Blunicorns

I'm officially a member of the Blue Unit, aka Blunit. Last night, we had a scavenger hunt to find our teams. This will be my unit for THE REST OF THE YEAR. No more Pod 11, sob. But we still get to hang out with each other : )

This is our team song/cheer:
Oh baby blues
Blues got what we neeeeed
And you know that we're all friends
And we'll rock it til the end

Yes, bam, already memorized. Go Blue!

Tonight, we did another scavenger hunt to find our team. I am an official member of team Blue 6. Our team leader is Bryant, who began his speech with "I'm not a very emotional guy, and I will treat you like adults if you act like adults," after popping out of a tree. Slightly intimidating, yes. But I'm sure we will all get to know each other inside and out. There are 4 guys and 6 girls on my team, and I am the only person not from the east coast. Hey, I was there for 2 months, does that count?? I'm excited nonetheless. Go Blue 6!!

On Wednesday, we leave for Camp Mendocino for four days. One of the great things about NCCC: we don't really know what's going on until about 24 hours prior. I'm getting used to it. I guess it'll make me a much more flexible person!! (Which is good since Dan is a Navy man.)
We'll be working outside at the camp until Saturday (Happy Halloween!). I'm not sure exactly what we're doing, but it's supposed to be extremely cold and I won't be able to contact anyone for four days. Apparently, Mendocino is in the middle of nowhere. But, I'm still pretty pumped. It's going to be great!

I seem to get more and more tired everyday. We've been going from 5:15 am to 8 pm tonight. It's getting tough! But I can handle it. PT again tomorrow morning.

I may not be able to write until Saturday. So until then!

<3 anne

The Internet Has Been Down!!

<---- Pod 11/SaberSquad
Back row: Sam, David, Dustin, Mike, Thad
Middle row: Me, Vaya, Max, Sam, Yakov
Front row: Jennifer, Caitlin (my roommate), Vladi (our TL)

So, the internet has been down for the past 3 days. Very sad indeed. Here is a quick review of last week:

Wednesday: We had a meeting about community relations and we all designed bumper stickers for AmeriCorps. Mine was: "get things done" (which is part of the AmeriCorps pledge) and it had a picture of a chicken on it with a thermometer popped out. I thought it was brilliant, but when I presented it in front of all the groups, only my pod laughed... I think I'm just beyond everyone when it comes to the mind...

Thursday: In the afternoon, we had a Van Driver course; think drivers ed for 15-passenger vans. I am officially van driver certified. Yeah!

Friday: It was our first PT (physical training) running day and we were split up into running groups based on ability. The three groups are: Rivercats 1,2,3 Kings 1,2,3 and Monarchs, 1,2,3. I'm a Rivercat 3. Yeah! In the afternoon, we had CPR/First Aid/AED courses. I am now recertified in all three.

Saturday: Official Make a Difference day in Sacramento. Mayor, Kevin Johnson (former member of the Suns basketball team) met and spoke with us and we had a huge group picture with him. All 300 of us were there. Then we had a presentation about volunteerism and homelessness, and one speaker was a guy from Michigan who had been a homeless drug addict for 11 years and now has a job and a home and is successful. Very inspirational.

Then, in the afternoon, our pods separated and went to do various service projects around town. Pod 11 worked at Senior Gleaners, the place where the collect food and drinks and other items from businesses throwing things away. For example, Campbells has a package of soup cans, but one of the cans is slightly dented. Well they would throw the whole pack away normally, but Senior Gleaners picked it up and distributes it to homeless shelters around the area. My pod and another pod cleaned off dirty pop cans for 4 hours. We cleaned, boxed, and stacked over 2,000 cans that day! Yay productivity!

Sunday: It was a free day today, so my pod, as a last hurrah before being split up into our permanent teams for the year, went to this riverbank called Paradise Beach. That is the location of the picture above. Then after, we came back and grilled for dinner before having a big community meeting. *Details of the meeting will come tomorrow, for I am exhausted and have PT at 5:30 am.

So, thanks for everyone who has been reading!

<3 anne

Soreness

So, yesterday, Tuesday, 5:30 am was our PT (physical training) baseline test. It was cold, and the grass was wet, and very dark outside. These will be the regular conditions so we will all have to get used to it! Toughen up! We ran 1.5 miles, did as many situps and pushups as we could in 2 minutes and a sit an reach test. Here are the stats: run (13:35.00), situps (56), "girl" pushups (42), and 22 inches on the sit and reach. So, overall I think I did pretty well. Tomorrow morning is our first real PT day and we'll be put into groups based on our abilities. I'm excited! (Except I'm still ridiculously sore from the test. My pecs have seen better days...)

