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
Saturday, November 15, 2008
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!!!
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