Second verse, same as the first.

I am back in Biloxi.  Yesterday, I flew into New Orleans and made it to Camp Hope safely.  The drive today was enjoyable, as I was able to hear about all of my teammate’s respective breaks.  Tomorrow work starts up again, and I am looking forward to that.  I don’t exactly know what I’ll be doing this week, but that’s no great concern for me.

All I know is that tonight for dinner we’re having chili, and that sounds like the perfect dish for the weather here.  Winter followed me south…burrrrrrr!

Thoughts early on a New Year’s Day

This post seems a little out of place in my mind.  It really has nothing to do with my program, because I am back at my parent’s house in Michigan and not in Biloxi.  Looking outside, it is dark, white and snowing.  Yuck.  My last day in Michigan until August is going to be spent shoveling snow when I wake up.  Again, yuck.  It’s no longer 2007.  That year is over for those of us who subscribe to the Gregorian calendar.  If I were Chinese, I would laugh at that last sentence.  They last saw the 2ooo’s some 2000 years ago.  Actually, I’m not Chinese (obviously) but that still makes me laugh.  Time is funny that way, in that it is a man-made thing; it isn’t real.

But here I am, on the morning of New Year’s Day, 2008, and it feels very real to me.  My life keeps going forward, and I guess I just want to take stock of it right now, although that might be the wine talking (thank you Lisa!).  2007 was very interesting and very good to me.  I graduated college, I had the best summer job/ internship this summer at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, MA, Katie was married and I reconnected with very important people, I joined a great organization when I stepped on the plane to Sacramento, and I met and became friends with wonderful people who I can gratefully call my teammates.  It was a blur.  How many more of my years will feel as though I’ve lived four or more lives? 

If I were to make a list of all the experiences I’ve already had in my life, I think even I would be shocked and impressed by it.  Yet I still feel like there’s something missing from all that I’ve done.  That life just isn’t quite what I expected it to be.  Are my expectations too high?  Unrealistic?  Am I one of those idealists who will become jaded with life because it is constantly disappointing me?  Am I already?  Is there anything I can do about it?

I feel like if there is a way for me to not be so jaded with the human experience, I am already doing it.  Being with my team, my Red 1, right now is refreshing for me.  AmeriCorps in general feels like the right thing for me to be involved with.  My teammates are, for the most part, positive in attitude and strong in their belief that people can make a difference in this world.  That things can be better and we can do something about it.  I am drawn to people like that, because by and large, I have a hard time believing that. 

In spite of everything good that has happened to me, 2007 will always be a shady year for me for that reason.  I always had the thought in the back of my head that life is pointless.  It’s a difficult thought to shake away, once it has entered your head.  And it brings me to my resolution for 2008: find meaning in everything worthwhile I do this year and beyond.  I know working with NCCC will help me with that, but I need to work on making myself see meaning in little things, everyday things. 

I need to smile more.  To laugh more.  To love more.  I need to remember that people are important too.

Everyone needs those things, but I want them for myself again.

2008 is going to be a lot of work for me.  These are not simple resolutions that can be fulfilled with a little bit of will power.  These are resolutions that need to be worked upon in the quiet moments of the day, everyday, inside myself.  They will be difficult, but then again, that is why they are worthwhile.

Happy New Year.  To a happy, safe, successful 2008 for one and all! 

Three-Day Work Week

Even though I was up this morning at 5:30 for PT, I had the luxury of heading back to bed after breakfast. And, after a plate of potatoes, sausage patties and pancakes, that is exactly what I did for an extra four hours of sleep. It was definitely needed, because even though I had only put in three days of work so far this week, they were all of the long variety that we were warned about in our informational packet that came with our NCCC acceptance letter.

