AmeriCorps NCCC

AmeriCorps NCCC - Year 2: Team Leader

2009-12-23T21:23:00.003-05:00

Badger 5 and Badger 6 (aka Badger 11) on Graduation Day

The AmerCorps NCCC journey isn't over. As I mentioned, I've taken on a position as a Team Leader for Class XVI. And I've begun another blog to chronicle the experience. As always, feel free to follow along. That journey begins here:

AmeriCorps NCCC - Year 2: Team Leader

I hope you've enjoyed the first-hand account of an AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps member in action. I hope to offer the same with a new year on this new blog. Enjoy!

Got Things Done - Final Reflection

2009-11-23T22:07:00.005-05:00

One year ago I was sitting at my desk, looking forward to the next presentation I'd give to students and their families. As an admission counselor, the highlight of my day was heading to the visitor center and speaking directly with the students. It was the part of the job that reminded me each day why I was there and who I was there for.

My National Civilian Community Corps experience came to an end Friday, after a week of events and close-out that made up the final transition...

Well, this was a bit different of a transition. We aren't eagerly awaiting news of our next project, we aren't planning what to pack, and there's no gearing up for a 2-day travel we would typically expect at the end of the week. We're closing out our year of service, and transitioning into life after AmeriCorps.

So now I look back on a year of service, and I sit here not knowing where to begin and what to blog about. I’ve had what seems like a lifetime of experience in leadership, firefighting, teaching, construction, environmental conservation, volunteer management, among so many other things.

Furthermore, I’ve experienced all of this with the same 8 people for the past year. They’ve been there for every moment, so they’ve seen me at both a personal and professional level. Knowing that it has come to an end is something far beyond bittersweet, if there was even a term for it. The satisfaction of having gotten things done for communities around the country and seeing the difference that was made in others’ lives made it worth every challenge we faced this year.

We were all able to celebrate the difference we’ve made this year at our Awards Ceremony, the day before leaving. It was a great event, and something quite atypical for all of us in the Corps, as many took the opportunity to dress up as we ate a served dinner that included dessert. Badger 6 claimed our own table and we enjoyed the night’s awards and recognitions, which ended with a slideshow of the year…

Watching that video, and especially thinking about it now as I look over pictures of the year, made the departure the following day harder, because I was reminded that I wouldn’t be piling into a van with my team to delve right back into one of those projects in another community that could use our help. You get one of the best feelings by getting involved in direct service. Through it, I’ve got to meet those I’m serving and see the impact, ranging from the smile on someone’s face to the goal number of rebuilt homes reached. It’s a feeling similar to that I had one year ago, when meeting those students at presentations each day. It is the moment when everything is put into perspective.

I’ve had these moments all year, and fortunately, I’ve got another year beginning in January as I continue my journey as a Team Leader. Clearly, because of this perspective, I couldn’t be more excited. But most importantly, I know that when my term of service ends next November, whatever it is I do after my National Civilian Community Corps experience, I’ll look forward to next impact I can make, on any level. Because even if it’s not direct service, I know that there are so many others who should have the opportunity experience it, and I know how to give it to them.

Badger 6

2009-11-21T22:09:00.009-05:00

Meet the family. I never thought it possible to get so close with 8 people who were complete strangers 10 months ago. But I've come to know and understand these folks like no one else. It's a continuous 24/7 experience that doesn't allow for alone time, and a lot of official and unofficial bonding. This past two months we lived together in an apartment where 8 Corps members were divided into two bedrooms. Among the rest of the challenges we've faced this year, this is certainly one of them. Yet as crazy as we drove each other as uber-roommates, we're back from our project now and missing that big ol' green house that so many memories of this year have come from.

But yes, the year has come to a close, this past week has been a tough one. I've seen these people every single day for 10 months, and we're now off to our respective homes, and life will be different. All 9 of us have been through a lot, and we've all learned from each other, and we've changed in ways we have noticed and I'm sure have yet to understand yet. Life after AmeriCorps is about to begin, and we're moving on to new things, whether it is heading home, starting the job search, applying for or beginning classes, going back to old jobs, beginning another year with NCCC, and even starting new jobs, as three members of Badger 6 will be moving to New Orleans immediately after the program to continue to help others.

They all mean more to me than I ever expected, and they've each had such an impact on my life that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to explain it. Badger 6 started out as strangers back in February, when Drew took us to that table at the point to "break the ice" and get to know one another. At that time, I remember thinking about how in the world I had ended up on this team, on this unit, wondering why everything had changed so quickly after just one week of this journey. Looking back, I can't imagine having been on any other team than Badger 6. We became an unstoppable dynamic that has broken through the ice and created waves of change in communities up and down the east and gulf coasts. And now it's all over? Nah, you never lose touch with family. But I'm sure gonna miss 'em until the reunion.

Goodbye NOLA! Badger 6 has a Good Old-Time

2009-11-11T14:48:00.004-05:00

So we've been meaning to do this since our first round. During our final day in New Orleans, we headed to Old-Time photo shop in the Quarter.

They took a few shots, and it came down to two. The photographer was a big fan of the other photo, which looked more traditional and old-timey, if you will. However, when we saw this one, it pretty much captured Badger 6 more than any other photo. Funny thing is, this is the "extra" photo we took after all of the traditional photos had already been taken. this photo was supposed to be just for fun, and ended up being the photo we liked best.

We're fans of the photo. After the shoot, we headed for our final outing at Juan's Flying Burrito, a delicious burrito place on Magazine street. That wrapped up our day (go ahead, laugh out loud), and we drove back to the greenhouse to clean and pack.

The past two days were filled with driving up the east coast. We stayed in Kodac, Tennesee overnight before our second day of driving. Much of the team also experienced our first "Steak & Shake" meal. This is more of an inside joke with the team, but on a scale of Nom, I'll give it a Nom Nom Nom.

And now we're back at the Point. I'm in the process of unpacking, and soon to be packing up everything, as our departure from NCCC occurs next Friday. A lot to blog about I'm sure, so I'll do my best to get on here when I can. But there's a chance I may not be able to until I'm back in Boston on Friday. We'll see how it goes.

Final Day at Rebuilding Together

2009-11-06T21:59:00.005-05:00

As incredible as my experiences have been this year, one thing that's always hard is wrapping up the end of a project. After around two months of working with the same community and really getting into the routine of things, it comes time to leave, and it's at that point, especially, when you realize the impact you've had all round.

Much of this week was a continuation of the previous week. A couple of team members working in the warehouse, a couple in the Salvage Store, three out on a site painting a house, and Chris and I as runners. As runners, Chris and I take an RT vehicle out and run supplies to the various work sites throughout the day. It involves a lot of driving, lots of phone calls, trips to Loews to purchase supplies, and of course, in turn, the occasional trip to the gas station. It's a job I've enjoyed the most with this project, and Chris and I have been placed here for the past two weeks.

Today was the average running day for us, except that it was our final day with the project. After hearing from staff of their appreciation for us and how much we've contributed, it makes you realize that you aren't permanently with the project. That's where it gets difficult. After 6 weeks with RT, it feels as though we are part of the staff; the goodbyes, however, bring us back into perspective. It feels as though until today, we're in the mindset of expecting to show up to work on Monday, load up our vehicles, drive the I-10, and begin another week of literally rebuilding together.

No, that isn't the case. But most importantly, it does allow me to see how I've made an impact, and what more I can do after this journey. Rebuilding Together, like every other non-profit organization we've worked with, will always be there, because the community needs it to be there, and because I need it to be there. Today may have been our last day of the last project of this year, but nothing it preventing it ever from being our final.

Day of Service New Orleans

2009-11-02T16:03:00.012-05:00

We volunteered with an organization known as The Porch last Saturday. The cultural center acts as a resource and activity area for kids that live in the area, and its right here in the Marigny. Our own Team member DK organized the event, which entailed four NCCC teams that currently reside in New Orleans coming together to beautify a community garden here in addition to cleaning up trash in the neighborhood.

It was nice to work with the kids. They were more than eager to help with weeding and picking up trash. It was even more motivation for us, knowing that these kids would be coming back here every day and would have a clean area to have fun in.

While clearing up the trash in the neighborhood, we found what used to be a basketball court. It's crazy taking a look at it now and seeing what has built up and grown since the floods. It's specific things like this that put into perspective how much you can achieve by tackling things one at a time. Obviously, our objective for the day wasn't to clear out this area; but knowing what we had done for the community garden that day, in just a few hours, just proves that the same can be done for this former basketball court (picture below). Perhaps that can be a project for us in the future; Most importantly, though, hopefully anyone who has time would be able to volunteer for the project.

Anyway, a solid and successful Day of Service. This was our final one, as there is a Day of Service for each round, and DK did a great job as our Project Outreach Liaison and put a lot of work into coordinating our involvement with other teams and the sponsors.

Halloween

2009-11-01T08:26:00.003-05:00

It may very well be the biggest holiday you can experience here in the Big Easy. This past week has been full of activities and celebration in the name of chocolate and horror.

Krew of Boo is an annual event that occurs here, one week before Halloween. Companies, organizations, and even families and friends themselves are able to purchase a space in the parade for a float. They dress up, make their float as epic as can be, and throw out beads and candy to those who go to the parade. We went last Saturday to experience the fun, meeting up with some Ravens and watching the parade right outside of the French Market. I got a good amount of beads, but nowhere near everyone else. It helps to have a bit more height on you when you're reaching up to catch beads.

Anyway, awesome times. That weekend concluded with a Pumpkin Jack-O-Lantern get-together that a fellow NCCC team had at their house. We carved pumpkins, ate entirely too much, played a holiday version of pin-the-tail (stab-the-vampire-with-a-stake) that we all failed at, and finally a childhood favorite of mine, bobbing for apples. An excess amount of water up my nose reminded me why its been a favorite of mine I easily forgot, but the joy in knowing that we would all dive in head first to the game made it worth it.

Then, of course, the big night itself, happened last night (and really the night before as well, here in NOLA). Badger 6 costumed up and headed for the Quarter. I've never been during Mardi Gras, but it was unlike anything I've ever seen. For a good amount of time, a solid chunk of us just remained on Frenchmen Street in one spot we could call our own. You could maneuver the area if you wanted, but it seemed safer and more fun just to hang out and watch the costumes parade by.

Good times for Badger 6, as always, and great times enjoying Halloween in New Orleans. It'll be hard for future Halloweens to match up I'm sure. I'll have to bring the NOLA spirit out wherever I am at this time next year.

Miss Sarah

2009-10-30T20:38:00.003-04:00

Last week Chloe, Chris, Eileen, Drew, and I worked on a house around mid-city. It was a productive week and it was wonderful to meet the homeowner, Sarah, and learn about her experience during the floods after Katrina...

She and her husband had remained in New Orleans at their home. As you know, after Katrina hit, the levees broke the following day and the flooding began, quickly rising. Miss Sarah and her husband made it to the roof of their house where they waited three days for rescue. While they had boats moving through the flood to rescue others, disability prevented her and her husband from easily being able to make it out, and a helicopter ended up picking them up. Like many other people, they were brought to the Super Dome, which became the shelter for people when there was nowhere else safe to go. Even the Super Dome wasn't safe enough, but it was the safest place for the time.

Because of the chaos of getting people there, she lost her husband in the crowd for a good amount of time, something she was worried about happening in the process of getting there. She explained to us how scary it was for her not knowing where it was for such a long period of time, and how relieving it was to finally find him and know that he was alright. I can only imagine what that feels like, having the one person you need the most during a crisis missing. That seems to all most people had... each other.

In the end, it's what got them through. Miss Sarah described that as the worst experience of her life, and she "could never wish that upon anyone."

Her husband passed away a couple of years later. Since then, Miss Sarah as remained at her home on her own, which we are in the process of rebuilding and finishing up. Four years later, her house is finally looking back to normal, as are the other houses in her neighborhood. The disaster affected Miss Sarah and everyone forever, but she'll be darned if it takes away her home and community. She and everyone are much too strong for that, and you can't take that away from anyone... each other.

Miss Lisa

2009-10-25T15:28:00.003-04:00

Back in St. Bernard during first round, many of us led volunteers in rebuilding houses. A big part of that project was getting to know the homeowners and hearing their story and watching the the progress of their houses. Well, this past week, we were able to visit Miss Lisa's house, the house that Chris had worked on earlier this year.

Miss Lisa and Chris had been in touch since arriving in New Orleans, and she invited the team over for some homemade jumbalaya. It was a surreal experience, walking into the home that last we saw it was in the final stages of mudding. The house was fully rebuilt and being lived in. The TV was on, her grandson was running around intermittently watching cartoons and playing with action figures around the new couch, and dinner was simmering in the fully functional kitchen. This was no longer just a house; it was a home.

As great as it was for us to be able to join Chris in meeting her homeowner and see the house fully rebuilt, we could tell it was that much more meaningful for Chris, having been the primary site supervisor during the rebuilding process, and getting to see the final product and homeowner back where she began. It was a great night, the food was delicious, and we got to hear all about Miss Lisa's life in the New Orleans area. I look forward to meeting up with my homeowner hopefully at some point in the next couple of weeks.

Team Leader Jay

2009-10-20T22:49:00.002-04:00

So some news I've needed to catch up with. Good news... no, GREAT news: I have been offered a job as a Team Leader for AmeriCorps NCCC next year! Yes, I'm in it for another year, and I'll get some Corps members of my own to introduce and guide in the traveling service world. I couldn't be more excited. I'll be at the Point starting in January for another year, where training will begin for a month, with the arrival of Class XVI of Corps Members starting their month-long training, and so on and so forth... I know the drill, as do you now.

But that's January, and this is now, and a lot has been happening. Currently, our project here in New Orleans is awesome, we love our housing, and the temperature recently went down a bit (a welcome change for me).

Also, very exciting... the job hunt/life after AmeriCorps front has been in full gear, and applications, interviews, and/or job offers have been in the works for the all members of Badger 6! More on that soon, once we hear more!

I've finally uploaded pictures from this round. Strangely, this is the most consistent internet accessibility we've had all year, and I've yet to upload anything from the round. I have my finicky browser to thank for that, but I've managed to figure things out and spent a solid amount of time uploading them all. Check out the right for pictures from this round. Also included is an album of photos of Badger 6 team members, in our formals. You'll notice we had a lot of fun with these.

