Sorry blog followers, the internet has been semi-functional, and I am just to darn busy having fun.
I'll try to start from where I left. So, first of all, PT has begun. And I like it. The first day was the base line to figure out which group you are in, and then we had some stations, and some more running. I like it because its not impossible, but it is definitely some work. The worst part of it is getting up at 5 o' clock in the morning when it is still dark out, and having to warm up and stretch in the soggy wet grass. Other than that it is great, and I am energized and ready for the day. Lets see what else. Besides PT we are doing much more training, and its all very exciting. Thats a lie, its not all exciting, some of it is quite dull, but probably pretty prevalent to what we are doing (please, everyone, appreciate my alliteration). Some things I am becoming certified in are: CPR, First Aid, Red Cross Disaster Relief, Van Safety (15 passanger van), and much much more. I am learning about diversity and peaceful conflict resolution.
I am also having lots and lots of fun. The other night we went to a hookah bar. It was a lot of fun, very "zen"ish, if you will, sort of Arabian feeling, except of course the loud American music. This weekend we went to San Francisco and I did wear flowers in my hair, and my hippie dress because it was not pouring rain this time, this time it was beautiful. We got in late Saturday night, and just walked around the city a bit, and spent some time with my friend's brother. Sunday was "hella" sunny, and we went to a beach in the morning by the Golden Gate bridge, stuck our toes in the almost-as-cold-as-the-great-lakes bay. Then we drove around the city a bit, guided by a former San Franciscan resident, and grabbed some food to go picnic in the park, perched on "hippie hill." It was a beautiful day, and we rolled down the hill like a bunch of five year olds, and eventually went to meet up with a few other people. Our last stop was Haight-Ashbury, where we perused some hippie stuff before heading back to Sacramento for a team meeting. I found out I am in the gold unit, and that we had the next day off.
On our day off we went to a rock climbing gym and played around for a while on the rock wall, and bouldering. We came back and put together a game of kick ball. And kick ball again today.
I love that I can step outside when I have a moment off and find some sort of leisure activity going on, be it kickball, frisbee, or soccer...well, I don't play soccer, but there is always someting to do.
Lets see, what else have I done...oh, well, I also discussed (in my unpublished, lost to the disfunctional internet blog) my Wisconsin accent. Apparantley, it is pretty strong, but what is really fun, is we over accentuate the O's and other letters, and have come up with a Minnesota/Irish accent to use in conversations, it sounds wonderful.
My beloved Pod 18 is now broken up, but before we separated we became quite the clan...speaking often in the aforementioned accent, howling like wild things, clapping and chanting, and generally misbehaving/being obnoxious. I think everyone else is glad we are broken up, but we are heart broken.
I am now a member of Gold 2! With a fabulous Gold Unit cheer parodying the SNL sond "I'm on a boat" we sing "I'm on the Gold" Its quite clever, and I think it will be a good year. However, this took me a really long time, and I think someone else might want to get on this functioning computer.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
We finally got to do some work...to get things done!
On Saturday we went to Sylvan Ranch...Community Garden. We were helping fix up the garden to be approved by the association for people with disabilities...basically fixing up the paths between plots so that people in wheel chairs or walkers would be able to access them. What that entailed was shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow, wheeling it over to the paths, and then raking out the gravel so it was even (and then someone else flattened that out and then later a different layer of gravel [smaller gravel] is going over that). We also were helping flatten out the driveway made up of pretty big stones. It was all pretty labor intensive (at least to us on our first day of physical labor), and everyone was pouring sweat. We kept pretty well hydrated, although I had 8 water bottles before I even went to the bathroom at 3 (everyone knows how small my bladder is). The day was really really fun though, after an entire summer of hating grounds crew, this was a great feeling. The people running the garden were really nice they fed us subway and snacks, and even some of the food from their garden, and pod 18 is boss! Our team cheer is now "money pants" after our beloved leader, known on facebook as john q moneypants.
Today was our day off, and we all (minus Bri, who was not feeling well) piled into our 15 passenger bus and headed into Sacramento and saw Where the Wild Things are. It was another GREAT day in AmeriCorps!
On Saturday we went to Sylvan Ranch...Community Garden. We were helping fix up the garden to be approved by the association for people with disabilities...basically fixing up the paths between plots so that people in wheel chairs or walkers would be able to access them. What that entailed was shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow, wheeling it over to the paths, and then raking out the gravel so it was even (and then someone else flattened that out and then later a different layer of gravel [smaller gravel] is going over that). We also were helping flatten out the driveway made up of pretty big stones. It was all pretty labor intensive (at least to us on our first day of physical labor), and everyone was pouring sweat. We kept pretty well hydrated, although I had 8 water bottles before I even went to the bathroom at 3 (everyone knows how small my bladder is). The day was really really fun though, after an entire summer of hating grounds crew, this was a great feeling. The people running the garden were really nice they fed us subway and snacks, and even some of the food from their garden, and pod 18 is boss! Our team cheer is now "money pants" after our beloved leader, known on facebook as john q moneypants.
Today was our day off, and we all (minus Bri, who was not feeling well) piled into our 15 passenger bus and headed into Sacramento and saw Where the Wild Things are. It was another GREAT day in AmeriCorps!
Friday, October 16, 2009
LOVE
I am already in love with AmeriCorps. I love the people, and I don't even mind the paper work...granted we have only had two days of it.
Arrived early on Wednesday and got through the paperwork/uniform stuff within two hours. Bid my parents adeu, and didn't even cry (I really thought I would, and then I would have been that kid the whole time, I mean, I already have a stuffed animal here). After that I had the whole day free while everyone else signed in. I played a lot of frisbee and chatted with a lot of people. It was like the first day of college, but like ten million times better because everyone is so outgoing and friendly and excited about the same things.