I’ve been on construction crew this week, and my fellow ‘konstrucktioneers’ and I were pretty much left alone to work on a laundry list of tasks inside one of the project houses.  I suppose the crew last week made such an impression, that our sponsors trusted us to follow suit and keep the ball rolling.  This makes me laugh, because this really left us trying to figure out what we were doing on the job; a bit of a thrown in the deep end situation.  Most of what we were charged with doing wasn’t too difficult, spackling the joints between drywall and Sheetrock, but the owners changed their mind on how high they wanted the ceiling after the drywall had been installed for a drop ceiling.  This just made for an annoying patchwork job for us that is still ongoing and has taken about three days longer than it should have.  We were also told to begin installing Sheetrock into another room, which again was an on the job type of learning experience, because of the 6 of us working, only three of us had ever had experience doing that: myself, Sarah, and Alli, who helped put in two sheets of it total last week.   Lastly we were asked to fill in some gaps in the wall where there was no framing to install the Sheetrock.  This fell on my shoulders and entailed me and my teammate Mike to piecemeal a frame together and find places to nail it in.  Oh, but the entire existing frame is skewed and slanted from age and the hurricanes, so installing wood that is square makes for even more skewed and slanted framework that makes the simple task of cutting and screwing a ceiling into place very frustrating.

Then there was the chimney that I had to work around and wound up staring at for almost an hour an a half before really figuring out how to cut, nail, and install a workable frame.

It did help that I could use the nail gun.  It gave the job a very needed adrenaline kick.

I finished the framing yesterday and expected to see if it all worked out today, but was an unexpected change of plans nixed that.  Because of a large volunteer group coming in this weekend, a few ISPs that had been pre-scheduled, and two teammates taking extended weekends in New Orleans, our work schedule was changed last minute.  Half the team was given an early weekend and asked to work on the normal days off.  So, instead of working Friday and Saturday, then having Sunday and Monday off, I am just the reverse.  So far, the highlight of my day has been sleeping in, but the excitement doesn’t end there because later today we will be making a…wait for it…Wal-Mart run.  Let the good times roll!

Ah, Friday in Biloxi.

Only one week?!?

It is Monday, our second day of the weekend here in Biloxi, and it is the first chance in the last seven days I’ve had time to update. It is hard to believe I have only put in a week of work here at this project site, so much has already happened. To fully appreciate it all, I should have updated nightly. That was impossible to do, so this will just have to be a long entry. I have to stick with the highlights, however, since time constraints permit me to write only so much (the downfall of being at the mercy of those who brought their computers with them).

I was assigned to the site crew for the first week, along with my teammates Sarah and Alli. Typically, when there are volunteers staying on site, this crew would be in charge of seeing to their needs: help to organize and introduce them to the site when they arrive, oversee the distribution of tools each morning, make supply runs when needed, attend to maintenance requests, in short, grease the wheels of operation at the base camp. But, as there were no volunteers staying with us this past week, we were charged with cleaning up and organizing the mess that previous volunteer groups and teams had left us. We organized and sorted all the lumber on site, repaired a broken shower door, supplied the bunkhouses with propane heaters (yes, some nights are cold enough to require heaters), and caught and disposed of two rats – one short of my weekly goal. But, most importantly, being on the site crew was significant for one reason above all others. We were given keys to the compound. It may sound like a minute and petty detail, but wearing those keys around my neck made me feel important. People had to go through me to get any tool they needed (take that construction crew). Since next week begins a new rotation, however, I’ll have to give up the keys. Hopefully they’ll be back where they properly belong soon enough, that is, around my neck….

While there wasn’t anyone but Red One staying on the compound this week, we did have a volunteer group from New York working with us. They were all adults so they opted to stay in a hotel for the week. Half of them were professional contractors by trade, so they knew exactly what had to be done in each house. More importantly they were able to teach the construction crew the proper way to tile a room, install a shower, hang drywall and Sheetrock, Spackle and tape the seams of walls and ceiling, add texture to a wall and ceiling, build a deck, prime and paint walls, install wood flooring, caulk and seal windows, and to work around poorly installed wiring when the owners change their minds as to how low the ceiling should be. Our construction crew did all of that, and I’m sure more. I wasn’t there to see them in action for most of the week, but I did hear stories and saw pictures. They were all quick studies.

The volunteers appreciated our hard work, and we appreciated their patience and sense of humor. Everyone enjoyed breakfast, which the kitchen crew had to get up early for each morning, but was never late in serving. We all got to know each other really well. On Wednesday, the construction crew was a little short on hands, so the site crew was called in to save the day. We spent that day prepping a ceiling for Sheetrock and then installing it. None of us really expected these sheets to weigh so much, but when you’re holding them over your head awkwardly, it doesn’t take long for your shoulders to start burning. Needless to say the first sheet we hung was what I’m going to a practice run, because in all honest it did quite fit like it should have (thanks to a warped frame courtesy of Katrina) and none of us really knew how to screw it in properly at first. Pastor Anthony, a former contractor turned man-of-the-cloth, helped us figure out what we needed to do differently for the next one and from sheet #2 on, we were hanging those things like we’d done it many times before. Besides, once you shoulders go numb, you don’t really care how long you’re stuck holding up sheet rock. You can’t feel it anyway.

