The week of Spring Break went by in a whirlwind of excitement, hard work, and rewarding experiences. Each day started fairly early and ended pretty late, and felt like it was way longer than 24 hours. However, as we recollected at the end of each of those long days and reflected on our experiences, we wondered where all those hours went so quickly.
As I sat in the back of the bus with my team on the way to New York City, my mind was racing and the contents of my stomach were tumbling around like old-fashioned bingo balls in their spinny little cage thing. I tried to sleep, but was so anxious to get to the site that all I could really do was close my eyes and concentrate on my music, hoping that my nerves would calm themselves. After about 4 hours that went by surprisingly quickly, we finally arrived at the West End Presbyterian Church on W. 105th St. in Manhattan. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the journey for my team and me. The place that we were going to be calling home for the week was still a 45 minute subway ride away in the Mt. Eden neighborhood of the South Bronx, at New Settlement Apartments. Luckily, our site contact was extremely gracious in having a friend bring a car to put all our luggage in so that we wouldn’t have to carry it all on our maiden voyage on the subway. Within a half hour, the whole team was there (we had to wait for one member to meet us at the church before we could head to the Apartments), and we were ready to rumble! As we walked to the subway station from the Church, my obsessive-compulsive “mother goose” habits of my simulated single mother experience began. I made sure to stay at the back of the group to see that everyone was there and no one wandered off, and I was doing headcounts while walking at least every 2 minutes. A little crazy, I know, but I wanted to start this week out RIGHT! Despite my qualms, everyone retrieved their week-long metro passes without a hitch, and we were on the subway and at the site within no time. When we finally arrived, we thanked our contact for guiding us safely to our destination, helping us with our bags, and providing us with an apartment for the week. We then proceeded to get settled in, rehearse the workshops we had planned for later that week, and then go buy some food! Since our work schedule for the week was pretty busy and didn’t allow much time to go out for lunch, we went to the corner grocery store not even half a block from our apartment and stocked up on cereal, PBJ supplies, and any snacks we thought we might need for the week. Please note, however, that even though we thought we were so ahead-of-the-curb with getting all this food, it only lasted us until about Wednesday; the perks of having an 11-person family for a week. Reflection that night was a good one. Although at first many of the team members didn’t see the need to reflect when we hadn’t done anything but travel yet, they ended up posing some good questions and things to think about for the week ahead of them. One point of conversation that really stood out to me and stuck with me all week was when we talked about challenging our former ideas, opinions, and biases during the week. People talked about how they had previously thought of the Bronx as a “war zone” with continuous upheaval and violence, but just by being here for one night could already see that it was just another normal neighborhood, with people just like us. One participant even noted, “I wonder how our attitudes and perceptions of the site and ourselves will change by the end of the week?” This comment was very insightful of this student, and the changes at the end of the week were indeed noticeable.
We were blessed with a late start time of 10:00am for the first morning, and had plenty of time to shower, get dressed, eat, and review the schedule for the day. The first thing on the agenda was a tour of New Settlement. Our site contact brought us to the main office where we met with the leaders of the Bronx Helpers teen community service group and the Girls Program, both of which we would be working with later that week. We also got to meet the executive director of New Settlement, who welcomed us very warmly and answered all of our questions about the history of the community. We then proceeded on our tour and saw all of the different aspects of New Settlement that we would be working with later in the week. Our site contact then took us to a tasty Mexican restaurant only a few blocks away from our apartment on behalf of New Settlement. After thanking her profusely, we chowed down on the delicious authentic Mexican meal and were ready for the rest of the day. From there, the whole team headed to New Settlement’s main office to listen to the leaders of the PAC (Parent Action Committee) and CASA (Community Action for Safe