Muskelkater (Muscle Hangover)

Every day now, more and more of this “CTI” thing is being revealed to us.  All the mystery and anxiety surrounding what had only been hinted at before is being peeled away.  There are fewer and fewer surprises, although each day brings with it something unexpected. 

Last week we had our first of four Baseline tests for the year.  This is their way of finding out if the PT they are putting us through is working or not.  They also used our results to split us into four groups for PT, based on our ability: groups A, B, C1 and C2.  I wonder why no one has come up with better names for the designation, because everything else here is very colorful and creative.  I’m in team RED 1, for example.  We already have a team van (Red, named Rick), a team gesture (Raise the Roof), and team chant for each morning (“Good morning [insert name of city currently in]!  It’s going to be a beautiful day”).  Good luck imagining me doing any of those things…yet I have, and do regularly…  Baseline involved doing as many sit-up and push-ups you can, given two minutes for each, then following that with a nice 1.5 mile run.  For the record, my stats were 47 sit-ups, 33 push-ups and a 13:54 1.5 mile run.  I would like to do better, but it was good enough to get me into the B group, which was actually my goal for CTI.  Now I need something to push me forward for the next month; there’s a 5k on Thanksgiving that I’m looking at running (I may have already mentioned it).

Regardless, Baseline set the stage for PT.  5:30 Monday morning.  Full corps workout.  500 people.  We stretched, then did some crunches and push-ups.  Then we ran a mile.  Then we stopped, did some more push-ups, some planks, some squat-thrusts, and some more crunches.  Then we ran a mile back.  Then we did some more push-ups, crunches, squats, and chased all that down with a few last push-ups, in what they called the “spider-man” position.  If you can read all that and not be sweating, I applaud you.  I knew I was getting in a workout when I picked up my hands after doing some push-ups, and I had left hand-prints on the pavement. 

PT kicked my butt.  It was great.

The next day, more of the same.  5:30 am, only the name of the day had changed.  B group met, stretched, pushed and sat up, and then we were divided into two subsections for the run.  We were given the choice, a 2.3 mile run or a 3 mile run.  Remembering how I felt the day before and wanting to make it to the end of the session, I chose the 2.3 mile run.  I’m glad I did, because the 3 mile group quickly became the 4 mile group.  For my part, we ran a little over a mile, stopped and crunched and pushed-up our way again, then ran back.  On Monday, I hadn’t been able to run the two miles without pausing for breath halfway through, but Tuesday I was determined to make it all the way back.  I just kept my legs moving and to my astonishment, ran the whole thing non-stop.  With my adrenaline pumping, I attacked the last sets of push-ups, et al., and really felt good after the workout.  Nowhere near as winded as I had been the day previous. 

We had this morning off from PT (and my knees and calves are thankful for that), but tomorrow we are right back at it.  Same time, same place.  And our days have been pretty easy following PT here.  I can’t wait to see what my body feels like when we workout in the morning, then follow that with an 8-10 hour day of work.  

But if I can convince myself to just keep moving my legs, I think I’ll be just fine.  I may even come to enjoy this.   

Happy Halloween!

Corner Park

Finally, the chance to get off campus and do something.

Saturday was Make a Difference Day here (and apparently everywhere else in the country?) and while I don’t typically get overly enthused about days with names like that, all the teams here were put on special project for the day which broke up the week from all the tedious PowerPoint presentations I’ve had to sit through this week. 

It was an early morning at the end of a long week, but we were all enthused to have a chance to do something productive.  Red 1 was sent into midtown Sacramento, and after getting lost only once (of which I had nothing to do – I was in the far back bench of the van), we arrived at what looked like a vacant lot on a street corner, but had a small table with a red-and-white checkered table cloth in the middle of it.  Very “Lady & the Tramp”-ish.  Was our project to plan a romantic Italian dinner in an urban setting?  

