Home!

I've been back home for the last few days, and it's been great to kick back and relax a bit while preparing for the big road trip. Yesterday we went out on a boat to watch the whales that have been passing through the Monterey Bay over the last week or two. We drove down to the Fisherman's Wharf and loaded up onto the boat around 1:30. The waters were pretty rough, and between the wind and splashing from the high waves I was a little cold and wet. On a brighter note, I was not one of the 10-15 people who became ill during the trip and vomited in and/or around the boat.On an even brighter note, once we got out a ways into the bay there were lots of whales to see. At first we saw groups of 3-4 humpback whales that would blast their blowholes, swim about for a bit, and then dive down after flipping their tails up into the air. From then on we waited no longer than 5 minutes without seeing a whale or two swimming along near the boat. At one point we were watching a group of whales about 100 yards away when two whales came up right next to the boat, no more than 20 feet away from us, a sprayed us with their blowholes. It was a really cool experience, and a great way to spend an afternoon with the family.

When I'm not chasing whales around, I've been preparing for the upcoming road trip with Sarah and Justin. Our lodging is coming together for the first week or so, I've got the tents/sleeping bags/cooler set out, and I'm almost done getting a box together to send to Sacramento for NCCC Class XVII. SO far things are going well and coming together! I'm super excited about this trip, and I can't wait to see even more of the country while hanging with Justin, visiting Green 2 friends, and spending lots of time with Sarah before her last year of college and my last year of AmeriCorps. I'll probably finally be cast into the real world after AmeriCorps, with all of the job-seeking and relocating that that involves. This may be one of the last times that we can spend an extended period of time together, and I look forward to taking full advantage of it. Stay tuned - plenty more to follow!

AmeriCorps is over!?!?

Ya, so my corps member year is over. That's weird to put into writing. I don't think that how much the people that I've lived and worked with this year mean to me and how much I'm going to miss them. Graduation was yesterday, and right afterward people began to load into shuttles to go to the airport and head home. It's strange to think that I won't see these people again for a long time, and that we'll have to work to stay in touch when we had no choice but to see and talk to each other every day for so long. Despite some of the challenges that I've had living with my team, I love everyone of them and seeing them go wasn't easy. When you've shared so many good times, challenges, hours in the van, and hours on the work site with them it's hard to say goodbye.

For now, I'm going to focus on the upcoming road trip that I'm taking with Sarah and Justin. I'll be seeing many of my AmeriCorps friends along the way, as well as visiting some amazing places like the Grand Canyon, New Orleans, Nashville, DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, the Badlands and Yellowstone. It's going to be a great trip with some great people all along the way.

In other news, I'm extremely excited about Team Leader Training which starts on September 1st. There is a great group of people coming back next year and I'm sure that the new folks will be excited and ready to learn and adapt to AmeriLife. A few of the things that I'll be enjoying during the interim between NCCC years: driving after midnight, only having to agree with 2 people on where to eat dinner, not tucking in my shirt and getting to choose whether or not I want to wear steel toe boots and long pants.

End of the Year Transition

Here we are, back in Sacramento for the end of the year! It's crazy being back here with everyone from the corps on campus and the realization that this year is almost over. We've been doing the normal end of project wrap-ups, equipment return and socializing over the last couple of days, but at this point everyone has their sights set on graduation. Yesterday we had our last day of service removing weeds at North Highlands high schools and middle schools, then had a pool party at Rio Linda High School to celebrate the end of our service. A few of my teammates and I went over to Dave and Kip's last night for dinner, beers and swimming, which was beyond awesome. It was great to get away from the AmeriBubble for a bit, eat some great food, hang out with Dave and Kip, and just relax.

This morning we had our "HardCorps Run" - a 5k run/3k walk that raised funds for the AmeriParty that we'll be having tonight. The theme is Mardi Gras, so we'll see how that goes. Other than that, over the next few days we'll be cleaning up, having closing reflection and debriefs, then moving out and celebrating graduation on Wednesday. It's definitely bittersweet to have this year come to an end. There are a lot of people who I'm going to miss dearly, and knowing that I'll be coming back here without many of them is strange. On the other hand, there is a great group of people coming back as TLs next year, and I'm excited to take a more active role in making NCCC a great experience for corps members, as well as seeing more of the US and working on new projects. 4 more days!

Last Week in Mendocino

The last week has been a little slow around camp. Aside from the usual coming and going of campers, playing basketball during breaks and eating the good (but quickly getting old) camp food, there isn’t a lot going on. We’ve been put in charge of running the mountain biking programming during the mornings and sometimes during the afternoons, as well as helping the kitchen to prepare the meals. There have been several challenges with the biking program e.g. kids crashing and disobeying us, not being briefed on what to do when injuries result from these crashes, and having to constantly fix the bikes. Working in the kitchen actually ends up being one of the better jobs, since we’ve done most of the work around the camp that needs to be done. If you’re not working with the bikes or in the kitchen then you’re either cleaning up a trail, helping out with some activity, or walking around trying to figure out what’s going on. I’ve also been trying to get someone to teach me how to ride a horse, but the window for that to happen is starting to close and I don’t know if it’s going to happen before we leave. Boo.