Apartments) give an overview of their organizations. These two associations were ones that were added to our agenda very last-minute, so we were not very prepared for them, nor did we really know much about them. This factor made many of the members of my team kind of uneasy because they didn’t completely like the idea of lobbying for a cause they didn’t know much about, much less know if they agreed with or not. However, PAC and CASA ended up taking a large amount of our time during the week, and turned out to be a wonderful experience and many people’s favorite. After receiving a very quick but thorough explanation of the two groups, the team split up for the rest of the day. Half of us went to the local elementary school, PS 64, to present workshops on grammar, an egg drop, and a sort of academic Olympics including math, history, geography, and science to their after school program; while the other half headed to work with the Bronx Helpers. All the students involved in the workshops reported a great success later in the day and absolutely loved working with the kids. They recounted how enthusiastic they all were when they expected them to be unwilling to participate, and even though they did the workshops outside instead of in a classroom, the kids were still relatively focused and excited to contribute. At the Bronx Helpers, where I went for that afternoon, we had the pleasure of working with the Cooking Garden Club (CGC) and were able to participate in one of their weekly meetings and help prepare for an event they were going to in a couple of weeks. This club is one that I helped write a grant to the Cornell CPB (Community Partnership Board) for in the fall semester. This grant was to help them get the supplies they needed to carry out their food justice movement and create a Food Resource Guide (FRG) for their community and help members make more nutritious food choices. It was really awesome to get to see them planning this event in accordance with their food justice initiative, and see the movement I had worked so hard to help get money for in action. At the meeting, we split up into 3 groups of art work (for the event’s flier), poem-writing (for them to read at the event), and skit-writing (so they could perform at the event). All three of these sections had to do with making healthy food choices, and it was really great to see the enthusiasm and creativity coming from these teenagers. Although they tended to get a little goofy, they were still there and working hard; you could tell they were passionate about healthy food. At the end of the meeting, a few of the students made carrot sauce (the carrot counterpart of apple sauce) and a carrot smoothie for the rest of the group to try. While neither of these things would hardly be my first choice of snack food, they were still pretty good and it was cool to see the different things they experimented with. After the whole team was done with our different programs, due to changes in the schedule, we were regrettably unable to attend the City Year networking event that night. Instead, we stayed at the site and made posters for a rally/press conference for CASA that would be happening the next morning. Although many participants were excited to go to City Year and were a little sad that we were unable to attend, I didn’t hear a single complaint and they all worked hard on the posters, knowing it was benefitting our site. Luckily, we did finish making the posters early enough to still be able to go into the city for an hour or so to do our planned nighttime activity and make it back to the Bronx in time for curfew. Set on going to Magnolia Cupcake Bakery to get our fill of tasty treats, we braved the long and grueling subway ride, singing the Lonely Island’s Lazy Sunday rap the entire way, and made it to the tiny shop uptown. It was SO worth it. However, being so set on satisfying our sugar craving, we had forgotten to eat dinner! After taking what seemed like forever to decide what to do, we ended up finding a small diner that had surprisingly fast service to ease our hunger pains. We scarfed down our food like we hadn’t eaten in weeks, and then proceeded back to the subway to head “home”. At reflections that night, the participants simply considered their day and we did a response I call “rose, bud, thorn,” where the rose is one good thing that happened that day, the thorn is a bad thing that happened that day, and the bud is something you’re looking forward to for the rest of the week. Everyone had very good things to say about their first day at work, and most were looking forward to the press conference/rally that we would participate in with CASA the next day. When we wrapped up, it was time for another night of sleeping on the cozy hardwood floor, and getting rest for the next big day.