All day yesterday we had American Red Cross Disaster Training from 9 to 5. Let me tell you, I have never paid less attention in my life. It didn't help that we had all woken up at 5:15 that morning. I found myself zoning out for almost the entire last half of the class. But hey, at least I didn't fall asleep like some of my pod members! We discussed Mass Care and Shelter Operations. Basically, we learned the logistics for setting up shelters, feeding, and sleeping arrangements for "clients". Yes, in Red Cross land, a disaster victim is considered a "client". Um, euphemism? Anyone? But seriously, these are certifications necessary for disaster relief, and I got them!

Today, we had meetings starting at 9 am at the WFTC (Wildfire Training Center), about ten minutes away on the base. We had a nutrition presentation, a sexual harassment presentation, one about community relations, and the last about Camp Mendocino. Camp Mendocino is a summer camp for children that AmeriCorps NCCC has worked closely with for many many years. Once we are put into our permanent teams here, we will go there for 4 days to do work such as mending trails, painting cabins, building playgrounds, etc. It will be our first "mini-spike". (A SPIKE is what we call our off-campus, long-term projects.) I'm excited!

Then, tonight, in honor of one of our team member's (Thad's) nineteenth birthday, our team went out to Mongolian BBQ for dinner. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile. Tears were coming from my eyes. I love my team! I'm going to miss them when we all are broken up and put into permanent teams : ( Boo. Then I had to be van "safety". A requirement to back up our gigantic AmeriCorps passenger vans, is to have a "safety" to help back it up. Yes, I put on a reflective orange vest and used special hand signals in back of the van, in the middle of the parking lot to help the driver see where he was going. I think I did an OK job. And by OK I mean, the van didn't hit anything. My whole team was applauding when I climbed back into the van. It was pretty ridiculous! Never had to do such a thing before.

It's time to call Dan :) and head to sleep. PT at 5:30 am tomorrow!

<3 anne

Back to School

Yesterday was our day off, so I slept in until 8:30 am! Yeah! And then the rest of the day consisted of magazine reading and phone calls. Not too exciting.

Today was back to school day. We sat in classrooms from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Woohoo! The first meeting was an introduction to our upcoming projects. We didn't learn much except that it's really expensive to go to Alaska and Hawaii, and we don't know what our projects will be until 2 weeks before!

Next class was discussing "National Initiatives for Personal Development". I've decided to register to apply for the Congressional Award, which, if earned, I will be given a bronze medal by a representative of my state representative at graduation next July! I figured "congressional" and "award" would look pretty sweet on my resume. About 95% of all the work I need to do I will do in AmeriCorps. I just need to sign up, journal my experiences, fill out a goal sheet, and send it in, in May. The areas I need to set goals in are as follows: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and exploration/exploration. I hope I get it!

Then we had a two hour long presentation on National and Campus policies. We had to divide up into groups and break down three policies per group and discuss. Then we had to write all our discussions on a large sheet of white paper and present it in front of everyone. Yes, it was like high school all over again. Luckily I decided to be the person in the group to hold up the paper so it looked like I was helping, but I didn't have to talk because I could see the paper. Yes, clever, I know.

Lastly we had a PT (Physical Training) Orientation which was the most exciting of all. We all woke up after all the TLs went in front and demonstrated jumping jacks, star jumps and pushups. Then we calculated our BMI and I'm right where I should be. Phew! It also made everyone excited for our PT Baseline test tomorrow morning which includes a 1.5 mile run, as many situps and pushups we can do in 2 minutes, and a sit and reach test. I'm excited to see how I'll do!

Well, it's time to watch Ghostbusters and go to bed early. PT is at 5:30 am. Ouch.

Goodnight!

anne

Oh, and P.S. please comment! It entertains me. I feel very removed from life out here and I'd like to hear from you all!!!!

Everyone Loves to Pee in a Cup

Saturday started off with a muster and a meeting at 8 am that lasted 20 minutes. It was about the "student" council of AmeriCorps. Not planning on signing up for that one.

Then we were free until 2:30, when we had our physicals. These consisted of peeing in cups, TB tests, breast exams, eye tests, and a hearing test where they locked us into a tiny sound proof room. Good times!

For dinner, Vlady, our team leader (TL) made us a dinner consisting of sauteed zucchini, roasted potatoes, salad, and this turkey meatball soup that he forgot to salt. It was good and healthy and I was hungry after about 30 minutes.

And tonight I decided to be social and go to the only bar in walking distance: Harvey's. It was karaoke night. The entire bar was filled with AmeriCorps people, and it was a pretty good time. Three other girls and I even sang a rousing "Sweet Caroline". I think it was my first bar-karaoke experience. Not bad after a mini pitcher of Sierra Nevada.

Tomorrow we have a free day and I'm sleeping in! Woohoo!!!

Love you all,

anne

Manual Labor is Fun

As you can see to your left <--- I am standing in my work gear. Note the sexy black boots and tucked in t-shirt. I know, I know, you're all thinking "wow, Anne is badass". I'm flattered. This was our work outfit for today.

