19 days in.

I hope you're ready for a long read, because this post is long overdue. The wireless on campus is so overloaded that posting is an ordeal I would rather avoid. There have been so many Ameriventures in the last week though! I'm going to do my best to fill you in. 

First of all, I haven’t said much about my team yet.  I’m part of Blue 1, which is 10 members and one TL strong.  Here’s a group picture:

From right to left, the back row is Kevin, Anne Louise, Jake, Alysssa, me, and Dylan, and the pile in front is Lindsey, Aketheia, Shaunacy, and Lois! Our Team Leader Joey wasn’t there at the time, but I’m sure you’ll see pictures of him later.

This picture was taken right after our team completed our first project together. We had to build a box to put in Mayhem, our 15 pass van. (Yes, we named her Mayhem.) This picture is also a great example of our uniforms. I actually don’t mind them at all. It’s kind of nice not having to think about what to wear every day. It also makes us look pretty official. We have to wear Amerigear anytime we are on duty- even during training and traveling.

Speaking of travelling, we recently returned from a trip to the California Redwoods, where we did some service at a Boys and Girls Club camp called Camp Mendocino.  Apparently the Pacific Region campus and Camp Mendocino have a long-standing relationship. We get to cycle each of the units through to do some teambuilding and training, and they get a workforce willing to help them with whatever they need. The camp has 2,000 acres of land, which is an insane amount to keep maintained. They rely on a lot of volunteer work throughout the year to keep things running smoothly. We were asked to clear out the drainage ditches on the side of the road, so that when it rains the water runs through the ditches instead of washing out the road. Our team cleared out close to a mile of the trench.

We also got to spend about half a day on their climbing wall and high and low rope courses! I have done low ropes a few times, and spent a lot of time on climbing walls, but I’ve never had the opportunity to do high ropes. It was one of the most exhilarating and terrifying experiences of my life. We got harnessed and helmeted, and then the instructors gave us lobster claws, which are huge carabineers that hook on to cables running from tree to tree so that you can go on the elements without danger of falling 15 feet to the ground. After the Giant’s Ladder to get up into the course, the first element that I did was called the Catwalk. It was just a cable running from the main platform to another tree, with two ropes on either side to hold on to. The cable wobbled from side to side as I walked, and when I made it to the other side it took me about five minutes to stop shaking. After that, I was fine! I went across one that was a bunch of swings, and another with ropes hanging down so that as you walked on the cable you had to grab one and then the next like Tarzan. But the best part of the high ropes course was the zip line. It went through the trees and then the view opened up over the river and you could see so far. I would have done it again if I could!

We also decided team positions last week! Basically, every person on the team has a responsibility of some sort throughout the year.  The Environmental Liaison makes sure we are sustainable, the Corps Ambassador Program Representatives (CAPpers) recruit new members in our project communities, the Media Rep writes press releases and documents our work, the Project Outreach Liaison (POL’s) looks for Independent Service Project opportunities, the Peer Helpers act as counselors and mediate conflict within the team, the Physical Training coordinator plans our workouts, the Vehicle, Safety and Tools (VST) Coordinator keeps track of tools and keeps the van in good shape, the Service Learning Initiator (STI) coordinate service learning opportunities on spike, and the Life After AmeriCorps Rep helps everyone helps team members with career development. 

I ended up as…VST. Super exciting, right? I get to check Mayhem’s tire pressure and make sure her oil gets changed! Actually, I don't mind that I got it. I’ll probably learn a lot about cars. And as it turns out, I’m also secondary for Media Rep, which is what I was hoping for. Dylan and I are sharing it. He wants to be a sports writer and I want to be an editor or literary agent, so it was really important to both of us.

We also got specialty roles, and we started the training for that today. The three boys and I are doing chainsaw training. Yikes. We sat through almost eight hours of training today, just going over safety, the parts of a chainsaw, and maintenance. My notebook is covered in notes and diagrams of the proper way to cut down a tree. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be letting the boys take care of any chain sawing that needs doing, but the competitive part of me definitely wants to show them up and be a better sawyer than them.  I’m going out on the field on Thursday so we’ll see how that goes.

Thankfully, we got a chance to get out of the classroom recently- last Saturday was Make a Difference Day! The entire campus went out into the Sacramento community and spent the day doing some hard work. My team went to the Sparrow Community Garden with Blue 2, where we cleared out some empty plots, spread mulch around the outside of the garden, and did some intense weed pulling by the nearby trail. Our project supervisors were a hilarious and incredibly kind old couple who lived in the nearby house. On our lunch break they gave several of us leadership advice, which consisted of them acting like NCCC members who were slacking off while we tried to make them go back to work.

