Home again home again. St. Louis doesn't really change much. It does, of course. Clayton Rd is wider now on what used to be my drive to high school. They're building a new shopping center with a Target and a Whole Foods right next to the Schnucks up the street. And the bar that is in the storefront that was once Fitz's has changed ownership yet again. (it's now called End Zone, just like the local sports bar in McClellan! goodie!)
But really, things are pretty constant here. The stockings on the chimney are the same ones we've always had, that my grandmother gave us back before i can remember. My parents and my brother are still annoying each other. The food is in the same place in the pantries and the house is always clean. I know, it's pretty basic, boring stuff. It doesn't make much difference, except to the child who leaves and comes back again, over and over.
Each time i come home, it feels different and it means something different to me. I've been home a total of 18 days in the last 2 years. It's sometimes a safe haven, and sometimes it feels like a trap. I have made choices that mean my environment and my circumstances are constantly changing. So I suppose it would make sense then, that depending on how i feel about the place i've come from, i feel differently about this one.
Right now, i feel idle. I've been home less than a day, but i've already done more sitting around than I have in the last month. And it's so quiet! And having my own room is strange, i can't believe how much space i have. My room here is twice the size of my room in the house in Portland. My house has never seemed so big or so quiet to me.
But it's nice to be home, looking at things, once again, with new eyes.
And i get to see Kristin soon! Can't wait. :)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Hello McClellan, you ugly ugly town
That's right! I'm back in Sacramento. My flight is this afternoon, then i'm home for Christmas, then Chicago for New Years, then back here to drive back up to Portland. And each time i spell that out, my break starts sounding very short. But i think i will definitely have time to relax while I'm home. Appreciate family, and alone time.
Driving into McClellan yesterday, my whole team was like... man. this place is ugly. I sort of didn't notice it before. And in the 5 weeks we were here, i kind of convinced myself it wasn't so bad. But really, it is. It's ugly.
But! The sun shines here. The sky is blue all the time. And sometimes, that's enough to make me happy.
I just looked up the weather, and it's warmer in St. Louis than it is here. But at least i know how to dress to run over to the BX (Base Exchange)
Every day is a new chance for me to learn how to live on this limited budget. I didn't fully understand what kind of impact it would make on the lifestyle i'm used to that i'd be living on about 70 dollars a week. Sure, my regular food is covered. But Portland is a city of coffeeshops, and awesome thrift stores and music stores. I said to one of my teammates yesterday in the gas station, the dollar has never had quite so much value to me. I used to 'treat myself' and get the drink at the coffee shop or the beer or whatever that was just slightly more every time. Now i think about what i could do with that one dollar, and i think , perhaps not. I have some cash in my wallet that i got out last week so i'd be able to use it in the airports on the way home. And it's hidden in my wallet so i couldn't use it in my daily purchases. So last night when i went to the bar, i had 4 dollars. Luckily, here in McClellan, 4 dollars goes a long way...as long as you get budweiser. So, going against my beer snob ways, i got bud. Not something i plan to do often. I feel that it's better to spend money on beer less often and get good beer, than get beer all the time and get the cheap shit.
I am very excited about going home, but i feel completely unprepared for Christmas. I don't know what i'm giving my family, i didn't have time to do proper christmas shopping, and i didn't ask anyone what they wanted. And even though i've seen christmas decorations around everywhere since thanksgiving, I think it's going to feel strange to see the (live!) Christmas tree sitting in my parent's house.
I suppose it feels even stranger because i didn't go home for christmas last year, i went to morgan's. Which was cool, but definitely different.
But at this point, it's hardly worth worrying over. I'll be home in about 12 hours!
I'm off to the bx for some cough drops. Speak to you all soon!
Driving into McClellan yesterday, my whole team was like... man. this place is ugly. I sort of didn't notice it before. And in the 5 weeks we were here, i kind of convinced myself it wasn't so bad. But really, it is. It's ugly.
But! The sun shines here. The sky is blue all the time. And sometimes, that's enough to make me happy.
I just looked up the weather, and it's warmer in St. Louis than it is here. But at least i know how to dress to run over to the BX (Base Exchange)
Every day is a new chance for me to learn how to live on this limited budget. I didn't fully understand what kind of impact it would make on the lifestyle i'm used to that i'd be living on about 70 dollars a week. Sure, my regular food is covered. But Portland is a city of coffeeshops, and awesome thrift stores and music stores. I said to one of my teammates yesterday in the gas station, the dollar has never had quite so much value to me. I used to 'treat myself' and get the drink at the coffee shop or the beer or whatever that was just slightly more every time. Now i think about what i could do with that one dollar, and i think , perhaps not. I have some cash in my wallet that i got out last week so i'd be able to use it in the airports on the way home. And it's hidden in my wallet so i couldn't use it in my daily purchases. So last night when i went to the bar, i had 4 dollars. Luckily, here in McClellan, 4 dollars goes a long way...as long as you get budweiser. So, going against my beer snob ways, i got bud. Not something i plan to do often. I feel that it's better to spend money on beer less often and get good beer, than get beer all the time and get the cheap shit.
I am very excited about going home, but i feel completely unprepared for Christmas. I don't know what i'm giving my family, i didn't have time to do proper christmas shopping, and i didn't ask anyone what they wanted. And even though i've seen christmas decorations around everywhere since thanksgiving, I think it's going to feel strange to see the (live!) Christmas tree sitting in my parent's house.
I suppose it feels even stranger because i didn't go home for christmas last year, i went to morgan's. Which was cool, but definitely different.
But at this point, it's hardly worth worrying over. I'll be home in about 12 hours!
I'm off to the bx for some cough drops. Speak to you all soon!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Macaroni Grill tonight!
Today was our last day of work with Habitat before break. Tonight, we're getting a complimentary dinner at Macaroni Grill. Macaroni Grill sponsored the sites that we just dedicated last week, and now the owner is buying us dinner! It's going to be not just our team, the site supervisors and the Americorps guys that work full time with Habitat will be there as well, so it'll be a nice way to wrap up the year before we all go our separate ways for the holiday.
At work today, I spent the morning making a small retaining wall. And after lunch, I bolted some steps up to the back porches into the concrete, and then laid sod. Then, all muddy from laying sod in the rain, we played pass the baby with the last roll of sod and then wiped mud all over each other's faces. Some of the volunteers seemed to think we were acting like children! I don't know why, honestly!
I'm starting to really look forward to going home. I think i want to find a book or something so i can start doing more yoga on my own. I like yoga classes, but with time constraints and no income, it's not really an option for me at this point.
I must go, i need to pack for break before i go to dinner tonight.
Happy Holidays!
At work today, I spent the morning making a small retaining wall. And after lunch, I bolted some steps up to the back porches into the concrete, and then laid sod. Then, all muddy from laying sod in the rain, we played pass the baby with the last roll of sod and then wiped mud all over each other's faces. Some of the volunteers seemed to think we were acting like children! I don't know why, honestly!
I'm starting to really look forward to going home. I think i want to find a book or something so i can start doing more yoga on my own. I like yoga classes, but with time constraints and no income, it's not really an option for me at this point.
I must go, i need to pack for break before i go to dinner tonight.
Happy Holidays!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Portland bridges
Today i took advantage of the day off, and walked downtown with one of my teammates. We walked across the broadway bridge, which has a drawbridge, and stopped often so that said teammate could take pictures. I can't wait til i can bring my camera back in january, there are so many things i want to capture. there's a great combination of industry and residential and commercial in this city, they practically intertwine.
We went to Powell's again, i love that bookstore, every time i go in i find myself wishing i had a million dollars and a million hours so i could get and read all the books in that store that i find interesting. Other people say they find the layout overwhelming, but i disagree. I find that finally, i can walk into a bookstore, just one, and find all the books i'm looking for in one place. And they're all for selling used books, so i can find it cheap too.
Tomorrow we're going to go hawthorne st and explore, and probably explore the area around there as well.
I have a bit of a cough that's been quite persistent this week, but other than that, it's been a great week.
We had the dedication on one of the habitat sites we've been working on. That means that the board of habitat and the families that are going to be buying the homes and the people who've been regular volunteers on the homes all got together and had a small ceremony and celebration acknowledging all the support and work that goes into making Habitat homes possible. It was nice to finally meet the families and to see what we're really doing and why it matters. It was strange though, to look at the floors and banisters and trim that we put in, and see it as something that isn't just the flooring i put in, or the banister my teammates put in, but it's someone's home, and the work we're doing is soon going to be a place where a family will live and grow. Will they notice the little nick in that, or the spot over here? will it matter? can they fix it?
We have some really great times as a team here in our cozy house, but i'm definitely going to be glad to leave for break. I'm only going to be in Sacramento for about a day, but i'm hoping that the weather will be nice and warm. Right before i go off to St. Louis, where they have snow right now. I'm looking forward to break so much. I just got an email from Laura today. She's in Spain for a few weeks before Christmas, and it sounds like she's having a great time. I can't wait to hear them at New Years.
Hope all is well in your part of the world.
Goodnight.
We went to Powell's again, i love that bookstore, every time i go in i find myself wishing i had a million dollars and a million hours so i could get and read all the books in that store that i find interesting. Other people say they find the layout overwhelming, but i disagree. I find that finally, i can walk into a bookstore, just one, and find all the books i'm looking for in one place. And they're all for selling used books, so i can find it cheap too.
Tomorrow we're going to go hawthorne st and explore, and probably explore the area around there as well.
I have a bit of a cough that's been quite persistent this week, but other than that, it's been a great week.
