I'm home, at last. The last week of work went by pretty fast. We were working in Gulfport along with volunteers from Kentucky. We hung OSB, moved a bathtub, carried 74 truces across a muddy mess, raised half of the trusses, got our van stuck in the mud, jump started one truck, and exchanged secret Santa gifts. We also helped set up and take part in 2 house blessings, for 2 families moving into their new Habitat homes.
After work on Friday, we drove to New Orleans and stayed at Camp Hope. There were about 6 other NCCC teams from Sacramento there. Both of my Sacramento roommates were there and we spent much of the night catching up. It was great to see the other teams, share stories about our projects, and predict what our next projects would be. After a brief nights sleep, it was off to the airport and then home.
On Wednesday night we had our Christmas party. After work, we went out to eat at Shady's. The food was delicious. And the best part was the couple that was sitting the next table over from us. The lady at that table came over and asked us who we were and why there were so many of us. We told her about NCCC and what we were doing. She couldn't stop thanking us for our service and then proceeded to tell us what was best on the menu. She gave us her business card and a list of other restaurants she thought we would like. About 15 minutes later, our waiter came out with three side dishes that none of us had ordered. The waiter explained that the sides were from the next table over. The couple had bought us three dishes of the restaurant's special Christmas dip. The dip was excellent. It not only tasted good, but it showed that people really do appreciate the work that we do.
Happy Holidays,
Catherine
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A winning ticket, snow, and 6 days till home!
The week is over, finally. We only have 6 days until we go home and I can't wait! Last week was a short work week, because it snowed for a whole 4 minutes and that is cause for the entire city to shut down. So, we got sent back to the camp to wait out the harsh winter storm. With our spare time we went out to lunch, then to the Boys and Girls Club. I now have 28 ISP hours!!
On Friday, we went to a new work site in Gulfport. Our goal for the day was to install all of the windows and deck the porch. We got neither done. The problem filled day started with us realizing that the windows didn't fit in the walls, they were to big. The only way to fix the windows was to use a circular saw and saw the window frames on the side and on the top. Brad, our supervisor was doing the sawing when he got a chunk of wood in his eye. He had to be driven to the doctors and took the rest of the day off, understandably. That left us with Aaron our AmeriCorps State member. He has about 6 months of construction experience, which is enough to get by, but not enough to know the answers to everything. He took over the sawing and sawed the sides and bottoms of the window frames. Then we went around and screwed all of the windows in. We had to screw at an up angle in order for the screws to hit wood. We screwed up, literally and figuratively. By screwing at an up angle, we bowed the windows causing them not to close. Then we realized that by Aaron cutting the bottoms and not the tops of the window frames, there was no room for the window sills. Major problem. To solve all of the problems, we had to unscrew the windows, remove the window ledges, cut the cripples, make new ledges, re-screw in the window and make sure it wasn't bowed. A normal window should take about 4 minutes to install. We spent 7 hours and we only got one window installed properly. We spent all day Saturday fixing our windows and installing another house of windows. It took 6 of us 2 days to install 14 windows...
Today, I hung around the Camp and then went grocery shopping with the team. I never knew how stressful grocery shopping can be. I truly feel people sweat the small stuff way too much. It truly doesn't matter what brand of bread we get. My new theory is that grocery shopping should never be done in groups larger than 2. Tonight, we went to the Seahawks Minor League Hockey game. The tickets were only $11 and it was a great game. The home team lost by 1 point, but there were at least 2 fights and one player was suspended from the game. To make the game even better, our TL, Nick, won the split the pot raffle. He won $194 from a ticket that cost him $1. Despite our begging, he did not take us out to dinner.
Tomorrow we have PT at 11am and then a team meeting to discuss the ridiculous amount of tension about ridiculously stupid and little things.
Love, Peace, and Happiness,
Catherine
On Friday, we went to a new work site in Gulfport. Our goal for the day was to install all of the windows and deck the porch. We got neither done. The problem filled day started with us realizing that the windows didn't fit in the walls, they were to big. The only way to fix the windows was to use a circular saw and saw the window frames on the side and on the top. Brad, our supervisor was doing the sawing when he got a chunk of wood in his eye. He had to be driven to the doctors and took the rest of the day off, understandably. That left us with Aaron our AmeriCorps State member. He has about 6 months of construction experience, which is enough to get by, but not enough to know the answers to everything. He took over the sawing and sawed the sides and bottoms of the window frames. Then we went around and screwed all of the windows in. We had to screw at an up angle in order for the screws to hit wood. We screwed up, literally and figuratively. By screwing at an up angle, we bowed the windows causing them not to close. Then we realized that by Aaron cutting the bottoms and not the tops of the window frames, there was no room for the window sills. Major problem. To solve all of the problems, we had to unscrew the windows, remove the window ledges, cut the cripples, make new ledges, re-screw in the window and make sure it wasn't bowed. A normal window should take about 4 minutes to install. We spent 7 hours and we only got one window installed properly. We spent all day Saturday fixing our windows and installing another house of windows. It took 6 of us 2 days to install 14 windows...
Today, I hung around the Camp and then went grocery shopping with the team. I never knew how stressful grocery shopping can be. I truly feel people sweat the small stuff way too much. It truly doesn't matter what brand of bread we get. My new theory is that grocery shopping should never be done in groups larger than 2. Tonight, we went to the Seahawks Minor League Hockey game. The tickets were only $11 and it was a great game. The home team lost by 1 point, but there were at least 2 fights and one player was suspended from the game. To make the game even better, our TL, Nick, won the split the pot raffle. He won $194 from a ticket that cost him $1. Despite our begging, he did not take us out to dinner.
Tomorrow we have PT at 11am and then a team meeting to discuss the ridiculous amount of tension about ridiculously stupid and little things.
Love, Peace, and Happiness,
Catherine
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Rain, rain go away.
It's raining and has been raining all day. Rain and construction don't go, so we go the day off!! Actually we went to the project site and did some caulking, but that only lasted an hour or so. Progress is going really well at The Trace. Last week Friday we had a block party to honor a Lutheran company called Thrivent. They are paying for the 40 plus homes that we are helping build. The block party itself was just a bunch of important people making important speeches and thanking other important people, but setting up for the block party was lots of fun. We got to set up the tent, put temporary tattoos on little kids, and direct traffic. It was also nice to have a change in pace.
