Whole Foods (September 2007 – May 2010)
Now that I'm 4,000 miles away from North Carolina I can say that, overall, working at Whole Foods was a positive experience. Yes, it was mundane, mind-numbing, and full of unnecessary drama...but if it wasn't for that maldita tienda I wouldn't have made any friends in Chapel Hill or have been able to perfect my conversational spanish. It also kept me motivated to not drop out of college because I saw the kind of work I would be limited to without any educational credentials. I learned to appreciate what I have, become more outgoing and friendly, and become even more impressed by the incredibly hard work that Hispanic immigrants do in America every day.
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| last day babysitting Isabel |
Babysitting in Durham (August 2009 – September 2010)
I babysat two girls in Durham for most of their year in 2nd grade and the beginning of 3rd grade. It was a great job. The girls really clicked with me and didn't want me to go to Spain in September. The only downside...exhaustion. I could never be the kind of babysitter that sat the kids in front of the T.V. while I went on Facebook or texted my friends...so it was 2-4 hours of non-stop playing pretend, choreographing dances, going to the park, practicing piano, doing homework, and having girl time.
Camp Walden (Summer 2010)
Oh my god. Worst job I've ever had in my life. WORST.
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| last day of camp |
I went to Walden for the four summers when I was 11-14. I met my best friend in the world there, and it was the only time of the year when I wasn't stressed out. Back then, it had different owners who kept a pretty laissez-faire approach to the whole thing (as far as I could tell). It was a typical upstate-New York co-ed sleepaway camp for priveleged Jewish kids....much like what you'd see in the movie Wet Hot American Summer. I went back this year to work as a Group Leader, in charge of about 25 rising freshman girls and 5 co-counselors......You know your job is bad when the best part of your summer is living in an isolated bunk in the mountains with 25 teenage girls. If it wasn't for my girls, I would've quit by the end of June. Under the new owners, the whole camp is centered around making everything appear to be made of gumdrops and lollipops and rainbows, making sure all the kids in your group are friends with eachother equally (impossible with 13 year olds), and living-breathing-eating unrealistic utopian goals. To add to these unrealistic goals I was supposed to meet with a group of TEENAGE girls, I had one of my co-staff telling my manager I was doing things I wasn't. The whole time that we were supposed to be teaching equality and friendship by example, the staff itself was in complete denial that we ourselves were divided into cliques. The whole thing was just ridiculous and stressful. It reminded me of The Real World because of the isolation and drama. All I can say is that my girls were the best part of my summer.
Oh lordy. What can I say about Castaneras? It doesn't challenge me intellectually, but it challenges my patience. At every job I've ever had, I try to focus on the positive things to get me through the crappy parts. At Castaneras, I soak up every moment I have in 3rd grade with Toni and every joke or funny moment I share with the amazing principal Eva. I love pretty much all of the moms and tutor 10 kids afterschool. It's amazing to have become a part of this community over the past 5 months....(Have I convinced myself yet with all this positive stuff that its worth it? We'll see) The 1st and 2nd grade teacher I have to work with......she makes me not want to get up in the morning. She infantilizes me, puts me to idiotic tasks like photocopying and alfabetizing exams that she proceeds to un-order 24 hours later. She demeans the kids, doesn't have a basic command of the English language, and probably still thinks I'm from England. No one ever knows where she is on the syllabus or if she even has a syllabus. She single-handedly has made me want to quit and go back to America two seperate times this year. I found out that last year she was on maternity leave until about January, her auxiliar worked with her for about 3 months and then went home for Spring Break and never came back. She is a horror. I have to take this as a lesson. I always tell my kids, "Suck it up, you're not going to get along with everyone in this life"...only 3 more months with this woman.
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