Our second day was not so lucky with the start time. In order to do outreach with the PAC and be able to catch parents as they dropped their kids off at school, half of the team had to wake up at 6am to get ready and meet with a PAC representative at the New Settlement main office at 7am. Although we hadn’t finished reflections until about 11pm the night before, the people doing outreach that morning got up and going without a fuss, and were ready to go right on time (which is actually early). As part of PAC’s “26 Schools in 26 Days” initiative, our purpose for that morning (and all of the other times we did outreach with PAC) was to inform parents and students alike of the educational problems and disparity within their district (District 9) of the Bronx. We went to the designated school of the day, one of the 26 failing schools within the district, with fliers, pledge cards, and a large map showing all of the failing schools in District 9 to try and convey the issue to community members. Even though we were all a little hesitant about going up to random people on the street and trying to recruit them for a cause we didn’t even know that much about, outreach with the PAC turned out to be many of the trip participants’ favorite part of the week. They later shared that it gave them increased confidence in themselves and showed them that people really do care about issues such as bettering the education for children in the Bronx. I know that my stereotype of the typical “New Yorker” who doesn’t have time for anything and is always giving people the cold shoulder and rushing around was broken when people actually stopped to listen to what I had to say about the failing schools, and even asked questions to express their concern. Although I always like to believe that people are genuinely good and nice, it was a relief that a majority of the people I spoke to on the street proved me right! The other half of the group, though they didn’t have to get up quite as early, was still up and lobbying for housing rights by 9am. They went and joined a couple representatives from CASA outside the Bronx Housing Court to try and recruit people to join CASA so that they could learn more about their rights as a tenant. This outreach was a prelude to the rally/press conference that we all had the privilege to partake in around 10am that morning. Using the posters that we had made the night before, we interspersed ourselves within a small crowd of people representing several different housing rights groups in NYC and shouted along with different chants including my personal favorite, “¡Sí, se puede!” (“Yes you can!”). The rally was lobbying to pass a piece of legislation that will make it mandatory for landlords to post a simple tenants’ bill of rights in the main lobby of every building they rent out so that tenants know what their rights are if they are ever evicted or brought to court. Bronx City Council member Fernando Cabrera, along with a couple organizers for the housing rights bill spoke to the press as we stood behind them with our posters, and we even got on the news! Alternative Breaks goes Hollywood! The coolest part to me about this rally was not the press, however; It was being able to talk to a couple of the older members of CASA who were either in housing court or who had been through it before and seeing the very real hardships that they are facing or have had to deal with in the past. It was a hard-hitting reality to see such innocent people affected by a problem that I didn’t even really know existed. After quickly making and devouring some lovely peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we were off to work again; only this time for the Bronx Helpers. As part of research for their food resource guide we split up into groups of 3’s and went around to local bodegas to talk to store managers about the products they sell and the plans they have to make healthier food available in the future, as well as to take inventory of the healthy foods they had available for consumption. I really got to work on my Spanish speaking skills since every single manager except for one spoke only Spanish. Going around to the bodegas helped the team realize the reality of the lack of healthy food available to people in the Bronx. We had learned before the trip all about the status of the Bronx as a food desert, but we didn’t know exactly what that entailed until we actually looked at the availability in all of these stores and saw the lack of available healthy foods and fresh produce. The absence of fresh and nourishing food in the area around New Settlement was especially noticeable when compared to the plethora of health food stores and fruit and vegetable stands we saw on the streets of Manhattan. When finally done with recording information from the bodegas, we headed to a Mexican restaurant in the upper Bronx, where we experienced great food along with our very first telenovela (Spanish soap opera) complete with many dramatic crying scenes. The team was very excited about the telenovela because the woman in charge of the elderly program had told us all about how the elders loved watching them, and now we had something to relate to them with! When we made it back to the site with full and happy stomachs, we completed another successful reflection and hit the hay (or rather, the wood).