Saturday was spent caulking houses and doing little odds and ends. We ended up on a different Brad's house. I spent the day fixing the trusses and putting support blocks in them. Then we put OSB and Tyvek wrap on the gable. The project should probably have taken us a few hours, but it took us the entire day. Regardless, me and two other people did it without the a lot of help or direction from the supervisor. That night we went to a bonfire at Jamie's (a HfH employee)house. It was really nice to socialize with AmeriCorps State members and Habitat staff. We were at the bonfire for a good three to four hours. Jamie's house is in a suburb of Biloxi. He has two huge hammocks hanging on his back porch. Once we were sick of the hammocks we went on this little path that led down to a lake. It as a sight to see, looking over the lake and seeing the moon and stars reflecting in the water was beautiful. We had to leave the bonfire at 11:30pm, because we had to have the van back at Camp Victor by midnight.
I slept in on Sunday, waking up at 10 am, a first in a very long time. Then a group of us went back to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served meals for ISP hours. I really like it there. I've heard so many stories from people. I wish I could tape record all of their stories. The stories are amazing. I met a gentleman who went to college next to an Air Force base during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He said that one day they were in class and all of a sudden a siren went off and all of the Air Force men got up and left. If I only take away one thing from this project, it is the power of stories.
On Monday we went to the Boys and Girls Club and played with kids! I helped 7-9 year-olds with their homework and then we played on the playground! I played chase for about 2 hours and loved it. It was nice to be with kids again. The majority of the volunteers who come through Camp Victor and Habitat are middle aged folks who don't like to play tag or lava monster on the playground. I went back to there today and the kids were probably as excited as I was. Today I was helping two first graders or second graders read a short paragraph and answer questions about the paragraph. The one girl was struggling, but was able to sound out most of the words. Then she came to the word hairdresser and had no idea how to sound it out. So we broke the word up into "h...air...dress...er" and she got it. She was so excited that she was able to read such a long word. The boy was struggling to read and was growing very frustrated by the 5 sentenced paragraph, but we took it slow. Then we came to the word trash and again we broke it up "t...r...ash." He couldn't remember what sound "sh" made so I asked him what the teachers always say when the kids get to loud. After I said that, he had a big smile and knew the word. After homework hour, I played legos and built card houses, a perfect way to spend a rainy day.
Time to curl up in my sleeping bag and listen to the steady drip drip drip of the rain, raining inside Camp Victor.
Rumor has it, Mississippi could get snow tomorrow (meaning a few flurries).
Love, Peace, Happiness,
Catherine
Saturday was spent caulking houses and doing little odds and ends. We ended up on a different Brad's house. I spent the day fixing the trusses and putting support blocks in them. Then we put OSB and Tyvek wrap on the gable. The project should probably have taken us a few hours, but it took us the entire day. Regardless, me and two other people did it without the a lot of help or direction from the supervisor. That night we went to a bonfire at Jamie's (a HfH employee)house. It was really nice to socialize with AmeriCorps State members and Habitat staff. We were at the bonfire for a good three to four hours. Jamie's house is in a suburb of Biloxi. He has two huge hammocks hanging on his back porch. Once we were sick of the hammocks we went on this little path that led down to a lake. It as a sight to see, looking over the lake and seeing the moon and stars reflecting in the water was beautiful. We had to leave the bonfire at 11:30pm, because we had to have the van back at Camp Victor by midnight.
I slept in on Sunday, waking up at 10 am, a first in a very long time. Then a group of us went back to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served meals for ISP hours. I really like it there. I've heard so many stories from people. I wish I could tape record all of their stories. The stories are amazing. I met a gentleman who went to college next to an Air Force base during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He said that one day they were in class and all of a sudden a siren went off and all of the Air Force men got up and left. If I only take away one thing from this project, it is the power of stories.
On Monday we went to the Boys and Girls Club and played with kids! I helped 7-9 year-olds with their homework and then we played on the playground! I played chase for about 2 hours and loved it. It was nice to be with kids again. The majority of the volunteers who come through Camp Victor and Habitat are middle aged folks who don't like to play tag or lava monster on the playground. I went back to there today and the kids were probably as excited as I was. Today I was helping two first graders or second graders read a short paragraph and answer questions about the paragraph. The one girl was struggling, but was able to sound out most of the words. Then she came to the word hairdresser and had no idea how to sound it out. So we broke the word up into "h...air...dress...er" and she got it. She was so excited that she was able to read such a long word. The boy was struggling to read and was growing very frustrated by the 5 sentenced paragraph, but we took it slow. Then we came to the word trash and again we broke it up "t...r...ash." He couldn't remember what sound "sh" made so I asked him what the teachers always say when the kids get to loud. After I said that, he had a big smile and knew the word. After homework hour, I played legos and built card houses, a perfect way to spend a rainy day.
Time to curl up in my sleeping bag and listen to the steady drip drip drip of the rain, raining inside Camp Victor.
Rumor has it, Mississippi could get snow tomorrow (meaning a few flurries).
Love, Peace, Happiness,
Catherine
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving Break!!
We had 5 days off, Thursday - Monday, for Thanksgiving. It was a break that was greatly needed. My feet did not want to go back into my boots, my body wanted to sleep past 5 or 6am, and my normal street clothes wanted to be worn. Now that Monday is approaching, I'm more than ready to get back to work and get things done for America.
On Thursday, turkey day, me and my teammates who were still here, went to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served warm Thanksgiving meals to community members and volunteers. There were about 80 volunteers and we served over 3,000 meals.
I met a lot of great people while there. I met a person who worked at carnivals his entire life. He controlled one of those spinning rides. A good day for him was based on how many people threw up their cotton candy and hot dogs. His record was 34 people in one day. There was a family from Keesler Air Force Base with two kids. The kids, second and third grade, have already traveled all over the U.S. and have even lived in Japan. They showed off their language skills and counted for us in both Spanish and Japanese. We also met a group of college students from Denver. The leaders of their group have led over 9 groups down to the Gulf. We also met two TLs from the Iowa campus who are staying in Pass Christian, MS. Those are just a few of the people we met. The day was a great success. We served the less fortunate, were interviewed by the Sun Herald, ate a great meal, got ISP hours, and made numerous new friends. The rest of the day was spent eating pizza and watching Christmas movies.
