Hey,

Sorry I have not written in a while, but we have been working weird hours, and I am rarely back with enough time to use the computers.

I have been working at Eagle Harbor Home for Boys. This is a temporary home for boys either in foster care, or in state custody because their parents are seen as unfit. The majority of the boys have been abused and have never had any stability in their life. This home is designed to bring them love, trust, and stability while they live there.

My site supervisor (the man who runs the place) is a very interesting character. He is very friendly, but can say the most inappropriate things, and can make some very ignorant remarks. He is very religious and raises the boys religious. He would not let them see Harry Potter because it promoted Satan… He also doesn’t believe that women should work (they need to stay home and clean/cook/take care of the children). We spend the mornings doing manual labor. We build onto the house, lug boxes, organize their cluttered giant warehouse, send out letters, and garden. After 4:00 we tutor and play with the boys once they get home from school. My student is failing half his classes, is 15, but is still in 7th grade. He is very intelligent, but he doesn’t work because nobody has ever pushed him. It is very frustrating and sad, because it’s hard to know if he will continue doing his work once Americorps is no longer there. After tutoring I play cards with another boy who can almost give me a run for my money in Hearts and Spades. We had Thanksgiving at their house. It was hard not being able to come home, but it was also nice to eat with my Americorps family and the boys.

I was Fun POC (Point of Contact) for this Spike, so I designed a scavanger hunt for my team. Some of the tasks they must complete are:

serenade a member of the Coast Guard with a romantic song
take a picture with a Taiwanese Navy officer while they are in full uniform (hard hats and all)
eat at the galley all dressed up. Bring a table cloth, candles, flowers, etc…
take a picture of the campus director wearing a crazy hat…

There are much more, but most of them wouldn’t make sense if if you haven’t seen base. It just is really super depressing and boring on base so I just had to spice it up a bit. They are starting to reactivate the base, so they have put all this fencing around us because otherwise it may be a security hazard…or something like that. They think us Americorps members are spies for those damn terrorists…and fences are going to keep us from finding out information. However, there are holes in them, and they just inconvenience us because we have to walk completely out of our way to get anywhere. Very tempted to use one of our chain saws…Also, base is huanted…but I'll save my crazy ghost stories for another time. Anyway..

I come home in exactly 2 weeks!! I am soo excited to see y’all! Please keep writing, I love hearing from everyone!

Love,

Alena