I can't believe our first spike project is almost over. Although this was the shortest project round, and it has gone by quickly, I have learned so much and gotten closer to everyone on my team. We have come together as a group really quickly, which has been wonderful. This project was probably the best we could have asked for in terms of team bonding, since we live in very close quarters and work together every day. The trailers have been an adventure. I can now say that I've learned how to sleep in a bed surrounded by all my belongings and that I can change a propane tank in the cold at 6 o'clock in the morning when we run out and have trouble getting out of bed. We wake up every day at 5:30 in order to be outside by 6:15 to help load the truck with the other members of the trail crew. We leave by about 6:45 and, after an extremely bumpy ride along dirt roads through cow pastures, we arrive at the trail by 7:15 or 7:30. First, we locate our tool cache from the day before (when we're finished our work for the day, we bury our tools in the woods so we don't have to bring them back and forth everyday), then bring them to the section of trail we're working on. Since our day starts so early, we take our lunch break at about 10:30, and then work until 1:45, when we bury the tools and head back to the van.
This was our schedule for the first 2 weeks of the project. One rainy morning during the third week, Jim took us down to a section of the trail that crossed a creek and taught us how to sight for a bridge. The next day and ever since, we've been working on two bridges along our trail. They're definitely the most visually satisfying part of trailbuilding so far, aside from seeing our progress on the trail itself, and we've now practically completed both of them.
Jim has been the best project sponsor we could have asked for! Every day he finds new things to teach us, but never makes us feel like we did anything wrong. He starts every morning by saying "It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day!" no matter the weather. Every time we do good work on the trail, he makes sure that we know he's proud of our progress.
This past week, on our way to work one day, he stopped the truck, jumped out with a chainsaw, and cut down our Christmas tree. When we got home that afternoon we dug a hole outside one of the trailers and stuck the tree in the ground. For decorations, we used old chainsaw chains, bolts, tape measure, and the brightly colored tape we use to mark the path of the trail through the woods. Jim and his dog Windy came out dressed for the occasion, Jim in his reindeer hat and Windy in her Santa cap. It's definitely made Trailsville more cheery when you can see Christmas lights out your window.
There are definitely more highlights to mention, but I have to go do the food shopping for the team. I could write a whole entry about shopping at Wal Mart, and what it's like to live here, but that will probably come later on. I'm sorry this entry is so discombobulated, but I didn't have too much time today. I just wanted to get something up about this project.
Home in less than a week and in Spain two days after that! Can't wait!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
We're in the south? (or, life in Wickes, AR)
I don't have too long to write, so I'll just make it short. We got to Wickes, AR late on the night of the 15th, to find our project sponsor, Jim, waiting for us at the bottom of the driveway to guide us to our trailers. The trailers are actually pretty nice, if a little cramped. We have 8 girls on our team, so 5 of us are staying in one and 3 in the other since only one has hot water. Yesterday and today we received chainsaw training, and today I operated my first chainsaw ever. I even kept one of my wood wafers to prove that I indeed sawed pieces off a log this morning.
The weather here is pretty chilly and cloudy, but apparently it was beautiful just before we got here, so I hope it changes soon. We were all expecting much more warmth and sunshine, considering we *are* in the south. We're in the Cossatot River State Park Natural Area (apparently the name Cossatot comes from the French phrase "casser de la tete", which has to do with the breaking of heads and is in reference to the skull-crushing ferocity of the rapids to be found on the river here, where a lot of hard-core kayakers come to get paddle). There are four former NCCC-ers working here now, and we'll be working with them for the duration of our project.
We had our first (nearly) sucessful food shopping expedition yesterday, but are here in town again today so we'll pick up a few things we forgot. I'm definitely on the way to establishing a system for figuring out the shopping list each week.
Well, that's actually about it for major happenings here in Wickes, so I think I'll go now and let someone else use this computer. Thanks for reading!
The weather here is pretty chilly and cloudy, but apparently it was beautiful just before we got here, so I hope it changes soon. We were all expecting much more warmth and sunshine, considering we *are* in the south. We're in the Cossatot River State Park Natural Area (apparently the name Cossatot comes from the French phrase "casser de la tete", which has to do with the breaking of heads and is in reference to the skull-crushing ferocity of the rapids to be found on the river here, where a lot of hard-core kayakers come to get paddle). There are four former NCCC-ers working here now, and we'll be working with them for the duration of our project.
We had our first (nearly) sucessful food shopping expedition yesterday, but are here in town again today so we'll pick up a few things we forgot. I'm definitely on the way to establishing a system for figuring out the shopping list each week.
Well, that's actually about it for major happenings here in Wickes, so I think I'll go now and let someone else use this computer. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Ready to go! (Permanent teams, first project, and other news.)