On Friday we joined the masses and went shopping at several outlet malls. I had a blast and bought a sweater. Saturday was spent in the kitchen. We baked potatoes, banana bread, sloppy joes, tatter tots, and salad. It felt great to use a kitchen! Then on Saturday night we went to the Bellingrath Home and Garden. Bellingrath is a 65 acre garden in Alabama. Around this time of year they decorate the garden with over 3 million sparkling lights and over 835 displays. It was incredible. It finely felt like the holiday season had begun. Check out their website at http://www.bellingrath.org/. On Sunday Ali and I donated blood. The blood drive was held at a Starbucks and after giving blood, everyone received a free Starbucks drink. YUM!! Did you know that they take a pound of blood? We also got free t-shirts and bright pink band-aids. The rest of the day I slept, started a puzzle, and went with Renee to find her a new pair of shoes (with no success).
All in all this break was awesome. I had just enough time to relax and veg out, but not enough to get bored. Tomorrow will be filled with trips to the airport to pick up my teammates at various times throughout the day. Then its back to work on Tuesday.
T-minus 20 days until winter break.
Catherine
On Thursday, turkey day, me and my teammates who were still here, went to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served warm Thanksgiving meals to community members and volunteers. There were about 80 volunteers and we served over 3,000 meals.
I met a lot of great people while there. I met a person who worked at carnivals his entire life. He controlled one of those spinning rides. A good day for him was based on how many people threw up their cotton candy and hot dogs. His record was 34 people in one day. There was a family from Keesler Air Force Base with two kids. The kids, second and third grade, have already traveled all over the U.S. and have even lived in Japan. They showed off their language skills and counted for us in both Spanish and Japanese. We also met a group of college students from Denver. The leaders of their group have led over 9 groups down to the Gulf. We also met two TLs from the Iowa campus who are staying in Pass Christian, MS. Those are just a few of the people we met. The day was a great success. We served the less fortunate, were interviewed by the Sun Herald, ate a great meal, got ISP hours, and made numerous new friends. The rest of the day was spent eating pizza and watching Christmas movies.
On Friday we joined the masses and went shopping at several outlet malls. I had a blast and bought a sweater. Saturday was spent in the kitchen. We baked potatoes, banana bread, sloppy joes, tatter tots, and salad. It felt great to use a kitchen! Then on Saturday night we went to the Bellingrath Home and Garden. Bellingrath is a 65 acre garden in Alabama. Around this time of year they decorate the garden with over 3 million sparkling lights and over 835 displays. It was incredible. It finely felt like the holiday season had begun. Check out their website at http://www.bellingrath.org/. On Sunday Ali and I donated blood. The blood drive was held at a Starbucks and after giving blood, everyone received a free Starbucks drink. YUM!! Did you know that they take a pound of blood? We also got free t-shirts and bright pink band-aids. The rest of the day I slept, started a puzzle, and went with Renee to find her a new pair of shoes (with no success).
All in all this break was awesome. I had just enough time to relax and veg out, but not enough to get bored. Tomorrow will be filled with trips to the airport to pick up my teammates at various times throughout the day. Then its back to work on Tuesday.
T-minus 20 days until winter break.
Catherine
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Camp Victor and the Trace
We moved to Camp Victor last week. Camp Victor is another volunteer camp located in Ocean Springs. We moved everything from Yankee Stadium over, with the exception of the huge pool table that we were unable to lift up into the truck. The rest of the week we were at the trace (our project site) working on a new house. Our site supervisors are Brad and Aaron. We are supposed to have the house ready for the subcontractors by tomorrow, but that may not happen.
We are literally building this house form the ground up. Last Thursday and Friday we made and put up walls. I've learned so much about construction. I now know what wall leads, hurricane straps, x's, xbx, and jk all mean. Then on Saturday we put up plywood sheeting. Sunday was our day off and we were back on Monday continuing our plywood sheeting and today we started to put trusses up and built a porch. There's lots to be done, but all we can do is work as fast as is safe.
On Thanksgiving, the 7 of us who are staying are working at a church distributing meals to anyone who comes. Supposedly this church has been doing this for an number of years. Since we are volunteering from 11-4, we will eat Thanksgiving dinner at the church. I'm looking forward to the long weekend. I think we may go to a mall or to the movies. Regardless of what we do, it will be nice to not have to put my steel-toed boots on and to sit down and relax.
Happy early turkey day,
Catherine
We are literally building this house form the ground up. Last Thursday and Friday we made and put up walls. I've learned so much about construction. I now know what wall leads, hurricane straps, x's, xbx, and jk all mean. Then on Saturday we put up plywood sheeting. Sunday was our day off and we were back on Monday continuing our plywood sheeting and today we started to put trusses up and built a porch. There's lots to be done, but all we can do is work as fast as is safe.
On Thanksgiving, the 7 of us who are staying are working at a church distributing meals to anyone who comes. Supposedly this church has been doing this for an number of years. Since we are volunteering from 11-4, we will eat Thanksgiving dinner at the church. I'm looking forward to the long weekend. I think we may go to a mall or to the movies. Regardless of what we do, it will be nice to not have to put my steel-toed boots on and to sit down and relax.
Happy early turkey day,
Catherine
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Trusses, fork lifts, and games
Today marked our one week anniversary working with HfHMGC ( Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast). And what a week it was. On our job site we destructed enough walls to have 10 miles of boards or 4,800 boards. Destroying boards would be loads of fun, but these are walls that were built by HfH volunteers during a blitz build last May. Unfortunately, the floor plans changed after the blitz build, leaving hours of hard work gone to waste. Luckily we are done with destroying walls and pulling nails and get to start new projects next week.