We had the dedication on one of the habitat sites we've been working on. That means that the board of habitat and the families that are going to be buying the homes and the people who've been regular volunteers on the homes all got together and had a small ceremony and celebration acknowledging all the support and work that goes into making Habitat homes possible. It was nice to finally meet the families and to see what we're really doing and why it matters. It was strange though, to look at the floors and banisters and trim that we put in, and see it as something that isn't just the flooring i put in, or the banister my teammates put in, but it's someone's home, and the work we're doing is soon going to be a place where a family will live and grow. Will they notice the little nick in that, or the spot over here? will it matter? can they fix it?
We have some really great times as a team here in our cozy house, but i'm definitely going to be glad to leave for break. I'm only going to be in Sacramento for about a day, but i'm hoping that the weather will be nice and warm. Right before i go off to St. Louis, where they have snow right now. I'm looking forward to break so much. I just got an email from Laura today. She's in Spain for a few weeks before Christmas, and it sounds like she's having a great time. I can't wait to hear them at New Years.
Hope all is well in your part of the world.
Goodnight.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The sun does shine here after all
Week 2 at Habitat was much better than week 1. We had a much better sense of what we were doing, and they seemed to have a better idea of what to do with us, so we were better utilized. One of the houses is scheduled to be completed this coming week, so most of the team spent the entire week at that site. It was great because it's a walkable distance, and we can come back to the house for lunch, and it's a much more relaxed environment as well.
This week I:
-built a retaining wall with some guys who work for Adidas
-built a deck on a front porch
-more and more flooring
-trim in bathrooms and closets
-drove to home depot twice to pick up 1800 pounds of cement blocks
and on saturday, the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky all day! it was amazing. i was happy all day.
and then yesterday, on my day off, i went with some of my teammates to do an ISP (independent service project) in the northwest part of oregon that had been hit hard by the flooding last weekend. We spent the whole day ripping out wet insulation from underneath houses in one neighborhood. between my team and the other portland team, about 20 of us went, and we got 3 houses done.
It was hard, dirty work. It took me a while to convince myself i could do it, but once i was under there, i just worked hard on focusing on the work at hand. I only got scared a couple times. (i'm claustrophobic, and ordinarily, that kind of work would be very hard for me. but knowing how much it was needed pushed me to keep doing it.) More than the work itself, what hit me hardest was the people from neighboring houses who came by and said "how can we get help doing this to our house? how would we even do it if we had to do it ourselves?" there's definitely something striking about knowing how immediately necessary the work you're doing is.
<--the allstar crew i worked with
And in other exciting news, i got to talk to Kristin last night. It was a short conversation, but i've missed her terribly, it's been hard not talking to her. so speaking again was wonderful. we're going to have a lot to catch up when we go home for the holidays.
This week I:
-built a retaining wall with some guys who work for Adidas
-built a deck on a front porch
-more and more flooring
-trim in bathrooms and closets
-drove to home depot twice to pick up 1800 pounds of cement blocks
and on saturday, the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky all day! it was amazing. i was happy all day.
and then yesterday, on my day off, i went with some of my teammates to do an ISP (independent service project) in the northwest part of oregon that had been hit hard by the flooding last weekend. We spent the whole day ripping out wet insulation from underneath houses in one neighborhood. between my team and the other portland team, about 20 of us went, and we got 3 houses done.It was hard, dirty work. It took me a while to convince myself i could do it, but once i was under there, i just worked hard on focusing on the work at hand. I only got scared a couple times. (i'm claustrophobic, and ordinarily, that kind of work would be very hard for me. but knowing how much it was needed pushed me to keep doing it.) More than the work itself, what hit me hardest was the people from neighboring houses who came by and said "how can we get help doing this to our house? how would we even do it if we had to do it ourselves?" there's definitely something striking about knowing how immediately necessary the work you're doing is.
<--the allstar crew i worked withAnd in other exciting news, i got to talk to Kristin last night. It was a short conversation, but i've missed her terribly, it's been hard not talking to her. so speaking again was wonderful. we're going to have a lot to catch up when we go home for the holidays.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
team blog
You should definitely go check out the Gold 1 team blog. There's a great summary of what happened our first week here, and there's a link to team bios on the side!
http://ncccgold1.blogspot.com
(You can also find this link on the side menu!)
Just a quick update since... yesterday:
The rain this weekend was insane! Yesterday my teammate Ben and i went for a walk in downtown portland, and i can't recall seeing anything other than a sadlooking Chinatown and a LOT of rain. The wind was really strong, and i honestly don't think i've ever been so wet from rain before. My mom's raincoat was great at keeping my upper body warm and dry, but my jeans were soaked through. At one point, i could feel the water dripping from my knees under the leggings i was wearing under my pants.
Next time, i'll just stay in and read.
In a total change, today was beautiful! There was even a bit of sunshine! Sure, it was through the clouds and not exactly warm, but sunshine!
Oy, it's going to be a long Portland winter...
http://ncccgold1.blogspot.com
(You can also find this link on the side menu!)
Just a quick update since... yesterday:
The rain this weekend was insane! Yesterday my teammate Ben and i went for a walk in downtown portland, and i can't recall seeing anything other than a sadlooking Chinatown and a LOT of rain. The wind was really strong, and i honestly don't think i've ever been so wet from rain before. My mom's raincoat was great at keeping my upper body warm and dry, but my jeans were soaked through. At one point, i could feel the water dripping from my knees under the leggings i was wearing under my pants.
Next time, i'll just stay in and read.
In a total change, today was beautiful! There was even a bit of sunshine! Sure, it was through the clouds and not exactly warm, but sunshine!
Oy, it's going to be a long Portland winter...
Monday, December 3, 2007
Welcome to Portland, I hope you brought your raincoat.
Hello!
I've been in Portland for exactly a week now. It started raining not long after we crossed the border into Oregon, and it has rained at least part of every day since then.
We got to our house about 8:30 monday night, and started work 12 hours later.
What am i doing? Habitat! We're working on 2 different Habitat sites. One is in its final stages, putting on the porch and the inside trim and the flooring and stuff like that. The other was just the frame when we got there, and the last couple days, we were putting the roof on and starting the building of the porch. This week, i worked 3 days at the house that's just a frame, and 2 days at the house that's almost done. I got to do flooring, and on saturday when i was there, i trained other people on how to do flooring! I've gotten pretty comfortable with the jigsaw and chopsaw and table saw and skillsaw (i used the skillsaw while on the roof the other day) and a pneumatic stapler. I'm getting better at hammering. We're all going to have huge forearm muscles from hammering by the end of this project.
It was cool to be training other people on Saturday. Especially because they were my parents' age. At first, working with people outside of americorps was unnerving. We've spent all this time working and training together to prepare to do all these work projects together, and here i am working with other people! I forgot that there are people that don't know who we are. And when they see just one or two of us, they probably don't realize that the clothing we wear is a uniform.
Being able to drive manual has made me a commodity, as I am also one of the drivers, so i've spent a couple afternoons driving big old scary trucks. It was awesome! The first one i drove had a horrible sound because the muffler is just kinda hanging off. And whenever i downshifted, it sang to me.
It's really good to be working now. It's not always great, they're still figuring out exactly what to do with us, but we're all learning a lot, and portland is a really cool city.
Definitely check out the team blog for pictures, i'll try to post again soon. We don't have a connection in the house, so i'm at the coffeeshop down the street. I just need to have the time to get here, which i haven't had until today.
Hasta luega
Send me emails and comments!
I've been in Portland for exactly a week now. It started raining not long after we crossed the border into Oregon, and it has rained at least part of every day since then.
We got to our house about 8:30 monday night, and started work 12 hours later.
What am i doing? Habitat! We're working on 2 different Habitat sites. One is in its final stages, putting on the porch and the inside trim and the flooring and stuff like that. The other was just the frame when we got there, and the last couple days, we were putting the roof on and starting the building of the porch. This week, i worked 3 days at the house that's just a frame, and 2 days at the house that's almost done. I got to do flooring, and on saturday when i was there, i trained other people on how to do flooring! I've gotten pretty comfortable with the jigsaw and chopsaw and table saw and skillsaw (i used the skillsaw while on the roof the other day) and a pneumatic stapler. I'm getting better at hammering. We're all going to have huge forearm muscles from hammering by the end of this project.
It was cool to be training other people on Saturday. Especially because they were my parents' age. At first, working with people outside of americorps was unnerving. We've spent all this time working and training together to prepare to do all these work projects together, and here i am working with other people! I forgot that there are people that don't know who we are. And when they see just one or two of us, they probably don't realize that the clothing we wear is a uniform.
Being able to drive manual has made me a commodity, as I am also one of the drivers, so i've spent a couple afternoons driving big old scary trucks. It was awesome! The first one i drove had a horrible sound because the muffler is just kinda hanging off. And whenever i downshifted, it sang to me.
It's really good to be working now. It's not always great, they're still figuring out exactly what to do with us, but we're all learning a lot, and portland is a really cool city.
Definitely check out the team blog for pictures, i'll try to post again soon. We don't have a connection in the house, so i'm at the coffeeshop down the street. I just need to have the time to get here, which i haven't had until today.
Hasta luega
Send me emails and comments!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Induction enthusiasm
I've never been one to easily run with the crowd. I have to sit back and figure out what's really going on, and figure out whether i really want to go along with that particular movement. This has resulted often in my lack of enthusiasm at things like pep rallies. and most of the sporting events i've attended.
but at induction on wednesday, i felt really excited, really proud to be a part of something. It was a surprise to me. When i stepped back, looked at what i was doing and asked myself if i really agreed with it all, i said yes!
I was proud to be a part of the gold unit when we went around the room and each unit did our cheer. I was happy to stand and shout "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!" and pound the nugget (pound fists with other gold members)
Thought i'd leave for interested parties out there the induction oath.
