New York Day 1

As I sit here updating the world on our travels, I look around at my new friends, the 620 other people here at Hostelling International at 103rd and Amsterdam, and of course, the rest of the beautiful city of New York. Following our occupying of “The Ballroom”, our affectionate new home base here at Hillel/City Year Spring Break 2010, we have all set out on the quest to do our week in service, to attempt to learn eachother’s names, and to gain perspective on what It means to be a small group of volunteers in every sense of the word(s). For many American college students, community service, and particularly issues of social justice, are often thought of as being exclusive to the international context. The recent tragedy in Haiti for example sheds light upon this reality, as our neighbors in the Bayou of New Orleans faced large-scale hardship of their own less than two years ago. Nonetheless, we will be setting out this week to area schools to do what we can to address the needs of the schools and organizations whom we have set out to help. On this beautiful, alright rainy Monday morning, we will be working with the Boys and Girls Club of New York City-the details of what we will be doing will follow as they unfold. Stay tuned for more as we familiarize ourselves with our exciting peers, Hostelling roommates, and fellow street-goers in this cornucopia of culture and humanity. Yours truly, Colgate, F&M, Beautiful Hillel Employees of America, Hamilton, Worcester, OK, OU, and COLGATE.