On Friday, we were given a break from wall destroying and got to work on houses. Our project site is in a new subdivision. HfH has to build 19 houses by December and 28 houses in total for this subdivision. If they don't make their deadline, they will lose a lot of funding from a company. Right now they are a month and a half behind. In effort to catch up, they let us work on the houses on Friday. I lucked out and was allowed to work on assembling the trusses for a house. Trusses are the triangular frames for the roof of a house. I had to climb up into the trusses, which were wobbly, help pull the trusses from the ground up, then hammer them into the proper spot. I was working with Jamie, a Habitat employee, who was a monkey on the trusses. Being up there was like being on a wobbly balance beam wearing steal toed boots, hammering nails, 12 feet in the air for 5 hours. It was awesome!!! To end the exciting work week, I learned how to drive a fork lift.
As if our work days weren't long enough, our evenings were jammed pack with fun and exciting activities. We spent Sunday on the beach soaking up the sun and trying to get rid of our ridiculous farmers tans. Monday night we had a team meeting and service learning. Then the rest of the night was devoted to field games. We played capture the flag, football, red light green light, miniature tanks, statues, kick the can, sharks and minnows, and even ghosts in the graveyard. I haven't played those games since grade school, and now I remember why gym class was so much fun in grade school. Tuesday night I finished a 1,000 piece puzzle. My team is divided on puzzles. Half of my team thinks puzzles are the most tedious time passers around, while the other half loves them. We had a YouTube party on Wednesday night and a movie night on Thursday. Then on Saturday night, we went out to eat at a Thai restaurant and played an amazing game on monster energy drink pong (the only reason I am still awake, despite getting up 19 and a half hours ago).
Good Night and Good Luck,
Catherine
On Friday, we were given a break from wall destroying and got to work on houses. Our project site is in a new subdivision. HfH has to build 19 houses by December and 28 houses in total for this subdivision. If they don't make their deadline, they will lose a lot of funding from a company. Right now they are a month and a half behind. In effort to catch up, they let us work on the houses on Friday. I lucked out and was allowed to work on assembling the trusses for a house. Trusses are the triangular frames for the roof of a house. I had to climb up into the trusses, which were wobbly, help pull the trusses from the ground up, then hammer them into the proper spot. I was working with Jamie, a Habitat employee, who was a monkey on the trusses. Being up there was like being on a wobbly balance beam wearing steal toed boots, hammering nails, 12 feet in the air for 5 hours. It was awesome!!! To end the exciting work week, I learned how to drive a fork lift.
As if our work days weren't long enough, our evenings were jammed pack with fun and exciting activities. We spent Sunday on the beach soaking up the sun and trying to get rid of our ridiculous farmers tans. Monday night we had a team meeting and service learning. Then the rest of the night was devoted to field games. We played capture the flag, football, red light green light, miniature tanks, statues, kick the can, sharks and minnows, and even ghosts in the graveyard. I haven't played those games since grade school, and now I remember why gym class was so much fun in grade school. Tuesday night I finished a 1,000 piece puzzle. My team is divided on puzzles. Half of my team thinks puzzles are the most tedious time passers around, while the other half loves them. We had a YouTube party on Wednesday night and a movie night on Thursday. Then on Saturday night, we went out to eat at a Thai restaurant and played an amazing game on monster energy drink pong (the only reason I am still awake, despite getting up 19 and a half hours ago).
Good Night and Good Luck,
Catherine
Monday, November 10, 2008
Living in a stadium?
I've been in Biloxi, MS for 4 days now and its definitely different than Oak Park. We are currently staying at Yankie Stadium, which is a volunteer shelter. The Salvation Army bought Yankie Stadium 4 days before Hurricane Katrina hit. They were planning on turning it into a community center, but when Katrina hit, they turned it into a shelter. The process wasn't easy. The stadium at one point was under 30 feet of water. After the water had receded and the Salvation Army came to investigate the damage ans they discovered that 10,000 bats had moved in under the bleachers. Bats, being endangered animals, have to be removed and not killed. This was also mating season for bats. Once the bats were removed, the cleaning began. Thats when Habitat for Humanity stepped in and asked if their volunteers could stay at Yankie Stadium. Through the combined efforts of HfH and Salvation Army volunteers, Yankie Stadium was converted into a volunteer shelter. We sleep in cabins next to the bleachers. There are showers and bathrooms in each cabin. Then underneath the bleachers, there is a kitchen, computers, games, puzzles, a TV, laundry facilities, books, ping-pong tables, and pool tables. The Salvation Army cooks all of our meals and they cook delicious food!! This morning for breakfast I has grits for the first time ever!
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, the Salvation Army has decided to continue with their original plans and make Yankie Stadium into a community center. That means HfH has to move out and they pretty much have. My team is the last group of volunteers to stay at Yankie Stadium. We will be relocated to another volunteer camp called Camp Victor within a week.
During the day, we work with HfH. We are currently working on a site that will be a new subdivision. There are numerous volunteers, including the future homeowners, AmeriCorps State members, and HfH volunteers. Our work site is about 35 minutes away from Yankie Stadium and it will be about 45 minutes away form Camp Victor. Our work week is Tuesday through Saturday. We work from 8 am to about 4 pm. Saturday was our first work day and we took apart 136 walls that were improperly constructed. Each was had anywhere from 30 to 60 nails that had to be removed. I can now say, I have mastered the hammer!! We are maybe 1/5 of the way through all of the walls that need to be taken apart. Fun times!
Cheers from Biloxi,
Catherine
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, the Salvation Army has decided to continue with their original plans and make Yankie Stadium into a community center. That means HfH has to move out and they pretty much have. My team is the last group of volunteers to stay at Yankie Stadium. We will be relocated to another volunteer camp called Camp Victor within a week.
During the day, we work with HfH. We are currently working on a site that will be a new subdivision. There are numerous volunteers, including the future homeowners, AmeriCorps State members, and HfH volunteers. Our work site is about 35 minutes away from Yankie Stadium and it will be about 45 minutes away form Camp Victor. Our work week is Tuesday through Saturday. We work from 8 am to about 4 pm. Saturday was our first work day and we took apart 136 walls that were improperly constructed. Each was had anywhere from 30 to 60 nails that had to be removed. I can now say, I have mastered the hammer!! We are maybe 1/5 of the way through all of the walls that need to be taken apart. Fun times!