After a minute of staring stupidly at what was before us, we were greeted by a fairly young man, maybe 29 or so, and his girlfriend.  They lived in the house adjacent this vacant lot and over a platter of homemade pumpkin muffins (which made them the coolest people in the world to us) they explained their story.  Anna and Moss moved into the house this past January and never really like the unsightly lot out their window.  A house had been on the land, but had burned down years ago, and the current owner was just sitting on it until he could extort the right amount of money from someone.  He was asking for a sum that no one in their right mind would pay.  So, they started working on it to clean it up, and as one thing led to another, they decided to make a community park out of the space.

Enter Red 1.  Moss had already done some landscaping, but they really wanted to get more done to make it look like a real park.  So, with shovels in hand, we got to work.  Our team turned soil, laid grass seed and manure, cleaned up overturned debris, planted plants and trees, laid brickwork, and fixed up some donated park benches.  Personally I put together a park bench from scratch, without instructions or even all the proper pieces, helped to paint another, unloaded a van-full of bricks (some 150 or so), laid bricks around the city trees, spread manure, and planted some small shrubs.  

And Moss and Anna were about the greatest project sponsors anyone could ask for.  They made us breakfast and lunch, were really excited about having our help, and it turns out that Anna was herself a former NCCC member.  She served at the Charleston, SC campus in 2001, and was a part of the Red 1 team for that year as well.  It was a bizarre coincidence.

In the evening, exhausted from a long week, I went out to get some Thai with my team members, sat back in my room with my roommate to watch some movies, read a little, then went to bed.  Today is my day of rest, because tomorrow we start again at 5:00 for PT.   

P3 4E

A few years back, while I was studying in Germany, I took a trip to Italy for a week at the end of one of our breaks.  During this time, I fell into what some call the “tourist bubble,” which is when you go to a foreign place, without really knowing the language, and you spend all your time sight-seeing and traveling about to the point where you become detached from the rest of the world.  Even major events that occur nearby aren’t able to penetrate the bubble and to you, it’s as though they haven’t even happened.  Case in point, while in Rome, we toured the Vatican Museums and saw St. Peter’s Square/ Cathedral and thoroughly enjoyed our day, but it wasn’t until three days later that we found out that while we were there, the Pope had died.  We were literally hundreds of yards away from where they were caring for him, where he died, and yet we were oblivious.  I had to hear it from people calling me from America.

Many of us here have already noticed a similar effect.  We’re so insulated in the program, that most of us didn’t know about the wildfires taking place these past few weeks in California.  We haven’t been affected by them at all, and it isn’t necessarily a situation we’d be called upon to help out with, so in some ways it is understandable that we wouldn’t hear much.  I bring it up to let you all know that I am alright and in no danger.  The only effect so far has been the Red Cross canceling our training this week, because all of them were called up to aid in fighting the fires/ evacuating.  There’s always next week…

In other news, we were placed in our permanent teams last night.  I am officially a member of the team RED 1.  So, for any of you thinking about sending me any mail, you can use the same address that I gave you before, but for my name write: “Daniel Nikolits/ Red 1″  No matter where I am in the country, I will get the message.

Oh, and I am thinking about running a 5k over Thanksgiving.  Since I’m trying to push myself a bit with the PT here, I figure that’s a pretty good goal to have at the end of a month.  Besides, I’m not tired enough from getting up at 5:00 each day for PT as it is…a few little more running each day, and I’ll be sleeping well no matter what kind of bed I’m sleeping on.

Summer Camp. Wheee!

The first day of CTI, my temporary team leader told my group that this program was “going to be like college, a job, the army, and summer camp,” all-in-one.  That has turned out to be a pretty good description so far.  Though, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of summer camp going on.  For those of you who can appreciate my disdain for them (ie. anyone who went through CMU’s Honors Program at one time or another), we have been doing a daily dose of icebreakers, to the point where I remembered and reaffirmed the reasons for my disdain.  Having to mambo, while rhythmically chanting the word “mingle,” culminating in – you guessed it – mingling with others, does not a happy Dan make.  Mostly because I’ve been doing a damn good job meeting people, and the artificial games that just make everyone feel ridiculous are a direct shot to my dignity and intelligence.  I do take them a bit personally; probably too much. 

