It’s been almost a month since I hopped on the train in D.C and have settled into my new Tucson home. What a month it has been. It seems that each week I’ve experienced a new layer that has cultivated into this comfortable normal life. I’m now getting to the point where my weeks are feeling similar and I’ve definitely settled into a routine that is feeling right. I wanted to share some of my thoughts about what this month has felt like; some challenges, excitements, and where I see growth and potential in the months to come.
Excitements
Work is going well!
We finished our third week, and I'm feeling more a part of the organization and the events happening. I'm attending creek walks and Arundo workshops. I'm helping organize a reoccurring monthly trash clean-up event starting in November, as well as a forum field trip for Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative. I'm also excited about helping with the Binational Beaver Survey along the San Pedro River in November and December. If you asked me a few weeks ago, I was a bit anxious about what I would be doing with Watershed Management Group, but now the plan is falling into place and I'm feeling more confident in the work I'm doing.
On a side note: This upcoming Tuesday night, Watershed Management Group is having a Monsoon Movie Night and Fundraising for Hydro-local solutions! Monsoon Movie Night is part of WMG’s summer fundraising campaign, with a goal of raising $100,000 to amplify our hydro-local efforts in response to the worsening Colorado River crisis. Although I know many of you don't live in Tucson, here's a link if you're interested in supporting WMG and the work they are doing!
I feel confident on the bus (although, not so much on my bike)!
After the first week of panic on the bus and getting home at 6:45 pm, I can say with confidence that I'm understanding the bus system a lot better! I'm learning which bus stops are for which route, and depending on what time I leave, I know which bus I should take. I've been making it to and from work in about 45-50 minutes, which is totally reasonable! I've been content with that amount of time, especially since my bike tire got flat on my first ride...with goat heads (a very thorny seed), I think I'm going to wait on biking till it gets cooler!
Left Image: I found Jessie on the bus, but she had no clue I was on!
Fun Evening Activities! Well, more than before!
Since I've been taking the bus, I've been enjoying taking walks in the evenings and doing other outdoor activities. We played pickleball with one of our pastors, which was a lot of fun to get out and do something different. I've also been reading, watercoloring, and watching TV with my housemates! I also have been watching some EMU volleyball games when it works with my schedule (go Royals!). Naturally, all four of us plop on the couch after dinner and watch TV because we are exhausted from work. Last week, we started a goal of doing one thing a week that was fun. Last week we had the idea of drawing images for our House Alphabet as our fun activity. We realized the following week that we never did our fun activity, so we played a game of Dutch Blitz as our weekly activity even though we were completely exhausted. We are hoping to schedule more time for us to go out and try new things! A goal for us is to try and meet new people OUTSIDE of our house, which has been interesting!
Shalom and Spiritual Direction!
The past few weeks attending Shalom Mennonite have been exciting and brought lots of energy! There's always something new happening in the services and how things flow which I've been eager to explore. I've also met with a spiritual director, and it has been wonderful to explore conversations about my faith and how to better nurture my spiritual journey. This isn't something I've done before, so I'm eager to see how my faith is nurtured through my time here at Shalom and through personal reflection.
Challenges
Missing the Virginia fall season and rain...
While Tucson and the Sonoran desert are absolutely gorgeous and I've been fascinated with everything I see. I think I might be a little homesick for the fall weather and rainy days. Fall is my favorite season with the Blue Ridge Mountains gradually changing colors and feeling the cool breeze while wearing warm sweaters. It's days like today where it's a high of 73 in Harrisonburg while it's a high of 97 in Tucson that makes me miss the cooler weather. Although, I keep hearing from people that the cooler weather is COMING...eventually! A lot of Tucsonans struggle with September because the warm weather carries on and on, but as I look at the weather at this moment, I see a high of 89 in the 10-Day forecast...
Along with the cooler temperatures, I think I've been missing rain EVEN more. I've always been fascinated with thunderstorms as they come rolling in, and I freak out every time I see a monsoon storm off in the distance. We've been lucky to experience some of the rain; every time I run out our front door and just sit on our pathway, letting the raindrops soak me. I feel like a succulent sometimes, patiently waiting for the next storm to come. I fit in really well with other staff members at WMG, since our work is so heavily around rainwater harvesting and restoring the flow of Tucson's rivers and creeks.
I (and my housemates) have taken a LOT OF photos of clouds and storms: I hope you enjoy the series below!
Finding Time for Self Care
Because of the business and adjusting to Tucson, along with missing Virginia, friends, and family, I've been intentionally working on doing things that give me energy and allow me to reflect and process what I'm feeling. During the past few years in college, I had a hard time prioritizing my own self-care because academics and extracurriculars were so demanding of my time. I've been setting daily goals for myself to accomplish like completing my Fitness Ring, journaling, practicing Spanish on Duolingo, stretching, and flossing.
Thoughts I'm Pondering
Recently, I've been thinking more about what it means to be a volunteer, particularly living the simplest and minimal lifestyle while walking alongside community members where that is their reality. I'm learning that taking the bus for me is a privilege; for many others, that's their only option. Even though my housemates and I are on a budget and have a small stipend, so many people in Tucson do not have the financial security that we do, and that's hard to process. With all of that: I've been pondering what it means to live in Tucson, a city within the borderlands and within the Southwest facing water insecurity. There's so much happening here, and it's a place where oppression and justice meet. With these big ideas coming, I'm curious about what the next few months will bring!
GOATHEADS!!!!! They're the worst!!! Other than that it sounds like you are having a really positive experience so far! I'm so glad! Beautiful writing Andrea, I really like how you split this up into kind of a highs and lows style that doesn't mask that there are certainly challenges in fitting into such a new context. Haha I feel like I'm writing a peer review of a paper for class. Anyways, thanks for sharing this, especially like the photos of storms, maybe you can take some of the storms I've been getting :)