I, (insert name here), do solemnly pledge that as a member of the Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, I will serve as a leader and active citizen of my community and my country and will accept equally the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship.
I will support and uphold the mission of Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team based national and community service and commit to my role as a full participant of the Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, Sacramento Campus, agreeing to abide by the guidlelines established to ensurea healthy and productive community experience for all Corps Members.
I will participate as a self-governing member of our nation. I will inform myself about the problems of my community and my country. And i will work with other citizens to solve those problems.
Further, I agree to continue to serve my country as a leader and citizen, not only thoruhg my involvement in Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, but throughout my life. I make this pledge freely and without promise of personal gain.
There, now it's like my whole family was there to see induction. (Hi family!)
Next time i post, I will be in Portland (and it may be a while, i dont' know when i'll get to a wireless port, or what the internet situation will be like when i get there.)
but at induction on wednesday, i felt really excited, really proud to be a part of something. It was a surprise to me. When i stepped back, looked at what i was doing and asked myself if i really agreed with it all, i said yes!
I was proud to be a part of the gold unit when we went around the room and each unit did our cheer. I was happy to stand and shout "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!" and pound the nugget (pound fists with other gold members)
Thought i'd leave for interested parties out there the induction oath.
I, (insert name here), do solemnly pledge that as a member of the Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, I will serve as a leader and active citizen of my community and my country and will accept equally the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship.
I will support and uphold the mission of Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team based national and community service and commit to my role as a full participant of the Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, Sacramento Campus, agreeing to abide by the guidlelines established to ensurea healthy and productive community experience for all Corps Members.
I will participate as a self-governing member of our nation. I will inform myself about the problems of my community and my country. And i will work with other citizens to solve those problems.
Further, I agree to continue to serve my country as a leader and citizen, not only thoruhg my involvement in Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps, but throughout my life. I make this pledge freely and without promise of personal gain.
There, now it's like my whole family was there to see induction. (Hi family!)
Next time i post, I will be in Portland (and it may be a while, i dont' know when i'll get to a wireless port, or what the internet situation will be like when i get there.)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
bitch
Hey! Bitch magazine is based out of Portland, and their office is only about 2 miles from where i'll be staying! how awesome is that. Hooray bitch magazine.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sarah Jane
This doesn't really have a lot to do with my NCCC experience. But it's a part of my path that led me here, so i guess it sorta does. In the summer of 2005, I worked as an aide for a little girl with a seizure disorder and severe brain damage. Her name is Sarah Jane, and she won my heart. She couldn't talk, or move on her own, but she has a smile that can melt anyone. She loves music, she loves school, she was learning and growing at a rapid pace that summer. I have gone a long way away from St. Louis since that summer with Sarah, but I've never forgotten. Her wonderful parents have kept me on their list for updates on how sarah is doing, and each one, with good news or bad, brings me right back to her and all the time i got to spend with her.
I learned a great deal that summer, helping the physical therapists and occupational therapists and speech therapists and music therapist. I went to doctor and hospital visits with Sarah and her amazing mother Sandy. Sandy is an incredibly strong and intelligent woman who I admire. She was pregnant that summer with her second child, Graham, who i sadly have not met. The last time i visited them was December 2005 and Graham was born in January.
I've listed the link to Sandy's website about Sarah, and i hope that at some point you'll head over there, and at least look at the pictures.
Hopefully i can go visit her while i'm home.
free time? what's that
CTI is wrapping up. We had our second baseline this morning. I shaved a minute and a half off my run time! And i did twice as many pushups and 20 more situps. Hell yeah.
And now, in the last couple days of CTI, they're stuffing every day full of trainings. It feels like each day is busier than the last. My team has our project briefing in the morning, more trainings tomorrow afternoon, then that's it! Induction (we become official corps members, ready to be deployed at any time) and Thanksgiving!
I'm excited about going home. About eating all those great thanksgiving foods and participating in home traditions. I'm sad that Kristin and Laura aren't going to be there, but i'm glad that i get to see my family. And who knows? maybe i'll even start tackling the project of cleaning out my room? (don't get your hopes up too much, mom. you know how i procrastinate.)
Right now, the information i have about where i'll be living in Portland is that it's a 3 bedroom house. (5 girls sleeping in cots in a tiny bedroom? it's like a dream come true!) and it comes with no furniture. And yes, you read that right. we've been informed that we'll be sleeping in cots. We'll get furniture from the Habitat Reuse center within the first week that we're there, but we've been told that we start work tuesday morning (after driving the whole way on monday and arriving very late monday night). We're hoping that this schedule will change in our favor. It's overwhelming to think we might start work before we can even get a cot to sleep on?
Yesterday was diversity training. It was a lot of things i've heard before, of course. But i thought that the women who lead it (both former NCCC) did a great job with it. It was hard...ok, impossible to stay mentally and emotionally engaged in the training for the full 8 hours. but i feel like i got a lot out of it, and i hope that other people on my team did as well.
Towards the end, they talked about volunteering as charity or solidarity, and shared with us a quote that i really liked:
"I don't believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charidy is vertical, so it's humiliating. It goes form the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the others and learns from the others. I have a lot to learn from other people." -Eduardo Galeano
Lots of love to everyone. And comment! I want to know who's reading!
And now, in the last couple days of CTI, they're stuffing every day full of trainings. It feels like each day is busier than the last. My team has our project briefing in the morning, more trainings tomorrow afternoon, then that's it! Induction (we become official corps members, ready to be deployed at any time) and Thanksgiving!
I'm excited about going home. About eating all those great thanksgiving foods and participating in home traditions. I'm sad that Kristin and Laura aren't going to be there, but i'm glad that i get to see my family. And who knows? maybe i'll even start tackling the project of cleaning out my room? (don't get your hopes up too much, mom. you know how i procrastinate.)
Right now, the information i have about where i'll be living in Portland is that it's a 3 bedroom house. (5 girls sleeping in cots in a tiny bedroom? it's like a dream come true!) and it comes with no furniture. And yes, you read that right. we've been informed that we'll be sleeping in cots. We'll get furniture from the Habitat Reuse center within the first week that we're there, but we've been told that we start work tuesday morning (after driving the whole way on monday and arriving very late monday night). We're hoping that this schedule will change in our favor. It's overwhelming to think we might start work before we can even get a cot to sleep on?
Yesterday was diversity training. It was a lot of things i've heard before, of course. But i thought that the women who lead it (both former NCCC) did a great job with it. It was hard...ok, impossible to stay mentally and emotionally engaged in the training for the full 8 hours. but i feel like i got a lot out of it, and i hope that other people on my team did as well.
Towards the end, they talked about volunteering as charity or solidarity, and shared with us a quote that i really liked:
"I don't believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charidy is vertical, so it's humiliating. It goes form the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the others and learns from the others. I have a lot to learn from other people." -Eduardo Galeano
Lots of love to everyone. And comment! I want to know who's reading!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Camp Mendocino
My unit was at camp mendocino wednesday thru sunday. It was awesome, a lot of fun, lots of team bonding. We did this thing called Flying Squirrel, which is a high ropes course thing where you are harnessed in and tied to one end of a rope attached to a pulley about 25 feet in the air, then the rest of the team is attached to the other end. The team runs, the one person runs in the other direction, and ends up flying through the air, swinging back and forth.
I took an awesome video when i was flying, and i was really excited about posting it. But my camera seems to have lost it. Also, my battery charger doesn't appear to be work, which i'm thinking i can blame on the day that i walked around in the rain in san fran all day and my backpack got soaked. SO, if you want to see pictures from Mendocino, head on over to my team's blog (ncccgold1.blogspot.com) and check out the links over there.
In the meantime, my camera and i are in a fight. i'm very unhappy with it right now, it has not treated me well.
I took an awesome video when i was flying, and i was really excited about posting it. But my camera seems to have lost it. Also, my battery charger doesn't appear to be work, which i'm thinking i can blame on the day that i walked around in the rain in san fran all day and my backpack got soaked. SO, if you want to see pictures from Mendocino, head on over to my team's blog (ncccgold1.blogspot.com) and check out the links over there.
In the meantime, my camera and i are in a fight. i'm very unhappy with it right now, it has not treated me well.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
San Francisco weekend
What a relief it was to be in a real city again! I didn't even make it to the real tourist attractions of the city, i was so caught up in just enjoying the city. I spent 4 hours walking around the mission by myself on saturday, and had an amazing time! I never rushed myself, i wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere, and i had no agenda. I just got to walk around and be a part of the city, something i haven't been able to do probably since may, in new york.
The city was beautiful. I met up with some americorps friends saturday afternoon and stayed with them the rest of the weekend. Sunday afternoon, we went to a park near twin peaks and
climbed one of those famous San Fran hills to a rock face where we stood above the city, admiring its beauty below us as the sun set. It was beautiful and amazing.
So! the next time i go to san francisco, i have to go to the golden gate bridge, Fisherman's wharf, ghirardelli (are there free samples?), City Lights bookstore, all those famous things.
Tomorrow morning, i head to camp mendocino with my team and the rest of the gold unit for a service project, probably some bonding, and a little bit of ruffing it.
Back friday evening!
I am one week from done with CTI! This is exciting because i get to go home, then go to Portland and start the work which is the whole reason i'm doing this. This is also sad because i've made some good friends in the last month who i may very well not see again until the end of July.
The city was beautiful. I met up with some americorps friends saturday afternoon and stayed with them the rest of the weekend. Sunday afternoon, we went to a park near twin peaks and
climbed one of those famous San Fran hills to a rock face where we stood above the city, admiring its beauty below us as the sun set. It was beautiful and amazing.So! the next time i go to san francisco, i have to go to the golden gate bridge, Fisherman's wharf, ghirardelli (are there free samples?), City Lights bookstore, all those famous things.