That's about it for now. We're done in exactly a month. Where did the year go? Oh well, let's just enjoy some beat poetry dedicated to our TL, courtesy of our very own beautiful and talented Seven Bloom. Ladies and Gents, Mama Duck 2010:

Unforgettable Potato Leak Soup

2009-10-16T07:06:00.003-04:00

Sure, we've been able to have home-cooked meals this round. But it really does taste so much better when someone else has cooked for you.

A couple of days ago some of the RT staff invited our team over for dinner. Not everyone could make it, but for those of who were able to, it was the best potato leak soup we'd had in a long time. Very gracious of them, of course, and it was nice to sit around a table to chat and catch up with them outside of work. But one of the most enjoyable parts of the night was conveying the NCCC experience, which entailed endless stories of our team dating back to the beginning of the year. It felt like a 10-year reunion dinner, except that we were all still there and only months have passed. We were finishing stories for each other, re-living them there at the table, laughing hysterically over things that are evidently never going to fade. At the end of the dinner I couldn't tell whether we entertained our hosts or scared them. One thing was for sure, though; they got a good look at our experience this year, and we left realizing that in just over four weeks, we'll be wrapping up this crazy chapter in our lives that will be truly unforgettable.

Badgers Just Wanna Have Fun

2009-10-12T22:06:00.003-04:00

I live on the Real World. That silly (yet admittedly once addicting) reality show featuring strangers who live together, work together, and have their lives taped. But take away the cameras, and add some meaningful service to the equation, and you've got AmeriCorps NCCC, Badger 6 in New Orleans. And not to forget the fact that in reality, we're anything but strangers to one another. We're a family, and we'd love to welcome you to our humble abode, but you're probably far away and we don't have any money to send you here. :-)

The weekend is coming to a close, and the positively overwhelming amount of Sunday night carb-loading has commenced, and we're on our way to recovery. Two days off has left us a bit confused and its been something to adjust to, having had such a busy two weeks thus far. Not that we're complaining... A good amount of the weekend was spent relaxing, visiting the French Quarter, and exploring Marigny, the neighborhood we live in. The rest of it involved the team chilling out here at our house, either sleeping, reading, eating (always), applying for jobs (we're getting to the end!), or driving each other crazy (on various good and bad levels).

It's pure entertainment at times, because not only have we really gotten to understand and predict habits and behaviors of each member of the team, but the energy in the house is contagious. This typically happens right before dinner, and I only wish there was a way to videotape these Badger 6 moments that are filled with laughing fits.

Anyway, I already know that I'll be sad to leave this project in November. I'm simply having too much fun.

Warehouse, Salvage, and Sweat

2009-10-07T18:49:00.005-04:00

The salvage yard, located conveniently close to our housing.

I just wrung out my uniform. No, not from the rain. I just finished my third day here in the Warehouse, completing various tasks, moving large items, and transporting what seems like endless amounts of lumber. It's a high-paced environment, and with House Captains (equivalent to Site Supervisors at our first round project) in and out, the loading and unloading of supplies becomes our main focus for the moment during various part of the day. It's very similar to a boxing match, where the boxer takes his break in the corner and several people nourish him or her and wipes their face with a towel. Get the job done, and get 'em back out there!

It's been just two of us, Harper and I, at the warehouse this week, and the rest of the team is out working on finishing a house like we were last week. It really helps to get to know how everything works and where all of the supplies go. Getting to know the warehouse has given me a new appreciation for the rebuilding process. For one thing, I know that we wouldn't be able to work on these houses so quickly without the warehouse and its efficiency. Furthermore, I know that next time I'm out at a house working, I'll do my best to keep things clean as possible, to cause as little headache as possible when it comes to the boxing break.

Today, I was in the Salvage yard. It's located right outside of the warehouse, also known as our backyard. It's quite a workout, moving lumber in 80 degree weather with a relatively high humidity... in October. I'm beyond excited to be in this area for the second time this year, but I can't imagine having been down here during second and third rounds, at the peak of the summer. I would have caused a flood in the warehouse.

Anyway, long day, but satisfyingly productive. Time for dinner; Chloe's making a huge pan of baked ziti. I can barely contain myself. Time to indulge, bye.

OctoberBuild

2009-10-06T21:52:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned earlier, this past Saturday was the OctoberBuild, an annual event put together by Rebuilding Together. Lots of volunteers came to rebuild homes across New Orleans.

Chris, DK, and I worked alongside about 20 or so volunteers on Delachaise St. at a home that had been damaged by the flood four years ago. Like most other houses I've mentioned and shown pictures of from my first round in St. Bernard, this home is still unoccupied. I had worked on the house the previous day removing trash and overgrowth all around the house. The build-up of trash increases even further when you account for the amount of residents from other neighborhoods who dispose of their own trash here.

This picture was taken the day before the arrival of the volunteers. You can see the house on the left. We spent a good amount of the day cleaning all of this up so that on Saturday we could focus on painting the house with the volunteers. It really is just a little bit at a time when it comes to this stuff, but its the only way to do it. You do see progress, and feels better when you know there's so much underneath to be salvaged. The picture below is the house after the build on Saturday.

One house at a time. We're gettin' there.

Boots and Ladders

2009-10-04T19:29:00.003-04:00

Check us out: Badger 6, receiving our Orientation for Rebuilding Together (in the Warehouse). This was the start of our first week.

Our work day begins at 7:30am where we meet at the warehouse next to our house. We load up vehicles and then head out to respective sites. It seems we'll be varying it up each week with different jobs, which I'm looking forward to. A couple members of the team worked in the warehouse for the week. A couple worked in the salvage yard behind the warehouse, and the rest of us worked on a house a couple blocks away painting the exterior of the house and the top floor interior.

It was just us with the Rebuilding Together House Captain. Not working with volunteers was something new; We got right to work, and a majority of it was outside, which was nice. The weather was warm this week, in about the 70's and 80's at various times. We enjoyed ourselves.

I may have mentioned this before, but it's always nice to see pedestrians stroll and mention the house. Something I'm not used to is the slower-paced pedestrian culture here. Everyone says hello, and takes the time to enjoy what's going on around them. I've grown accustomed to the fast-paced atmosphere of Boston, where everyone is always in a rush and seems to be on a mission. Furthermore, the gratitude that is expressed by those in the neighborhood walking by who notice us working always reminds me why I'm here. There's always so much to be done. I do it because I can.

This week ended on Saturday with Octoberbuild, a big day for volunteers and organizations who come in and contribute a major effort in finishing these houses. Three of us worked at a house we'd spent cleaning the day before; It involved a lot of high ladders, which was a slight bit nerve-wracking, but I tackled by height phobia a bit. Just don't look down, and keep working. It seems I can go a little bit higher each time. . . Next week I'll try the 4 foot-ladder ;)

Something also worth mentioning: One of the volunteers on Saturday recognized us! From first round when we were in St Bernard! Go figure... Back when we had volunteered at the Los Islenos festival, he had also be working there. He said he recognized the "A" immediately. Small world! He seems very interested in the NCCC program, so its nice we were able to cross paths again to give him the scoop on our whole year since he saw us back in March.

That's it for now. We're exhausted and taking it easy on this day free, so energy is a full capacity for a another week with RT.

The Greenhouse

2009-09-30T19:40:00.006-04:00

I'm sitting at our exceptionally large living room table, listening to jazz on the provided house MP3 speakers, as three others from the team cook dinner, two others are on the front porch, and the other two are taking showers. (Yes, separately... We have two bathrooms)

After a long but productive day of work and PT, I've decided that its blog-time. Have a gander at where we're living:

Behold, the Greenhouse. Only in New Orleans (and perhaps others), where housing color-coding laws don't exist will you see an NCCC team living in something like this. We moved in this past Saturday, and the 9 of us have made ourselves home already, gearing up for six weeks of residing together.

In theory, housing of our size with two bedrooms for 8 people might not sound like a picnic. But it's luxury for Badger 6, and we're loving it so far. We've got a great porch to relax at or escape to. We're about a 10-minute walk to the French Quarter, and the bywater is about 10 minutes the other way. The warehouse for Rebuilding Together is next door to us. And we've got air conditioning, so sometimes its debatable whether or not visiting any of these places is necessary.

But in all seriousness, we've got it made this round. This seems to be an organization that's very serious about what they do, and we've all felt uber productive this week joining their crew. I think we'll be accomplishing a lot this round, but you know us... Badger 6 usually does that anyway.

Orientation

2009-09-30T08:12:00.002-04:00

Up and running here at Rebuilding Together. We've moved into our convenient and comfortable lime green house with air conditioning and wi-fi, and we've experienced a couple of days of work.

Monday was our Orientation with Rebuilding Together. It was pretty extensive; we learned a lot about the history the organization, the staff, about the architecture of the houses in New Orleans, as well as New Orleans in general. We learned that we'd be working in various neighborhoods, led by an AmeriCorps Direct employee who works at the organization.

The past few days were enjoyable, and I'll blog on that a bit more when I have a moment. But I'm off for work right now. We're meeting at the warehouse (located next door) at 7:30 to load up the vehicles and head over to our house to finish painting. Ta ta for now.

City of Jazz

2009-09-26T00:01:00.004-04:00

Look at Chris and Chloe. They're so excited. Why?

Because this is right before we broke out the trumpets to celebrate the news! We're off to New Orleans for our fourth and final round in AmeriCorps NCCC! It’s been a full circle of sorts; we started out our NCCC experience in St. Bernard, LA, about 45 minutes away from the city. We’ve learned that we’ll now be residing in the city itself in what is known as the “Green House”, simply because it is painted bright green. Our housing also happens to be located above the main offices of our project, which happens to be…. (drumroll)

….Rebuilding Together! This non-profit, similar to our project first round, has a mission to rebuild homes, with an emphasis on elderly and disabled homeowners. This time, we’ll be living and working with the New Orleans community, rebuilding various houses. It seems we’ll be doing some exterior work on houses this time around as well.

Furthermore, it seems that Badger 6 will be taking a break from leading volunteers for our final round, as this project focuses more on us just working. It’s welcome change. As leading volunteers has in a way become “a forte of Badger 6” as Chris put it the other day (we’ve done it every round, if you include our couple of volunteer days with Parks and People during Round 2), we are excited to be able to focus on getting things done ourselves. Having the opportunity to teach and manage volunteers for so long has been incredibly fulfilling, but there’s definitely something to be said about being able to just get to work and know that the job will get done efficiently since we’re all already trained as N-Trips.

We move in tomorrow to our house... Yes, all 9 of us will be living together alone in one house for the first time. No other volunteers, or NCCC teams, just Badger 6, in one big, lime-green house, in New Orleans, a 10-minute walk from the French Quarter. I also hear there is air-conditioning and wi-fi, so hey, I’m sold and spoiled, which works for me.

Final Transition

2009-09-25T23:34:00.006-04:00

This week is marking our last transition in between projects. All of the Corps, like other transitions, comes together to live back at the village and we participate in meetings, give presentations, and prepare for the next project, which in this case is our final project.

Badger 1 organized this transition’s community meeting. Awhile back, during first transition, Badger 6 put on a pretty stellar community meeting involving a great performance of our theme song “Don’t Stop Us Now”, so I feel as though Badger 1 had a lot to live up to. Yet, they did. They went above and beyond, and put on one helluva meeting that was entertaining and creative, involving a recap of Summer of Service, a primal reading of the AmeriCorps pledge, and an epic skit by Tana and Austin, two talented Badger 1 members who received a standing ovation. The team asked me to emcee their team member introductions as they entered the stage, which was exciting. I hope I did them justice.

Awards were given out at the end of the meeting. I received Corps Member of the Round for the Badger Unit. Wooo! Rar! And then the meeting came to end and we began a campus-wide game of “Assassins” that entailed pulling another Corps member’s name out of a bag and finding and tagging them with a clothespin for at least 30 seconds without them knowing. The results of this game would be tallied during Amerilympics later in the week. I didn’t last long, as I lost the game before I even got back to the village after the meeting. I’ll have to be more on my game next time.

The rest of the week was a lot of meetings and hanging out with the rest of Corps, which included a unit meeting with all of the Badgers that included an extension of the previous day's games. There was a pie-eating contest of sorts, except the objective really involved finding all of the swedish fish hidden inside. I suppose only the pictures can do justice.
It was nice seeing everyone, because our teams haven't been together since May. Everybody looks different. You can tell, not just physically, that people have really grown and been through a lot in the past 8 months, even more than they have during longer periods of time in their lives. We’ve reached the final stretch, a scary thought that I’ll put on the back burner for now. Wonder what’s next?

Amerilympics!

2009-09-25T23:21:00.002-04:00

I walked back to my house as the sun was setting, covered in mustard, pudding, and BBQ sauce. I walked in the door to greet my housemates, all of whom were graffitied with similar and various other condiments. I contemplated what just happened, what we just did, and how the day had begun on much different note, on a much dryer note.

This morning started like any other morning during a transition. We got up early to get ready, clean our house, make breakfast, and head over to B15 (Building 15, the main offices and conference rooms.) We had a few meetings here and there, in addition to a roundtable on our last project in our clean black and white formals. We all had a few errands to run, and some specialty role tasks we needed to complete. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

4PM rolled around. Let the games BEGIN. Today marked the first annual Amerilympics! It was a campus-wide competition among all three units: the Badgers, the Wolves, and the Ravens, in addition to Team Green (the TLs and staff). The games were held mainly in the South Field of the village. We all had respective colored T-shirts for each unit, and we played everything from Everyone’s It Tag, Tug of War, Kickball, to Ultimate Frisbee, Tape Tag, Capture the Flag, and the final Relay. The games were a blast. If you didn’t play, you rooted your team on, and much of the day was tournament style games.

Some events were a bit more out of the ordinary than others. One included finding puzzle pieces in kids’ pool filled with pudding and other unknown substances, which ultimately turned into a wrestling match for many of the Corps members, especially among our Badger 1 friends. Another game of Capture the Flag essentially encompassed the entire village, which made things tiring and nearly impossible to find the “flags”. It was fun nonetheless. A game of Human Battleship commenced, which entailed water guns and the use of condiments to mix things up a bit. For many it was funny, to others it wasn’t. For everyone, it was messy. The games ended with a relay at the end which included running charades, 5-person legged race, a slip and slide, and a pushing of a 15-passenger van over the finish line.