Day three at New Settlement was similar to day one in that it contained most of the same activities, only with different people getting a chance to participate in each. The major change to day three from day one was the substitution of the Elders Program for the walking tour. Having seen the telenovela the night before and been briefed on the elders’ aggressive attitudes toward bingo (don’t even think about touching their bingo cards), the team was ready to craft and bingo it up with our elderly friends. We decided to make Easter (Pascua/La Semana Santa) and Spring (Primavera) greeting cards with them so that we could interact with them and allow them to make cards for their friends and family. One lady made a birthday card for her bisnieta (great-granddaughter) who was turning 1, and it was adorable! When it came time for bingo, those guys didn’t mess around. A few of us tried to call out the bingo numbers and if we messed up they would correct us with shouts and heckling comments. At one point, I accidentally said “B40” (caurenta) when I meant to say “B14” (catorce), and they all shouted “CATORCE” and laughed along with me. After the Elders Program was time for the workshops/Bronx Helpers again. While the people who went to the Bronx Helpers did the same thing as Monday (participated in a CGC meeting), the after school program at New Settlement where the workshops were presenting was a little different than the program at PS 64. Here, team members were able to work individually with students of different ages (k-5) for homework help before the children were split up into age groups and given our workshops. This was one of my favorite experiences of the week because I was able to work one-on-one with a kindergarten ESL (English as a Second Language) student and help him with his homework. He was doing very simple spelling and word work, and while I helped him we spoke in both Spanish and English, and were able to learn new words from one another. After homework help time was over, we presented our three workshops (same as Monday) and headed back to the apartment to get ready for our adventure to Broadway. In spite of my worrying that we would be late, we made it to Times Square in plenty of time and were even able to run around the giant Toys ‘R’ Us store for a few minutes before heading to Gershwin Theatre to see WICKED. Although I and many of the other people on the trip were pumped to see the play, there were a couple of boys who were a bit skeptical of the whole ordeal. They had never really been to any musicals and thought it might be pretty stupid. At the end of the play, however, when I asked them what they thought, they replied, “My mind is BLOWN.” I was extremely happy about that, and as a musical theater enthusiast, took it as a major win. The adrenaline high of the great performance gave us just enough energy to make it back to the Bronx, but we were all still starving. We decided to hit up a couple late-night fast food places to satisfy our hunger (it was already past midnight) and then headed back to the apartment for reflections. I was a little worried that people would complain about doing reflections (especially those who had to get up at 6 the next morning for more outreach with PAC), but not a peep was heard, and the boss status of my team was confirmed.
Last day at the site, and we went out with a bang (not in any highly dramatic way, but just in the sense that we did very well)! Half of the team decided to be champions and get up without objection to do early outreach at schools with the PAC again, while the rest of us went to clean up and wash down the “Tot Lot” playground area at New Settlement so that it could be sanitary enough to open up for the children in the neighborhood after a long dormant winter. When the outreach crew joined us and we had our whole team of 11 working at full force, we finished cleaning a whole hour early! After a quick play break of wheeling around in a circle on a spinning bike contraption, the early crew went back to take a nap while the remainders did a second sweep with the sponges. It was during this time that the enduring team members created the Wicked Settlements: New Settlement’s own original a cappella group inspired by the musical genius of WICKED. We sang a few songs, tested out our harmonizing skillz (once all the work was done, of course) and then decided it was time for lunch. Another round of PBJ and we were ready for the last activities of the week: more outreach. We split up into 4 groups (a few people to a school, some to a playground, a couple to make phone calls, and a few more to work with CASA), and then met up for a debrief with the site when we were finished. Different and separate from our nightly reflections, this debrief was new from last year, and unique experience. I had never thought that the site might want to know what we thought of the week, and it was great to be able to share with them how much we learned and how grateful we were to be there. Following debriefing session, we trotted off to Chinatown and Little Italy for our last nighttime activity. Though I was not too fond of the Chinese food we had for dinner, I was in heaven with the gelato and cannoli’s I had in Little Italy for dessert. DELISH! My buddy and I were also very happy when we broke into buddy pairs and speed-shopped for about 15 minutes, both of us returning to the group with newfound possessions. That night’s reflection was by far my favorite. Everyone appeared to have taken a lot from their week and really learned something, overcame some biases, and grew as a team. The best part (in my eyes) was the appreciation circle in which everyone went around and said something they learned and/or liked about each person in the group. It was wonderful to hear how much the team could see the good qualities in each other, and recognize each person as an important and unique individual.
By Friday, we were exhausted, but we walked, subway-ed, and ferried around Manhattan all day, soaking in our last day together and just having fun. It was so rewarding to see how well everyone was getting along, cracking jokes, and genuinely having a good time; it made the week feel like a real success. Everyone, myself especially, learned many valuable lessons, made lots of new and meaningful relationships, and gained a better understanding and appreciation of life.
Alternative Spring Breaks 