Hello! Wow, it's been a while since I've written, sorry about that! A lot has happened since my last post, as you can probably imagine. The latest news is that we're leaving on Saturday morning for our first projects! And now, for the official announcement:
My team, Water 3, will be heading to Wickes, AR to do work on trails in Cossatot State Park. We will also be building benches, laying stones and mixing mortar, as well as many other things, I'm sure. Apparently our project supervisor, Jim, is an extremely nice Southern man who looooves NCCC and actually comes to NCCC graduation at the end of the year if there has been a team working with him. I'm pretty excited to meet this guy!
We found out our permanent teams last Thursday, after a long and drawn out scavenger hunt which included Team Leaders bundled in sleeping bags wearing scary masks sitting creepily around campus. We were each given clues which led us to various locations on campus where we could find someone to give us another clue, which led to yet another location, and so on, for 5 clues total. I did the entire thing with my roommate, which we thought was odd, considering they told us it's extremely unlikely that roommates will be put on the same team, but we chalked it up to some kind of trick they were playing on us. However, when we finally arrived at our ultimate destination, we found a group of people waiting for us, and were told that this was our permanent team. I think everyone was waiting for yet another clue to take us to our "real" team, but it never came, so I guess this rule of separating roommates is a myth (there is another pair of roommates on our team as well). Once we had established that this was our actual team for the next 9 months, our team leader, Terrence, told us where we're going and what our project is going to be.
I'm really excited by the prospect of trail building, because of the fairly immediate gratification it will provide, as well as the opportunity to be stronger than I've probably ever been in my life. It was one of the types of projects I was most excited about, along with construction/destruction and clean-up in the Gulf Coast (which I'm pretty sure we'll get to do at some point). We'll be living in 3 pull-out trailers at our work site, each with its own kitchen, though I think we'll do communal cooking in one trailer every night. The nearest town, Mena, AR, is 45 minutes away. This is where we'll shop for food, use the internet and do laundry. I'm not even sure there will be cell phone service in Wickes, so get ready for substantially decreased communication!
Everyone on our team has a job, and mine is Food POC (Point of Contact). This is a fancy way of saying that I'm responsible for food shopping for my team (with input and help from everyone, of course) and for initiating menu planning. This should be a healthy challenge to my usually-disorganized self, since we won't really have the opportunity to go back for things we forgot once we leave Mena. For those of you who have suffered through my bouts of discombobulation, be prepared to be astounded!
There will be two other teams in Arkansas with us, stationed right in Little Rock and just outside it, so we've been making plans to meet up with them for Thanksgiving. The team just outside of Little Rock is living in a house on a lake, and I think it's been established that they will be the hosts for this meal. Although I'm sad I won't be able to go home, I think this will be a pretty good substitute.
We'll be finishing our project on December 15th and back in Denver on the 16th, which thankfully leaves us plenty of time to do laundry and pack for winter break. This is going to be a whirlwind!
The rest of CTI was fairly uneventful and included some great hikes, one in Rocky Mountain National Park and one in Boulder, at the Flatirons. Both were gorgeous, with beautiful weather (there doesn't seem to be a shortage of that around here). Denver is a great city, with the best public transit system I've ever been witness to, and possibly the cleanest streets too! I don't know how they do it! It only costs a dollar to go almost anywhere public transportation goes, since transfers are free and good for any number of changes up until a certain time, and it's all incredibly clean. I will definitely miss this city.
That's about all the news for now. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post in AR, but I'll try to write something every time we go into town. However, if anyone wants to send me letters (hint, hint) here is my address while I'm there:
Molly Weisberg
1980 Highway 278 West PLEASE IGNORE THIS ADDRESS!
Wickes, AR, 71973
Also, since I didn't post it before, here's my address in Denver:
Molly Weisberg- Class 16
Americorps NCCC
3001 S. Federal Blvd. SEND MAIL HERE! : D
Walsh Hall, Room 136
Denver, CO, 80236
As always, thanks for reading!
BIG EDIT:
Please don't send me mail at the top address, since they won't know what to do with my mail in Wickes once I'm gone! Send mail only to the bottom address, in Denver, and they will forward it. Thanks!
My team, Water 3, will be heading to Wickes, AR to do work on trails in Cossatot State Park. We will also be building benches, laying stones and mixing mortar, as well as many other things, I'm sure. Apparently our project supervisor, Jim, is an extremely nice Southern man who looooves NCCC and actually comes to NCCC graduation at the end of the year if there has been a team working with him. I'm pretty excited to meet this guy!