So the results? Not so much in our favor. The Badgers came in fourth out of four, but I think it’s fair to say we had the most fun out of all of the team, and were by far the messiest. So what if we didn’t make it on the board? We had our pudding-filled kiddie-pool that provided endless amounts of laughs even in between events.

The 4-hour event came to a close, the award ceremony commenced, and the Wolves were given their Golden Goose Award. I hear that the main organizer of the events received an e-mail from the Denver NCC Campus about an interest in starting the games there. I hope, for their sake, they have sufficient laundry facilities.

New York Times Article

2009-09-23T10:47:00.003-04:00

The full-round fire composite team here at Perry Point was featured in the New York Times! For the entirety of the third round, this team was out on the trails and headed up to Maine for a bit for a burn, and a story was done on their experience. Head to the following link to check out the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/07land.html?_r=2

In other news: Team Swass... I believe that's what our team name came to become by the end of the week of firefighting. More pictures from last week!

Burn Baby Burn

2009-09-19T12:45:00.008-04:00

Now onto this past week, which was absolutely a blast. The six SOS firefighters all teamed up this past week with our amazing composite team leader Liz on a project in Southern Virginia around Suffolk. Expecting to be camping outside for a week, we were surprised to find out we'd have the option of staying in the crew house of the Wildlife headquarters.

The week was incredible, not only because of a stellar team, but because of everything we did while there. There was a chance we'd be heading up to Maine halfway through the week to do a prescribed burn. However, weather wasn't in our favor. Fortunately enough, though, we were able to have a prescribed burn right there, which was incredible. It is something we had been hoping for all year, and I'm so glad I was able to have that opportunity.

Much of the week we worked on various projects, like rebuilding boardwalks at the Great Dismal Swamp and in Virginia Beach and clearing trails. But our burn on Wednesday was definitely the highlight, working on 4 acres and getting the true wildland firefighter experience. All of us have never sweat like that in our lives. We were completely, and I mean literally, soaked through all of our layers, through to our fire uniform. It was hot hot hot, but I suppose that is what to expect when you're walking through fire.

The house we stayed at was convenient and comfortable. I actually had my own room and large bed, something I haven't experienced in a long time; it almost felt lonely, but only almost. We cooked and ate together at the end of the day, and there was even a TV, which took a few moments to get the hang of. Of course, there were several occasions where we'd turn it on, zone out, or start watching the ever-so-uplifting news, causing us to turn it off and find something else to do. It's a strange experience after being on the go all year, and now having access to television. We realized we weren't missing out on anything.

Anyway, incredible week. I got some amazing experience, was able to clear up some brush and slash and create a safer environment for the trees, and I'm going to miss it. Who knows, maybe they'll deploy us again in the final two months. In any case, I'm glad I was able to have been able to do it at least once.

Pictures are included, but I plan to blog a bit more on this. My digital camera filled up, so I ended up having to purchase a disposable to catch photos from the actual burn. Keep a look out for that coming soon!

Meeting President Obama

2009-09-19T12:28:00.005-04:00

What an incredible couple of weeks! About a week and a half ago was the anniversary of 9/11, which as we all know now has become the National Day of Remembrance and Service. Because of this, those of us at the point drove into DC for various projects.

A couple of Corps members and I joined the STLs (Support Team Leaders) in DC for a day project with Habitat for Humanity, helping build a house for a family. We found out when we arrived that the President and First Lady would be coming by the house. Here's the article: http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/photos_press_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1511

I ended up working around the entrance to the house where we were cleaning windows, and the buzz began, and Obama entered through where we were working to take a tour of the house. He and Michelle came through, I shook his hand, mine smudged with window dirt and windex, at which point I felt a little bad, but then got over fairly quickly. I wasn't sure if I should continue working or just flat out stare and watch as they continued to tour the house. But everyone else was doing it.

All in all, very exciting! We got a great picture with them, which I've included above. Yes, he is that tall in person. And by the way, the camera really does add a few pounds.

Back in (Fire) Gear

2009-09-08T19:49:00.007-04:00

What a break! Visited the 'rents for a week and a half, had some much-needed relaxation, caught up everything I needed to, but I'm glad to be back. As great as it was to get back to Boston for a short time, there's only so much sitting back I can do, and I'm ready to hit the ground rolling once again.

Got in late last night, and we've begun our first day of our Firefighter mini-project here in the Cecil County Area at a local trail. Today was filled with a good amount of clearing the trail and hauling freshly cut lumber, courtesy of the two sawyer-trained Corps members who have joined our team, our objective being to make the trail wider and safer.

It was quite a workout, especially dragging the trees off of the trail and into the woods, but it was certainly a pleasant change, at least for me, having gotten so accustomed to working as a crew leader and leading tutors in the classroom: less work on the body, more on the brain. Especially after such a laid back break, this was the perfect kick-start to the project. We'll be on this trail for the rest of the week. Our second week we'll starting a fire project in Virginia, and we'll where things go from there.

It's good to be back. We've got a great fire team, 6 fire fighters and 2 sawyers, and Drew, my Badger 6 team leader, happens to be our composite TL for this mini-project. I'm now at the Cecil Country Library, exhausted, after a full day and an intense day of soccer with the rest of the fire team. It feels good to be back in action.

Adieu to the Crew

2009-08-27T11:27:00.006-04:00

Free wi-fi up in the sky. A lot has happened in the past 7 months, including the addition of internet-access to AirTran flights. I started this entry up there, and I'm continuing it back in Boston. The final week at the Mayor’s Summer of Service was filled with excitement, frustrations, and tears, as we celebrated our achievements, rolled with the punches on a challenging week, and said goodbye to our participants.

Our final week was a busy one, filled with All-Corps days where all of the crews worked and trained together all week, unlike other weeks where the format was reserved for Fridays. Earlier on in the week, we worked with Sasha Bruce, an organization dedicated to helping homeless youth; our crews helped packaged food and learned a lot more about homeless youth and transitional housing.

The rest of the week was full of confusion and frustration over how each day would unfold. Fortunately, the crews were all together and we were able to improvise and manage to still get things done. Our final day with the participants was bittersweet. All of us were tired, both the crew leaders and participants, so the upcoming break was on our minds. However, saying goodbye to the friends we've made this whole summer was difficult; Our participants made this project, and they kept us going through all of the challenges we'd faced.

Each crew gave a presentation or performance to sum up their projects and experiences. All of them were hilarious, and it was nice to see that everyone had fun putting them together. Lili and my crew organized a step performance/battle of sorts, that started with the women showing how a real step is done, and the guys ending with our showing-off of our stepping skills. We only made the women's performance look that much better, and I think everyone got a kick out of it.

Mayor's Summer of Service t-shirts were given out to the participants, and we grabbed some extras as well, to commence in the signing of each other's shirts, something that wasn't planned. It was a nice end to the day, as it was the last time we'd be seeing our crews. Just a few days have gone by, and I already miss Blue Crew 3. Right about now, they've started the school year, and are probably in class, talking about a summer unlike anyone else's. I hope, like me, it's one that's had a positive impact.

Parks, Foodies, & Opportunities

2009-08-16T18:07:00.010-04:00

Whew. One week left of SOS. We're at the final stretch, and I'm feeling fairly stretched out myself. This past week has been an interesting wrap-up of sorts, where all of the projects finished up (in preparation for "close-out week"). Since Heads Up concluded last week, Blue 3 has jumped around DC a bit this week. Our week began at the playground, where we left our mark, making everything clean, shiny, and new. It was a hot day again, but the participants were troopers; I was happy to be able to bring them indoors for the following three days.

Capital Area Food Bank was our next stop from Tuesday through Thursday. I think this has been one of my favorite projects of MSOS so far. You get to move around and work together in one area, and being able to see the progress you've made in just a day is motivating. We had two objectives: sort food that's been donated into catagories, and package food items within each category to be shipped to the warehouse area. The area we worked in contained many cages that were labeled by catagory: canned meats, condiments, snacks, rice and pasta, etc. Whereas a few different groups came in at various hours during our three days there, our team was certainly the full-time crew in a sense, so it was nice to be able to come in on Wednesday and Thursday and just get right to work. We got a lot done: 20,000 lbs of food was sorted and packaged. It certainly felt like an accomplishment, and I hope the participants felt the same.

Coincidentally, this happened to be the same food bank I volunteered at a year and a half ago during my college's Alternative Spring Break Trip, so I was fortunately already familiar with the project. It was great showing our participants how a food bank works, and also learning a lot myself about how efforts against poverty and hunger are being made on a daily basis. There is so much to be done, and getting food sorted and packaged allows the process of obtaining more donations and giving out more food more efficient. The more people volunteer, the more others can benefit from the food bank. One of our participants in particular really enjoyed working there this week, and I was excited to hear from him that he would love to come back to volunteer.

Another exciting note: The Washington Post came by on Thursday to do a story on young volunteers at the food bank. Our volunteer coordinator asked if our team would be interested in being interviewed. We were, of course, and a couple of our participants and I were interviewed. I'm interested to see how it turns out; it seems they took a lot of photos, which should be online and published at some point. I may include that here once I hear news about it.

Our participant week concluded with a visit to the University of Maryland, where we introduced our participants to a great speaker, who happened to be a former professor of one of the crew leaders. The day was filled with presentations on AmeriCorps NCCC, Peace Corps, Job Corps, and City Year. We were even able to score a tour of the Comcast Center, where the Terrapins play, in addition to many concerts and events each year.

...a solid week, I'd say. It feels like its been two weeks, and in a sense, there's been more of a condensing than a stretching of To-Do's. But our last to-do is this week, during their close-out. It seems most of it is up in the air, so I look forward to bring it down to earth in my next entry...

The Impact of Wheel-Swing-Contraptions

2009-08-10T17:00:00.012-04:00

Today, the heat index reached 105 degrees. In just one hour, my uniform was soaked as if I had jumped into a pool. Oddly enough, I never expected it to turn out to be one of the best days I've had this summer.

NCCC has taken on a mini-project this past week and a half, and all of the crew has been there for at least one or more days. Near Anacostia Park is Savoy Elementary, which has a playground, a playground that happens to be the best playground around. Once an open lot, in just five or six days it has really been a ground-up project.

Since our project with Heads Up ended last week, and our week with the Food Bank starts Tuesday, we had a good three days with the build. I was able to volunteer with them on Saturday as well, so I was able to contribute 4 days towards the project; 4 days of physical labor that I had been accustomed to during my first and second projects. Heads Up was indoors, air conditioned (not that I'm complaining), and the only movement it entailed was walking from classroom to classroom. Although the mental labor involved made up for it, which to my disappointment doesn't build muscle or burn calories.

Anyway, back to the playground. Having the opportunity to build a brand new park for the children of the community who really need a place to go to play and be together was something I appreciated being a part of, and also something that many residents appreciated as well. While filling up my bottle of water, outside of the park bar fence, a woman and a little boy were walking by. She asked if I was volunteering, and then said, "Thank you so much. He'll be playing on it," pointing to who I assumed to be her son. You had to have been there to see the smile on her face as she said it while her kid did the same while skipping, because the statement itself doesn't do it justice. When something like that happens it always instantly puts things into perspective, and it feels amazing to be doing something so good and big for someone, simply by spending a few hours building stuff, getting a work out, and not to mention a pretty decent tan.

Our final day at the build wrapped up today, as we were able to see the final product. A few hours of sweeping, organizing, and transfer of materials cleared up a brand new park, ready to be introduced to the community. We have a new crew essentially, as 5 newbies began with us this week, and they all were rock stars today, working through the heat and sweating their behinds off.

Several other people walked or drove by, asking questions about when the project would be done, excited for their kids to have a playground to go to. One guy drove by, and noticing we were finished, and simply asked if we were going to put rubber flooring on the ground. The answer was yes, and he drove on seeming satisfied. It seems everyone was anticipating the grand opening, and it was all about the safety and well-being of their kids.

I can't wait to visit again and see the playground in action. I made some pretty neat wheel-swing-contraptions, which aren't actually swings at all, so I'm interested to see how kids will use them. In any case, I look forward to once again having that moment where I understand my impact by seeing it in front of me.

So, you hear me, DC? The heat is no match for me; I've got unlimited amounts of tap water to fortify my being with, so I look forward to the next heat advisory. Bring it on!

Heads Up Closes Up

2009-08-09T14:26:00.005-04:00

Our last day with Heads Up was Wednesday. The kids enjoyed a day of movies and time at the pool, while the adults chased them around and made them play nice. It was an exhausting day, keeping an eye on everyone while they were in different locations. Our crew participants felt the same way, and it was evident as they plopped into their seats after gathering the kids after each event.

It was a great final week, and I was able to capture some great photos and video of the kids. Our second to last day was held at Trinity University in the gymnasium, where Heads Up held its annual PCE (Project Community Experience) Fair, an event where students from each school in the program come together to showcase everything they've been working on throughout the summer.

Energy soared among the kids from Amidon, right from the start of the day as they entered the building. There was a great emcee from Heads Up, and the kids were more excited than ever. At times I don't think they even knew what they were excited about, but its alright; despite the small size of our group compared to other schools, we showed the crowd just how enormous we were in spirit.

It's been an incredible summer, and now that a few days have past, I'm realizing how much I already miss them. There's a huge amount of affection and excitement that spreads among these kids, and it feels great to have been a part of that environment. I hope I've affected their lives the way they have mine.

Homelessness and the Street Soccer USA World Cup

2009-08-05T10:13:00.003-04:00

"This gave me a lot of encouragement, that extra motivation, going out and playing, to work towards a goal. Sometimes you don't get work and everything, you get frustrated, you get mad," Carter said, breathing hard and chugging Powerade. "This helps me keep going."

For Daniel Blue, 25, a returning player who just graduated from college and is looking for work and a place to live, the team "gave me something stable to do. Even when I still had problems, it gave me an outlet and let me know that I could be all right."

Seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless. I remember reading that about a year ago. I don't know if that is completely accurate, as the statistic can have a different meaning for everyone. However, the fact remains that homelessness is more prevalent than ever, especially here in DC.

This Friday, I Iearned that many who are recovering from homelessness have come together for an incredible event called Street Soccer USA World Cup. I was fortunate enough to be able to participate at the event this past Friday along with the rest of the crew and participants. Click on the quote above for the article about the St. Louis Roadies, the team that faced off against our home team.