Tomorrow morning, i head to camp mendocino with my team and the rest of the gold unit for a service project, probably some bonding, and a little bit of ruffing it.
Back friday evening!
I am one week from done with CTI! This is exciting because i get to go home, then go to Portland and start the work which is the whole reason i'm doing this. This is also sad because i've made some good friends in the last month who i may very well not see again until the end of July.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Coming Out of the "Americloset"
That was the name of the event tonight. The Pride Alliance event.
It's funny, i didn't expect there to be a pride alliance here. but i'm realizing after tonight's event that i need it here more than i ever needed it in college. Drew, for all people may have said good and bad about the atmosphere, was incredibly accepting compared to the outside world. And especially for me, with the bubble i built for myself there, it was easy to be comfortable with being out.
Going to camp last year, I wasn't sure i wanted to be out... i just hadn't decided yet. But i did have a girlfriend that i was completely in love with, and the very idea that i wouldn't talk about her was pretty rediculous. So instead of not coming out to anyone, i came out within the first 5 minutes of conversation with the first person i had a conversation with. And Harriman 2006 wasn't 100% comfortable with my being gay, no one was ever mean to me about it. I hope that by my being just simply there and out, they became more comfortable with the world outside of heteronorms.
Pretty much the same thing happened last fall when i got to new york. the words "my girlfriend" just popped out of my mouth, and though i considered gender ambiguity for a second or two, i just didn't bother.
Back at camp this summer, i was so completely comfortable and in my zone that it was not even close to a question of being in or out.
So here I am, in yet another new situation. And I've been out to myself for years, to my friends for almost the same length of time. And now that i'm out to my parents, i guess i sort of feel invincible. They were the last frontier, and now that they know and are by and large ok, i don't even think about people being unaccepting. Generally i challenge people by dropping my sexuality like some sort of grenade, just to see how it'll hit them, whether they'll explode, implode, or just be cool with it. I don't care how it affects people. If someone i consider my friend doesn't accept me for who i am, then i pretty much think 'fuck them' and can't be asked to further pursue a friendship.
But my team... it's a completely different question. This is a group of people who have been thrown together. And despite our different beliefs and backgrounds, we are all going to be living and working together for the next 10 months. And for the first time in a long time, i feel that i need to approach the situation more gently, not just for my sake but for their sake. One by one, i'm feeling people out and getting to know them. I'm trying to figure out who would be able to handle knowing now and who needs some time. Basically, I want to know that the individuals on my team see me as a whole person, and not as a label. I really hate being pigeonholed into one label. I want them to see me first as a hardworking dedicated member of my team. Second as a compassionate individual invested in doing my part to improve the situations of people in this country who need my and our help. After that, i want them to see me as the opinionated, lighting obsessed, sociologically thinking, theatre loving, book loving, movie loving, music loving, quiet, intelligent, leadership qualityful, queer liberal feminist that i am. All of it.
It's funny, i didn't expect there to be a pride alliance here. but i'm realizing after tonight's event that i need it here more than i ever needed it in college. Drew, for all people may have said good and bad about the atmosphere, was incredibly accepting compared to the outside world. And especially for me, with the bubble i built for myself there, it was easy to be comfortable with being out.
Going to camp last year, I wasn't sure i wanted to be out... i just hadn't decided yet. But i did have a girlfriend that i was completely in love with, and the very idea that i wouldn't talk about her was pretty rediculous. So instead of not coming out to anyone, i came out within the first 5 minutes of conversation with the first person i had a conversation with. And Harriman 2006 wasn't 100% comfortable with my being gay, no one was ever mean to me about it. I hope that by my being just simply there and out, they became more comfortable with the world outside of heteronorms.
Pretty much the same thing happened last fall when i got to new york. the words "my girlfriend" just popped out of my mouth, and though i considered gender ambiguity for a second or two, i just didn't bother.
Back at camp this summer, i was so completely comfortable and in my zone that it was not even close to a question of being in or out.
So here I am, in yet another new situation. And I've been out to myself for years, to my friends for almost the same length of time. And now that i'm out to my parents, i guess i sort of feel invincible. They were the last frontier, and now that they know and are by and large ok, i don't even think about people being unaccepting. Generally i challenge people by dropping my sexuality like some sort of grenade, just to see how it'll hit them, whether they'll explode, implode, or just be cool with it. I don't care how it affects people. If someone i consider my friend doesn't accept me for who i am, then i pretty much think 'fuck them' and can't be asked to further pursue a friendship.
But my team... it's a completely different question. This is a group of people who have been thrown together. And despite our different beliefs and backgrounds, we are all going to be living and working together for the next 10 months. And for the first time in a long time, i feel that i need to approach the situation more gently, not just for my sake but for their sake. One by one, i'm feeling people out and getting to know them. I'm trying to figure out who would be able to handle knowing now and who needs some time. Basically, I want to know that the individuals on my team see me as a whole person, and not as a label. I really hate being pigeonholed into one label. I want them to see me first as a hardworking dedicated member of my team. Second as a compassionate individual invested in doing my part to improve the situations of people in this country who need my and our help. After that, i want them to see me as the opinionated, lighting obsessed, sociologically thinking, theatre loving, book loving, movie loving, music loving, quiet, intelligent, leadership qualityful, queer liberal feminist that i am. All of it.
Boys and Girls Club
Just a quick note, i have to go to a meeting in about 5 minutes. Just wanted to say a word about my team's day project yesterday.
I was excited to work at a boys and girls club. I've done a lot of volunteer work that is similar, of course. Like the literacy thing i did in college a couple times, for one example. It was helping kids with their homework then playing with them. But unfortunately, it wasn't well organized. I think there was a lot of work to do, but they weren't prepared for us, so they didn't have enough tasks to fill our time. And while most people would be excited to have more free time in their work day, we're Americorps, we're here to work, and we like to work hard. So it was frustrating, and a slow start. And we weren't given a lot of information or direction, just told to play with the kids. But the kids were cute. Surprisingly will spoken, a lot of them had really strong language skills, well beyond their years i thought.
In the end, it was a good day of work, despite the slow start. And my TL said that it was good for us because it gave us a taste for the kind of patience we need to have, because things aren't always going to go as planned. Flexibility! that's our middle name.
Must run!
I was excited to work at a boys and girls club. I've done a lot of volunteer work that is similar, of course. Like the literacy thing i did in college a couple times, for one example. It was helping kids with their homework then playing with them. But unfortunately, it wasn't well organized. I think there was a lot of work to do, but they weren't prepared for us, so they didn't have enough tasks to fill our time. And while most people would be excited to have more free time in their work day, we're Americorps, we're here to work, and we like to work hard. So it was frustrating, and a slow start. And we weren't given a lot of information or direction, just told to play with the kids. But the kids were cute. Surprisingly will spoken, a lot of them had really strong language skills, well beyond their years i thought.
In the end, it was a good day of work, despite the slow start. And my TL said that it was good for us because it gave us a taste for the kind of patience we need to have, because things aren't always going to go as planned. Flexibility! that's our middle name.
Must run!
Monday, November 5, 2007
bikes and movies
2 thoughts, neither of which i'm prepared to elaborate on at the moment, but i'm putting them out there.
the first, an article i found on portland, which calls it 'bike city, usa'
(that's the link.) it's the ny times.
the second is about the movie i saw tonight. My old pod leader, the lovely Ashlee who i still love and miss, had a showing of it tonight for everyone on campus, and quite a few people came out. It is a compelling documentary about the invisible children in northern Uganda. Uganda is next to Sudan, and many of the problems of the south of Sudan and of Northern Uganda are related and becoming worse together.
I haven't checked out the website yet, but it's invisiblechildren.com
and one more link, since Laura asked, and maybe everyone else would be interested as well: my team has a blog, which can be found at ncccgold1.blogspot.com
there are pictures of my team and such there. it's still a work in progress. eventually we will make it pretty, between trainings and meetings and everything else we do around here. :)
the first, an article i found on portland, which calls it 'bike city, usa'
(that's the link.) it's the ny times.
the second is about the movie i saw tonight. My old pod leader, the lovely Ashlee who i still love and miss, had a showing of it tonight for everyone on campus, and quite a few people came out. It is a compelling documentary about the invisible children in northern Uganda. Uganda is next to Sudan, and many of the problems of the south of Sudan and of Northern Uganda are related and becoming worse together.
I haven't checked out the website yet, but it's invisiblechildren.com
and one more link, since Laura asked, and maybe everyone else would be interested as well: my team has a blog, which can be found at ncccgold1.blogspot.com
there are pictures of my team and such there. it's still a work in progress. eventually we will make it pretty, between trainings and meetings and everything else we do around here. :)
Saturday, November 3, 2007
The next step
It's November. We keep saying that to each other, as we sit outside with the beautiful weather, the clear blue sky, and the temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s. It's November. Really? None of the seasonal things that usually tell me that it's late fall have shown up. I don't mind though, really. I don't like winter, so I'd be happy if it never came. I think I am the only person in my group who spent yesterday crossing my fingers for a hot weather location.
Oh, i didn't say? We found out yesterday where we're going on our first spikes. I was hoping for a Gulf Coast spike, for lots of reasons. I'm eager to get down there, to do the work i've wanted to do ever since the hurricanes first happened. And i knew that most people would be there, it would be nice to have more time with my friends who aren't in my team. And selfishly, I wanted to be somewhere it would never get cold. But there will be time to go to the gulf. In fact, as my first project is in this region, there's a pretty good chance that I could spend the rest of my time in the Gulf.