On a brighter note, I’m planning a road trip with Sarah and it looks like we’ll be leaving some time around August 5^th, going out to Philadelphia via Arizona, New Orleans, Nashville and DC, then coming back via Chicago, Minneapolis, Sheridan and Yellowstone. The details are still sketchy but we’re both committed to doing it and getting back in time for me to head back to AmeriCorps for another term as a Team Leader and Sarah to get back to Santa Barbara for school. I’m really excited about getting out and seeing some more of the US, visiting some of my teammates at their houses and spending a good chunk of time with Sarah before her last year of college and this next year of AmeriCorps. I feel blessed to be in a position to be able to do this and to be at this point in my life with a little bit of security, a little bit of money, and lots of support. 

Reflection

One of my teammates reminded us this morning that we only have 18 days of AmeriCorps left. Given the intense experience of the last 9 months, with the 24-hour nature of the program and the deep relationships that I’ve formed through work and play with the people on my team, I can’t believe that it’s going to be coming to an end. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll be ready for a little break. There have been many great moments and some amazing projects, but also many challenges. Along those lines, I’ve been thinking a lot about next year. What the heck am I doing signing on for another year of this? It’s hard to imagine that next year around this time I will have been driving around a govie van, living with 10 other people, negotiating every team decision and working 45-50 hours a week for 22 months. Then again, I don’t think that I could have imagined how I’d feel right now had I tried a year ago. In fact, I was reading some journal entries that I wrote in August of last year. It was very informative to see the problems that occupied my mind, the insights that I had about myself, and how I’ve changed since then. It turns out that I know myself a little better than I thought I did. So, have no fear – I’m totally onboard for next year and ready to rock it (after a short interlude to travel/relax). I really have enjoyed the opportunity to serve full-time, the traveling that I’ve been able to do, and the causes that I’ve been able to learn about. I’ve heard echoes and whispers throughout NCCC that many Pacific Region teams will be traveling to the Gulf Coast next year to help clean up from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I anticipate a challenging and educational experience, and one that hopefully will, aside from exposing me to a new segment of American culture, help me to find something that I would be interested in working on long-term (read: career option).

I’m definitely feeling the impending separation from my teammates and am interested to see how I adjust. It really is difficult to explain how it is to live, work, cook, eat, clean, drive, run, sweat, bleed and commiserate with the same close group of people everyday for 10 months. Even if we get on each other’s nerves from time to time (and honestly, how could that not happen?), they’re like my little family at the moment. It will be very strange not to wake up to yogurt and granola with Erik, not sitting next to Justin while he takes a smoke break, not sticking my tongue out at Bam, not talking with Anna for an hour before going to bed, not saying “what’s up, man?” to Dustin, and not sharing knowing glances with Abby. Next year will have new things that will be weird at first and eventually come to be natural, but these are some of the things that I will look back on and smile about in those moments next year when my team isn’t exactly stacking up to Green 2.

Next year holds some exciting opportunities to meet new people, see new places and do new things. I’ll take advantage of as much as I can next year on my journeys. Should be fun!

First Week in Mendocino

We made it to Mendocino! After our two days of driving through Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Northern California, we arrived at camp and settled into our cabins. We’re in the exact same cabin, and I’m in the same bunk, that I was in during CTI. On Sunday we went into Fort Bragg to get internet, hang out and see a little bit of the town. It was a nice, relaxing day that ended with a walk down to the Glass Beach to watch the waves and tidal pools. One of the guys that was looking around in the tidal pools found four abalone, 2 of which were enormous. That night when we arrived back at camp there was a disco for the kids and a showing of Shrek 4 on a projector that was set up on the baseball field.

Monday morning we started work by doing… fuel reduction! Our first task was to sweep the roofs and rake the ground around every building to remove redwood needles, moss and other plant material. The camp had a fire inspection on Wednesday, so we went around the entire camp with broom and rakes while the campers went about their days. Tuesday we continued the fuel reduction, finishing up the rest of the cabins and heading up the hill to some of the camp managers’ homes. Later in the evening we went over to the staff talent show and we entertained by the funny(ish) and very strange “Jose” who runs the nature programming, as well as skits by the counselors from the various tribes into which the campers are divided. We were also invited up during the “Chicky Dance” and got to dance in front of all of the campers. We’re basically low-level celebrities around here.

Wednesday we split up into groups in order to finish a few tasks. Dustin and I got on a weed whacker and removed grass from the around the maintenance area as well as a home before running out of line and failing to improvise with line that was much too narrow. After that we went to join the group that was working to assemble a new set of basketball hoops. These things weigh a ton and have to be placed in holes that are 21”x21”x48” in clay which is full of roots and topped with rocks. Yeah! We used an auger mounted on a backhoe to dig the initial holes, but they are circular and only 13” wide. Boo.

One of the best parts so far about Camp Mendocino is the food situation. We’ve had some great meals, including chicken fajitas, pork chops, nachos, pizza, pancakes, potatoes au gratin, and all manner of salad and sides to go with it. Oh, and we don’t have to plan, cook or clean (legit!). All we do is show up at 8, 12 and 5 and get our trays.. Another great thing has been being around so many people, especially the kids at the camp. We arrived during the last days of the first session, which was with Operation Purple, an organization that takes children of active duty military personnel to camp. This week the camp saw its first group of kids from the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, who are also a blast to be around. We’ve been able to hang out with them during meals, see them in action during their activities, and hear their chants and cheers as they walk around camp and assemble at the flagpole every morning.

This is a great way to end this year with AmeriCorps. I almost feel as if this project were a reward for getting through the year thus far (not that it was particularly difficult to endure). We’re in a beautiful forest with tons of fun staff, counselors and kids, have a flexible work schedule, get to do varied work outside, and are pretty much adored by all of the campers.