Today, we worked at the Orange Grove school for mentally challenged adults doing yardwork. We began in the front garden weeding, which went very well. I told a couple people I gardened for GP Shores and then people started yelling at me and calling me the professional gardener and asking if certain plants were weeds. It may have gone to my head... Oh, and apparently black widow spiders are very common out here? We were all freaked out when we saw 3, but the school employees didn't seem too worried.

Next, we went to this nature area and all the students and teachers were having a outside walk-a-thon with music and everything, and we were all introduced and everyone clapped. It was a touching moment!

Onto our next task: rake off bocci ball courts and cover with tarps.

Then, we came upon this 10 foot tall briarwood patch. It was where every prickly bush decided to grow. Well, the school wanted us to remove it all and clear the area. So we hacked and pruned and cut away all the while trying to avoid getting thorns in our faces and scratching our arms and legs like crazy. We came out looking like bears attacked us. So, this lasted 2-3 hours. Good times.

Now, if climbing through prickly bushes wasn't fun enough, our next task knocked our socks off.
Hey every body! Wouldn't it be fun if we moved 100, 50 pound cement blocks into the garden? Yes, lots of sweat was lost during this. At one point, there was a spider crawling around in my block and i blew into it to get it out and all the cement dust went straight into my eye. That was a fun experience.

Then, last but not least, we had to remove some invasive trees from the area. 2 shovels and a saw didn't make it out alive.

All in all, it was pretty fun, and we were able to bond as Pod 11. Lots of hard work really brings people together!

It's muster and team grocery shopping time (and not to mention shower time). So, until next time! Physicals and drug tests tomorrow! I hope I pass!

love, anne

Jet Lagged

Well, today was zombie day. Translation: I've pretty much had to hold my eyelids open since 7 am. Breakfast at 7, muster at 7:30, then meetings, meetings, meetings! It feels like freshman orientation. Even better: we get to sit on the floor the entire 3.5 hours. We learned about H1N1, and then we all became hypochondriacs. A policeman gave us a presentation and told us about this one area near the base where we need to watch out for prostitutes and pimps. I'll try and avoid that one. Then the TLs (team leaders) gave us a presentation on FRTs (fuel reduction teams). These are teams of Corps members who volunteer to fight wildfires all year. Maybe next time ; )

I don't know if it was the flu virus talk or jet lag, but around 3:30 pm I thought I had a fever, face was flushed and a slight headache. So I napped for an hour, and by napped I mean laid with my eyes closed for an hour. Much better after that.

This evening my roommate and I had a few people over to play cards and color. (I know, this is all incredibly exciting.) Aaaannnd I'm going to bed now.

Tomorrow we're all participating in make a difference day so my pod, Pod 11, is going to an elementary school, to do gardening and landscaping. So, yay! I'm excited. I miss everyone!!!

Until later,

<3 anne

Arrival

Well, I've made it to California alive. I woke up at 4:30 am (1:30 am Cali time) and I'm still going... The first flight was uneventful, until it decided to land 10 minutes before my next flight. Luckily, as I was running to the gate, I found an AmeriCorps buddy who went to Michigan State. So him and I showed up at gate C14 to find no plane. Apparently the gate had changed. It is now 9:38 am and our flight leaves at 9:40 am. So we book it back to terminal A to find the plane waiting for us. We landed in Sacramento at 12:00 pm.

In-processing was great. Took an ID picture, tried on some sweet steel-toed black boots, was given a hard hat and a plethora of men's clothing. I will be wearing large polos tucked into cargo pants for the next 10 months. Excellent.

We have a campus of 4 buildings, two of which are dorms, and a muddy football field. That's about it.

I have yet to get a roommate. She might come tomorrow. Fortunately, I share a bathroom with 2 other girls, Maggie from FL and Anna from Texas, so I'm not too lonely. A sidenote on the bathroom: it consists of a toilet and a 2x2 foot shower. FUN. I've met quite a few people, all nice (except for one girl named Annie who gave me a strange look when I became very excited that we had the same name). All in all, I think it's going to be a great time.

Well, I'm off to a team meeting and a 6 am breakfast tomorrow.

Au Revoir
<3

AmeriCorps Eve

Well, I have less than 24 hours before I hop on American Airlines at 7:10 am and head to Sacramento.

Emotions: anxious, excited, pumped, more nervous for the early flight than AmeriCorps itself. I guess being on the older side of the group (the age range is 18-24), having been to college, interning abroad, working at home, it will be easier for me to adjust than say, the recent high school graduates. Then again, it's possible in a couple weeks I'll be writing about how I'm freaking out. Time will tell.

That's all for now. Until next time,

Alpha Kilo

(since AmeriCorps NCCC is based a bit on the military I'm practicing my lingo)