So where am i going? Portland, Oregon. We'll be working with Habitat for Humanity there. We'll have a 4 bedroom house to share between our 13 person team. Which is actually a pretty nice deal as far as Americorps goes, since it'll only be our team living there. We'll have some space and some privacy. And while Portland isn't exactly warm, it's not going to snow. It's just going to rain. A lot. I'm going to have to work very hard against my seasonal depression. The work will help. (As work always does) We'll be working Tuesday thru Saturday 8:30 am to 4 pm. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
It'll also be a great place for me to do a lot of my ISPs, because of the city setting. (ISPs are Independent Service Projects, we're required to 80 hours of service on our own, in addition to the hours we work at our assigned project.) I'm also looking forward to being in what i hear is a pretty awesome, liberal, hip city. I've heard good things about public transportation, always a plus.
I've got a lot of friends going to the Gulf. In fact, 27 of the 37 teams will be in the gulf. I wish i could go too, i wanna be with my friends. What if we are on opposite ends of the country for the whole rest of the 10 month service? But a friend told me when i expressed this concern that i think too much. and worry too much. yeah yeah, i know.
A couple of my friends are doing local projects, right here in Sacramento. Which means they've got 7 more weeks to live here at McClellan Park. They're frustrated, but the projects they're doing sound awesome. I don't know how i'd feel about being here. Especially if all my friends were sent off other places. It's definitely going to be a challenging transition for all of us. So many of us have made friends who are all on different teams now, and after Thanksgiving, we'll all be sent off to different places around the country. Will we stay in touch? How many of the friends I've made during CTI will still be my friends next July? It's hard to say, but then, it's not why I'm here, is it.
I'm here to do service, to work hard and help others. To work through my perceptions and prejudices and have a greater understanding of the people of this country as a whole. It's all about the service, and the friendships can just be counted in the perks.
Well, It's November 3rd, but the sky is clear blue, and it's supposed to get up to the 70s again today. So i'm going to go get dressed and spend the rest of this lovely day reading outside!
Oh, i didn't say? We found out yesterday where we're going on our first spikes. I was hoping for a Gulf Coast spike, for lots of reasons. I'm eager to get down there, to do the work i've wanted to do ever since the hurricanes first happened. And i knew that most people would be there, it would be nice to have more time with my friends who aren't in my team. And selfishly, I wanted to be somewhere it would never get cold. But there will be time to go to the gulf. In fact, as my first project is in this region, there's a pretty good chance that I could spend the rest of my time in the Gulf.
So where am i going? Portland, Oregon. We'll be working with Habitat for Humanity there. We'll have a 4 bedroom house to share between our 13 person team. Which is actually a pretty nice deal as far as Americorps goes, since it'll only be our team living there. We'll have some space and some privacy. And while Portland isn't exactly warm, it's not going to snow. It's just going to rain. A lot. I'm going to have to work very hard against my seasonal depression. The work will help. (As work always does) We'll be working Tuesday thru Saturday 8:30 am to 4 pm. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
It'll also be a great place for me to do a lot of my ISPs, because of the city setting. (ISPs are Independent Service Projects, we're required to 80 hours of service on our own, in addition to the hours we work at our assigned project.) I'm also looking forward to being in what i hear is a pretty awesome, liberal, hip city. I've heard good things about public transportation, always a plus.
I've got a lot of friends going to the Gulf. In fact, 27 of the 37 teams will be in the gulf. I wish i could go too, i wanna be with my friends. What if we are on opposite ends of the country for the whole rest of the 10 month service? But a friend told me when i expressed this concern that i think too much. and worry too much. yeah yeah, i know.
A couple of my friends are doing local projects, right here in Sacramento. Which means they've got 7 more weeks to live here at McClellan Park. They're frustrated, but the projects they're doing sound awesome. I don't know how i'd feel about being here. Especially if all my friends were sent off other places. It's definitely going to be a challenging transition for all of us. So many of us have made friends who are all on different teams now, and after Thanksgiving, we'll all be sent off to different places around the country. Will we stay in touch? How many of the friends I've made during CTI will still be my friends next July? It's hard to say, but then, it's not why I'm here, is it.
I'm here to do service, to work hard and help others. To work through my perceptions and prejudices and have a greater understanding of the people of this country as a whole. It's all about the service, and the friendships can just be counted in the perks.
Well, It's November 3rd, but the sky is clear blue, and it's supposed to get up to the 70s again today. So i'm going to go get dressed and spend the rest of this lovely day reading outside!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Yoga Zen
I realized tonight during yoga, when i was releasing stress and all that at the end, that while it is ok for me to miss new york, it doesn't make sense to use so much of my emotional energy on wishing i was in a place where i am not.
I learned as recently as this summer that it is only possible for me to fully enjoy an experience and a place once i invest myself in being there fully. Which is basically what kristin told me this morning as well.
Today was actually a great day. The daytime stuff was fine, nothing all that good or bad about the trainings. But after, i spent hours sitting in the grass with a group of people that changed constantly, having conversation, learning from everyone around me. And after dinner tonight, i went to yoga, led by my former pod leader, who was an awesome pod leader, and is an awesome yoga instructor. i felt so good about myself during and after the class. It was incredibly slow and relaxed, but i think that whether i realized it or not, that was just what i needed today.
And then tonight i watched My Neighbor Totoro with some friends! Such a cute movie, i feel so happy after that.
AND! I don't have to get for PT tomorrow. Wednesday is the day off. Yay!
PT's been ok, by the way. Yesterday was the first day and it was pretty easy. And today, we ran 2 miles, and i had running partners, we kept each other motivated, and even though i wanted to give up at one point, we ran(jogged) the whole thing, and after it ended, i was proud that i had been able to do that. I can't say i'm starting to enjoy running or anything, but i don't feel like a total slug. :)
I learned as recently as this summer that it is only possible for me to fully enjoy an experience and a place once i invest myself in being there fully. Which is basically what kristin told me this morning as well.
Today was actually a great day. The daytime stuff was fine, nothing all that good or bad about the trainings. But after, i spent hours sitting in the grass with a group of people that changed constantly, having conversation, learning from everyone around me. And after dinner tonight, i went to yoga, led by my former pod leader, who was an awesome pod leader, and is an awesome yoga instructor. i felt so good about myself during and after the class. It was incredibly slow and relaxed, but i think that whether i realized it or not, that was just what i needed today.
And then tonight i watched My Neighbor Totoro with some friends! Such a cute movie, i feel so happy after that.
AND! I don't have to get for PT tomorrow. Wednesday is the day off. Yay!
PT's been ok, by the way. Yesterday was the first day and it was pretty easy. And today, we ran 2 miles, and i had running partners, we kept each other motivated, and even though i wanted to give up at one point, we ran(jogged) the whole thing, and after it ended, i was proud that i had been able to do that. I can't say i'm starting to enjoy running or anything, but i don't feel like a total slug. :)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
amandas and MADD
There are so many girls named Amanda here! I've known people named amanda before, but never so many. There's one other Amanda on my team, and we're still trying to figure out what to do with that, so that we aren't all confused all the time, because neither of us really wants to have a nickname. And, there's another Amanda in the group that i've been hanging out with recently. And there's at least one other Amanda on my floor... and 3 more that i've had conversations longer than 5 minutes with, and probably 10 or so more on campus. Why did they all have to take my name? It's not like my parents named me Laura or Lauren or Katy or Kate or Caitlin, those names that so many of my friends seem to have. I've never felt so unoriginal in regards to my name. And i think there's some Mandys too! Geez!
Today was great though. We finally did some actual work. It was Make a Difference Day, a national service movement to create community gardens and green spaces in cities across the country. I really enjoyed the place I was working. I know other people at the farm were doing things like breaking down dilapidated buildings and planting things and building things, all kinds of projects i'd have found much more interesting, but even painting and cleaning was nice after days of classrooms with no windows. I think i can enjoy any project that i can look at in the end and see that i've made an impact. The place i was working is called Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project. It's a sustainable agriculture project. It's the first time i've really been exposed to things like this, i've always thought that it was just for the hippies and really environmental people, but i think that maybe these are projects i can get behind. Helps kids, lots of hard work, lots of being outside. And it was started by 2 people, including 1 former Americorps member.
I may have to look into spending more time at this place...
website, if you're curious (i haven't looked at it yet, but i will!): soilborn.org
Today was great though. We finally did some actual work. It was Make a Difference Day, a national service movement to create community gardens and green spaces in cities across the country. I really enjoyed the place I was working. I know other people at the farm were doing things like breaking down dilapidated buildings and planting things and building things, all kinds of projects i'd have found much more interesting, but even painting and cleaning was nice after days of classrooms with no windows. I think i can enjoy any project that i can look at in the end and see that i've made an impact. The place i was working is called Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project. It's a sustainable agriculture project. It's the first time i've really been exposed to things like this, i've always thought that it was just for the hippies and really environmental people, but i think that maybe these are projects i can get behind. Helps kids, lots of hard work, lots of being outside. And it was started by 2 people, including 1 former Americorps member.
I may have to look into spending more time at this place...
website, if you're curious (i haven't looked at it yet, but i will!): soilborn.org
Thursday, October 25, 2007
baseline: check!
I had my baseline test, the initial physical training test that determines which level i'm in for the rest of CTI (Corps Training Institute), and i'm so glad it's finally over! I thought they'd do it as soon as we got here, and now i'm glad they didn't, because it meant i had a chance to get comfortable here before doing something that could potentially make me feel really bad about myself.
But it's over now, and I do NOT feel bad about myself! At all! I ran (jogged) the whole way. Didn't stop once to walk. So i can now say i've run a mile and a half. And from what i hear, we will continue to push and push. I've got plenty of room for improvement, but i have done the test now. no more need to be nervous.
Now, i just have some early mornings ahead of me on monday, tuesday, thursday and friday of every week for the rest of CTI. I'm so sore right now!
