Howdy! (If you’re questioning my bizarre salutation, don’t worry, it’s not permanent; I’m simply embracing the western lingo ;) )
So much has happened! I’ll start where I left and go from there.
Two weekends ago I volunteered to help with a St. Patties’ Day Dinner. That’s seriously all I knew going into it, and I was a little leery of what I was signing up for – St. Patties Day doesn’t exactly go hand in hand with volunteering. Drinking, yes. Helping others, no. But once I got there and talked to our POC (point of contact, I wish I remembered her name, she deserves better than my forgetful memory!) I was put at ease. It was a St. Patties’ Day themed dinner to support a church’s charity, the Lazarus Foundation. They own homes and let people who’ve lost everything stay there while they rebuild their life. It was a charity dinner, everyone was happy to be there and I had a lot of fun. The Irish dancing and dinner they let us eat wasn’t too bad either!
That weekend I also made a trip to San Francisco. It truly is a beautiful city. One of our friends almost didn’t make it – she didn’t get up on time, but it worked out because we pounded on her door (to the dismay of her neighbors) and caught our train and bus in the end. Something we saw on the way really shocked me: a 12-year old boy was sitting blindfolded in the middle of the road, wanting to end his life. My friend approached him (that same friend who almost didn’t make the trip,) saying it wasn’t worth it and that he needed to move. He seemed really scared because it wasn’t difficult to convince him to go home. It was terrifying though – what would’ve happened had he not listened? What would’ve happened had we not been running late and not happened upon him? It’s spooky how things work out. I hope that boy is ok.
Now normally I’d share the pictures I took there, but unfortunately I am not today. Trust me; I’d love to share with everyone. However, there’s a strict no-photo policy here on campus and I’m not about to risk getting my camera wiped clean because someone saw me holding one. Once I get a good computer with good internet access and am not afraid of walking around with my camera I promise I’ll upload so many photos (of Sacramento and San Fran) you’ll never want to see another one again. I took pictures all day. Sadly we didn't make it to the Golden Gate Bridge, but now I have an excuse to go back later on!
After San Fran’s adventure we graduated from our CTI (core training institute) on Monday and then we went through a three day course in basic FEMA training. It was a really basic overview of the organization and its job positions, but I learned a lot because I knew nothing about how FEMA operates (apart from the need of being FEMA flexible.)
All that weekend we traveled southwest through the scenic Rockies (well we actually skirted the southern ones, but they were still wicked awesome) and the desert to arrive at this training base Sunday afternoon. I’m one of 4 drivers on my team so we rotated in 2 hour shifts (an AmeriCorps NCCC rule) and drove no faster than 65mph (when you get passed by semi-trucks, you know you’re driving a government vehicle) the entire way. I always feel incredibly lucky when traveling, and even though I was a bit sleep deprived (well actually a lot, it even triggered a couple of nasty migraines) this time was no different. Beautiful mountains, good laughs with the team, great music and seeing the desert in person for the first time, what more could a person ask for in life?
When we arrived here at the base, everything seemed awesome. Maids to clean the bathroom and make our beds, a pool to swim in, a dining hall (no more cooking dinner!); it was like walking into Neverland. However, thanks to a few of my more immature classmates (nobody from my team,) our freedoms were ripped away before we’d recuperated from our travels enough to enjoy them. There was popcorn throwing, chicken playing with vehicles and dangerous biking had so now we can’t walk anywhere alone, we must be in uniforms all day, curfew is at 9PM instead of 10PM, and we’re not allowed to leave base (unless you have a great excuse and permission from a team leader.) I feel five years old walking around in lines, and it's tough always having to walk with others when we have precious little personal time as it is. And to add on to that, my team’s honeymoon period has ended. There has been snapping, tears, whispers, all the ucky stuff. I knew it would happen, it was inevitable, and I know that it’ll make us stronger but with everything added together, it’s been a long week.
Happily (well unhappily for poor Ian,) I got a mini-vacation this past Thursday. He needed a driver to take him to the dentist, our TL, Jessica, told me to take him and lo-and-behold, I got to sit in a waiting room by myself! It was superb. And then we went to fill his prescription and during the 30 min wait, I got to walk around a K-Mart alone. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that people down here are indeed much warmer to strangers than back home. Plus I picked up some dryer sheets to throw in my boots at night and they now smell wonderful :)
Yesterday was also a good mental health day for all of us. It was a day off and they organized a trip to the Carlsbad Caverns for us (I’m still lamenting not being able to share these photos!) It required a lot of walking (to Christian, Diana and Aleia, we rocked that 75 story hike up!) but it was nonetheless really neat. As Ansel Adams (the first photographer of the cavern) perfectly put it, the caverns are “something that should not exist in relation to human beings. Something as remote as the galaxy, as incomprehensible as a nightmare and beautiful in spite of everything.”
Today we began our job-specific training. I now know a bit more about what I’ll be doing as a public assistance specialist and in the next few days I’ll hopefully become knowledgeble enough to make a good difference in the field. We’re still waiting at the edge of our seats for word on where we’re headed after this. They joke that they’ll tell us once we load up the vans and are ready to pull out which isn’t too funny but they really can’t help not knowing. Our assistance is in demand and they’re having difficulty determining who has the most need. But they’ll have to decide in the next week unless they intend on having trained FEMA workers sitting around inactive so it's getting close!
That’s all for now, I’ll be back when I can!
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