The construction crew worked their butts off and within three and a half days they had taken a shell of a house and turned it into a pretty damn nice interior. While the house is not yet done (it still needs the kitchen cabinetry and plumbing installed), it looks livable again. The homeowners, John and Carolyn, were grateful for all the work. They have lived since the hurricanes all over the country, and currently are stuck in the FEMA trailers they were issued two years ago. After the storms, their house was left twisted and warped, so much so that the city’s assessor told them they had no choice but to cut their losses and move on. They wanted to tear down their destroyed home and rebuild, but as their neighborhood was in a historic district, the city had ordinances that wouldn’t allow them to tear their house down. Stuck in a bureaucratic mess, they were fortunate to be added to the ULM list of houses. But because of all the extra work that was needed during the renovation to keep the house from being torn down, this project is grossly over-budget. Mark, the director here at ULM, told me about this during one of our Home Depot runs early in the week. But, he said, they took on the project and it doesn’t matter how over-budget it is or what obstacles they face. They will get the house rebuilt. He sees their mission as not only rebuilding homes, but in restoring people’s faith in their community, their neighbors, and in humanity in general. Talking with Carolyn, she said she’s amazed with the work and feels blessed to have people working purely out of love to get her house rebuilt.

John was so grateful that he decided to cook all of us lunch on Friday. He loves to go fishing and crabbing in the area, so he caught probably a couple hundred dollars of market price Blue Crab and fish and cooked up some homemade gumbo. Seafood gumbo with halves of crab, chicken and sausage gumbo, and fried fish. I was in heaven. I went back not only for seconds, but for thirds and fourths! I don’t know how much I ate, all I know is that I didn’t eat anything else the rest of the day. It was one of those meals I had been dreaming about since learning I would be coming to the Gulf. It was a nice way to end the first week and to say goodbye to the New Yorkers who had helped us so much.

But the day wasn’t quite over. The volunteers were from a church group, and so as a nice gesture to John and Carolyn, they went out on their last morning and bought a Christmas tree, decorated it with pictures of the their and our crew working over the week. We all snuck over there after lunch and surprised them in their home as they came back. It was now a place that the holidays could be celebrated in for the first time in years. It felt like we were all doing something truly worthwhile for the first time since joining up in October.

It got the stale taste of CTI out of my mouth. But we still had one more day of work ahead of us…

With our first team of volunteers back on their way to New York, we had a new set come in for the day. There are four AmeriCorps teams in the Biloxi area, and one of them was looking for an opportunity to gain some independent service hours. We were glad to help them out. They came by in the morning and Mark had us site crew-ers organize a food donation day.  The site here has tons (literally) of donated canned food and household items that every now and again they will set out on the side of the road and give out to people in the area who are in need.  Our friends from Gold 4 grabbed some gloves, filled a large flatbed trailer with free goodies, and manned the items for the better part of the day as people came by and “shopped.”  Sarah, Alli and I became middle-management and took the lead pointing out to everyone what needed to be lifted and where.  It’s nice having others to do the grunt work at the end of a long week, although the three of us did not slack off by any means for the day.  There was plenty of work to go around for 15 people.

By the time evening came, we were ready for some down time.  The weekend has been a welcomed change to the pace we had set for ourselves.  No doubt, once Tuesday rolls around, we’ll pick things right where we left off, but we know how to work hard and play hard.  This entry is long enough, and I still haven’t mentioned all the stuff that’s happened since Saturday afternoon:  the man with a gold grill who hit on my teammate while she was driving a 15 passenger government van, the search for cheap Hungry Howie’s pizza in the fog, Cranium nights, the camp fire that took me an hour to start, searching for John and Carolyn’s church in Moss Point, arriving at a church, having too much fun listening to the sermon (“Christ has it goin’ on like a chicken bone with no gristle on…”), realizing afterwards that this was not John and Carolyn’s church, Waffle House runs, inappropriate fun-shaped pancakes, and cold calls to bust some CAPs.