We have been divided into temporary teams, which is really sad because I already LOVE my team, pod 18 rules!
Last night we went to the local dive bar (new term i learned, it means something like last resort type bar). AmeriCorps took over the bar, we had a huge dance party, from "lets get it on" to "Shout" There was also an organized event on campus (not all are 21) and that was pretty fun, we played cheesey games, but also had different prompts for conversation starters with all sorts of different people. And after that (before going to the bar) we had a dance party.
Just to reiterate...I LOVE AmeriCorps!!!!!!!!!!!
Arrived early on Wednesday and got through the paperwork/uniform stuff within two hours. Bid my parents adeu, and didn't even cry (I really thought I would, and then I would have been that kid the whole time, I mean, I already have a stuffed animal here). After that I had the whole day free while everyone else signed in. I played a lot of frisbee and chatted with a lot of people. It was like the first day of college, but like ten million times better because everyone is so outgoing and friendly and excited about the same things.
We have been divided into temporary teams, which is really sad because I already LOVE my team, pod 18 rules!
Last night we went to the local dive bar (new term i learned, it means something like last resort type bar). AmeriCorps took over the bar, we had a huge dance party, from "lets get it on" to "Shout" There was also an organized event on campus (not all are 21) and that was pretty fun, we played cheesey games, but also had different prompts for conversation starters with all sorts of different people. And after that (before going to the bar) we had a dance party.
Just to reiterate...I LOVE AmeriCorps!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Well, I made it to California...to summarize my road trip. Iowa and Nebraska are lame, lots of corn, I mean, they aren't terrible, but there is a lot of corn to cross, you get a little sick of it. Sorry, there is also some soy.
Colorado was awesome...saw the first snowfall of the season. Snow covered roses was a strange site. We plowed up the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but on our way down the mountain we took a wrong turn somewhere, got lost on a dirt road somewhere in the mountains, and asked a man with a chain saw for directions. Don't worry, we all survived.
Made it to Utah, Bryce canyon and Zion were also extremely beautiful. I took about a million pictures which won't capture even half their beauty.
Las Vegas...baby! I lost $10 in black jack and a dollar on the penny slots. But! we were in the THIRD ROW for Cirque du Soleil. The show was AWESOME!
Drove up death valley the next day...pretty dry and desolate, but still pretty cool. But then we made it to Yosemite. I could go on and on about how beautiful that was too (I need another adjective in my vocabulary) but the cool thing was we saw a mama with 2 baby bears. I wanted to cuddle them, she probably would have cuddled my head with her giant claws.
San Fran. big city...big hills...manual transmission. I survived (I was driving). We took the trolley, and I sang the Full House theme song the whole time (in my head of course).
Sacramento.......8 days in a car with my parents, and we were still talking to each other by the time we go here.
Time to Save the World
Colorado was awesome...saw the first snowfall of the season. Snow covered roses was a strange site. We plowed up the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but on our way down the mountain we took a wrong turn somewhere, got lost on a dirt road somewhere in the mountains, and asked a man with a chain saw for directions. Don't worry, we all survived.
Made it to Utah, Bryce canyon and Zion were also extremely beautiful. I took about a million pictures which won't capture even half their beauty.
Las Vegas...baby! I lost $10 in black jack and a dollar on the penny slots. But! we were in the THIRD ROW for Cirque du Soleil. The show was AWESOME!
Drove up death valley the next day...pretty dry and desolate, but still pretty cool. But then we made it to Yosemite. I could go on and on about how beautiful that was too (I need another adjective in my vocabulary) but the cool thing was we saw a mama with 2 baby bears. I wanted to cuddle them, she probably would have cuddled my head with her giant claws.
San Fran. big city...big hills...manual transmission. I survived (I was driving). We took the trolley, and I sang the Full House theme song the whole time (in my head of course).
Sacramento.......8 days in a car with my parents, and we were still talking to each other by the time we go here.
Time to Save the World
Monday, October 5, 2009
Here we GO...
I barely keep up with e-mail anymore, but I will try hard to keep a blog, because, well, this is going to be larger than life...hopefully. Therefore, I would like to keep a record of what I am doing, and share that with anyone who wants to read my rambling.
Tonight is my last night in Wisconsin before I head west to save the world. It has been a very fun, very leisurely summer. I was able to spend a lot of time up north, biking, traveling, lounging, reading, and drinking. The last two weeks were especially busy with a trip to La Crosse for my first official celebration of Oktoberfest (weird that I missed all four years while I was in school there). Then a magical vacation in Disney World...the really magical part was that Holly and I only got a little cranky at each other, but never full out fought. It was a ton of fun, but it felt good to get back to the cold of Wisconsin and do nothing for a few days. Tonight we go to see Hanson (my 7th time!), and tomorrow I go back to Stevens Point to catch my ride out to Sacramento. I think this road trip is going to be great, and hopefully this isn't my last blog, because the adventure hasn't even started!
Wish me luck!
Richelle
Tonight is my last night in Wisconsin before I head west to save the world. It has been a very fun, very leisurely summer. I was able to spend a lot of time up north, biking, traveling, lounging, reading, and drinking. The last two weeks were especially busy with a trip to La Crosse for my first official celebration of Oktoberfest (weird that I missed all four years while I was in school there). Then a magical vacation in Disney World...the really magical part was that Holly and I only got a little cranky at each other, but never full out fought. It was a ton of fun, but it felt good to get back to the cold of Wisconsin and do nothing for a few days. Tonight we go to see Hanson (my 7th time!), and tomorrow I go back to Stevens Point to catch my ride out to Sacramento. I think this road trip is going to be great, and hopefully this isn't my last blog, because the adventure hasn't even started!
Wish me luck!
Richelle
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