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