Cheers from Biloxi,
Catherine
Sacramento to Mississippi
My first road trip was awesome. Our team caravaned with two other AmeriCorps NCCC teams from Sacramento to the Gulf Coast. We drove all day for five days in 15 person passenger vans. Each team has 4 or 5 drivers who are allowed to drive the vans. Each driver can only drive two hours and can only drive one shift at a time. We also have to have a person riding shotgun called the safety. This person can not fall asleep, has to help the driver check the blind spots, has to get out of the car and help guide the driver when backing, and has to be the navigator. Since the vans are government vans, we can only go 65mph or slower, even if the speed limit is 80 mph. With all of that in mind, we drove from Sacramento, CA to Biloxi, MS. We stopped at gas stations and ate at fast food restaurants. We were ballin' on a budget with $5-6 for lunch and dinner. Our team decided to take a picture at every gas station we stopped at. Why? I have no idea, but we now have a nice collection of gas station pictures.
The path we followed:
DAY 1: We drove from Sacramento to Indio, CA. We lucked out and stayed at a casino!!
DAY 2 (election day): Indio, CA to New Mexico
DAY 3: New Mexico to Texas (drove through Mexico for about 30 seconds!!)
DAY 4: Stopped in Austin, TX for a couple of hours, then headed to Louisiana.
DAY 5: Dropped off one of the teams in New Orleans, the other team in eastern Mississippi and we reached our destination in Biloxi!!!
Highlights of the road trip....
* We stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere called The Thing.
* Saw gas for $1.95
* Drove through downtown Houston.
* Drove the entire way on I-10 East.
* Beautiful landscapes and scenery.
Cheers from Biloxi!
The path we followed:
DAY 1: We drove from Sacramento to Indio, CA. We lucked out and stayed at a casino!!
DAY 2 (election day): Indio, CA to New Mexico
DAY 3: New Mexico to Texas (drove through Mexico for about 30 seconds!!)
DAY 4: Stopped in Austin, TX for a couple of hours, then headed to Louisiana.
DAY 5: Dropped off one of the teams in New Orleans, the other team in eastern Mississippi and we reached our destination in Biloxi!!!
Highlights of the road trip....
* We stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere called The Thing.
* Saw gas for $1.95
* Drove through downtown Houston.
* Drove the entire way on I-10 East.
* Beautiful landscapes and scenery.
Cheers from Biloxi!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
CTI recap
What happened during CTI:
* Hours and hours of powerpoints.
* 8 hours of diversity training.
*4 one day service projects (weed warriors, Folsom Zoo, making compost and spreading mulch, caring for a garden at a community center).
* CPR, First Aide, Red Cross certifications.
* Learned how to drive a 15 person passenger van.
* Met 320+ amazing people
* Woke up at 5am for PT (physical training)
* Learned over 20 different types of push ups and ran 5 miles.
* Soaped screws as an ISP
* Induction: a smaller version of H.S. graduation
* Explored downtown Sacramento
* Played Scategories for hours.
*Frisbee, yoga, football, soccer, volleyball
* Went to Camp Mendocino!!!
And so much more.
Next time I write I will be in Boloxi, MS and America will know who our next president will be.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
* Hours and hours of powerpoints.
* 8 hours of diversity training.
*4 one day service projects (weed warriors, Folsom Zoo, making compost and spreading mulch, caring for a garden at a community center).
* CPR, First Aide, Red Cross certifications.
* Learned how to drive a 15 person passenger van.
* Met 320+ amazing people
* Woke up at 5am for PT (physical training)
* Learned over 20 different types of push ups and ran 5 miles.
* Soaped screws as an ISP
* Induction: a smaller version of H.S. graduation
* Explored downtown Sacramento
* Played Scategories for hours.
*Frisbee, yoga, football, soccer, volleyball
* Went to Camp Mendocino!!!
And so much more.
Next time I write I will be in Boloxi, MS and America will know who our next president will be.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Last Week of CTI!!
We survived CTI!! Tomorrow the entire corps has induction. We have been really busy preparing for our trip to Mississippi. We have been briefed and we have run briefings. We have researched the area, called our sponsor, and planned our travel route. All that is left now is to do laundry, pack up our rooms, say goodbyes to the other teams, clean the kitchens, and gas up the van.
U.S. be aware, NCCC Western region is coming and we're going to get things done!!!
Happy early Halloween and day light savings,
Catherine
U.S. be aware, NCCC Western region is coming and we're going to get things done!!!
Happy early Halloween and day light savings,
Catherine
Friday, October 24, 2008
Camp Mendacino and Biloxi, MS
The past week has been filled with team bonding and loads of new information.
The Green Unit left for Camp Mendocino on Tuesday morning. Camp Mendocino is a Girls and Boys camp run by volunteers during the summer. The rest of the time it is rented out for programs like AmeriCorps, Girl Scouts, and even weddings. It is about a 5 hour drive north of Sacramento and is in a great redwoods forest. Red woods grow to be hundreds of feet tall and can live indefinitely. The trees are amazing, but not as amazing as the stars we saw at night. I have never seen the big dipper or Orion's belt.
Tuesday: After the "long" drive we spent the rest of the afternoon playing frisbee, football, volleyball, and soccer. We also went on a hike to a giant redwood. It took 19 of us stretched fingertip to fingertip to give the tree a hug. After dinner we played the Newly Wed game, but with our teams. Our team was in the lead for a while, but lost to Green 3. The rest of the night was spent stargazing and enjoying the Blue unit's bond fire.
Wednesday: We got up at 5:00 am for PT!!! It is really cold that early in the morning. But 5 is like the new 9 am, so its all good. We spent the morning chopping firewood and putting together a team skit for skit night. That afternoon, we did a variety of team building activitites, including being guiding blindfolded across a wobbly bridge and getting the entire team to cross from one platform to another using a rope. We also did a high ropes course like activity. The day was well spent and loads of fun. We ended the night with our team skits, four square, and a massive game of wahh. We left late afternoon on Thursday and then went out to eat as a team.