We’ve been busy.  Mark and Traci, our sponsors here at ULM, are taking us out to dinner this evening for some Mexican food.  It will punctuate the weekend nicely.

Take care all.  I’ll try for my next entry to be less than 1700 words long.

23 + 1 day

Last night was surreal, once I stopped to think about it.  For the first time in my life, I celebrated my birthday outside of Michigan.  Not only that, it was warm.  Not only that, it rained (I’ve had snow on my birthday, but not rain so far as I can remember).  Not only that, we had a campfire at the end of the night.  Not only that, but I celebrated with people I barely knew a month ago.  And now I am 23.  I still don’t really know how that age is supposed to feel.  It’s now well past my 21st birthday, which is an age that just looks debauched, and is equidistant between that age and 25, an age that just looks like if you haven’t started your life’s work yet, you’d better get going.  Twenty-three feels somewhere in between.  I feel somewhere in between.  I’ve given up a lot of my own independence by joining AmeriCorps, probably the greatest personal sacrifice I made to do this program.  I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a step back for me. 

My teammates all think I am sophisticated, complex, and mysterious.  I think that is funny.  Anyone who really knows me understands that while I do enjoy some things that really aren’t typical for people my age, I am really not that complicated a person.  I’ve never been one to really enjoy large birthday celebrations.  So, when it became known when my birthday was, I was a little worried that my team would make a big deal about it.  To prevent this, I told a few of them that all I really wanted to do to celebrate my birthday was to go to a restaurant where I could get a good glass of wine and enjoy it.  While I don’t know if I originally said this because it was what I wanted to do, or if I just wanted to pre-empt any attempts of forced fun, the idea quickly became exactly and singularly what I wanted for my birthday: an activity that I could enjoy by myself, somewhere with relaxed atmosphere, and that would not be a drawn-out time commitment. 

Little did I think that it would strike everyone else as a great idea too.

After traveling for 5 days in a van together, my team arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi on Friday evening and had the weekend to settle in to our new home.  Being able only to wear two outfits for a week made everyone a little anxious to dress nicely and go out for a few hours in the evening.  My birthday idea made for the perfect excuse to do just that. 

In Biloxi, there are a number of casinos, chains of the big names in gambling like MGM Grand and Harrah’s; this city is like the Atlantic City of the South.  Two years past Hurricane Katrina, while there are still countless foundations left scarred and bare as the houses they once supported were long ago washed away, these casinos have been rebuilt and are fully operational.  They are about the only part of the city that appears as it was on August 27, 2005.  Needless to say, if you are searching for a restaurant that has a choice selection of wines, these casinos are where you look.  When I found the right place, I made the reservation for 11, and we all prepared ourselves for what was to be a memorable night.

Some on the team had never been to a casino before, none of us were affluent enough to really afford anything short of an appetizer on the menu, yet there we were.  The hostess and manager welcomed us, sat us at a long table in the corner of the room, surrounded by modern prints of many intimate scenes of restaurant patrons on one side and a tower of wine bottles on the other.  The low light from the few lamps was offset by the three candles that burned on our table.  As the reason we were there, my teammates made me sit at the head of the table.  I was their patriarch for the evening, a position that was unfamiliar and uncomfortable to be in.  I enjoyed everything about the moment, but still I felt out of place.  This was a restaurant for celebrities, for high rollers, for people of position, not 20-year old government volunteers.  Another part of me laughed, simply tickled at the sight of us around this table; no one really with the social grace to fit in.  That brought everyone closer in my mind.  We were outcasts here, playing pretend in an adult world that none of us have really entered yet.  Something about that was as exciting as it was uncomfortable.

Then came my birthday gift to myself.  I ordered a simple glass of Pinot Noir and instantly everything changed in my mind.  It was exactly what I had wanted: something to enjoy and to savor.  It was something to reflect about the past year over.  Each sip was a memory of other glasses of wine, with other people, in places around the world.  The taste took me back to special moments I had forgotten about.  It meant more to me than simply having a good glass of wine.  This one glass was spatial, temporal, and surreal.  It was my chance to think about countless experiences all at one, and to remember why I am doing what I’m doing.

It was exactly what I wanted. 