We ended up finishing at the Sparrow Community Garden earlier than expected, so we were asked to help Silver 7 at another project spike, where just about everything was named McKinley. They were at the McKinley Library on McKinley Boulevard, near McKinley park. Crazy, right? They needed some help pulling out some stubborn plants, so Blue 1 got it done!

After Make a Difference Day ended we went back to the dorms, where most people crashed and went to bed. But seven of us decided to do something a little crazy. We went to San Francisco! It was all really last minute. We got our tickets the day before, and didn’t figure out where we were going to stay until about three hours before we got on the bus. I’m not even going to talk about the process of getting to San Fran, because it would take way too long. Suffice it to say that crossing the bay bridge and seeing the city skyline finally spread out in front of us with the sun setting behind it was the most beautiful sight I could have imagined. We had to split up our group of seven into two different hostels. I and four others stayed in the Green Tortoise Hostel. What we didn't realize when we planned the trip is that Halloween is on Wednesday, making last weekend…(drumroll, please)...Halloweekend. And the Green Tortoise just happened to be on the street with all of the clubs. Walking to the hostel was like walking through a zoo, or maybe a circus. Flashing neon signs, an adult movie shop, girls wobbling drunkenly on high heels in their too-tight dresses, men in costumes only they understood, and bouncers with bored eyes waving people through. Its surroundings may have been pretty sketch, but the hostel itself was wonderful. The five of us shared a room with a double bunk bed. Hunter claimed the floor, Ryan and Connor snuggled in the top bunk, and Anne Louise and I took the bottom. We woke up the next morning at 8:00 (sleeping in!), had a slow, lazy breakfast, and met Alyssa and Eric to start our San Fran adventuring. We wandered through Chinatown and Golden Gate Park, went to an observation tower that showed San Fran laid out all around us, ate lunch at a tiny local Thai place with incredible curry, walked partway across the Golden Gate Bridge, and had gelato and sorbet at a place on the waterfront. Then it was back to the greyhound station to catch our ride home. It was a cazy whirlwind weekend, but I had the time of my life.

And finally... everyone has been finding out their first projects. We know ours is in Oregon, but we don't know where yet! Hopefully Joey will tell us in the next couple of days. I'll fill you in as soon as I know! 

Miles and Mashed Potatoes

The days here are strangely difficult to keep track of. I've been here just seven days, but it already feels like weeks. Our days are stuffed to the brim with training and activities and minimal sleep, so they all run together.
We did the first baseline fitness test on Saturday. I'm still sore. It consisted of some warm up stretching, two minutes each of sit-ups and pushups ( I did 24 and 17) the 1.5 mile run, and a stretch test. The sit-ups and pushups could have been better, but with how many of both I've had to do in the past few days, I'm sure I'll get there.
The thing I really wanted to focus on, though, was the run! When I first found out about it, the idea of running that much scared me to death. It was the thing that made me most worried about this whole experience. But with even the small amount of running that I did at home, I felt like I was moderately prepared for the run. Not only was my time a 17:08 (which would mean about an 11:05 minute mile), I ran every step of the way. That's right. Not a single walking break.
When I started, I was about in the middle of the pack chatting with Ryan. But as soon as the time started, I could tell I wouldn't last the whole way at that pace, so I fell behind. A little while in I ended up running next to a girl going about the same pace, and we stuck together for the rest of the run. It was so good to have her there! Every time that I thought about walking, she would happen to say something like "Wow, look how far we are!" Or "We're setting such a good pace!" and then I would get a new burst of motivation. When it was over I felt so good! I exceeded the expectations I had for myself by a long shot.

The first week of food was catered by an outside company, but the teams are now taking charge of their own meals. My team, Blue 1, teamed up with Blue 2 to make dinner on alternating days. Within each team, people rotate the cooking responsibility. That means that usually two or three people take charge of making dinner for 22 people. I ended up volunteering to make the very first dinner with my teammate Kevin. We decided to make fajitas! Our whole team went to the store the night before to grab food, so Kevin and I wandered around the store with a cart and picked out everything we needed.
We started cooking at 5:30, cutting up our our ten bell peppers, three onions, and two huge packages of chicken. Kevin and I worked really well together as a team, which bodes well for the next ten months. We worked a solid two hours chopping and seasoning and stirring and problem-solving. It was wonderful. Not to mention that those fajitas turned out FANTASTIC, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. Jake walked up to me halfway through dinner and said "I actually like these peppers! My mom can never get me to eat peppers but these are really good!" Success.
I also helped out two members of my team by making mashed potatoes last night. We used a whole bag of potatoes, and I'm amazed I didn't get blisters from peeling them. I dumped chunks of the potatoes in water, let them boil for a bit, then mashed them and added milk and butter and salt. They were probably the best mashed potatoes I have ever made.
There must be something about cooking for a large group, or maybe just for other people in general, that makes it taste so good. It is incredibly satisfying to put something on the table that you know people are going to enjoy. I'm looking forward to future cooking experiences here!