The crew was there to help with set up, crowd control, and of course, cheer on the teams! Please take a look at the article; you won't want to miss the next Cup.

After that, check out the following web site. The paper is called StreetSense, and it is written and sold by homeless in DC. It costs a dollar and profits go towards homelessness recovery. If you're ever in DC, next time you think about grabbing the nearest sensational newspaper or magazine, buy a copy of StreetSense instead. www.streetsense.org

26 Roommates

2009-07-30T21:50:00.013-04:00

Communal living. Busy kitchen, Leftovers, Cots, Lots of Trash, and very little shame. This is the true story of 26 Corps Members, picked to live in abandoned school, work together, and have their lives blogged, and find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real. AmeriCorps NCCC: Summer of Service: Washington D.C.

[6:30am - Monday Morning - Cafeteria/Kitchen table]

"Anyone seen my cup?"

[Everyone laughs. Someone else nervously walks away from the table to go to their room]

Chances are, the cup in question is in any of the locations in our humble abode. Communal living has reared out some of our worst habits, and considering there are 26 of us, if everyone brings just one cup to their room, we're out of kitchenware.

The best part is that it doesn't phase anyone. Especially at this point in the program, we've learned and gotten use to adjusting to any situation. Several, if not most, of the group have resorted to drinking out of bowls. Fortunately, we have an ice machine, which effectively makes life pretty sweet. It also contributes to a great game of cafeteria wiffle ball, which you can use your imagination for. A whole lot goes on, and it's just a small part of our eventful day. Morning traffic commences, also known as the flow of SOS crew members in the kitchen as we scramble for breakfast and prepare for the workday departure. We make our way out in pairs to our respective vehicles and projects, and the work day begins.

There is a new story every day, and when we all arrive back to our housing at the end of the day we relay to fellow crew members. This typically happens in the kitchen, as the evening dinner scramble begins, which in many of our cases, can entail either a real meal or an after-work snack binge. Unfortunately, because of this, several cases of food piracy have been reported, despite the fact that each unit has their own section of the industrial-sized fridge. We've begun to crack down through signage and labeling.

The cafeteria has become our common space, not only for eating, but also off-and-on wi-fi, spontaneous wrestling matches, meetings, and card/board games and various sports. There is also a large room known as the theater/movie room, where we set up the projector, and then there's the piano room with, you guessed it, a piano in addition to a couch that faces the front street. Every so often a few of us will go in and play some tunes and relax, that is until one of the units needs the room for a meeting.

As you can see, we've made a home for ourselves. The three teams that make up the SOS Fleet have essentially become one giant unit. Three weeks left here, and the roomies and I all head back to the Point to prepare for break. Now, if you'll excuse me, a game of wiffle ball just started and they need a catcher.

¡Tejónes 6!

2009-07-25T12:43:00.007-04:00

Where did we end up? Mexican food, of course. But seriously, where else would Badger 6 go? Perhaps someday we'll expand our horizons. Until then, it seems that when we all get together, the craving is one in the same for quesadillas, burritos, and team bonding.

Please take a moment to enjoy the glory that is the birthday sandwich that our TL has undoubtedly been thinking about all day.

Trust me, it was far more epic in person. Anyway, catching up as a team was nice. Even though we're all living together with the rest of the SOS fleet, we don't see each other all together as a team. So we got the most out of our time together by filling up on endless tortilla chips and taking photos.

And of course, a birthday celebration wouldn't be complete without a surprise flan from the restaurant. Drew was crowned with a sombrero as the wait staff gathered around, several us got into a series of laughing fits, and the inside jokes made their way out into the open, as our Badger 6 mini-reunion commenced. Cheers to September, when we reunite for our final round together.

SOS Community Meeting

2009-07-25T12:18:00.005-04:00

They happen on Friday of each week. During the project we work with our participants each week Monday through Thursday, and on Friday all of the crew leaders and participants come together at Jefferson School Auditorium for a day that is planned by us, the crew leaders. Each Friday is planned by a different unit. Yesterday happened to be Blue Unit's day, which we centered around the topic of professionalism and work ethic.

It turned out to be a pretty successful day, filled with workshops and presentations on interview tips, writing applications, and resume-building. Each member of the Blue Unit paired up to lead a workshop. I presented on resumes with a fellow blue unit member, Tana.

One of the highlights of the day, at least for us, was the fashion show, in which we showcased the good and bad examples of professional attire. Props to our models for really getting into it...

The day concluded at 4pm, after Badger 6 got together on stage to wish our Team Leader a happy badger birthday, in which we presented Drew with a birthday sandwich. That's right, a sandwich, not a cake, and it was one of the mightiest sandwiches we ever did see. Plans for a Badger 6 outing were in place, and we changed out of our uniform and into the clothes we had brought to work with us. More on that on the next entry...

The Ol' Ball Game

2009-07-25T11:05:00.005-04:00

Go Nats! NCCC was given 26 tickets to the Nationals/Cardinals game Thursday by our sponsor, Serve DC. After work, we joined the rest of the fleet at Nationals Park, which happens to be a few blocks away from our work site. It was scattered thunder storms all evening, but to be honest, it added to the fun. You could tell the NCCC members from the rest of the crowd when it started raining and we remained there as everyone headed for cover. We've worked in the mud in torrential downpours... This was a picnic for us. Take a gander over to the right for all of the pictures from the game.

See below the traditional Nationals run!

Field Trip to the Zoo

2009-07-18T14:12:00.005-04:00

The fourth grade went on a trip the other day, and one of our participants and I went along as chaperones. I remember what it felt like to go on a field trip way back when...

I now know what it feels like to be one of the older folk. In short, it's a responsibility and a half, but like everything else, it's a great time for the kids to get outside and learn more about the animals face-to-face.

If you ever get a chance to visit DC, visit the zoo here. There is a ton to see and the animals are just as entertaining to watch as fourth graders.

Teacher for a Day

2009-07-18T12:35:00.004-04:00

Last Wednesday I taught Kindergarten. When the tutor was out for the day, our site director approached Lily and me before work and asked if one of us wouldn't mind teaching the kids for the day. "Sure, no problem" I said. "What do you need me to teach them?"

At that point, she informed me there was no lesson plan to be taught. Fortunately, I had been observing all of the classes the past couple of weeks and was up-to-date with what the kids were learning.

One of the kids got sick at the lunch table, and so began my day of teaching. The odds of that happening in a class of 6 in the first few minutes I figured were minimal, but it happened, and the first thing I did was laugh. Of course, I cleaned after the little guy looked as me with a confused face.

The rest of the day was filled with the usual: Math, reading, numbers, letters, and the introduction of shapes, of which I taught the triangle and the square. I instituted a game where everyone got to be the teacher for a few moments, showing each other triangles and squares on the chalkboard, and they loved it. The hard part was transitioning to the next lesson of the day because everyone wanted another turn to teach.

Next came clubs, where the kindergarten and first grade classes combined and headed over to the poetry/performance instructors. Currently they're learning a remixed version of "You Are my Sunshine":

The day finished off with independent reading, something I've found Kindergarteners love to do... for two minutes. Bouncing attention spans left me wanting to recite the phrase, "Reading is fundamental", something that had been etched in my brain from my elementary days. But I realized it probably wouldn't make any sense to them, because it never really did for me until today, now that I'm reflecting.

School ended at 6pm and the parents came to pick up the little rascals. "Bye Mr. Jay!" was the collective (I decided against MacFadgen; I can't do that to them), and then my exhaustion kicked in. Another day completed; another day of learning; both student and teacher.

An Epic Tale of Transition

2009-07-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

In pure Amerifashion, we’ve inhabited new housing. Or perhaps "schooling" is the correct term in this case. Yes, we've moved, from Brookland Elementary to the Henry and Annie Hurt Home for the Blind in Georgetown, which was once a school and is now closed for renovations (and now badger inhabitance). Here is our story...

After making ourselves at school at Brookland, a leak had sprung in the pipes. What started as your average leaky faucet drips quickly escalated as water seeped into the ceiling tiles in the main living area (cafeteria). Pieces of the ceiling tiles began to fall and water made its way through to the floor, where we had to fight the aggressive tidal waves that blocked our path to the man-made bridge that connected us from the stairs to the kitchen. Several of us made our way to the nearby floating cafeteria table and used that as a boat to sail turbulently through the wind and rain until we reached dry land, the parking lot. The rest of the fleet made its why back in to rescue our food supplies that would come with us on the voyage ahead.

We managed to save it all, perishable and non, and we loaded it onto our boat along with other items salvaged from the flood. Some of the native inhabitants opted to stay behind and wait for rescue and make sure nobody else was left behind. Before parting ways, we took a group photo to remember our times together with them...

Soon after, we sailed off. We loaded the rest of our belongings and made our way to a new land, a land where no troubled waters would find us, a place where we would start anew, and we'd be prepared if and when the next challenge approached us. Rar Rar Rar!

Rar Rar Rar!

The 4th

2009-07-18T11:13:00.003-04:00

This was my first year celebrating the fourth of July anywhere other than Boston. And it seems I've been missing out all these years. Independence day was incredible this year, and went off with a bang (literally) as we concluded our day by the Reflection Pool near the Lincoln Memorial. The fireworks were incredible, and the added effect of the lights on the reflection pool made it one of the best shows I've ever seen. Turns out there really isn't a bad seat when it comes to 4th of July Fireworks in DC.

Back to School

2009-07-05T13:24:00.005-04:00

A year ago I walked across the stage, accepted my Bachelor's, and in my head said my farewells to school. Little did I know that I'd be going back to school in a year's time, more immersed than ever. I live and sleep at school. When I get up to drive to work every morning, I'm heading to school. When I leave school at the end of the day, I am going back to school. And starting next week, Lili and I will be driving a school bus each day to and from work (school). For those of you in disbelief (and my mother panicking as she reads this), that last one isn't true. But to be honest, nothing would surprise me. This project has really given me a new appreciation for elementary education that continues to grow each day, and it is because it is constantly around me.

The elementary school students started this week. A program consisting of math, reading, service-learning, clubs, recess, snacks, and independent reading fills a routine schedule and satisfies the overall attention span in a way I, for some reason, never experienced when I was younger. Our site director has designed an effective program, and that was proven this week as the kids jumped into their first week.

Here's how it works: All students K - 6th grade have class in a very large room known as the learning center. Grades K through 4 have their own sections of the room, and two connecting rooms house the combined 5th/6th grade, one classroom for boys and the other for girls. Each classroom has 2 tutors who are all college students at nearby universities, and our 10 crew members essentially serve as tutor assistants for their own classrooms (approximately two CMs per class room in addition to the tutors).

It has only been a week, so to see our crew in their element already knowing each of their students' names, helping them one-on-one, is pretty exciting, and I look forward to seeing the impact they will have on these kids by the end of the summer.

HeadsUP DC with Blue Crew 3

2009-06-27T18:00:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I referred to the Point as my place of residence one month ago. Truth be told, it has only been a week, but so much has happened that a month could have gone by.

We started off with our Orientation with the youth participating in the Mayor's Summer of Service program (MSOS), a program designed by the Mayor of DC that is coordinated by the organization known as Serve DC. This initiative is giving hundreds of 14-21 year old residents of DC jobs this summer, and our program, MSOS, is working with 100 of those youth who are all in the 16-17 year old age range. The key difference in our program is that these youth will be doing service in the areas of environment and education, and for many, this will be their first experience in the world of service-learning.

The Orientation ran on Monday, where we met all of the participants and revealed the teams. Lili, my co-crew leader, and I have a crew of 9 participants, and we began work with them on Tuesday at our site.

For the summer, our crew (Blue Crew 3) will working at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School. A program known as HeadsUP DC tutors elementary age students here, and our crew will be some of those tutors. Each day has a well-planned schedule that includes lessons in Math, Reading, Service-learning, Clubs, snack-time, and independent reading time. Our participants learned this week which classroom and children they would be assigned to. The objective is to help keep the kids engaged and help them in any way they can throughout the day.

As for Lily and me? We'll be teacher liaisons, working alongside the site director, helping where help is needed, and most importantly, supervising our participants daily. We've got quite a crew, and a large one at that. Many of these folks have never worked with kids, which is a challenge I foresaw coming into this...

...However, there was one day this week where the crew supervised kids at a nearby Recreation Center, and watching them play with and look after the kids like naturals proved to me that this is going to an amazing experience, not just for them, but for the kids they'll be helping.

I'm already gearing up for the waterworks in 9 weeks...

Farewell to the King of Pop

2009-06-27T17:31:00.002-04:00

News travels fast. All of us were sitting in the cafeteria discussing dinner plans when we received a news update via someone's phone that Michael Jackson passed away.

Just like everyone else, we were surprised. I'm sure we'll hear more as the days go by on what happened... but in any case, this entry is dedicated to him. We honored him on our way to dinner by playing his greatest hits. NCCC bids you farewell, MJ.

DC Housing Elementary

2009-06-21T14:43:00.002-04:00

We're in DC. Housing has been settled -- We're currently staying at an old elementary school. 25 people and we've got the entire place to ourselves. It's been quite a couple of days, adjusting to our new situation, figuring out the schedule, and understanding what would be open to us (there is a Recreation Center across the field).

I never thought I'd have a classroom or staff lounge as my bedroom, but that's the case. We're all adjusting to a very unique way of life and I look forward to expanding on it as time goes by.

As far as our status - We're all fairly tired, and it is the weekend, so we'll be recharging for what it sure to be a challenging, eventful, and very exciting summer that all starts this upcoming week. I'll have more updates on the past couple of days, and of course, the first week... next week.

SHUFFLE!

2009-06-21T14:22:00.002-04:00

Surprise! The three Badger teams heading to DC have been shuffled and we are now on new teams for this project to mix things up a bit. I'm now on the Blue team (out of Red, White, and Blue), made up of 7 members and a new TL. See below! You'll notice that Harper, Doug, and I are still together on the same team, having joined up with members of Badger 1 and Badger 5.

It should be interesting... I don't anticipate too much changing since all of us are heading to DC and living together. But I'm interested to see how it will be with a shuffle round of sorts where our Badger 6 members are on different teams.