And everyone else seemed happy enough to share in this special night.  Even if it did mean that we all spent 4 days pay on what amounted to appetizers.  For me, it was worth it.  It was a way to recognize the end of my 23rd year of life.  It is an age that I don’t yet know what to do with, and it is only fitting that it was marked by a celebration that is not quite classifiable. 

It fits with this year.  Nothing is usual. 

Born to Run?

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone and everyone who, for whatever reason be it accident or on purpose, has come to stumble across this blog.  I wish you all the best and I hope you eat your fill, if that be your tradition.

Today has already been an atypical holiday for me.  Weather pattern aside (gorgeous, by the way) I have already broken away from my traditional “sit around on the couch and watch the parade/ football game” activities.  This morning, I ran my first 5k race.  It was my goal for the end of CTI to be able to run it non-stop.  To me, someone who really never ran anywhere for any length of time until the end of September, this seemed like an attainable, but challenging goal.  So, let me officially say “done and done.”  I ran the race, grabbed an orange, and then found myself crossing into the boundaries of Push-Up City (the only city I know of with roving boundary lines…).  My official results haven’t been posted, but I estimate I ran it in about 33 minutes or so.***  All in all, there will definitely be less guilt on my part about feasting today.

In other fitness news, I never posted about the second of four Baseline tests we took earlier this week.  To recap, this is the push-up, sit-up, and 1.5 mile run.  The new numbers: 50 push-ups (up from 33), 64 sit-ups (up from 48), and 13:14 run (loss of about 40 seconds).  All in all, I am satisfied in the progress for three weeks work.  Now the goal is to keep pushing myself throughout the next year. 

Enjoy your turkey!   

***I just checked my official results.  Coming in 896th place for the 5k, my time was 31:10.4.  That means I averaged a 10:03 mile.  Better than I thought!

Induction = Reverse Graduation

This is the last entry that I will be making under the “CTI” category, because as of 1:00 pm today, CTI is over!!!

The last official morning of this experiment in “training” us to be true NCCC members began with a shocker at breakfast: frost on the grass.  Ice crystals enveloping each blade.  Enough to leave footprints as I walked to the kitchen across from my dorm hall.  Frost is not a new experience for me, but seeing this struck me hard.  It reminded me that even here in California, there is the potential for nights cold enough for winter-esque weather conditions.  Thank goodness I am leaving for Mississippi on Monday.  I need to get further south than I currently am.  I am bound and determined to avoid “winter” as much as I can this year. 

So, naturally, on the first morning of frost we’ve had out here, the first thing we are asked to do is dress in our short-sleeved polos and stand in the middle of an open field for half an hour while a group photo is taken from above.  The ratio was laughable from an organizational standpoint, 500 corps members/ team leaders : 1 photographer with a megaphone.  If nothing else, the end result should be a photograph of an accurate representation of what a mass of like-attired and cold people with the average age of 21 looks like.

Each team then had their pictures taken.  These will be framed and hung inside the administration building as our first legacy in the program.  People seeking out the Director’s office will walk past us and hopefully stop to take a look at all our smiling faces.  Needless to say, I shaved extra nice this morning.

At 10:00, we all were ushered into the theater that is across the street from campus where the official Class XIV Induction Ceremony was held.  It was a nice program that recognized the completion of the first phase of our year and marked the moment when everyone became recognized as full members in the program.  Yes, this was a sort of trial-period for everyone.  Some people find they aren’t willing to accept or live with what the lifestyle calls for.  Other people are asked to leave.  It’s rare that either will happen within the first month, but it does and has happened. 

I’m still here.  I took the pledge this morning.  And each day I find another reason why this was the right choice for me to make.

Speaking of which, I thought I would share with you all the mission statement, pledge, and oath that we are asked to take.  The first two we had to memorize, and we say them repeatedly during CTI, but they sum up nicely the philosophy of the program and I think they will give some insight into why I’m here.  And, they just seem a nice way to give closure to this part of the blog. 

Mission Statement:  “AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps will strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service.”

Induction Oath:  “I, Daniel Nikolits, do solemnly pledge that as a member of the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps, I will serve as a leader and active citizen of my community and my county and will accept equally the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship. 

I will support and uphold the mission of AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps to strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service and commit to my role as a full participant of the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps, Sacramento Campus, agreeing to abide by the guidelines established to ensure a healthy and productive community experience for all Corps Members. 