But I've got a reading date with some people from my team soon. We're going to go to Starbucks (or maybe Jamba Juice) and sit and read our seperate books.... or more likely, we'll sit with our books in front of us and talk. But that's cool too!
But it's over now, and I do NOT feel bad about myself! At all! I ran (jogged) the whole way. Didn't stop once to walk. So i can now say i've run a mile and a half. And from what i hear, we will continue to push and push. I've got plenty of room for improvement, but i have done the test now. no more need to be nervous.
Now, i just have some early mornings ahead of me on monday, tuesday, thursday and friday of every week for the rest of CTI. I'm so sore right now!
But I've got a reading date with some people from my team soon. We're going to go to Starbucks (or maybe Jamba Juice) and sit and read our seperate books.... or more likely, we'll sit with our books in front of us and talk. But that's cool too!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Gold 1
That's my team: Gold 1.
So for those of you who already have my address, add that after my name to get mail to me even faster. Especially once i go out on spike, it'll be good to have my team on there so they can send my mail to wherever i am.
Now for some definitions!
Muster=meet at a location, usually in the morning
Spike- the official definition is a project that is off campus. So my 4 projects, which will most likely not be in Sacramento, will be called Spikes.
other little trivial definitions just for interest include:
BDUs-Battle Dress Uniform (our uniform pants)
EBI- Even Better Ifs-we have these response sessions where we say what could be better and what we liked. the what could be betters are even better ifs
NCCC-National Civilian Community Corps
POC-Point of Contact
POS-Piece of shit (what my TL called our current van)
TL-Team Leader
CM-Corps Member - That's me!
I'm glad to have my team now. And we have our Baseline tests in the morning. 6:20 am baby!
So after that, i no longer have to be nervous about the baseline, just the PT itself.
(baseline is the initial test, PT is Physical Training)
So wish me luck! Though.. by the time many of you read this i'll have done the test already.
Yay Gold 1.
So for those of you who already have my address, add that after my name to get mail to me even faster. Especially once i go out on spike, it'll be good to have my team on there so they can send my mail to wherever i am.
Now for some definitions!
Muster=meet at a location, usually in the morning
Spike- the official definition is a project that is off campus. So my 4 projects, which will most likely not be in Sacramento, will be called Spikes.
other little trivial definitions just for interest include:
BDUs-Battle Dress Uniform (our uniform pants)
EBI- Even Better Ifs-we have these response sessions where we say what could be better and what we liked. the what could be betters are even better ifs
NCCC-National Civilian Community Corps
POC-Point of Contact
POS-Piece of shit (what my TL called our current van)
TL-Team Leader
CM-Corps Member - That's me!
I'm glad to have my team now. And we have our Baseline tests in the morning. 6:20 am baby!
So after that, i no longer have to be nervous about the baseline, just the PT itself.
(baseline is the initial test, PT is Physical Training)
So wish me luck! Though.. by the time many of you read this i'll have done the test already.
Yay Gold 1.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
California Wildfires
We learned today that the Red Cross disaster training we were supposed to have has been suspended because of fires in southern California. Because of the isolated environment we're in, despite having an internet connection i haven't been paying attention to the news. But today, when my browser opened, there they were, the california wild fires right on the front page of the NY times.
And when i was talking to people at lunch, we sort of realized that if we weren't still in training, we'd almost definitely be down there helping out in whatever way we could. But instead, I'm about to go to my intro to PT.
but here's a link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/us/23cnd-fire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Dull Sacramento
After taking the light rail into downtown Sacramento 2 days in a row, i think it's safe for me to say that 1. the light rail is easy to use and quite convenient (only a one mile walk!) and 2. Sacramento is boring.
That isn't to say that i've given up on it. I'm determined to find something valuable in this new city of mine. It must have something interesting to offer, right? Some artsy neighborhood or something...
I did determine yesterday when i was in Sacramento that everyone here is nicer than me. That's probably not actually true. And I like to think of myself as a fairly nice person, but i have never been very good at witholding my opinions. Like yesterday when we went into one restaurant for a potential lunch spot, but discovered that it would've been impossible to pay less than 15 dollars for a meal. Everyone was kinda like, ho hum, i suppose that's fine. And i said "i think that's a little bit more than i want to pay for lunch." so we went somewhere else. I really don't see anything wrong with that sort of expressing of my opinions, but i feel like an alien doing it when no one else is!!
I'm also pretty sure most of the time i'm the only cynical person here. I also know this isn't true.. I've in fact made friends with the one person here who is more cynical than me. She and i get along quite well. But around everyone else, i feel myself tip-toeing. and i know that everyone's doing that right now, none of us know each other very well... but i don't like it and i'm not good at it.
Final piece of news, I got to have decent length phone conversations with my dad, Autumn, and Kateri yesterday throughout the evening. I don't think i even realized how homesick i was, but to be able to talk to people i loved, it became blaringly obvious to me how much i miss everyone at home.... or wherever they are. And as i thought of that this morning, and started thinking maybe i want to go home, i realized that of the 4 people i talked to yesterday (yes, i can do math, i talked to Laura online) they are in 4 different places, no one closer than 3 hours away from each other. So while my friends are spread out literally all over the world, there is no reason for me to run home. I need to just embrace this adventure that i'm currently on and make the most of it. But it doesn't mean i can't miss people.
One last thing: I have my introduction to PT this afternoon. So i'll be able to determine fully how well i'll be able to handle this whole 5:30 am PT thing after today. I'm trying very hard to be optimistic. Think happy thoughts for me at about 4 pm California time!
That isn't to say that i've given up on it. I'm determined to find something valuable in this new city of mine. It must have something interesting to offer, right? Some artsy neighborhood or something...
I did determine yesterday when i was in Sacramento that everyone here is nicer than me. That's probably not actually true. And I like to think of myself as a fairly nice person, but i have never been very good at witholding my opinions. Like yesterday when we went into one restaurant for a potential lunch spot, but discovered that it would've been impossible to pay less than 15 dollars for a meal. Everyone was kinda like, ho hum, i suppose that's fine. And i said "i think that's a little bit more than i want to pay for lunch." so we went somewhere else. I really don't see anything wrong with that sort of expressing of my opinions, but i feel like an alien doing it when no one else is!!
I'm also pretty sure most of the time i'm the only cynical person here. I also know this isn't true.. I've in fact made friends with the one person here who is more cynical than me. She and i get along quite well. But around everyone else, i feel myself tip-toeing. and i know that everyone's doing that right now, none of us know each other very well... but i don't like it and i'm not good at it.
Final piece of news, I got to have decent length phone conversations with my dad, Autumn, and Kateri yesterday throughout the evening. I don't think i even realized how homesick i was, but to be able to talk to people i loved, it became blaringly obvious to me how much i miss everyone at home.... or wherever they are. And as i thought of that this morning, and started thinking maybe i want to go home, i realized that of the 4 people i talked to yesterday (yes, i can do math, i talked to Laura online) they are in 4 different places, no one closer than 3 hours away from each other. So while my friends are spread out literally all over the world, there is no reason for me to run home. I need to just embrace this adventure that i'm currently on and make the most of it. But it doesn't mean i can't miss people.
One last thing: I have my introduction to PT this afternoon. So i'll be able to determine fully how well i'll be able to handle this whole 5:30 am PT thing after today. I'm trying very hard to be optimistic. Think happy thoughts for me at about 4 pm California time!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
i miss theatre!!!
I was reading the Sacramento News & Review today. It's their version of the Riverfront Times or the Village Voice. I was just looking through the reviews, trying to get a feel of this city. And i got to the theatre page. there's one page. there's like 8 shows happening in the city, and that includes community theatre all the way up to fancy touring shows. How depressing!! It made me want to be back in new york more than anything else has. Even though most of the time i was in new york i didn't see many shows outside of the one i was working on, they were there, and i did take the opportunity about once a month to go see a show that i had been reading about and was interested in seeing. Aah, it scares me to think of not having theatre in my life.
American River
Yesterday was awesome!
I'll go back a bit. We have basically the entire weekend off. I had my physical last night at 7:30, but beyond that, i've been off since mid afternoon on Friday, and the next thing i have is a community meeting tomorrow morning at 8 am. And then i'm actually off for the rest of the day tomorrow. I think it's because they're having to do the trainings in rotation, and only have so many people in the administrative staff, so some people have down time while others get to sit in meetings all day. I don't really know how it'll work for the rest of training, but that's what's happening right now.
Back to yesterday.
My pod (temporary team), along with a few others, went to the American River, which is about 20 minutes away. There's a beach at a slow moving part of the river, and you can swim, hike, and supposedly kayak. The kayak rental place was closed, unfortunately, but it was pretty, and the hiking, while not amazing, was still nice. It was really good to get off campus, get fresh air, move my legs and get some exercise. I know i should be running to get ready for this baseline test coming up, but i just don't want to. So hiking was great, i walked with a couple other people, one from my pod and one from another pod that i met as we were starting our walk, and we had a great conversation about fascinating things like what is art and how this guy i was walking with is going to do a mock moon landing on the 30 year anniversary of the original moon landing as art. It wasn't the longest, most interesting, or challenging hike i've done recently, but it was still really nice.
Then last night, after my physical, i was just walking through the two buildings looking for something to do. I was hoping people might be playing games again, because i played apples to apples a few nights ago, and heard people played spoons night before last. But i didn't get too far. I was in one of the other dorms, found a friend of mine looking at the bookshelf in the computer lab, and started talking to her. As we sat by the bookshelf talking, this other girl i'd met before came over and we started talking to her. The second girl decided to start organizing the bookshelf, the first girl had to leave, someone the second girl knew came over to look at the books, sat down, then another girl came over, and before i knew it i'd been sitting there an hour. The girl organizing left to go to bed, and another hour passed as i had this conversation with the other two girls there, who i'd just met. We ended up deciding to go to bed, but as we were on our way out, some other people taht we happened to all know came by the room, and I ended up sitting with them for 2 more hours in another room having a conversation that started out with quotes from mean girls and ended up as a discussion on abortion, faith, and how people of different views can benefit from listening to each other.