DC Summer of Service Training

2009-06-17T12:29:00.002-04:00

So with our last project now fully wrapped up we began our training for Summer of Service. 4 days of team building, workshops on adolescent development, and program basics, including a great presenter named Craig Bowman, who had spoken with us at the beginning of the year as well. Very engaging, and relevant to what we'll be doing during our two months in D.C.

This morning our teams visited various houses in the village where we encountered different scenarios, where staff and TLs acted out potential conflicts as 16-17 year old crew members, and each of us was to manage a situation. It ended up being really beneficial, giving us a dose of what we might expect during SOS.

And now we're off! In about an hour the 26 of us will be driving and moving to DC for a little over two months. More on our living situation and the orientation to come once we're settled, living somewhere, and able to find/connect to wi-fi (crosses fingers).

Here we go!

HonFest 09

2009-06-17T00:16:00.002-04:00

You may have heard of the “beehive”. You may have had it way back when, especially if you lived in or around Baltimore. Well, we’ve found that it makes an annual comeback at HonFest.

About half of the team volunteered for HonFest 2009 this past Saturday. The festival has been happening every year since 1994, and I’m happy to have discovered and enjoyed it 15 years later.

The web site sums it up well: “HonFest is a local tradition. The Bawlmer term of endearment, Hon, short for Honey, embodies the warmth and affection bestowed upon our neighbors and visitors alike by historic working-women of Baltimore. HonFest is an annual celebration in honor of these women.”

What originally started as a small tradition at Café Hon turned into a big event where many a vendors set up along 4 blocks and two stages showcase local bands and performers. There is even a “Glamour Lounge”, where visitors can get their own beehives for the day (See Colleen and Chloe below with Doug).

It was a long day – We worked in various locations, directing vehicles, staffing the volunteer booth, and the HonFest info booth, also known as the “Honformation” booth. I staffed the HB all day from 2 – 10pm, and it was unexpectedly one of the most interesting and enjoyable volunteer opportunities I’ve come to so far. Some big factors included people-watching, taking some great photos, and being stationed right in the middle of the festival, with front row seats to the Elvis impersonator.

Speaking of impersonators, the rest of Badger 6 visited us and our own Doug was stopped for photos several times. Funny thing is… he always dresses that way.

All in all, it was quite a day: great staff, good music, entertaining people, and a photo album to keep it all in memory. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to stop by again next year. Until then, I’ll be working on perfecting my beehive.

(Just kidding)

…

(It’s already perfect)

Later, hon!

Happenin' at the Point

2009-06-15T16:20:00.007-04:00

So last weekend we had over 800 visitors to the Point for a Native American Veterans festival. I'm still not sure of the technical name of it so don't quote me, but it was interesting to have such a crowd on what is typically a quiet area that we have unofficially taken ownership of. There were some great performers who seemed to keep going all day (and night, as the drums drummed throughout the night) and a few of us meandered across the lawn to catch a peek:

Baltimore Museum of Industry

2009-06-15T16:04:00.002-04:00

Great museum - Check out some photos in my album from May 24 - June 6th. I never realized how much originated in Baltimore. Badger 6 made a visit and was able to enjoy some service-learning after work this past week, and it was nice to be able to see the evolution of so many different industries of products, cars, signs, paint, and more. I think what really interested me was the old-school advertising -- big difference from today.

Click the link and click to page 8... photos from the museum begin there: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081789&id=13000637&l=6442db0111

Parks and People Reflection

2009-06-14T22:16:00.002-04:00

I love the skin I’m in. I think I can appreciate trees and plants so much more now that I’ve come to understand what its like to have parasites living off of you. Vegetation doesn’t have it easy, and it takes a good amount of resilience to thrive and continue to grow, as we’ve noticed throughout this project.

Little did I know that these plants, very much like their human neighbors, go through their share of daily hardships and obstacles, like Japanese Honeysuckle and English Ivy, which wrap their hostile loins around tree bark in attempts to keep the poor guys down. Fortunately for them, we as humans can relate, and are more than happy to swoop in and stop those invasive species at the root of the problem, or in the case, the actual root itself.

Racking up quantifiable numbers and pushing toward the mission of achieving 40% tree canopy in Baltimore was very apparent in our work each day, and knowing that saving these trees, planting new ones, maintaining existing ones, and clearing the trails alongside of them, had made this an experience well worth it, and in turn, brought us a lot closer to our photosynthesized friends.

In the end, I think I’ve won out over the ticks and poison ivy that have attempted to take over my outer layer. I’ve become one with nature in this sense, but in all sincerity, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of an environmental project and learn so much more than I did before about the importance of tree canopy in an urban environment. Next time I pass by an Oak, I look forward to the moment we’ll share with one another.

A new green friend.

2009-06-13T11:13:00.003-04:00

Badger 6 has recently gotten a lot closer with nature. After detailed education and advise, somehow a majority of the team has had a run-in with poison-ivy, and it has certainly left its mark. Several, in fact.

Poison Ivy can be identified as a three-leaf plant that can grow close to the ground, and in many cases in tends to take the form of hairy vines around tree trunks. Depending on the stage of growth, the leaves may have a reddish tint and are typically shiny and sometimes notched (and sometimes not).

Visitors at the Point

2009-06-13T10:51:00.003-04:00

We found this beast of a turtle in the village the other day, right in the middle of the street by the river. Looks friendly, eh? Since it has only been our team here at the Point, wildlife seems to have come out more often, most likely because there aren't so many of us taking up space. We've got several families of groundhogs living underneath our houses and in the fields as well. I'll have to grab a picture/video of them at some point.

The two other teams heading to DC with us next week have just arrived back at the Point from their respective projects in Vermont and Georgia. This upcoming week will be full of training for the project to come.

Much more soon...

Trees of Green

2009-06-12T20:59:00.003-04:00

Baltimore has really surprised all of us. We came into this expecting the typical urban environment, which in my mind included overlapping roads, tall buildings, fast-paced stores and shops, heavy pedestrian traffic, and your normal daily traffic in general. What we didn’t expect was to find a city that was rich in green parks, trails, and vegetation that, although limited, was growing quickly and becoming such an essential part of the Baltimore community.

It’s been rewarding knowing that Badger Six has been able to contribute to this mission of growth, and we’ve tallied up some numbers in our work:

•350 plugs planted
•5000 plants potted and weeded
•600 lbs. trash collected
•120 lbs of recycling collected
•6 truck loads of mulch transported
•65 trees planted
•1 rain garden created
•817 trees stripped of English Ivy
•3300lbs. invasive species collected
•1600 trees maintained
•3.5 miles of Jones Falls Trail maintained
•Maintained 9 urban tree plots
•Leveraged 162 volunteers
•18 rain barrels created

Our final day was a few days ago, and I’m happy to say we’ve gotten things done, added a lot more green to Baltimore, and a bit more tan to our image.

Parks and People

2009-05-31T00:09:00.002-04:00

2nd Round officially began almost two weeks ago, and our short project before DC has been in full-swing.

We’re working for an organization known as Parks and People Foundation in Baltimore, MD. The main mission is to create a greener Baltimore by increasing tree canopy, cleaning out invasive species, cleaning streams, and more. Another goal is to increase outreach and education to residents of the Baltimore area about the need to do this.

Fun Fact: Healthy urban environments should be covered by about 40% tree canopy. Currently, Baltimore is at about 20%.

So we’ve got lots of work to do. There’ s a goal of planting 1000 trees in Baltimore. The last NCCC team started this first round, and Badger 6 will be pushing to finish that goal.

So far, it’s been a pretty physical project: We’ve planted trees, cleaned trails, placed mulch, created rain barrels, and removed invasive species (No rabid animals, just weeds). We’ve all enjoyed being able to work outside everyday for this project, so we’ve had the added pleasure of being able to maintain the Ameri-tan we all absorbed in the Gulf.

…Except all you’d see is Badger 6 covered head to toe in dirt, mud, pine needles, mulch, or leaves respective to the day. Long story short, we’ve been working hard, getting dirty, planting trees, and making Baltimore greener. Short story shorter, SAVES THE WORLD.

One Likes to Move-it Move-it

2009-05-28T18:47:00.001-04:00

So part of transition entailed taking down and removing many of the old bed frames from the former hospital here on campus. The plan is to have this building clear so that we can move into it for the second half of the year. That’s right, I’ll be moving into my fourth residence here at the Point. Perhaps I’ll remain there the rest of the year… perhaps not. In any case, I’ve now kept all of my items in my red bag rather than unpacking. Never know where I’ll be tomorrow.

Anyway, the plan: The Corps should be moving into those dorms. More on that as we know more!

Transition

2009-05-28T18:29:00.002-04:00

Yeah, it’s been awhile. And here I am, catching up. It’s been busy.

I last talked about our de-brief. We continued the rest of transition (which also happened to be National AmeriCorps Week) keeping busy with projects and events. Pictures are along the right, per usual.

Our week consisted of a Playground Build in Baltimore, working at Public Service Recognition Week even tin D.C., attending an AmeriCorps Career fair, working at the first ever NCCC Open House, painting the interior of one of the village houses, cleaning out what was once the VA hospital here, and a solid chunk of cardio PT, amongst other things. It was tiring but productive, and it was nice to see all of the other teams and work with them throughout the week before deployment. Check out the albums along the side to see all of the pictures.

I’ll be switching to a new entry for the next topic. Until then, DK and Eileen would like to wish you much happiness.

Final Reflection

2009-05-17T13:42:00.012-04:00

So we finished our de-brief and officially completed Round 1. This week has been packed since then with starting our brief for the next project and participating in events and various service projects, but before that, we created a little video reflection on our way back from our presentation to informally wrap up our thoughts.

Back at the Point - ATL duties

2009-05-13T12:10:00.003-04:00

So its been a week; as usual, time has flown by. We arrived after two days of driving to Perry Point, to our old houses which we all greeted with enthusiasm. The experience of sharing a room with only one other person again has been an adjustment, and somehow, almost lonely, but its all relative, and its certainly been nice to be back in my old bed.

Of course, things are a bit different than they were when we were last here. The grass is greener and taller, the trees have bloomed, and the bugs are as plentiful as ever. So in actuality, I suppose I do have several more roommates than I expected. Oh well, little buggers...

This week itself has been just as busy, if not more, than every week before. Chalk-full of training, events, PT, De-breifings and briefs, and volunteer hours.

Along the lines of briefs, I've also been designated Assistant Team Leader for this upcoming Round, so a few things have been added to the agenda, including coordinating a presentation to the staff on what we'll be doing next for our project. In addition to everything else, it's kept me busy but productive, and I'm looking forward to rehearsing with the team and presenting tomorrow.

I'll add more about two recent one-day projects soon. As always, check out the brand-spankin' new photo albums section along the right... I'll update those as often as I can.

PHOTOS UP!

2009-05-06T01:20:00.003-04:00

I finally figured it out! Now you can see all of the photos I've taken this year; each album has its own link. I'll continue to add new albums as I upload them. Enjoy!

SBP Wrap-up

2009-05-05T23:27:00.005-04:00

Lots of wrap-up and reflection this past week and weekend. After a productive week of doing finishing work on my house, the weekend came where we put together some final reports, debriefs, and also said our goodbyes to the St Bernard Project staff.

Throughout our time here we've heard about many experiences through the storm, first-hand accounts. I was also able to see some pictures which I included in an earlier entry. However, we were really able to see what it was like when our team watched a home video of the flood itself that is on YouTube.

I'm including it here. What you'll see in the video is very much like how it was described by many of the residents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQkksAVBezc

Of course, we also had to move out of Camp Hope this morning. Packing and cleaning took a good while, and we had some sad moments saying brief goodbyes to other teams who are remaining at the camp. However, before then, this weekend we had a fantastic game of soccer against our fellow badger team, a rematch game of sorts after our first game of ultimate frisbee about a month ago against them. In true team spirit, we all decided to wear the same shirts, which happened to be a Global Youth Service Day T that we received during our Day of Service. We didn't win, but the fact still remains that we take awesome pictures:

Next Project: Summer of Service: WASHINGTON DC!

2009-05-03T10:36:00.003-04:00

I just realized I haven't put this up here yet. Our team is one of three teams heading to DC for a program called Summer of Service. We'll be living in D.C. for two months and serving as Crew Leaders to 14-17 year olds who will be participating in various service projects in the DC area throughout the summer. I'm super pumped and I can't wait to get going, and to be in DC.

This next two rounds will be a bit different than normal. Since this is a specific summer program , we will have a mini-project in Baltimore for about three weeks with an environmental project called Parks and People. For this project we will be commuting from our Perry Point campus. After that, we'll be moving to DC for the second half of the round, where we'll stay until the end of the first half of third round. So the DC project takes up two rounds, it just changes things around a bit. At the end of third round we will have another shorter project to finish off, which will bring us to Fourth Round, still to be decided.

As sad as we are to be leaving this project, the team is excited to be heading back to Perry Point and living in the houses again. Not to mention we'll be greeted with some much more pleasant weather than it was two months ago when we left.

More soon...

Site Supervisor: A Day in the Life

2009-05-02T09:19:00.003-04:00

Our final day of work was Thursday. We do have a final debriefing coming up on Monday with the staff, but in regards to the house, we wrapped everything up there. We've created a Day in the Life as part of a reflection, and I figured I'd include here as well to give you an idea of what the average day was like for a site supervisor. Enjoy!

Site Supervisor: A Day in the Life

What is for breakfast?

Should I pack a lunch or an MRE?

Where are we working?

How is this done?

How many volunteers will I have?

How can I teach them when I just learned last week?

What's a chop saw?

These are just a few of the many questions in the heads of Badger 6 site supervisors, and this is before we've even arrived at work. The typical day of a site supervisor on the St. Bernard Project tends to get fairly busy, and just one day is an experience that can be so positively overwhelming and productive that breeds a new story that is shared with the rest of the team on our van ride home.

The role of a site supervisor, to start out with, is to train, supervise, and work with a group of volunteers at a specific house that is being rebuilt. Each house is at various stages of the rebuilding process, and we have been (and are throughout) trained on each stage of construction. Because we are working with volunteers of different ages and skill levels, we begin each day with many questions to think about, especially considering anything can happen and everybody works differently.

Objective Number 1: Unlock the house, organize our tools, plug in the electricity, and break out the plan.

We've got about 15-30 minutes before volunteers arrive, and a plan needs to come to fruition.