I will participate as a self-governing member of our nation.  I will inform myself about the problems of my community and my country.  And I will work with other citizens to solve those problems.

Further, I agree to continue to serve my country as a leader and citizen, not only through my involvement in the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps, but throughout my life.  I make this pledge freely and without promise of personal gain.”

Pledge:  “I will get things done for America – to make our people smarter, safer, and healthier.  I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.  Faced with apathy, I will take action.  Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.  Faced with adversity, I will persevere.  I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.  I am an AmeriCorps member and I will GET THINGS DONE!”

Three Days in the Redwoods – No Bear Attacks!

Sorry to my readers who have been longing for the next chapter in my life for more than a week.  A combination of factors (including the slowest computers in the world) make it a frustration to update.  I’ll try not to let more than 10 days go by in the future, but I apologize in advance if I do.  Also, just to update from my last post, whatever virus that was affecting me back on the third has almost run its course.  My cough has not departed completely, but I don’t look and sound like a chain smoker anymore (aka no more coughing fits).

Last weekend was a great break from CTI.  Because of Veteran’s Day, we had a three day weekend (no PT!) and since Red Unit was scheduled to leave for camp on Monday, when the holiday is observed, we had Friday off.  So, after using that day to take care of preparation and packing for camp, on Saturday my roommate, three of the girls from my team, and I took a trip to San Francisco.  Hopping on the Greyhound at 7:00 am, we arrived in the early morning and toured around Chinatown (and it’s many souvenir shops), Pier 39 (for a sweet seafood lunch), Fisherman’s Wharf (for a little shopping, street performers, and the Bushman!), and Haight Ashbury (better known as ground zero for the Summer of Love in 1967 – hippies can still be found there today!).  The weather tried to wage psychological warfare on us however.  For the first three weeks I’ve been out here, it has been consistently sunny and 70, but on this particular Saturday, the forecast was rain all day.  And that was no lie.  By 3:00 we were soaked.  We took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was so foggy/ cloudy/ overcast/ crappy, that from the observation deck at the foot of the bridge we couldn’t see it!  That just makes for a lot of very sad and angry looking pictures.  It does give me a great excuse to head back to the city, as it was a lot of fun and we didn’t see everything we had wanted to (like the Full House houses).  The rain did work in our favor, however, as after walking around wet and cold for a few hours, we all needed something warm to drink.  So, we stopped into the first cafe we could find in the hippie quarter, which turned out to be a serendipitous boon.  The cafe was actually the ground floor to a bed & breakfast called the Red Victorian.  It has 18 rooms, each of which are decorated with a different theme and given a different name (like The Rainbow Room, The Summer of Love Room, The Sun Room, etc).  Not only did I get a great Chai Latte and Nutella, Walnut and Strawberry Crepe, but I found a great place to keep in mind if ever I plan to go back to the city.

Monday, as I mentioned, began the Red Unit’s trip to Camp Mendecino a couple hours drive north of Sacramento in the midst of the redwood forests.  The camp is run by the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of San Francisco, and in exchange for letting us book the camp during the off season, we help out during our stay with end of the season maintenance and repairs to the camp.  More importantly, it is a chance for us to get off base and out of Sacramento for a few days!

Monday morning began with a drive in the rain, as the weekend’s weather was lingering over the state.  We had to face a continuous mist and rain for the first day and a half of camp.  And our sleeping quarters?  Essentially wooden tents: framed structures with a roof, bunk-beds in them, but no closed windows – only canvas flaps that covered the openings in the wall.  Most of us were expecting temperatures to drop pretty low at night, so we packed warm.  We lucked out, though.  The storm front seemed to keep things mild and it never got as cold at night as it could have. 

Few things were affected because of the rain.  We had to move the “campfire” into a fireplace in the main lodge, and people probably drank more hot chocolate and coffee than they would have if they weren’t constantly damp and cold, but otherwise we were like the postal service: rain, sleet, snow, or shine.  The purpose of the camp was to do some more team building activities, as we only have a week to go before we are officially done with training and begin our first project (thank god).  Notably, we had to go to a ropes course where our team was tasked with a fairly harrowing obstacle.  Nailed between two tall pines, some 30 feet above ground, but looking over a drop into a ravine that was near 100 feet down, was a rounded timber.  Attached to a climbing harness as if we were climbing a rock wall, we each had to individually climb up the tree on pegs nailed to the trunk, balance ourselves atop the beam, and walk across it.  It was great, because it gave our team the chance to come together by sharing an experience that pretty much scared the poop out of us all.  The view from the atop the beam was amazing, looking around at the side of a small mountain range, surrounded by soaring redwoods, trying not to look at the river flowing gently some 10 stories below…  Everyone in my team attempted the obstacle; and each met their personal goal.  I was truly impressed by the balance and coordination that some of my teammates posses. 