Last night, we received our projects. My team will be heading to Biloxi, Mississippi!!! We will be working with Habitat for Humanity. We leave on Nov 3 and don't get back until the end of January. I am so excited. It will be my first road trip, 5 days of 10 hours of driving in a 15 person passenger van! Biloxi is fairly close to New Orleans and other places that teams are being sent. It is strange to think that next week will be my last week with the entire corps. I may not see them again until July.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
The Green Unit left for Camp Mendocino on Tuesday morning. Camp Mendocino is a Girls and Boys camp run by volunteers during the summer. The rest of the time it is rented out for programs like AmeriCorps, Girl Scouts, and even weddings. It is about a 5 hour drive north of Sacramento and is in a great redwoods forest. Red woods grow to be hundreds of feet tall and can live indefinitely. The trees are amazing, but not as amazing as the stars we saw at night. I have never seen the big dipper or Orion's belt.
Tuesday: After the "long" drive we spent the rest of the afternoon playing frisbee, football, volleyball, and soccer. We also went on a hike to a giant redwood. It took 19 of us stretched fingertip to fingertip to give the tree a hug. After dinner we played the Newly Wed game, but with our teams. Our team was in the lead for a while, but lost to Green 3. The rest of the night was spent stargazing and enjoying the Blue unit's bond fire.
Wednesday: We got up at 5:00 am for PT!!! It is really cold that early in the morning. But 5 is like the new 9 am, so its all good. We spent the morning chopping firewood and putting together a team skit for skit night. That afternoon, we did a variety of team building activitites, including being guiding blindfolded across a wobbly bridge and getting the entire team to cross from one platform to another using a rope. We also did a high ropes course like activity. The day was well spent and loads of fun. We ended the night with our team skits, four square, and a massive game of wahh. We left late afternoon on Thursday and then went out to eat as a team.
Last night, we received our projects. My team will be heading to Biloxi, Mississippi!!! We will be working with Habitat for Humanity. We leave on Nov 3 and don't get back until the end of January. I am so excited. It will be my first road trip, 5 days of 10 hours of driving in a 15 person passenger van! Biloxi is fairly close to New Orleans and other places that teams are being sent. It is strange to think that next week will be my last week with the entire corps. I may not see them again until July.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Green Sweven, training, and ketchup.
It's been a week since I last updated and lots has happened. I've grown a lot closer with my team. We had a team scavenger hunt in downtown Sacramento, we went to the beach and created our team mascot, we have had serious talks, and we've had countless laughs together. Our team mascot is the swan, because when we were at the beach and wading in the river, a pack of swans started approaching and honking at us. It was kind of scary. Ok, not scary, but they were very loud. And ever since then we've decided we are going to be called Green Sweven instead of Green Seven.
During the days we have been sitting in trainings. Today we had an 8 hour training about diversity. It was long, but somewhat interesting. The best part was getting to break off into our teams and have team talks about issues. We definitely got to know each other better. Yesterday, we had CPR and first aide training. I'm now certified to save any of your lives!! We also had baseline yesterday. Baseline is the first fitness test to see what level your in for morning workouts. My results were as follows...
Running 1.5 miles: 13.48 (or 14.48), definitely could use improvement.
Push ups 2 minutes: 51 (thank you Tri-Star conditioning)
Sit ups 2 minutes: 80
Actual PT starts on Monday. I'm really excited to start. There is something about running in the dark and looking at the stars when your doing crunches.
The team went out to dinner tonight at some local fast food place (yuck). Anyways, we were trying to squeeze ketchup packaged until they broke with just our pressure. It was a lot of fun until the girl sitting next to me decides to brake hers under the table. The ketchup exploded out of her package and managed to land all over me. My pants were covered and my shirt had some ketchup. I laughed it off, b/c there was nothing else that could be done. luckily, my roommate has a stain remover marker, which I used as soon as I got back. No ketchup stained pants for me!!!
We leave for camp on Tuesday. We are going to this camp 4 hours North of campus, where we will be camping out through Thursday. It should be lots of fun. It will be our teams first long van ride together, our first overnight spike trip, and our first real chance to bond as as a team while doing a service project. Not to mention, it will be a nice change from the long lectures and endless powerpoints.
That's all from this end of the world. One of my teammates had to go home for an emergency. We all miss her and can't wait for her to come back, but understand that she needs to be at home right now.
Cheers!
Catherine
Green Squad (unit) Cheer.
TLs: Hey Green!
All: Yeah!!
TLs: Hey Green!
All: Yeah!!
TLs: Green, green, green, green
All: Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up.
oooooshk-ahhhhhhhh ooooooshk-ahhhhh
There's anew team in town
We don't play around
We are the G-R-E-E-N
And we've come to win
We're not here for a show
We're here to carry the load
of the N-triple-C mission
and policy code
There's a great work to do
And we're committed til thru
We're here to serve America
The red, white, and blue
Green SQUAD!!!
During the days we have been sitting in trainings. Today we had an 8 hour training about diversity. It was long, but somewhat interesting. The best part was getting to break off into our teams and have team talks about issues. We definitely got to know each other better. Yesterday, we had CPR and first aide training. I'm now certified to save any of your lives!! We also had baseline yesterday. Baseline is the first fitness test to see what level your in for morning workouts. My results were as follows...
Running 1.5 miles: 13.48 (or 14.48), definitely could use improvement.
Push ups 2 minutes: 51 (thank you Tri-Star conditioning)
Sit ups 2 minutes: 80
Actual PT starts on Monday. I'm really excited to start. There is something about running in the dark and looking at the stars when your doing crunches.
The team went out to dinner tonight at some local fast food place (yuck). Anyways, we were trying to squeeze ketchup packaged until they broke with just our pressure. It was a lot of fun until the girl sitting next to me decides to brake hers under the table. The ketchup exploded out of her package and managed to land all over me. My pants were covered and my shirt had some ketchup. I laughed it off, b/c there was nothing else that could be done. luckily, my roommate has a stain remover marker, which I used as soon as I got back. No ketchup stained pants for me!!!
We leave for camp on Tuesday. We are going to this camp 4 hours North of campus, where we will be camping out through Thursday. It should be lots of fun. It will be our teams first long van ride together, our first overnight spike trip, and our first real chance to bond as as a team while doing a service project. Not to mention, it will be a nice change from the long lectures and endless powerpoints.