It was really cool, and there were people with completely different views from my own, and it was awesome to just sit there and talk to them, hear their views, speak my mind, but know that while we may not have all agreed, we were listening to each other and learning. I hope that i meet up with those people again, and that conversations like that happen more and more here.
I actually found myself incredibly challenged by that discussion to listen to people whose views were very different from my own. I realized that the environments i've been in through college and working in theatre didn't provide me with a very diverse group as far as mindsets and belief systems went.
I also realized that I had something of an evolution in college. When i first got there, I found the way so many of the people around me generalized and stereotyped incredibly frustrating, but somehow 4 years of living in an environment like that made me think in the same way. I heard myself speaking, and thought i sounded like such a snob, sitting there acting like i knew what it was all about and i had everything figured out. Truth is, I know i don't have everything figured out, and i was incredibly happy to be able to sit and have a respectful conversation with people i disagreed with.
I have today off as well, but there's nothing planned, i have no idea what i want to do. I hear that the bus system's a mess, but it is possible to get to downtown Sacramento by light rail, if you can figure out how to get to it. I also know that a few of the people i was with last night said they were going to try to get their team leader to organize a trip to the American River for this afternoon, so maybe i can jump on that and go there again. There were some great climbing trees, but i didn't have time to do any climbing because i spent my entire time on my walk.
And if nothing else, i wouldn't mind sitting and reading my book all day.
I'll go back a bit. We have basically the entire weekend off. I had my physical last night at 7:30, but beyond that, i've been off since mid afternoon on Friday, and the next thing i have is a community meeting tomorrow morning at 8 am. And then i'm actually off for the rest of the day tomorrow. I think it's because they're having to do the trainings in rotation, and only have so many people in the administrative staff, so some people have down time while others get to sit in meetings all day. I don't really know how it'll work for the rest of training, but that's what's happening right now.
Back to yesterday.
My pod (temporary team), along with a few others, went to the American River, which is about 20 minutes away. There's a beach at a slow moving part of the river, and you can swim, hike, and supposedly kayak. The kayak rental place was closed, unfortunately, but it was pretty, and the hiking, while not amazing, was still nice. It was really good to get off campus, get fresh air, move my legs and get some exercise. I know i should be running to get ready for this baseline test coming up, but i just don't want to. So hiking was great, i walked with a couple other people, one from my pod and one from another pod that i met as we were starting our walk, and we had a great conversation about fascinating things like what is art and how this guy i was walking with is going to do a mock moon landing on the 30 year anniversary of the original moon landing as art. It wasn't the longest, most interesting, or challenging hike i've done recently, but it was still really nice.
Then last night, after my physical, i was just walking through the two buildings looking for something to do. I was hoping people might be playing games again, because i played apples to apples a few nights ago, and heard people played spoons night before last. But i didn't get too far. I was in one of the other dorms, found a friend of mine looking at the bookshelf in the computer lab, and started talking to her. As we sat by the bookshelf talking, this other girl i'd met before came over and we started talking to her. The second girl decided to start organizing the bookshelf, the first girl had to leave, someone the second girl knew came over to look at the books, sat down, then another girl came over, and before i knew it i'd been sitting there an hour. The girl organizing left to go to bed, and another hour passed as i had this conversation with the other two girls there, who i'd just met. We ended up deciding to go to bed, but as we were on our way out, some other people taht we happened to all know came by the room, and I ended up sitting with them for 2 more hours in another room having a conversation that started out with quotes from mean girls and ended up as a discussion on abortion, faith, and how people of different views can benefit from listening to each other.
It was really cool, and there were people with completely different views from my own, and it was awesome to just sit there and talk to them, hear their views, speak my mind, but know that while we may not have all agreed, we were listening to each other and learning. I hope that i meet up with those people again, and that conversations like that happen more and more here.
I actually found myself incredibly challenged by that discussion to listen to people whose views were very different from my own. I realized that the environments i've been in through college and working in theatre didn't provide me with a very diverse group as far as mindsets and belief systems went.
I also realized that I had something of an evolution in college. When i first got there, I found the way so many of the people around me generalized and stereotyped incredibly frustrating, but somehow 4 years of living in an environment like that made me think in the same way. I heard myself speaking, and thought i sounded like such a snob, sitting there acting like i knew what it was all about and i had everything figured out. Truth is, I know i don't have everything figured out, and i was incredibly happy to be able to sit and have a respectful conversation with people i disagreed with.
I have today off as well, but there's nothing planned, i have no idea what i want to do. I hear that the bus system's a mess, but it is possible to get to downtown Sacramento by light rail, if you can figure out how to get to it. I also know that a few of the people i was with last night said they were going to try to get their team leader to organize a trip to the American River for this afternoon, so maybe i can jump on that and go there again. There were some great climbing trees, but i didn't have time to do any climbing because i spent my entire time on my walk.
And if nothing else, i wouldn't mind sitting and reading my book all day.
Friday, October 19, 2007
It gets better
Last night, well, yesterday was pretty cool. Boring paperwork meetings all morning, and then more meetings in the afternoon... But by midafternoon, i was free, no responsibilities the rest of the day. And at first i was nervous. I thought "what am i going to do with all this free time? what if i can't find people to hang out with?" but luckily, i ran into a girl i'd befriended standing in line the day before, and we hung out in her room for a while. We played Set! and we went to dinner together, where we met a whole bunch of people. And from there, the night was sort of a lot of wandering around, meeting different people, and I ended up with a crew of about 20 perfect strangers playing Apples to Apples. It was great. I had a really good night. And i feel like today i could talk to any one of the dozen or so people i met throughout the evening, in addition to the small handful of friends i'd made the first day standing in line.
Today's been really ok. The atmosphere is really cool around here. Basically, because we all came in with the same situation of knowing no one and a totally new experience, it's completely acceptable to sit down with a group of people you don't know, say your name, and start a conversation. I have to admit, i don't sit with a group unless i know one person at least, but a lot of people are more outgoing than me, so groups just grow, and everyone's willing to talk to everyone. Conversations turn to everything.
I've learned that a large number of the people here are either just out or a year out of college like me. And overwhelmining majority are anywhere from democrat to extremely liberal. I haven't met someone yet who was pro bush or even a republican.
Someone last night described this as hippie boot camp.
I had an entire conversation about literature with a group of people!
I do have some requests, for friends who might be willing to send me a package?
I have this lovely uniform with lots of specifics on what i can and can't wear. but what isn't specified is socks. So a couple pairs of brightly colored socks would be awesome. I do know the address now, if you leave a comment i'll email it to you.
Oh, and dad, could you send me a microwavable travel mug? if we have one at home?
Sadly, my retainer that was in my nose fell out yesterday morning! my blankets pulled it out in the night, i woke up when it happened but couldn't find it. i'm not worried about the hole closing up if i just have it out a little while, but i definitely want to get a new retainer soon.
And now, i'm going to go put on those steel toed boots to start wearing them in, and go to another meeting!! yay meetings!
Today's been really ok. The atmosphere is really cool around here. Basically, because we all came in with the same situation of knowing no one and a totally new experience, it's completely acceptable to sit down with a group of people you don't know, say your name, and start a conversation. I have to admit, i don't sit with a group unless i know one person at least, but a lot of people are more outgoing than me, so groups just grow, and everyone's willing to talk to everyone. Conversations turn to everything.
I've learned that a large number of the people here are either just out or a year out of college like me. And overwhelmining majority are anywhere from democrat to extremely liberal. I haven't met someone yet who was pro bush or even a republican.
Someone last night described this as hippie boot camp.
I had an entire conversation about literature with a group of people!
I do have some requests, for friends who might be willing to send me a package?
I have this lovely uniform with lots of specifics on what i can and can't wear. but what isn't specified is socks. So a couple pairs of brightly colored socks would be awesome. I do know the address now, if you leave a comment i'll email it to you.
Oh, and dad, could you send me a microwavable travel mug? if we have one at home?
Sadly, my retainer that was in my nose fell out yesterday morning! my blankets pulled it out in the night, i woke up when it happened but couldn't find it. i'm not worried about the hole closing up if i just have it out a little while, but i definitely want to get a new retainer soon.
And now, i'm going to go put on those steel toed boots to start wearing them in, and go to another meeting!! yay meetings!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Hello Sacramento
Here i am, all Americorps-y.
All that "it sounds like the army" stuff? It sort of...is. we're on a military base. it's got a lot of military terms like "muster" and stuff. we have all sorts of rules about the uniform like how we have to wear the shirts tucked in, and the no face jewelry thing, and where pants have to sit and having to wear their belt and a certain kind of shoes and so on and no hats indoors and only certain hats and hair covers at certain hair things at certain times outdoors. No bandanas! Sad!
I've met a million people today, and i actually remember a fair number of names, but i'm sure they don't remember mine. it's ok, it's been overwhelming. The entire afternoon once we got here was spent standing in lines waiting to get an id card and uniform and room keys and steel toed boots (yay! i'm excited about those)
it's been completely overwhelming. I finally saw Georgia, and she lives on my floor, so i got to talk to her a little bit tonight. I gotta say, after this large sea of completely unfamiliar faces, it's really nice to see and talk to someone i know. (explanation for people who don't know, georgia went to school with me and is now a team leader here.)