Objective Number 2: Introductions and Orientation

Typically, we have very little to no information about the people now standing in front of us. It's time to break out the duct-tape name-tags and break some serious ice. These people are probably excited to get going, but we've got a mission: to immerse them into our world and the homeowner's story and get a grasp of what will be happening and what will be accomplished this week and why. Trust us, by the end of the week these folks will be happy when they can remember everyone's name and install dry-wall while feeling comfortable enough around each other to sing their guilty pleasures from the radio out loud and proud.

Objective Number 3: Train

So we just learned this yesterday. Now we've got to show our volunteers how to stagger a butt seam and feather mud over tape. What does that mean, you ask? Good question, you'll have to ask our volunteers, because now they know, and somehow we've managed to teach them.

Objective Number 4: Supervise

So now the volunteers have gotten the hang of it, right? Wrong. Our job isn't done. There is always that one person who wasn't paying attention, and couple of others who have already done this before and will start doing things their own way. It's time to keep an eye out and work alongside until everyone is on the same page. The process in which we rebuild is important, and as a site supervisor, we've got to emphasize that while also recognizing volunteer strengths and weaknesses. Everyone is an asset, and we can only work efficiently if we are working as a team.

Objective Number 5: Safety

This house may have a homeowner, but for the moment, this our house. We've got to keep things organized and clean, make it a safe environment for volunteers, inform them of safety precautions and gear, understand volunteer allergies and restrictions, and make sure they know how to use the tools and take plenty of water breaks.

Objective Number 6: CAP

We wouldn't be Badgers if we didn't love talking about how incredible we are. Typically, we'll talk about about this during our introductions and orientation, but it's always fun to talk about NCCC. In most cases, volunteers will ask many questions anyway, so its best we stay on our "A" game. Pun intended.

Objective Number 7: Keep Everyone Busy and Having Fun

There's typically a lot to do, but a big part of our job is to make sure people aren't bored or just standing around. "Getting Things Done" applies not just for us but also for our amazing volunteers. Crank up the radio, get messy, and work together, and you've got the essentials for a fantastic work-day. In short, your volunteers will be requesting a break so you can reteach huckabucks so they can go home and show their family and friends what they learned from their site supervisors.

-- Follow all these simple objectives, and you've completed the average workday for a St. Bernard Project Site Supervisor. 4:00pm will roll around, and its time to begin clean up. We wrap up with our volunteers 4:30pm, give our congratulations on a job well-done, and take a breather as we do some final clean-up and lock-up until 5PM, when we wait for our fearless Team Leader to arrive in the van lovingly referred to as the DuckBoat. Our van ride back consists of stories of our day, our volunteers, our frustrations, and accomplishments. It's been quite a day, and as we look at each other in astonishment over what we've completed, we realize what we're now capable of. We can totally do this! So, did anyone find out about that chop saw thingy?

Last Day at St. Bernard Project

2009-04-30T00:29:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is our last day of work with the St. Bernard Project. This week has been a little different than normal as I haven't had volunteers. On Monday, I actually worked by myself for the first time, and it was a quite a change from the typical day, where I would usually concentrate on being available for questions. I was able to install an entire floor in one room in just a few hours, which was a great accomplishment and way to start out the week. Tuesday through Thursday this week I am working with 4 other site supervisors as we all complete base boards and doors at the finishing stage.

Not much more to say on that, but I'm sure I will after tomorrow when I've spent my last day at the Seiler House.

Jazz Fest 09

2009-04-29T23:59:00.003-04:00

Jazz Fest was quite an event this past weekend. Five of us drove down, received our volunteer passes for parking, and enjoyed some of the festival before we began our volunteer shift at 3pm. Our main objective was to work at the T-shirt booth and retrieve many a jazz fest collector's shirts as they were requested from fest-goers. It was interesting to notice that some folks who stopped by bought one of each kind, spending up to $200 in all. Personally, I'm all about the food, but to each their own.

To give you an idea of how it works, there are several stages set up with different bands at each throughout the day. Tents, crafts, food stands, store tents and more are all around throughout the festival, and you could easily spend the entire day enjoying everything there. Many folks would set up blankets or lawn chairs and stake out their area for the day. Others roamed around from stage to stage depending on what band was playing, and others seemed to be there simply for the t-shirts. In any case, it's a big event for everyone who visits.

Anyway, after a bit, four of us were pulled to help in the record tent/store where we made ourselves available to answer questions about where to find artists in the shelves. The CD tent sells the music of all of the artists that are scheduled to perform at Jazz Fest this year. Off the top of my head, some of the bands that are performing are Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. During our shift in the CD tent, we were able to take a quick break to run over to one of the main stages to watch the Dave Matthews Band perform. It was packed, of course, so we weren't very close, but you could hear the music loud and clear.

We also saw actor Taye Diggs stroll by our T-shirt tent. One of the jazz fest volunteer staff made sure to run over and get a closer look to identify our suspicions, and we were right. The magnitude and popularity of Jazz Fest was obvious on Sunday, and it was great to be able to see it for the first time. We volunteer again on Saturday for the final weekend of the festival, and this time it will be in the morning, so we're looking forward to enjoying some more of the festival, listening to more bands, and also going out in the city that evening. If there's more to say, you know I'll write it here. :)

French Quarter Percussion

2009-04-27T19:40:00.010-04:00

I've decided I'm going to learn how to play the steel drums when I have the opportunity. I'd love to be able to play in a steel drum band at some point in my life. At the French Quarter Festival a couple of weeks ago we stopped by a record store, and were able to enjoy a moment of it, so its time to share so you can enjoy a bit too.

Day of Service - HandsOn New Orleans

2009-04-25T22:23:00.007-04:00

Today was our Day of Service, where teams all over work on various projects where they're located. We worked with HandsOn New Orleans once again, and I know the team agrees that this is probably one of our favorite 1-day projects so far. CityYear, another service organization through AmeriCorps were the coordinators of the event, and we were able to help staff some of the set-up for a group known as, if I remember correctly, CityYear Heroes. Kids get together with there group leaders and get involved with community service all around the New Orleans area. I'll include a video of them doing a cheer below.

We all worked in the courtyard known as the Columbus St. Children's Center in New Orleans, which was located at Pray the Word, Say the Word Ministries, where we painted murals, benches, and worked on soiling for plants. To give you some background, the church courtyard and indoor area has become an activity/safe area for kids and young teens who are essentially living on their own. In most cases, they no longer have parents due to a number of factors, and they are able to come by, enjoy some food, and have an area to hang out, play, and interact. A lovely, and perhaps the most joyful woman I've ever met, is the Reverend there and runs the ministry, finds what she can for the kids, and cooks each day to say thanks to those who come by to contribute.

Our objective for the day was to paint murals on the walls and sheds. I'll include some pictures below of what our team came up with. Some of our team members also painted benches, and our own Seven created a masterpiece that blew all of us away, including the Reverend. I am including her painting as well here, because nobody should miss out on this, our resident artist. It's certainly something, especially when you compare it to my tree and ABC:

We had a fantastic day. I'm now catching up on everything I can while I have tonight free. Sneak peak for the next (and final!) week: We'll be working on finishing for the house. I have volunteers only Monday this week, and then there will be 5 site supervisors including myself for the rest of the week as we won't have any volunteers. A change of pace to be working solely with staff, but it is typical at this stage in the building process as volunteers aren't necessarily needed for finishing. More on that to come!

A Day Like Today

2009-04-23T00:59:00.003-04:00

It's a day that's been happening a lot. I'm not sure where the energy is coming from, but it's keeping us all going. I figured I'd write a bit about the Project and the day in the life, and all that jazz, since I haven't done that in a while. Today started out as a typical Wednesday - PT at 5:30am, my daily self-made egg sandwich from the cafeteria, and then off to work at 7:45. We've got a fun group from New York/Connecticut this week, and we've gotten a lot done. I've gotten to the point where I may have to slow them all down before we run out of things to do. :)

Today it hit me just how much has been done and what has been accomplished with the house. I walked into my work site 7 weeks ago to a house that was held up only by framing and studs. We've gone through installing insulation, putting up drywall, all stages of mudding and sanding, and this week texturized, primed, and painted, all of which we'll most definitely finish tomorrow. It reached the stage today where rooms have taken form. There are actual walls, no more holes or seams, and you would never guess what stages each room has gone through if you didn't know the stages of construction. In fact, I almost forgot everything I learned in that moment.

But in all seriousness, it felt great to know that somehow I managed to train and lead volunteers to build all of this - a feat that seemed unrealistic to me at the start of this thing. Go me!

Anyway, in even more sincerity, it is really the volunteers who have gotten the house this far. I've been lucky enough to have fantastic volunteers each week who care so much about what they're doing and just want to get to work. It's motivating and gives even more meaning to my role this round.

Back to the timeline -- We wrapped up at 4:30 with the volunteers, closed up shop and headed back to Camp Hope. Today, all 6 NCCC teams (from various campuses) staying at Camp Hope helped with taking down the second floor rooms. The assistant camp director organized this into a competition, where each team was given a room to break down. The objective was to take out the ceiling tiles, insulation, mattresses, and bed frames and to move them to storage in respective locations. First team to finish would be treated to custard from Willy D's, a shop in St. Bernard that sells a kind of ice cream I've never had anywhere else.

It was a good time. Badger 6 spent two hours removing the ceiling, swimming in insulation, carrying and transferring lots of 2X4's and bed frames, and attempting to take apart wooden bunks, and sweating out all 8 glasses of water in our systems. Many splinters later, we still have much to do (to be continued next Wednesday), and we're crossing our fingers for some more tools.

As we were all moving items and sweating, a few of the young volunteers who were staying at the camp took it upon themselves to grab a couple of trays and cups of water from the cafeteria, which they held out for us in the hallways as we huffed and puffed by. Very sweet of them, and extremely helpful, and another reason I love being around volunteers, and anyone who is giving up their time to help others. Things that may seem small but really aren't. That sort of thing. It's grand.

And after all of that, sleep is the next thing on the agenda. More to come, and pictures to be uploaded, as soon as I have a chance!

NOTE of Excitement: JAZZ FEST is this weekend. Dave Matthews is playing, Bon Jovi is playing, many others, AND we're volunteering there, and it will be free, and I'm beyond excited. I love New Orleans.

French Quarter Festivalities

2009-04-23T00:22:00.002-04:00

I'm in the midst of two straight weeks of work and service projects, with our first day off this Friday. It's been productive and we've had a blast throughout, but its fairly evident that a break will be welcome, as all of our team . Fortunately, it's all been worth it. Work, as always, is something new every week and something new to learn, and we had a great Independent Service Project (ISP) over the weekend that I volunteered our team for.

This past week was a bit atypical as we worked on Saturday for the Project. Immediately after work on Saturday, the team drove into the city for the French Quarter Festival, where we volunteered. The FQF happens annually, and its a free festival with music, food, artwork, etc... that is staffed almost completely by volunteers. We participated by walking though various sections of the French Quarter and asking folks to take surveys about their time at the festival.

The following day was another day of volunteering for the team - same idea, all of those surveys. The hours were a bit longer and we were able to see the festival during the day which was nice.

We held our final CAP event as well -- Harper and I set up a table with information right in the Chartre Street Mall. We spoke with a ton of people about NCCC, the weather was beautiful, and we were able to enjoy the music and people-watch.

All in all, a great time at the festival, but we were exhausted, and it wasn't long after we got back to Camp Hope that we crashed for the night to gear up for a new week of volunteers. I've realized I love the French Quarter more and more every time I go. Can't wait for Jazz fest! :)

Spring Break and Rhythmic Roots

2009-04-18T09:27:00.003-04:00

Fantastic Spring break came to a close last Sunday. Typically, it would have been slated Friday through Monday. We changed to coincide with the Project's schedule so that we would all be available for new volunteers on Monday. So our first day off began Thursday.

Overall -- great weekend of enjoying New Orleans and relaxing. We stayed at the Olivier House Hotel on Talhouse St., right off of Bourbon St. Great courtyard, a pool, and air conditioning, and right in the middle of everything in the French Quarter!

Our Sunday concluded with a CAP event at the Rhythmic Roots Community Music and Ability Fair. Another team member and I sat and spread the word about NCCC while enjoying some incredible live music from a local jazz musician. -- Not too big of a turnout considering it was Easter... but all in all it was a great time.

More to come, gotta run...

Badgah 6

2009-04-13T08:27:00.002-04:00

A great picture of the team in our old room -- DK and Heather weren't available.

Life of Luxury

2009-04-05T16:42:00.005-04:00

We got new digs. I think that's how it goes. Yesterday after work we were informed that we'd be moving to a new room... our own room!

Our team immediately started jumping up and down with excitement. Typically, finding out you're moving into a room and sleeping among 10 other people on bunk beds doesn't stir up the type of joy you'd expect, but I think we've found a new appreciation and standard of living that only Camp Hope can provide. No longer do we have small cot-sized beds but we are now sleeping on full size (okay, twin) mattresses that can contain all of our limbs. The fear of falling several feet just from rolling over no longer exists, and we've each got our own bunk, so we all can (and will) be able to sleep on the bottom bunk.

Check out our original room vs. the new. It may not seem like much of a difference, but know that this is the life of luxury for Badger 6.

Before & After

2009-04-03T08:21:00.006-04:00

It's always hard for me to imagine what it looked like here when the levees broke. You hear first-hand accounts and stories but you never really get a good picture until you see it yourself.

Today we had a visit from a neighbor who previously owned the house we're working on. He brought over several pictures of the house right after the storm. You'll see below what our house looked like (the one on the far right). I tried to replicate the angle of the picture as best I could today by taking the same picture almost 4 years later. (Notice the trees are gone in the newest photo)

The homeowner who owned the pictures now lives in the house in the middle of the photo. When the floods came, he had to make his way to the roof and wait there until help came. In order to get up there, he had to ax his way up through the roof. This was what many of the families had to do apparently, and according to our neighbor, fortunately it is recommended that families keep axes in their attics in case of an emergency.

More to come..

Something Good

2009-03-20T18:19:00.001-04:00

We've been here for nearly two weeks now. Week 1 was training, and this week was my first week as a site supervisor. I am exhausted and covered in dry wall dust and I can't wait to take a shower. That's the gist of it, so here goes:

We had a great orientation and training last week. Meeting the St. Bernard Staff (many of whom are NCCC alumni) was helpful in getting to know the project. After some questions and activities we received our positions, respectively, as site supervisors, specialists, warehouse assistants, and starters (also known as mold remediators).

