Departure

Well, we're all done with Sly Park. It was tons of fun, and really educational for me. Some of the weeks went by smoothly, others brought up painful issues that needed to be overcome to reach not only the kids, but their parent chaperones as well. I have plenty of pictures, but I'm too tired to post them up here. I wish there was an easier way to post up albums on here. Instead, check out this video one of the Sly Park teachers made one week. I think it gets the gist of the camp across:

The teachers were all super cool and I hope I can stay in contact with them in the future. We even had a going away party for our team at one of their houses (more on that later). Patrick, the guy who made that video, had a really neat little camera: a mini-camcorder, I think they call them. Simple video cameras designed to whip out of your pocket just in time to see that guy fall off his skate board and then upload it to you-tube. I liked it so much I got one for myself, so expect to see a lot more videos from me in the future (or videos period).

Tomorrow morning, we leave for our next project: 2 months in Los Angeles tutoring and mentoring high-risk youth at inner city schools, as well as helping a flat-broke community center develop sustainable projects like community gardens. We're living in a church basement in Inglewood (ground zero for the LA riots and favorite stomping grounds of Crips, Bloods, and who knows who else). Needless to say, I;m nervous.

I'm also tired. I think I'll turn in early tonight, we have a 6 hour drive tomorrow morning. Talk to you all when I get there.