That's all from this end of the world. One of my teammates had to go home for an emergency. We all miss her and can't wait for her to come back, but understand that she needs to be at home right now.
Cheers!
Catherine
Green Squad (unit) Cheer.
TLs: Hey Green!
All: Yeah!!
TLs: Hey Green!
All: Yeah!!
TLs: Green, green, green, green
All: Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up.
oooooshk-ahhhhhhhh ooooooshk-ahhhhh
There's anew team in town
We don't play around
We are the G-R-E-E-N
And we've come to win
We're not here for a show
We're here to carry the load
of the N-triple-C mission
and policy code
There's a great work to do
And we're committed til thru
We're here to serve America
The red, white, and blue
Green SQUAD!!!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Getting Things Done!!
Today is Saturday, but it feels like Friday. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity. We've done two service projects, met our official teams, went to more meetings, and explored the city.
Friday: Friday was our last day with our pods (temporary teams). WE spent the day on our first service project. It was AWESOME!!! We were weed wackers for the day. Our pod along with two other pods went down to this wetland area that has been invaded by invasive species. We got to spend the day removing the invasive species. The area was absolutely gorgeous. There were animals everywhere and we were right next to train tracks, which seemed fitting.
Our pod got to put on the water boots and waders and go into the wet section, except the wet section was really thick sinking mud. So many of us got stuck. It was such a great team bonding experience. We had to pull our team mates out of the mud. After about 3 hours of work we ate lunch at this nearby park. We played on the swing set and then my gymnastics craving overpowered me and I started a handstand contest. Of course, handstand contests turn into other gymnastics moves and in the end I was just showing off. But it did feel good to flip again :)!
After lunch we went back to the wetland and continued removing the invasive plants. By the end of the day we had made about a half of a mile long pile of the invasive species. It felt good!!
That night we assembled in the dining area where we were given envelopes that contained clues to find our official teams. Bye bye Pod 15, hello Green 7!!! They warned us about getting too attached to our pod mates, but I still got attached to mine. That, however, made it really hard to leave them. I'm currently missing my pod mates, but hoping that I will like my team mates. My TL (team leader) is Nick and he was a corp member about 5 years ago and decided to come back. We ended the night by going out to eat with our new teams. It is really hard to get a good dinner when each person has only $5. Got to love the government funds. We ended up getting really good pizza, along with 4 other teams.
Saturday: Saturday felt like Friday, because we had another service project. Me and my new team got to go to the zoo and help out there. We did a variety of projects ranging from, laying new soil in the foxes' cages to painting to leveling to taking apart and then moving a deer shelter. The deer aer in this huge pastor and they have a little overhang that they can go to get out of the rain. Unfortunately, the overhang was in the wrong part of the pasture, so we got to wear hardhats, safety goggles, and leather work gloves and de-mantal and re-mantal the shelter. The fun part was carrying all the pieces through the zoo filled with people to the other side. Fun times.
Tonight everyone went to downtown Sacramento. We had fun exploring the city. We took the Light Rail down and then walked around. The Light Rail is so much nicer than the "L". And here I am in the computer lab, extremely tired and ready to sleep. Tomorrow is our first day off! I have a feeling the whole campus will be sleeping in past 5:30am.
Miss my Pod 15 mates,
Catherine
Here is my address for the rest of the year.
Catherine Malin
Class 15, Team Green 7
AmeriCorps NCCC
3427 Laurel St.
McClellan, CA 95652
Friday: Friday was our last day with our pods (temporary teams). WE spent the day on our first service project. It was AWESOME!!! We were weed wackers for the day. Our pod along with two other pods went down to this wetland area that has been invaded by invasive species. We got to spend the day removing the invasive species. The area was absolutely gorgeous. There were animals everywhere and we were right next to train tracks, which seemed fitting.
Our pod got to put on the water boots and waders and go into the wet section, except the wet section was really thick sinking mud. So many of us got stuck. It was such a great team bonding experience. We had to pull our team mates out of the mud. After about 3 hours of work we ate lunch at this nearby park. We played on the swing set and then my gymnastics craving overpowered me and I started a handstand contest. Of course, handstand contests turn into other gymnastics moves and in the end I was just showing off. But it did feel good to flip again :)!
After lunch we went back to the wetland and continued removing the invasive plants. By the end of the day we had made about a half of a mile long pile of the invasive species. It felt good!!
That night we assembled in the dining area where we were given envelopes that contained clues to find our official teams. Bye bye Pod 15, hello Green 7!!! They warned us about getting too attached to our pod mates, but I still got attached to mine. That, however, made it really hard to leave them. I'm currently missing my pod mates, but hoping that I will like my team mates. My TL (team leader) is Nick and he was a corp member about 5 years ago and decided to come back. We ended the night by going out to eat with our new teams. It is really hard to get a good dinner when each person has only $5. Got to love the government funds. We ended up getting really good pizza, along with 4 other teams.
Saturday: Saturday felt like Friday, because we had another service project. Me and my new team got to go to the zoo and help out there. We did a variety of projects ranging from, laying new soil in the foxes' cages to painting to leveling to taking apart and then moving a deer shelter. The deer aer in this huge pastor and they have a little overhang that they can go to get out of the rain. Unfortunately, the overhang was in the wrong part of the pasture, so we got to wear hardhats, safety goggles, and leather work gloves and de-mantal and re-mantal the shelter. The fun part was carrying all the pieces through the zoo filled with people to the other side. Fun times.
Tonight everyone went to downtown Sacramento. We had fun exploring the city. We took the Light Rail down and then walked around. The Light Rail is so much nicer than the "L". And here I am in the computer lab, extremely tired and ready to sleep. Tomorrow is our first day off! I have a feeling the whole campus will be sleeping in past 5:30am.
Miss my Pod 15 mates,
Catherine
Here is my address for the rest of the year.
Catherine Malin
Class 15, Team Green 7
AmeriCorps NCCC
3427 Laurel St.
McClellan, CA 95652
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
CTI
Me and my fellow CM (Corps Members) have been here for 2.5 days, but it feels like months. Right now we are in CTI (corps member training institute). There are a lot of abbreviations if you can't tell. Here is a summary of whats happened during the days...