It turns out, at least for this project, our team will be separated for our separate jobs. I will be a site supervisor for the next month and a half. I'm extremely excited but also fairly anxious about teaching others how to install insulation, dry-wall, mudding, flooring, etc.

This week was my first week as a supervisor. There were two of us supervising 15 volunteers from a university in Maryland. After just a week of training, you can imagine how stressful it must have been, and it was. But the week has come to an end and I think it is safe to say that my teammate and I, along with our volunteers have accomplished so much this week.

The week started out quickly, as the volunteers arrived via bus to our site as we were still preparing for their arrival. We started our orientation with them, introduced ourselves as their site supervisors for the week, and went over expectations and goals. Fortunately (depending on your perspective), for these folks, Eileen and I are fluent in energizers and ice breaker games, so we jumped into the week on an adrenalized note. We taught them insulation first, and they were off. By the end of Day 2, most of the house insulation was complete, and we moved onto dry-wall. This is where things got a bit tricky, and frustrations in having to re-do some of the ceiling led to a stressful day for all. Luckily, we moved right on the next day and got back into the groove of things.

I think the two of us were lucky to have such a great group for our first week of supervising. There is nothing better than working with motivated students who are able to maintain such a positive attitude. We found ourselves having to make our volunteers break for lunch because they wanted to keep working. :)

Throughout the week, the homeowner stopped by to see how his house was. One of the best, if not the best, moments of the week happened today, when he stopped by with King Cake and shared some thanks. Having had his home destroyed by the flooding was of course devastating to his family, and he shared gratitude for being able to help his family now. It really made this whole week an incredible one for our volunteers and us, and seeing smiles and tears really proved to me that something happened this week, something good that will continue to happen week after week, volunteer after volunteer, while I'm here.

CNN with Anderson Cooper

2009-03-20T18:12:00.003-04:00

So this past week we had a guest in St. Bernard, Anderson Cooper, who was reporting our project live on CNN. So of course, we made our way over to the house where the clip was being filmed. We grabbed our signage and spread the NCCC glory and joined in on the celebration of 200 houses having been completed by the St. Bernard Project. Congratulations SBP!

Check out the story at cnn.com!

Tejas

2009-03-20T16:24:00.008-04:00

This is an entry from last weekend - I'm including it now that I have internet-access. Sweet, sweet, internet access:

This weekend was a bit of a change in plans. There are several teams in the Gulf Coast, and four teams, including ours, were needed to retrieve some support vehicles for NCCC headquarters. About 2-4 Corps members from each of the four teams and their TL's traveled together after meeting here at Camp Hope. We left midday Friday, stayed in Lake Charles, LA for the night, left in the morning to Austin Texas, where we arrived around early afternoon, and finally left this morning back to base camp in St. Bernard.

Friday night in Lake Charles we ended up staying at a girl scout camp, where a team from Wolf Unit was staying for their project. It was the first chilly night we'd had all week so we bundled up in our sleeping bags and cot mattresses in the main living area as soon as we got there. A projector was set up in the middle of the room and a sheet was hung as a screen. I fell asleep while watching Garden State... a movie I've yet to see fully without falling asleep. Someday...

Rise and shine, or lack thereof, and we were off in the cold rain for another day of driving. When we arrived at Austin at a Red Roof Inn we got our rooms, bought a couple of wi-fi internet cards and savored in the first clear signal of wireless internet in almost two weeks. Unfortunately, my inbox is still backed up, so I'll have to figure out how to get to it this upcoming week. Anyway, meanwhile, a few others left to retrieve the nearby support vehicles.

That night we traveled to downtown Austin for a bit, grabbed some food, searched for a recommended specialty cupcake place (only to find it closed), and finally to the store for a package of cupcakes, the next best thing. Had a solid night of sleep and we were off on our way back to St. Bernard via Lake Charles.

And now begins my first week working as a site supervisor to a college alternative spring break students. From what I hear, I will be supervising a Hillel group, and teaching them how to put up dry wall and mudding. Good thing I've done this for years... and by that I couldn't be more kidding. I just learned how to do this less than 7 days ago. This should be interesting. :-)

Camp Hope

2009-03-14T17:02:00.003-04:00

More on Camp Hope. The camp was once a Middle School, so you can imagine what it generally would look like. There are two floors, the first floor consisting of the front office, two sets of bathrooms, a lounge, and all of the rooms where volunteers are staying (which were once classrooms). On the second floor are some more rooms, bathrooms, as well as the showers. There are also lockers which we are free to use if we've got locks. Outside of the main building across the wide walkway/courtyard-esk area is the dining hall which is its own building, and next to that is the laundry room.

Our team is living and sleeping in one of the rooms on the first floor. We're staying with one other Perry Point team, another team from our unit: Badger 5. They are here for the next two months working for Habitat for Humanity. Together we have appropriately named ourselves Badger 11. I suggested Badger 5.5 as an average to represent us more accurately, but the more and more I see it the more is sounds like an operating system or software.

Anyway, we are staying in the room with a couple of other NCCC teams from the Fall Sacramento campus, who have been here for a month already. They're currently on their second round and this their third project.

Overall, I'd say there are about 40 people in this room, sleeping in bunk cots. Fortunately I sleep fairly easily. The hardest part for me has been getting off an on my top bunk night and morning, as I have to climb on four different cots on either side of me to get up there, especially when my neighbors are sleeping.

This has all just proven to me how important it is to pack lightly. We've all brought our red bag, a sleeping bag, and a smaller bag for the two months, and even that almost seems like too much now that I'm here.

Breakfast and dinner is served at the camp in shifts, and the volunteers are the ones who set-up, clean-up, and help serve. All or most of the food is donated. For lunch, since we're on site, we pack it up in the morning.

So that's Camp Hope. But that's not where I am right now. More on that later.

Camp Hope and the St. Bernard Project

2009-03-13T08:23:00.004-04:00

http://www.stbernardproject.org

Visit this web site for all of the information on the St. Bernard Project. This is what we are a part of the for the next two months.

I'm here in St. Bernard's Parish, which is 15 miles outside of New Orleans. We're finishing up week 1.

The scoop on where the Badgers are staying: We're staying here at Camp Hope for the next two months. It is the largest volunteer base camp in the country, with up to 3000 people staying here at a time, and it is run by Habitat for Humanity. Before I go, just to clarify, we are NOT working for Habitat for Humanity. We are working for a specific project known as the St. Bernard Project, a project started in 2006 in response to Katrina. The goal of the project is to build and sell homes to homeowners of the area who have had their homes destroyed at no interest.

To give you an idea of the scope of damage we're responding to:

- 27000 homes were affected. All in all, that is 100% of the homes in St. Bernard that were damaged.
- 68,000 residents lived here before the storms.
- The current population is about 25,000 and growing.

The goal of the project is to keep this number growing and bring more and more home each week. Our job as Corps members will be to serve as site supervisors, starters, warehouse workers, and, of course, working on the construction. I've gotten my position which I'll tell more about later. This week was filled with training. Next week we really get going.

...Heading to Austin, Texas this weekend and leaving midday today, and we're off to our worksite in two minutes, so I'll have to update this more later. I apologize for the lack of details, but I'll make up for it.

Travel to New Orleans - Day 2

2009-03-08T09:11:00.002-04:00

Got up for continental breakfast and hit the road for the final stretch. It was a bit of a longer day -- I think our whole team was feeling the fatigue of car riding, so it was much quieter. I took the opportunity to get going on our team theme song. Yes, as of mid-day Badger 6 had our own lyrics to "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. I may or may not upload the video... But either, I've ensured everyone that we'll be memorizing this by the end of the next month and hopefully sooner, if not the end of the round. Everyone's pretty excited about it. We've even had some talks about choreography.

Anyway, our drive concluded at Camp Hope in St. Bernard. We are here with one other team: Badger 5, who is working on a project for Habitat for Humanity. We've come to call ourselves Badger 11 accordingly while both of our teams stay here at Camp Hope for the next two months

More on the camp shortly. But alas, we are here. Don't stop us now!

Travel to New Orleans - Day 1

2009-03-06T23:08:00.004-05:00

I'm at a Days Inn in Knoxville, Tennessee. We traveled about 9 hours today and we're here for the night.

Lots of house cleaning, final packing and loading into the van, and goodbyes happened at the Point this morning, and we were off around 8:30am. The 10 of us successfully made it through the day with a packed van, an abundance of playlists, snacks and naps, and arrived here around 7ish. I've eaten more junk today than I probably have in the past month, and that's how it goes for me when I travel. Hmmm, oh well.

Anyway, the Badger 6 team certainly enjoyed ourselves today. We're off in the morning for the final leg of the drive!

Induction

2009-03-06T22:49:00.004-05:00

Well, we're officially off on our journey for the year. Yesterday, all 136 of us were inducted at the ceremony held nearby in Perryville at Minker Hall. Very similar to a graduation ceremony, we lined up in order of team and unit, proceeded into the hall and took our seats. We had some very special guests -- three CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) alumni. FYI - The CCC was founded in the 30's by Roosevelt as a peace-time kind of army, working on the conservation of the land in the country. Since it has evolved into NCCC today, it was nice to be able to have some of the original members of the CCC there at the ceremony.

It was nice to dress in our polos and black khakis. I know that I've personally been waiting a while to wear them, looking forward to being snazzy and professional (as you can see on the men of Badger 6 above). These are the uniforms we primarily save for bigger occasions, ceremonies, recruitment events, and of course, graduation at the end of the year. As a Corps Ambassador Representative (CAP - my team specialty role), I'll be making use of it a lot for events. I'll more about that when our first event comes along.

All in all, we had some motivating speeches and a few good Badger cheers to show off to the crowd, had some cake and punch, and made our way back to the village. Now time to fulfill our commitment to getting things done as we're on our way to our first projects. Bye bye Perry Point -- I'll see you in two months.

We DID start the fire.

2009-02-28T17:01:00.006-05:00

Don't worry, I got it covered. Spot fire? No problem. Got some smoldering? I'll put it out. Worried about running or flare-ups? I'll start a control line.

No, I'm not doing a public service announcement. Today I am back at the point after an incredible week of firefighter training and certification. Somehow I've been deemed safe and qualified enough to control forest fires, and I'll be receiving my Red Card (Wildland Firefighter Type 2 certification: FFT2 for short).

After a long month of Firefighters' PT and a pack test, we deployed out to Sheppardstown, West Virginia to train and lodge at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facilities last week. Great classes, hands-on experience in the fields, lodging, delicious (and filling) food, and a whole lot of POPC (ask an FFT2 about that one). Not to mention hours of volleyball throughout the week. There was a great gym that we made good use of, and I may consider taking up this new hobby on a regular basis... And once the weather gets better, I hear there's a net here at the point.

And there I go again. Back to the point. This past week was incredible. Not only was I able to learn about fire behavior, terminology, and more and more and more, but a good chunk of our classes involved going out for and stopping prescribed fires, using the hand tools, creating control lines, and on our final days, going out on a squad for a simulated wildland fire.

This week only gives more proof to the fact that the best way to learn is by doing. I feel 10 times more confident if the situation were to arise now that I've already done it. I'm all fired up for the approaching fire season!

We're going to New Orleans!

2009-02-21T15:18:00.002-05:00

So everything was hush hush until last night, when our TL surprised us with our first project of the year. We went out for pizza at a nearby restaurant. Underneath the pie was a card with an audio message: Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that your first project is going to be in New Orleans!

We were excited to find out our first round would be in the Gulf Coast. We'll be working on the St. Bernard Project, doing construction, for about 1-2 months. From what I hear, we'll be nearby the French Quarter and working with a woman who was named "Hero of the Year" on CNN this past year. We'll be stationed at Camp Hope.

Badger 6 is beyond excited, as we're one of 9 teams heading down there first round. Black and Decker University training will be helpful beginning in two weeks. March 5th! We're off!

Corps Training Institute

2009-02-21T14:36:00.006-05:00

Currently it is Saturday. We had a team physical training session this morning and I huffed and puffed through it thanks to my congested cold. Currently the entire house is sick, as well as a good portion of the village, but we're trucking on through. My housemates and I have been going through oranges like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, I wanted to blog about CTI, since it's been the major part of this entire month. CTI stands for Corps Training Institute, and it is a month-long program that includes various types of training (CPR/First Aid/Disaster Services/Diversity/Van-driver's Ed/active citizenship/tool training/ and more). Below find us learning about using tools at Black and Decker University. Yes, you heard me right.

And of course, there's me, using the buzz saw, or circle saw, as I like to call it.

Anyway, this was just one day of training. There's a lot more to CTI than just that. A big part of this entire month is PT. Physical training, 5 times a week since I'll be firefighting (and more since I've been doing it on Saturday and Sunday as well). We take up the entire gym where it all begins at 5:45am. It's an intense work-out, and it's paid off.

Of course, not all of it is physical training. We've been taking courses as well on campus. In the image below we're in the theater located across from the gym.It all concludes in two weeks. I'm excited for this upcoming week. The firefighters will be leaving tomorrow for West Virginia where we will be staying for a week for training. Busy week coming up! More to come!

Sometimes it's all about perspective.

2009-02-18T21:40:00.003-05:00

I did a search for this clip on YouTube after seeing it last week during one of our sessions. Click or copy and paste the link below to your browser. You've gotta watch the entire thing to fully appreciate it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

That's all I have for now. Watch it, feel inspired, do great things, because you can.

A Badger Badger Badger Badger...

2009-02-17T20:34:00.004-05:00

So the untold scoop: Earlier last week everything changed. Originally, I was in the Raven Unit. Below is a picture of us during our scavenger hunt. Aren't we cute?

On Monday, when we received our permanent teams, I found out I'd be becoming a firefighter! I didn't realize until later that this would have a huge effect on a lot of things from that point forward. I'd realized they had announced every Raven team. I was the only one left. The last unit was Badger... They called my name for Badger 6.

At this point, I couldn't figure out why I was in badger, but I went along and met with my team anyway. There are 8 Corps members on the team, and one team leader. At the end of our meeting, the team leader (TL) mentioned to me: By the way, Jay. You're moving.

What?

Turns out I was moving to a new house, and leaving the old one. Since I became a fire fighter, they needed to make some changes so that there would be two fire fighters on each team. Apparently, Raven had enough of them, and they needed a fire fighter in the badger unit, is how it was interpreted.