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, to really starting things, enough of this waiting around!
But i have my room, my bed is made. my roommate is straight out of high school. Actually, she graduated early from high school. She's 17, turns 18 in 2 weeks. So the youngest person here is with one of the oldest? It's not on purpose or anything, the room assignments were totally random. Literally pulling a key out of a bucket. So it's ok, i don't think we'll be spending all that much time together, i'm pretty much guaranteed not to be on the same team as her. And i don't think the schedule lends itself to spending lots of time in the room. It'll be fine.
And now, despite the fact that it's only 9 oclock, i'm completely exhausted, i think i'm just going to listen to some music and go to bed. Goodnight!
All that "it sounds like the army" stuff? It sort of...is. we're on a military base. it's got a lot of military terms like "muster" and stuff. we have all sorts of rules about the uniform like how we have to wear the shirts tucked in, and the no face jewelry thing, and where pants have to sit and having to wear their belt and a certain kind of shoes and so on and no hats indoors and only certain hats and hair covers at certain hair things at certain times outdoors. No bandanas! Sad!
I've met a million people today, and i actually remember a fair number of names, but i'm sure they don't remember mine. it's ok, it's been overwhelming. The entire afternoon once we got here was spent standing in lines waiting to get an id card and uniform and room keys and steel toed boots (yay! i'm excited about those)
it's been completely overwhelming. I finally saw Georgia, and she lives on my floor, so i got to talk to her a little bit tonight. I gotta say, after this large sea of completely unfamiliar faces, it's really nice to see and talk to someone i know. (explanation for people who don't know, georgia went to school with me and is now a team leader here.)
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, to really starting things, enough of this waiting around!
But i have my room, my bed is made. my roommate is straight out of high school. Actually, she graduated early from high school. She's 17, turns 18 in 2 weeks. So the youngest person here is with one of the oldest? It's not on purpose or anything, the room assignments were totally random. Literally pulling a key out of a bucket. So it's ok, i don't think we'll be spending all that much time together, i'm pretty much guaranteed not to be on the same team as her. And i don't think the schedule lends itself to spending lots of time in the room. It'll be fine.
And now, despite the fact that it's only 9 oclock, i'm completely exhausted, i think i'm just going to listen to some music and go to bed. Goodnight!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Goodbye nosering
This morning, I got up, got dressed, went to my dad's toolbox. I got out a pair of dikes and cut my nose ring off of my nose.
Facial piercings are not allowed at Americorps. And while i think that i will get over this sad fact eventually, today i am sad. I intend to take my eyebrow ring in and out when i'm at Americorps. This is easy, this is a hole that has healed very comfortably, so i can take the ring in and out without any trouble. But every time i've taken my nose ring out to change it for whatever reason, it has hurt like a bitch, gets swollen, and often bleeds. So i thought rather than deal with that pain, i just cut it out.
i hope it will be worth it.
Facial piercings are not allowed at Americorps. And while i think that i will get over this sad fact eventually, today i am sad. I intend to take my eyebrow ring in and out when i'm at Americorps. This is easy, this is a hole that has healed very comfortably, so i can take the ring in and out without any trouble. But every time i've taken my nose ring out to change it for whatever reason, it has hurt like a bitch, gets swollen, and often bleeds. So i thought rather than deal with that pain, i just cut it out.
i hope it will be worth it.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
3 days left
I had great intentions that i was going to start packing as soon as i got home, be really prepared and all that...
Well, you may have guessed, it's now sunday and i haven't even started packing yet. I'm going to start today. really, i will. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Well, you may have guessed, it's now sunday and i haven't even started packing yet. I'm going to start today. really, i will. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
4 days and counting
In 5 days, i'm leaving for Americorps.. I'll be joining the Americorps NCCC Sacramento XIV. Me and 474 other Americans between 18 and 24. All there for the purpose of serving our fellow man.
Things that scare me:
Things I've learned:
-There are different activity levels for the physical training, and we'll be put in groups with people who are similar ability levels. And i'll have to do pushups for 2 minutes.... have i ever done a pushup? Situps for 2 minutes.. that should be fine. and a mile and a half run. ha! i'd rather walk 50 miles than run one. but maybe i'll be like simon pegg in Run Fatboy Run, and i'll learn to like running as i do it. I'll let you know. To be honest, none of the blogs from Americorp people that i've read have really mentioned the PT, so maybe it's not such a big deal?
-I'm pretty much guaranteed to be spending at least part of my time in the Gulf Coast area, the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. I've also learned that there's a group last year that went to Hawaii... i've never been to hawaii. There's a lot of places on the west coast i've never been. and the gulf coast, for that matter. So it'll be cool to see new places.
-I'm never really going to know what's going on ahead of time. It seems that things change pretty much constantly, so my last month and a half of traveling without an itinerary will have prepared me very well for another year spent not knowing exactly what i'll be doing in the day by day...
And finally, my flight itinerary:
UNITED AIRLINES (UA)
Flight# 939
Departs: STL 10/17 8:30 AM
Arrives: DEN 10/17 9:57 AM
UNITED AIRLINES (UA)
Flight# 1157
Departs: DEN 10/17 11:42 AM
Arrives: SMF 10/17 1:09 PM
Things that scare me:
- 5:30 am Physical Training. A mile run every day? Seriously? This is the girl who cheated at running the mile in gym class (don't tell my gym teacher)! I never cheated on a test or homework. Seriously, never. But gym class when i was in 5th grade, i cheated. Didja even know that was possible? I was always thinking outside the box...
- Uniforms. Scary, you might say. Yes! Scary! I am very attached to my individuality! Can i maintain my own self, not become a mindless government zombie, when they've got me in a uniform? And it's not just the uniform, specifically, as in the clothes i'm supposed to wear. It's also that i have to take my piercings out. This upsets me a great deal. I've had my nose pierced for 5 years, my eyebrow for 4. I went to the conservative parts of Ghana with piercings in my face, and now i have to go to California without them?! I honestly didn't know that i'd be required to take them out for this, and i wonder if i'd have still done it. You may wonder, why is she dwelling so much on something so simple as a nose ring? But for me, my nose ring is one of the things that makes me me. I have known since i got it done 5 years ago that i'd eventually have to take it out. but i'm just not ready yet. So in the next couple days, i'm going to figure out how i can either keep it in, or be able to take my piercings in and out when i'm on and off duty so the holes don't close up.
Things I've learned:
-There are different activity levels for the physical training, and we'll be put in groups with people who are similar ability levels. And i'll have to do pushups for 2 minutes.... have i ever done a pushup? Situps for 2 minutes.. that should be fine. and a mile and a half run. ha! i'd rather walk 50 miles than run one. but maybe i'll be like simon pegg in Run Fatboy Run, and i'll learn to like running as i do it. I'll let you know. To be honest, none of the blogs from Americorp people that i've read have really mentioned the PT, so maybe it's not such a big deal?
-I'm pretty much guaranteed to be spending at least part of my time in the Gulf Coast area, the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. I've also learned that there's a group last year that went to Hawaii... i've never been to hawaii. There's a lot of places on the west coast i've never been. and the gulf coast, for that matter. So it'll be cool to see new places.
-I'm never really going to know what's going on ahead of time. It seems that things change pretty much constantly, so my last month and a half of traveling without an itinerary will have prepared me very well for another year spent not knowing exactly what i'll be doing in the day by day...
And finally, my flight itinerary:
UNITED AIRLINES (UA)
Flight# 939
Departs: STL 10/17 8:30 AM
Arrives: DEN 10/17 9:57 AM
UNITED AIRLINES (UA)
Flight# 1157
Departs: DEN 10/17 11:42 AM
Arrives: SMF 10/17 1:09 PM
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
St. Louis. Home?
It’s been a long time since i lived in this house. I do still call it home, but in so many ways it really isn’t mine anymore. There’s a new dog. She barks at everything. I love my dog, i’m finding myself annoyed that Kayla is trying to take attention away from Molly. I suppose like a typical younger sibling.
After 5 weeks of vacation, here I am at the place that I have the most freedom to relax and do nothing of anywhere. There is always lots of food, good food that I enjoy and take comfort in. There’s a great internet connection, Lots of movies. we might have cable, i don’t really remember.
So here I am, at home. Driving through the midwestern flatness for Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois gave me the same sense of dread it always does when i drive home. It’s not until I see the St. Louis skyline that i start calming down and thinking maybe it isn’t a mistake coming home after all. I never really fit into the midwestern mentality, whatever that might be, but i’ve become very east coast, very new york. Someone talked to me at a rest stop where i was going to the bathroom, and i was like, what the hell is this lady doing, and why does she think it’s ok to talk to me? And my driving… yeah, i don’t drive in such a friendly way anymore. I’m going to try to reign it in while i’m here, don’t want to scare anyone.
Relaxing… you know, i’m sort of done with the whole relaxing thing. I know i definitely need to catch up on sleep while i’m here. some people might be surprised when i say i haven’t really been sleeping. This morning i woke up at 6:42. yesterday it was 4:44. the day before, i woke up about every hour from the time i went to bed at 2:30 until i finally gave up on sleeping about 8:30. and that’s just since getting back to the US! …so yeah, i should sleep. but beyond sleeping, i’m pretty over the whole vacation thing right now. I’m desperate to be active again. I hope that it won’t be too difficult to transition to americorps boot camp from this long period of inactivity.
I wish so much that Laura and/or Kristin were in town. I have tons of stuff to do to get ready to leave in 6 days, but it would be really good to see them…
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Some posts about my pre-Americorps adventure can be found at:
http://www.ballofdirt.com/members/115097.html
Any comments are welcome, put them here!
http://www.ballofdirt.com/members/115097.html
Any comments are welcome, put them here!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
