig! And when we came to the register to pay for our ice cream, to our surprise.. they gave us the ice cream for free!! Can you believe it?! A little dancing can go along way. So while Rachita and Killian got their ice cream, Craig requested the cupid shuffle, which we all danced to, in front of the door I might add, for all of New York to watch! Yes, it was quite the scene to be seen. But don't worry, pictures were taken if you missed this exciting part of the trip. And as we left, free water bottles were handed to us for all our hard work of entertaining! Then back to the hostel we went. Playing never have I ever on the subway, and learning some very personal information about each other. The day has been quite the experience, a great one at that. And hopefully the week will bring more, and better experiences we can take home to share with our friends and family! Goodnight! Lots of love, Carly.

SEX and games...and sometimes sex games

Hello! Today we went to the Museum of Sex. YES, it is a museum dedicated to sex. And YES, we did watch pornography together. The museum was really interesting, but some exhibits had the potential to make some ASBers a bit uncomfortable. The first thing you see when you start walking through the museum is a room full of TV screens showing different kinds of pornography: gay/same sex, celebrity, movie sex scenes, etc. There were some interesting informational signs about the histories of the different flavors of porn too. After that room you could ascend some stairs to enter the next exhibit area. The first upstairs room was dedicated to information on various sexual fantasies, sexual toys, photography of sex, and past views of masturbation. The final room was an exhibit on HIV/AIDS, contraception, and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
So, you might ask: Why go to the Museum of Sex? Well, there is a reason other than to watch porn and look at rubber penises. There is a lot of stigma surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In general, people are not getting the sexual education that they need and there isn't really enough talk about the thing that LOTS of people are doing: sex. It's still a taboo topic in most places (even in the free speaking communities of the USA), so HIV/AIDS continues to spread because of people having no idea about safe(r) sex. The Museum of Sex is there at 233 Fifth avenue to say, "Yes, people are having sex - let's discuss."
After perusing the museum shop we were hungry so a group of us split off and went to the diner across the street for some grub. After that we went to 'Crumbs,' the awesome bakery across from the Public Library, and grabbed some cupcakes to go. Then we had free time until we met to reflect on the museum experience and discuss our hopes and fears for the coming week. After a good meeting we were off to Rivington House for game night.
We took a long subway ride down to Rivington House, which is a residential clinic for people who have HIV/AIDS. We played games with the residents- like Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Dominoes, and Pool. We all got to interact on a personal level with wonderful people who are daily battling the disease. It was a great night, and a good way to get warmed up for our next couple of days!
After volunteering we were all hungry so we stopped at a Whole Foods and then scrambled back to the hostel to warm up leftovers for dinner. By then it was getting late! So now we are off to bed...

Obama Condoms - Day Two

Today was our day for exploration and adventure. Lucky for us the torrential downpour, gale-force winds, and raging (street) rivers died down enough for us to venture out into NYC and explore the world around us. A group of us decided to walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As we walked down Amsterdam Ave, we saw the effects of yesterday's monsoon--the umbrella graveyard. We decided to take a stroll through Central Park and watch all the runners (and rollerblade skiers) before we went to the museum.

At the museum we befriended the statues, defriended the security guards (because Brie on a statue), and took pictures of artwork from around the world. The museum was kind of large, so we only had the chance to look at some history, statues, and artwork from Egypt, Rome, Greece, Oceania, Europe, and maybe a splash of Japan. After a few hours of a successful museum visit, our stomachs decided it was time for lunch! Some of us decided to head back to the hostel for lunch, while others decided to trek into midtown and see Times Square.

The Times Square folks found a yummy little pizza place on 77th and Lexington, then they took the 6 (downtown) to Grand Central, and then walked to Times Square--I'm only sharing this with you because you should be impressed they didn't get lost on the subway/in the city. In Times Square the adventurers discovered the Toys-R-Us with the cartoon ferris wheel, leggo village, and life-size Barbie house. After Toys-R-Us, they found M&M World, and the Hershey Store. Rachita spent $15 on M&M's at $12.95/pound, and then proceeded to buy an epic, framed photo of NYC for $12.50--I think the M&M's were a little overpriced. Upon leaving the Hershey Store, the group stumbled upon a woman selling Obama (and McCain) condoms--what a wonderful way to advertise safe sex! After all their adventures, the group decided to head back to the hostel so they walked to the 42nd and Broadway subway station, and took the 1 (uptown) back to the hostel.

The whole group was then reunited to make TACOS!! They were probably the best tacos ever made in this HI Youth Hostel. After dinner, a few crazy kids decided to do some homework and hang out in the World Room. And now our day comes to a close with a healthy combination of blogging and playing Clue with the gang.


Random Quote:
Brie:"I wonder what Obama Condoms look like..."
Mary: "They're probably just huge."

MONSOON - Day One

After a cold, wet bus ride from College Park to New York, we arrived yesterday at Hostel International. We took some time to settle into our rooms and get a feel for the hostel. Then a few brave souls ventured out into the monsoon to buy groceries - sustenance is a must! We put together a lovely dinner of pasta, bread, and salad, and enjoyed it in the hostel dining area.

After dinner, we gathered to watch "Precious" in the hostel's World Room. The movie spoke to many of the hardships people we work with during the week may have experienced - poverty, abuse, and lack of education on HIV/AIDS. These social issues combine to propagate the spread of HIV, a disease that can be prevented with the education and empowerment. After the movie, Amber reiterated that as an ASB team, we are not here to fix anybody's problems. We're here to interact with and learn from people who have HIV/AIDS - to participate in the exchange of ideas and experiences that can connect completely different people, and that I think forms the essence of community service learning.