The days are filled with policy lectures, orientation presentations, paperwork, and uniform wearing.  Actually, the uniforms are pretty comfortable to wear; I’m starting to enjoy that part of the program.  And, I’ve decided to go all out with whatever PT is thrown my way.  I’m curious as to what I can really push myself to do, given the opportunity.  Over Thanksgiving, after CTI is officially over, there is a 5k run out here that I think I want to attempt.  That seems like a pretty ambitious goal for a month; something that will push me forward throughout the next four weeks.  

Last night was fun, very much in the summer camp kind of way.  Throughout my pod’s little chats, three of us found we were all euchre players, which intrigued a fourth who then wanted to learn how to play.  We decided that after dinner we would euch’ it up, which we did.  Abby, my partner and the girl who wanted to learn, picked up the game quickly and was actually really good for a euchre-virgin.  She is by far the funniest girl in my pod: a great laugh, which our team-leader, Brooks, dubbed impish (or at least the female version of that word – if anyone knows it), a child-like imagination, and a good-natured, but biting tongue and competative nature that has me thinking she is one of those “schadenfreudig” personalities.  She also has another great trait: a constant desire to play UNO.  Only she has her own rules, to which she has affixed the name ”Black UNO.”  We followed euchre with UNO and played that for a few more hours, until before we knew it, we’d spent almost 5 hours just playing cards.  It was great.  Sadly, Abby and I, and the rest of Pod 3 will be split up tomorrow evening. 

So, I’ve decided to buy an UNO deck or two to take with me on spike, just because with the new rules, the game is fun, and much more vindictive than before.   

I can’t wait until we progress to macaroni necklaces.  To think, I have a college degree in my hand…

Sitting here restin’ my bones…

The doctors told me today that I do not have TB. I am relieved, of course, but it means that I will have to find another excuse for the incessant coughing fits I’ve been having lately. None of you should worry, because I never expected that I really had TB; just a cold. The doctors poked my arm, injected me with some kind of fluid, and told me to wait two days. If the spot because inflamed and painful, then I was in trouble.  So, as you can probably tell by the calm tone of this post (not to mention the first sentence above), I passed as minor bruising does not a positive result make.  This five second follow-up was the culminating moment of the physical I was given two days ago, as well as the single thing relevant to the program that I have had to do this weekend.

After the non-stop pace of the first few days, having so much free time has been like racing your car down an endless highway, and then coming to a train crossing with the gates down. You know that when enough time has passed, you’re just going to start racing again, but for now you just have to sit and wait.

So, I’ve taken the time to catch up on a few letters, do a little reading, and meet some more people.  The days of rest have done all of us good.  By the end of Friday night, you could just see in everyone’s faces that they needed a day to rest. But interestingly, no one would actually say they were exhausted, and behind the tired looks, you could see that everyone still had the will to keep going until everything was done. I think that is why this group of people is going to be successful when we actually get on to our projects: there is a collective will that has yet to be unleashed.

To be sure, we’re all still a little unsure of how we’ll be able to handle PT or how cooking for our team will work out, and we’re still in a temporary state where we haven’t been placed in our permanent teams yet (this will happen on Wednesday of next week), but I am surrounded by people who signed on to an organization whose motto is “getting things done,” and that mentality is pervasive here. It may not be focused yet, but that really is what I see as the purpose of this month of CTI: to acculturate everyone in the AmeriCorps lifestyle, to bring up everyone’s physical endurance, and to take a collection of individuals and turn them into a team.

I can’t wait for thing to really start happening. It’s exciting to be around so many interested people.

In other news, I should probably do laundry today.  I mention it just so that you don’t think everything here is wonderfully exciting and challenging. The mundane exists right alongside the adventure. Because what is an adventure if you don’t have clean underwear to enjoy it in?

