Taking volunteers

• I added a sidebar with links to some of my favorite things. I'll work on adding more when I have time. I was mostly trying to identify retail-type items that are local and which I support (as opposed to the billions of other fresh foods, activities, etc. that I love as well, which I probably will talk enough about). 
• I love having "theme" nights. One of my favorites was an Oregon theme that I used to have every so often when living in a different state, with my bf and I. We'd get some reserve white cheddar Tillamook cheese, Oregon pinot noir, crackers, berries, and hazelnut treats and remind ourselves of home. I hope to have more theme nights soon, like French, Vietnamese, southern U.S., etc. It's kind of a mini-version of travel--experiencing the culture in a different way.
• Also, I went on a 10-minute walk yesterday. I'm proud of myself. The remnants of the storm are still here and I forgot a jacket, so I came back a little early. But I got out there and did it! A little bit here and there is all it takes to get moving.
• I miss volunteering. Most recently, I was part of a team to coordinate a state food drive and I helped increase my area's donations 25% that year! It felt like an accomplishment. There are a lot of homeless people in Oregon. I've often thought of becoming homeless for a while -- maybe packing up a bag and doing it for a period of time. I think there are better ways to achieve the real desire behind that though -- travel. You are homeless when you are traveling, in many ways. When I went to British Columbia last year, we stayed a couple nights in Vancouver, headed up to camp at various campsites between there and Whistler, came back down to Vancouver, went to Victoria, camped up the coast from Victoria, back down to Vancouver, etc. Reflects a good version of a homeless life in many ways, traveling to see new places.
• I also used to be very involved with kids, now that I think about it. I was the VP of event planning for an honor society in college and I was in charge of planning a day for middle school children at our campus, to inspire them to go to college. I also volunteered as a "mentor" for a 5th grader at a nearby middle school. I remember her. At the end of the semester she gave me a heart-wrenching gift of a sweatshirt. In all honesty, it was pretty unattractive -- a large, unhooded sweatshirt with an animal design on the front. It wasn't something that I would wear. But it kills me just to think back on it because I appreciated the gift so much. She came from a poor family and had asked her mom if she could give it to me as a gift to say thank you. It really is the thought that counts. Ah I'm tearing up now! Heh, it was to this day probably the most meaningful gift I've received. I also later volunteered at that school in a bilingual classroom, helping some of the Hispanic kids. The teacher spoke both English and Spanish and my job was to help the kids with their projects. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with them.
• Later, I volunteered (for 1-2 years?) helping disabled kids ride horses. Some of them needed more help than others due to their physical disabilities, but some had more mental disabilities. I remember always being scared that I would let them fall off, even though they mostly just walked around on the horses. It was part of a program for hippotherapy. They kids got really excited. 
• I also volunteered for Easter Seals to watch disabled children for their parents while they went out for the night. The kids and us spent the evening in a big gym and basically played games and watched movies. I still remember one girl who had Asperger's. She was older than the others, maybe 10 or so. I liked talking to her and she seemed very intelligent. We hung out in a classroom for a while because she wanted to draw on the chalkboard. She drew a very accurate picture of a computer screen on the chalkboard. It was detailed and included a drop-down menu for "File, Edit...", a start menu at the bottom, the clock, etc. I still remember how much she loved Star Trek and how she had e-mailed me afterwards and wanted to keep in touch.
• I want to get involved in more stuff too. For a while I was an activist in supporting organic farming (stopping pesticide use). I went with one of my professors to some local meetings where they had panel discussions and research about the effects of pesticides. After that, I did a thesis and got an internship in the area of pesticide exposure research. I am really glad I had that experience, although it was very challenging in many ways. I spent a summer visiting migrant farmworker camps and collecting data from them -- they were naturally scared of a bunch of white people coming there and saying we were with the government, because many of them were likely illegal immigrants. I got to use my Spanish and it was a very eye-opening experience. Then I did my thesis by cold-calling in primarily poor Hispanic neighborhoods and asking if I could study their children. It was a horribly stressful experience to do on my own, in Spanish, and with a very hesitant community who didn't want to open the doors. I learned a lot about persisting through difficulties during that experience.

Anyway, I've been reflecting on some of the defining moments of my life as this chapter closes. The volunteer experiences of my past really stuck out to me as I was thinking about what I want to get involved in now.