It was a tough evening, having to pack up, move out and set up with a set of roommates from an entirely different unit, after getting to know so many of the Ravens the previous week. Especially after getting to know the guys from my old house.

Anyway, that was an adjustment, and a fair dose of what to expect in terms of remaining flexible this year. Currently, it's a week later, and it's all good. The new house-mates are awesome, I've become a true Badger, and the Ravens and Wolves have got nothing on us! Not to mention, one of my house-mates is vegan -- which makes shopping a tad bit easier. So all in all, it all worked out for the best.

"Who's in the house? BADGERS in the house! We ready, we steady, you know we lead the way... ooooooh." You've got to be here to fully appreciate that out loud.

NCCC faces

2009-02-15T16:55:00.006-05:00

Meeting new people every day, sometimes more than once. Being in such close proximity to 136 other Corps members has made meeting people a major part of every day the first week. I took a picture of a chunk of us on our way to our houses after in-processing. I told everyone this was going to be a candid picture, but everyone's far too photogenic.

After a couple of days, everyone's already made good use of the computer lab. With only four computers with working internet-access, its slim picking. Fortunately, if you brought a laptop, you're all set... The lab's got Wi-Fi.

On our way to our van-pick up, my roommates and I are preparing for a day of training.

f
PODS! So as I mentioned before, we were placed on temporary teams for the week, known as Pods. The first day entailed a short training, some in-processing, and an city-wide scavenger hunt where the 8 of us on my pod traveled with our team leader to grab some pictures and get to know the city. Here are a few of us below. The other three pod mates are next to me and in the passenger seat. Note Keith giving me the bunny ears that I'm just noticing now for the first time.Here we are in the Perryville library, where we did our research for the scavenger hunt. there is Nate, our Pod leader. We spent about 30 minutes here using the library wi-fi to use google-maps to map out our locations and plan our course.

It was a great scavenger hunt. Somehow we got in the habit of sprinting in-line every time we arrived at a check-point. Maybe I'll upload that video here if I can figure it out.

When I look outside my window...

2009-02-15T16:21:00.003-05:00

Living at the Point has been an experience the past 11 days. Living in the village has allowed me to get some great pictures of the surroundings, and I took all of these right where we live. My favorite is the first one here, which is a picture of the Susquehanna River. This was a little after 5pm last week, and we see this every day as long as it's a clear day. You can see a bit of the computer lab to the right.
Below is a picture of the field in between third and second streets. The village is set up 1st street, second st. etc.. up until around 6th street. The Corps members live between 1st and 5th streets. A good amount of tossing the frisbee happens here, and another game called "Everybody's It" tag. You can imagine how much space on the field we utilize for that.

This picture is from last week after the small snowfall. My house is on this street, the end of this street looking out to the river.
A picture from inside our window... Looked festive, so I took a picture.
I'm looking forward to the warmer Spring and Summer temperatures when the trees are finally green! Expect those in April or May. :)

Wildland Firefighting

2009-02-10T19:19:00.003-05:00

It's been exactly one week since I arrived. More has happened than I can really convey accurately through this blog but I'll give you the abbeviated time limit. Unfortunately, my power cord is busted on my laptop, and I am limited to this computer lab computer that are in high demand.

First off, I applied and tested to become certified as a wildland firefighter. There were 34 spots, and in order to begin training and make it to the training team, one had to pass the pack test.

The pack test: involves wearing a 45 lb. pack vest and doing 3 miles of powerwalking in under 45 minutes. This was by far one of the hardest workouts I've had to date, and it was one of the most physically challenging tests I've ever attempted. FORTUNATELY, I passed, making a time of 41:39. Needless to say, I've found aide in the railings and walls in making it up and downstairs and into the vans, and moving in general the past couple of days since the workout. I'm feeling it big time.

The good news: The AmeriCorps firefighters were announced yesterday... and I made the cut! So my shoe size was given and I was given a schedule of two more days a week of PT, which stands for Physical Training. Before this, PT was going to be three days a week (MWF). I will now be training with the FireFighters-to-be Tuesdays and Thursdays additionally. 5 days a week of intense PT in the morning. My alarm is set to 4:45am on weekdays. Tomorrow is day 3 -- my exhaustion has sort of turned into numbness. My guess is that by the end of the week I'll be in the routine, and probably won't be able to get enough. I'm looking forward to being in pretty good shape by the end of month when I deploy on spike.

It has been hilarious, as I'm not the only one. Everywhere you'll hear "oooh" and "ouch" and "eek" from Corps members. There's nothing better than FEELING THE BURN together.

There's been a significant change of events as well, in regards to my living situation and team -- they weren't kidding about being flexible once again. But my time in the computer lab has come to an end. So until next time...

Arrival, In-processing, Housemates, Acclimation

2009-02-06T16:53:00.008-05:00

Alright, so as I expected, I won't be able to update daily. My guess is I'll be doing this once a week or so.

So I'll start with the arrival. Tuesday morning I was up and ready to go. Once at the airport, I met up with three other Corps members also scheduled for the same flight. Our nerves and excitement were evident in the fact that we already started taking pictures.We caught our flight (hour and 1/2), and arrived in Baltimore Washington Airport where we met up with some AmeriCorps Team leaders and a few other folks who were also arriving around that time. Two van-loads took about 15 of us to the campus.

The campus, Perry Point, is located within Perryville, Maryland. It is essentially its own community on a peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay. Needless to say, its a beautiful view.

The above is a view from the field in between housing units. About 5 minutes from here is the VA Medical Care Center, where "in-processing" occurred. Since our group arrived relatively late we didn't go through it until the following day, which is when that picture was taken.

There are about 130 of us, known as Corps members, and we make up what is called Class XV (for its 15th year). We live in houses in the village and have generally 6-8 housemates. I havce 7 other roommates, a great group of guys, all very different, and all from different states in the U.S.: Missouri, Kansas, Rhode Island, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, and there may be one other that I can't remember right now. We each share a room with one other on the second floor, and on the first floor we've got a living room, kitchen, dining area, and the basement underneath where our laundry is.

So in-processing went well, took a while, but was worth it. Filled out mounds of paperwork regarding the Red Cross, banking, and more, and soon received my uniform! I've yet to take a picture of it all yet, but on my next entry I'll be sure to include it. It includes the gray t-shirts, long t-shirts, khaki pants, khaki shorts, fleece vest, sweatshirt, hat, and polo. There are about 2 or 3 of each of these that we keep in a red pack. We also picked out a sleeping bag, which will be used on our "spike" projects (projects not in the area where we'll stay for weeks at a time, in most cases the Gulf Coast).

The following day we received our welcome, learned some of the ins-and-outs of what's to come, the big of it being CTI, which stands for Corps Training Institute. For the next month, starting Monday, we will be training 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, which will consist of PT (physical training), team development, CPR/Red Cross Training, and classes. Yes, I will once again be a student. This should be interesting..

In addition to that, there are some additional trainings I'll be taking part in, which include the test and training to become a Wildland Firefighter (which I have tomorrow: an endurance test where I'll be doing 3 miles in under 45 minutes with a 45 pound pack on). More on that to come..

On Monday, we will all be finding out our Teams. These are teams of 8 people who will be traveling, working, and training, and living together on spikes for the entirety of the year. In the meantime, we've been in Pods, which has been our temporary team for the first week. So far we've been traveling together in our van and with our team leader for our scavenger hunt (which was a blast!). And today we traveled as a team to Delaware, where we we had our physicals. There we had our drug tests, hearing tests, etc, etc... to make sure we're fit and healthy for the upcoming year. No need to go into the details of that, except that was an all morning activity, and we were all glad to be finished at the end. :-)

As far as food, each of us is given $5 a day for food as a budget. The way it works: Each house pools their money, two Corps members van out to the grocery store, and we shop for the week. Doesn't sound like much, but if you shop smart and buy in bulk, you end up with plenty. Tonight's taco soup, and funnily enough, my housemate just called me to tell me dinner is just about ready! (I'm currently across the street at another member's house (they are located near the computer lab, which has Wi-Fi, and they receive a signal. (Computer lab doesn't open until 7pm each night.)

In short, life is good. I'll update more later.

To the Point!

2009-02-03T00:56:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is my flight. So naturally, I can't sleep, and I'm blogging instead. I was proud of myself this week... I managed to pack everything and place everything else in storage about 5 days ago. I've come to realize I really do enjoy living out of a suitcase. It's nice knowing where everything you need is; the minimalist in me enjoys having everything compact. Speaking of compact, you should see my suitcase. I managed to fit all of my clothing, bedding, sneakers, and more (Thank you Space-Saver bags! And a special thanks to my relentless squishing to just barely get that zipper closed.) I actually weighed my bag on a bathroom scale. Is that strange? You can imagine the visual.

Anyway, off I go to the Point, as they call it down in Perry Point, MD. More to come at some point soon. Maybe tomorrow? I'm not sure. All I know is that we'll be going through something called "in-processing", which is mostly a lot of paperwork and apparently takes about 3 days. Byebye for now -- hopefully next entry I'll have some pictures!

Better get going...

2009-01-16T22:49:00.000-05:00

I'm on a 17-day countdown today. Just got back from vacation, a well-needed event-filled break and nice change of pace from how things are here in Boston. For the first time, luck was on my side with not only typical SoCal weather, but a warm front that brought the temperature up into the 80's. Not typically my cuppa tea, but I'll take it considering the frreezing temps that Boston endured while I was away.

Anyway, while there, I received my flight itnerary! I'm leaving from Logan Airport on February 3rd at 12:30pm. I received strict instructions on how to proceed, who to look for, and where to find transportation (They will have a driver (or more?) to pick me up from the airport in Baltimore, MD who will then drive us to the Perry Point campus. I say 'us' because others will be joining me. From the facebook group I've figured out that, at this point, there are three others taking the same flight from Logan. I figure that'll be a nice ice-breaker, having a chance to get to know a few AmerCorp-ers before arriving. The question right now is to what our seat assignments are. None of us received specific assignments... Either we find out when we arrive at registration or they randomly assign us. It would be nice to sit nearby one another on the flight. I guess we'll see... I'm thinking of being in touch with the crowd about perhaps meeting up at the airport at specific time for check-in.

I've also received my driving record today. Weeeheee! I'm fully prepared for take-off now, at least in terms of documentation. Packing, storage, shipping, mental preparation.. you know, essentially everything else, is set to happen sooner or later, emphasis on the later... 17 days... yeeesh. Better get going.

In the meantime...

2008-12-15T15:44:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how things have changed since even four years ago. My guess is that throughout the application, decision, and preparation processes in the past, members had to sit tight and really just wait it out, without a sneak preview. Now, I'm able to sign in to Facebook (best idea anyone ever had), and get in touch with almost the entire membership for my campus in Perry Point. The number of members in the group grows every week, and it's nearly impossible to not become obsessive over what is to come... Learning about my potential team mates, participating in discussion boards (ranging from topics like "Introductions", to "Favorite Books", and "Nicknames", and even "Fitness" and "Relationships"), seeing video clips and images from previous years, and even being able to map our individual locations on a group map. Hopefully I can figure out how to take a screenshot and put it here in this entry. From what I know now, just from reading the latest e-mail we received, there are about 102 in the program, and ultimately there will be 160 at the campus. Thank you, Facebook, for feeding into my ever-growing addiction to AmeriCorps updates. This is going to be a long month and a half, but well worth the wait!

T-53

2008-12-11T10:27:00.000-05:00

Hey, there! Thanks for reading. So this is my first entry, the first of many, I expect. To give you the rundown, I've still got a good 53 days of anticipation ahead of me, but my stoked and impatient mind couldn't help but get a head-start on what's to come. Work wraps up in less than two weeks, the holidays begin (or continue, really, nowadays), and I'll begin my struggle against gluttony that I inevitably fail at each year. However, I'm hopeful that this year is different, with more motivation, and perhaps I can keep up my health regimen without succumbing. I've done well so far this month, especially amidst the potlucks and surplus of donuts at work, so maybe that's giving me the practice of will power that I'll need as the holiday cheer arrives in full force, normally putting a smile on my face and a sour expression in my belly.

Anyway, I've gone on a tangent per usual. I apologize if I confuse anybody from here on out. I'm working on this tendency, so hopefully throughout NCCC I'll be able to stay on topic. As I was mentioning before, the holidays/New Years I'm sure will fly by, at which point January will bring with it a set of goals...

A few of them:

1. Catch up with friends and family - After graduating last May, I jumped right into work full-time. This wasn't a problem, especially for me, because I'd go crazy otherwise. But I'm looking forward to making some time to catch up with folks I haven't seen in awhile as well as celebrating the fact I've accomplished getting a degree. Yippee! (It still hasn't hit me) (I also like to rhyme) I'm also glad I'll be able to see Nathan, my little brother from Big Brothers Big Sisters Mass Bay, a bit more before I leave in Feb.

2. Learn - It's sad that I've gone through five years of Spanish classes and graduated with a minor in American Sign Language, and I've barely practiced either of them. January will present me with no excuses not to, so hopefully I can be able to have fluent conversation without asking someone to repeat the question 10 times.

3. Volunteer - There are several opportunities I've been trying to get more involved with, but my work/commute hours have either left me busy or tired, and in some cases cranky. My motivation is gone when I get like that, and I end up sitting and just getting stuck in my head, which is just plain unhealthy and unnecessary, and it never helps.

4. Get and STAY in shape - I've gotten to a point in life where if I don't eat well AND exercise, I pay for it. Somehow, even just for years ago, I didn't have to worry about this. I don't what it was, because I stopped growing in 8th grade. Maybe it was college. In any case, I need to stay in the habit, and it's got to be a part of my life on a consistent basis, regardless of how stressed and busy I get. Watch, you'll see, I'll be ripped. Keep an eye out for me, WWF.

There are more, I'm sure, and they'll pop into mind as the days go by. But I think this suffices as an entry for now. There probably won't be much more until just before I leave in February. I want to keep this as relevant as I can without going into too much tangent or fluff, or anything personal. Although, I suppose that is the point of a blog, to show it from a personal perspective. But we'll see how in depth I'm ready to go. Wow. I feel like I'm getting stuck in my mind. Am I? I don't know. Wait, who said that?