Day 1 – Pod 3

Following in the footsteps of the Family Joad, I have reached the promised land: California!  It only took two flights, one exploded eardrum, and three time zones to completely screw up my internal clock functions, but I arrived safely, as did the other 449 corps members.  Our days were far from ending, though.  Eight hours of cross-country travel were only the precursors of our day here.  We were finally shuttled to the campus around 3pm local time (or 6pm Michigan time, my day having already breached the 12 hour mark by then) where we had to begin in-processing ourselves, shedding the civilian in us by standing in one line after another, getting ID photos taken, collecting uniform pieces, and being issued on the hardest of hardcore work-boots I have ever had the fortune of owning. 

This may not sound like the most difficult of tasks to accomplish, and in truth they aren’t.  But, when you multiply everything by the magic number 450, even the simplest charge takes time.  So the first day felt like spending the day at Cedar Point on a summer’s weekend, only there isn’t the gratification of a thrill ride at the end of the line.  Only boots.  Sweet, sweet boots.

All of the traveling and queuing did give me time to meet a number of people.  At Metro Airport, I found a half dozen other Michiganites who were coming out for this program and began chatting them up.  During our layover in Dallas (yes, they flew us first to Dallas instead of straight to Sacramento) our group met up with two other regions who were en route, notably a pack of Bostonians, many of whom were not as heartbroken about the Red Sox’s loss the previous night as I thought they would be.  In all, about a third of the plane was filled with AmeriCorps members.  The four hour flight was plenty of time to being the bonding process.

So far, I’ve met people from all over.  And the most surprising thing about the group is that there are all kinds of people here.  In my mind, I suppose I began stereotyping what kind of person would be interested in doing this program, but the reality is we are about as diverse a group as you could ask for (although we are heavily outnumbered in the male : female ratio, about 1:3 at least!)  We all share one common trait: a desire and passion to get out and do some good in the world.  Most everyone I’ve asked has had a similar reason for joining the group, and if nothing else, that has made introductions with each other fairly painless. 

It is easy to feel alone out here.  But we’re all alone together.  And that is comforting for me.

We were divided into smaller groups this morning (and I emphasize morning, as I was up before the sunrise for the second consecutive day – something that hasn’t happened to me since high school).  These groups will take us through next Wednesday, when we’ll be reorganized into different groups.  It will be these groups that will be my family for the rest of the program.  For now, it has been a hurricane of orientation meetings and paperwork, and while I’ve just now passed the 24 hour mark for being out here, it feels like I’ve already survived a week. 

It is a day-to-day kind of life for me now.  I really don’t know what tomorrow will bring or what I will be doing.  It’s a chance to learn to live in the moment.  It’s going to be interesting, whatever happens next. 

Final Michigan Thoughts

This weekend was amazing for me.  While graduating in May officially ended my four year odyssey at Central Michigan University, I feel this weekend was the true ending to my college career.  Four days visiting some, but by no means all, of the people and places I care for that culminated in a perfect moment sitting with one of my best friends in his family’s northern Michigan cabin, watching a river flow through a tranquil corner of the world, allowing me the opportunity to reflect upon what my experiences have added up to.  I feel ready to move forward with few regrets and countless memories.

But, the weekend is over, and I am less than two days away from being in California.  I have my travel plans all set, although I had to wait until the last minute for them to arrive.  For a few tense days, I didn’t know if they had remembered to book my flight or not.  But like most worries, these too turned out to be of the silly variety.  How could anyone forget me?  (*cough*)

I will be leaving on said jet plane at 8 o’clock on Wednesday.  My packing is almost complete (it only took me three attempts to fit everything!), and there is little more I can do except wait.  I’d like to be able to write here that I am sitting anxiously, nervously watching the seconds tick away, excited to be a day and a half, mere hours, away from beginning this adventure…but in all honesty, it still hasn’t occurred to my body that October 17th is fast approaching.  I am fully cogent of the fact and prepared for it in every way I should be, but I probably won’t feel the excitement until I head for bed tomorrow.  And it will only be excitement I feel, because I know this is exactly what I want to be doing at this point in my life.  I am not nervous or hesitant about what I am about to do.  It just feels right, which makes me all the more excited.

So now I wait.  And I wonder, will anyone realize that I’ve updated this thing?  It’s been so long.  Even if I am the only one who gets any use out of this blog, I think it will be worthwhile.