After our two nights of roughing it, the Red Unit packed up and left back for Sacramento.  Only somehow our van missed our turn early on, and before we realized that we hadn’t seen a lot of these small towns on the way up and that none of us remember driving through wine country before, we were already an hour south of where we wanted to be.  So, we decided that fate wanted us to take the scenic route and so we continued on down the 101 to Santa Rosa.  We stopped there for lunch at Carl’s Jr. (my first truly Californian fast food joint) and rang up a $73 and change order.  From there we journeyed onward, allowing the local in the van, Mike, to navigate us back to the highway we wanted.  Incidentally, Mike is about as local a guide as we could have hoped for – at one point we drove quite literally past his hometown, some 5 minutes away from his parent’s house.  He did well, and we made it back to Sacramento only slightly more than 2 hours later than all the other vans.  Nothing like arriving fashionably late.

In one week’s time, I’ll be done with CTI.  Next Wednesday morning we have a ceremony to make us official corps members (I guess for now we are still in our liminal phase?) and then Thanksgiving break and then Mississippi.  I can’t wait.       

Virus

Something has been attacking my body this week.  One of those small, unseen critters that worms its way into your blood and wreaks havoc on you.  Coughing, sneezing, feeling tired, looking like the Before person in a DayQuil commercial, etc.  It’s made getting through the week tough, and keeping up with this blog tougher.  In spite of my cold, however, the week has been very good (especially when I don’t look at it through the lens of a sick person with an incessant cough).

Halloween was an interesting night to be hanging around the base.  A number of people dressed up, even though none of us have that much money to go through and resources are limited.  Among the highlights were the team that went as all four Ninja Turtles, Tori (my teammate) who made a kickin’ dress out of garbage bags and duct tape, and the guys who took whatever they had lying around in their rooms (rucksacks, flashlights, belts, and whatnot) and basically turned themselves into abstract monster artwork, a la the Garbage Monster from Fraggle Rock.  For my part, while on the phone with my sister explaining to her that I really had no plans for the evening, my friend (and former pod-mate) Nicole, asked if I “wanted to dress up like a burrito…?”  She is a huge fan of a restaurant chain called Chipotle, which specializes in burritos, and on Halloween if you come into the place dressed like their specialty, they give you one for free.  Who can turn down a free burrito?  So a group of about 10 of us drove their, wrapped ourselves in tin-foil, and – laughing all the way - got ourselves some delicious Mexican-American fare for nothing.  The employees thought we were hilarious.  Well worth it.

Last night was even more worthwhile.  At 5 o’clock my team finally found out where they will be sending us for our first project: Biloxi, Mississippi.  We’ll be working with an organization called Urban Development Ministries (I think) in three capacities.  First, half of our team will be working construction, finishing houses for people on the coast who are still living in FEMA trailers from Katrina and Rita.  Second, a quarter of our team will be coordinating the volunteers who arrive to work (which could be upwards of 200 people, we’ve been told).  Lastly, a quarter of our team will be working on coordinating the food for all the volunteers.  So, there are some significant leadership positions that we’ll have the opportunity to fill.  I’ll post more details as I learn them.

If that wasn’t great enough for a night, it was my teammate Becky’s birthday today, so we celebrated it last night after dinner (hot dogs and Kraft Mac & Cheese…mmm…).  Then, I went out with three van-loads of people into midtown Sacramento to go Swing dancing.  I haven’t had the chance to really get someplace and dance like that (aside from the weddings I’ve attending, and then the dancing styles are varied) for about 8 years.  It was fun to see what I still remembered, and nice to get off base for the night.

But today, my cold kicked into third gear and I’ve pretty much slept off most of the day.  I’m feeling pretty good at the moment, but that could just be the medicine talking.  So, I’m going to go and see if I can make myself look more like the After person and have it last. 

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!