AmeriCorps Duffle Bag Decorating

I realized as I went to bed last night that I dropped the ball on you guys. I promised I would let you know what I ended up doing with my duffle bag, but I never did! 

It took me about a week to figure out what I wanted to do. The instructions said that our name had to be written down the side and on the bottom of the bag. Past that, we could do anything as long as it was tasteful. I wanted it to be well made, and I wanted it to reflect who I am in some way. In the end I decided to sew patches on and around the pocket, and sew my name down the side. So I got all my supplies together:

And started sewing! I was really glad for that thimble by the end. The fabric is so tough to sew through! This is what the pocket area ended up looking like:

And my name down the side:

Here I am, working diligently to get it done! 

Tidbits from Day One

While I was working on my previous post I could overhear two guys were talking to each other close by. The combination of their age, the way they were sitting with an empty seat between them, and how they were interacting like strangers with something in common just screamed AmeriCorps. I said hello to them and less than ten minutes later two more members arrive. In the end I believe we had seven AmeriCorps members on my plane out of Sea-Tac.

On the plane, I was sitting in front of a mother and her two sons. They were playing with Play-Dough when I sat down. I frequently felt tiny feet digging into the back of my chair, but the following interaction made it all worth it:
The mother: "Is that an apple?" (Silence. He must have nodded.) "Uh huh, it is? Do you know how to spell apple?"
He recites the letters slowly but with conviction; "A...P...E...L...L...Y!"
After a slight hesitation the mother says, "...that's pretty close!"

I got off the plane first and dashed to the bathroom, thereby loosing the rest of the group. I felt bad, but it was kind of urgent. When I finally got to the Baggage Claim there were two staff members waiting at the bottom of the escalator. I ended up on the first van shuttle out of the airport, with the peppy Gold 1 team leader driving.

When we got to the campus we got name tags, paperwork, ID cards, electronic cards to let us in buildings, and lunch. I walked out of the main building with two other members, and we sat down at a table and invited anyone who walked by to join us. At one point there were nine of us squished around the tiny square table. I was really impressed by how open and friendly everyone was. I had just met these people, but we were already interacting like old friends, though most of the conversation revolved around where people were from.

After lunch we had nothing to do until the 5:00 meeting, so a bunch of us walked over to the Exchange, which is a store kind of like Target except tax-free for military people. We get in too, even though we aren't exactly military. We wandered around, chatted and joked, and picked up the things we didn't pack.

I spent the next couple of hours hanging out in the dorm with three guys who are also on Blue team with me. There are about 280 AmeriCorps members, who are divided into four groups with an identifying color: Blue, Green, Gold, and Silver. Those groups are then divided into about seven teams of 10, and each team has a team leader. I'm in Blue 1, and my team leader is Joey.

When we finally had our meeting I was surprised by how many people were there. I guess I just underestimated what 280 members plus 40 staff looks like. The meeting wasn't that eventful, but after that we had dinner and finally met our teams all at once. I'm a little nervous about my team. I don't really know how I feel about any of them yet. We are still missing two latecomers as well, so hopefully they show up tomorrow morning!

After that it was back to the dorm to listen to more music with Connor, Hunter, and Ryan, and a few other people who popped in and out. Ryan and I had some bonding time over making tea, too, so that was nice. We have plans for future tea parties. They're going to rock.

I'm already loving it here so much. I've met so many incredible people in just the last twelve hours! I don't want to forget any of you at home though (as if I could!) so if you want to send me anything (hint, hint, wink, wink), here is my address in Sacramento. Any letters you send to this address will be forwarded to wherever I am at the time.

McKinley Theobald, Class 19, Blue 1
AmeriCorps NCCC
3427 Laurel St
McClellan, CA 95652

Parting Thoughts

So here I am in  Sea-Tac. the Airport has free wifi so I'm sitting at gate D6, drafting my last post before I get on that plane to Sacramento.
I've always loved airports. They're crossroads. So many people come to airports knowing that touchdown will find them not only in a new city but in a new phase of their life. That's what I'm facing now. I know I could turn around, miss my flight, go back to college winter quarter, and keep living the life I already have. But this is something that I've wanted for years and it's finally starting. I couldn't bear to turn back now.
So I guess I'll wrap this up, there are other AmeriCorps people here that I should talk to. I love you, I'll miss you. Here goes.