Day 1) There were about 30 people on my flight from Chicago to Sacramento. Our plane got in 30 minutes early and we even left 2 minutes late. After we checked in and got our baggage, we loaded onto the passenger vans and drove to campus. The campus is on a retired air force base. There are 5 main buildings, 3 of which are dorms. After we arrived at campus we went through in-processing. We got our government IDs, our name tags, our dorm keys, and our awesome uniform!!!! The uniforms are, well they are uniforms. Pretty much they are cargo pants or shorts and t-shirts or pollos. Everything has the A on it (A for AmeriCorps). I met my roommates (there are 3 of us). Both are around my age. We have so much room for all of the stuff we brought (which wasn't a lot).
After dinner, we had a floor meeting, where they discussed basic rules, what they expect from us, and how we are going to have an awesome time. They also told us that they didn't expect us to remember anything they said, which is good because I didn't.
Day 2) PAPERWORK and pods (temporary teams). We met our pods and our temporary TLs (team leaders). My TL is RoShawn. The rest of the day was devoted to paper work. We filled out Red Cross papers, papers for our physical, we signed a lot of stuff, and read a lot of stuff. Then a group of us went to the BX (base exchange), where we don't have to pay any taxes!!! The BX is like a smaller version of Target.
After dinner, I joined in an ultimate frisbee game. It was dark, there were about 50 of us playing, and well disaster struck. I collided with another CM and broke his wrist. I broke the wrist of a 6 ft guy. I felt awful, but he said it was neither of our faults, which is true. He left a nice bruise covering several of my ribs, but he has it a lot worse. My new nickname is now Bulldozer.
Day 3) MEETINGS!!! 8 hours of being lectured to about everything from AmeriCorps policies to which snakes are poisonous in the Gulf of Mexico area to the names of tools to how to eat a balanced meal. We did make a trip to WalMart and the TLs went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we start cooking!!
PT (physical training) doesn't start until Monday, so a bunch of us get up to go running every morning at 5:30ish AM.
The weather is beautiful, the sky is clear, and the people are great!!!
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine aka Bulldozer
Day 1) There were about 30 people on my flight from Chicago to Sacramento. Our plane got in 30 minutes early and we even left 2 minutes late. After we checked in and got our baggage, we loaded onto the passenger vans and drove to campus. The campus is on a retired air force base. There are 5 main buildings, 3 of which are dorms. After we arrived at campus we went through in-processing. We got our government IDs, our name tags, our dorm keys, and our awesome uniform!!!! The uniforms are, well they are uniforms. Pretty much they are cargo pants or shorts and t-shirts or pollos. Everything has the A on it (A for AmeriCorps). I met my roommates (there are 3 of us). Both are around my age. We have so much room for all of the stuff we brought (which wasn't a lot).
After dinner, we had a floor meeting, where they discussed basic rules, what they expect from us, and how we are going to have an awesome time. They also told us that they didn't expect us to remember anything they said, which is good because I didn't.
Day 2) PAPERWORK and pods (temporary teams). We met our pods and our temporary TLs (team leaders). My TL is RoShawn. The rest of the day was devoted to paper work. We filled out Red Cross papers, papers for our physical, we signed a lot of stuff, and read a lot of stuff. Then a group of us went to the BX (base exchange), where we don't have to pay any taxes!!! The BX is like a smaller version of Target.
After dinner, I joined in an ultimate frisbee game. It was dark, there were about 50 of us playing, and well disaster struck. I collided with another CM and broke his wrist. I broke the wrist of a 6 ft guy. I felt awful, but he said it was neither of our faults, which is true. He left a nice bruise covering several of my ribs, but he has it a lot worse. My new nickname is now Bulldozer.
Day 3) MEETINGS!!! 8 hours of being lectured to about everything from AmeriCorps policies to which snakes are poisonous in the Gulf of Mexico area to the names of tools to how to eat a balanced meal. We did make a trip to WalMart and the TLs went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we start cooking!!
PT (physical training) doesn't start until Monday, so a bunch of us get up to go running every morning at 5:30ish AM.
The weather is beautiful, the sky is clear, and the people are great!!!
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine aka Bulldozer
Monday, October 6, 2008
Goodbye Chi-Town hello Sac-Town
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go."
Goodbye Oak Park, hello Sacramento!!!!!
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go."
Goodbye Oak Park, hello Sacramento!!!!!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
T-Minus 2 days!!
It's Saturday morning, and I leave Monday morning to catch a 10 am flight to Sacramento, CA. I will be joining other young adults in a ten month adventure. We are the newest members of AmeriCorps NCCC. AmeriCorps NCCC is (taken from their website) "an intensive, 10-month commitment. Members serve in teams of ten to twelve and are assigned to projects throughout the region served by their campus. They are trained in CPR, first aid, public safety, and other skills before beginning their first service project." We do projects in 6 different areas: disaster relief, public safety, education, environment, unmet needs, and homeland security.
We serve every state, but I am assigned to the Western Region , which serves Alaska, Arizonia, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. I can, however, be sent to any place that needs disaster relief, like the hurricane devastated states.
For the first 4 weeks I will be in CTI (corps member training institute). We will be training from 5:30 am till 9pm. We get to start our long day with PT (physical training). Hopefully my gymnastics conditioning will pay off. After that we will start our "spike" trips. Spikes are projects that require us to leave, live, and work away from campus. These projects last about 6-8 weeks.
Updating this will be easier than sending billions of emails. I'll try updating once a week, but that may change.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
We serve every state, but I am assigned to the Western Region , which serves Alaska, Arizonia, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. I can, however, be sent to any place that needs disaster relief, like the hurricane devastated states.
For the first 4 weeks I will be in CTI (corps member training institute). We will be training from 5:30 am till 9pm. We get to start our long day with PT (physical training). Hopefully my gymnastics conditioning will pay off. After that we will start our "spike" trips. Spikes are projects that require us to leave, live, and work away from campus. These projects last about 6-8 weeks.
Updating this will be easier than sending billions of emails. I'll try updating once a week, but that may change.
Peace, Love, Happiness,
Catherine
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