We found out our permanent teams last Thursday, after a long and drawn out scavenger hunt which included Team Leaders bundled in sleeping bags wearing scary masks sitting creepily around campus. We were each given clues which led us to various locations on campus where we could find someone to give us another clue, which led to yet another location, and so on, for 5 clues total. I did the entire thing with my roommate, which we thought was odd, considering they told us it's extremely unlikely that roommates will be put on the same team, but we chalked it up to some kind of trick they were playing on us. However, when we finally arrived at our ultimate destination, we found a group of people waiting for us, and were told that this was our permanent team. I think everyone was waiting for yet another clue to take us to our "real" team, but it never came, so I guess this rule of separating roommates is a myth (there is another pair of roommates on our team as well). Once we had established that this was our actual team for the next 9 months, our team leader, Terrence, told us where we're going and what our project is going to be.
I'm really excited by the prospect of trail building, because of the fairly immediate gratification it will provide, as well as the opportunity to be stronger than I've probably ever been in my life. It was one of the types of projects I was most excited about, along with construction/destruction and clean-up in the Gulf Coast (which I'm pretty sure we'll get to do at some point). We'll be living in 3 pull-out trailers at our work site, each with its own kitchen, though I think we'll do communal cooking in one trailer every night. The nearest town, Mena, AR, is 45 minutes away. This is where we'll shop for food, use the internet and do laundry. I'm not even sure there will be cell phone service in Wickes, so get ready for substantially decreased communication!
Everyone on our team has a job, and mine is Food POC (Point of Contact). This is a fancy way of saying that I'm responsible for food shopping for my team (with input and help from everyone, of course) and for initiating menu planning. This should be a healthy challenge to my usually-disorganized self, since we won't really have the opportunity to go back for things we forgot once we leave Mena. For those of you who have suffered through my bouts of discombobulation, be prepared to be astounded!
There will be two other teams in Arkansas with us, stationed right in Little Rock and just outside it, so we've been making plans to meet up with them for Thanksgiving. The team just outside of Little Rock is living in a house on a lake, and I think it's been established that they will be the hosts for this meal. Although I'm sad I won't be able to go home, I think this will be a pretty good substitute.
We'll be finishing our project on December 15th and back in Denver on the 16th, which thankfully leaves us plenty of time to do laundry and pack for winter break. This is going to be a whirlwind!
The rest of CTI was fairly uneventful and included some great hikes, one in Rocky Mountain National Park and one in Boulder, at the Flatirons. Both were gorgeous, with beautiful weather (there doesn't seem to be a shortage of that around here). Denver is a great city, with the best public transit system I've ever been witness to, and possibly the cleanest streets too! I don't know how they do it! It only costs a dollar to go almost anywhere public transportation goes, since transfers are free and good for any number of changes up until a certain time, and it's all incredibly clean. I will definitely miss this city.
That's about all the news for now. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post in AR, but I'll try to write something every time we go into town. However, if anyone wants to send me letters (hint, hint) here is my address while I'm there:
Molly Weisberg
1980 Highway 278 West PLEASE IGNORE THIS ADDRESS!
Wickes, AR, 71973
Also, since I didn't post it before, here's my address in Denver:
Molly Weisberg- Class 16
Americorps NCCC
3001 S. Federal Blvd. SEND MAIL HERE! : D
Walsh Hall, Room 136
Denver, CO, 80236
As always, thanks for reading!
BIG EDIT:
Please don't send me mail at the top address, since they won't know what to do with my mail in Wickes once I'm gone! Send mail only to the bottom address, in Denver, and they will forward it. Thanks!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I'm finally here (and I'm finally writing)!
So, I really did arrive in Denver, and have been here for a week. A lot has happened so far, and I'm sorry this is only the first time I'm writing. I'd say the biggest news for today has to be that it snowed! All day, and it's still coming down. Although most of you have probably noticed that the weather has been wacky recently, let me just say that this is the craziest that I have seen. It was 80 degrees on Sunday! I was walking around downtown Denver and wishing I had shorts on then, and today I put on my winter jacket to go to dinner. I heard there was a huge snowball fight this evening as well, but after my run in 3o-degree weather this afternoon, I didn't quite feel up to it.
But, snow aside, my first week here has been great! I've met so many more people than I could count, made some friends, explored a good deal of the city, and listened to many presentations on the rules by which our lives are governed in Americorps NCCC. Though many of these rules seem to be pointless to us now, I'm sure we will soon see the necessity for them. It is completely understandable that some form of restriction is needed to make a group of 250 young adults work together in an efficient way! I'm only just now realizing how hectic this situation could be, and admiring the miraculous lack of chaos that seems to exist here.
To top it off, I don't think I could even have picked a more beautiful setting for my NCCC training experience. Denver is wonderful. We are housed, and are being trained, at Colorado Heights University, which just so happens to be stationed at the highest point in the city. From up here, we can see a gorgeous panorama of the mountains right out the window of the dining room at every meal. So far, I think breakfast has the best view. The mountains furthest from us still had a dusting of snow on them when we all arrived, four days after Denver's first snowfall, but the view should be slightly whiter tomorrow morning. The thinner air up here definitely feels cleaner to me, making me feel as though any physical challenge should be somehow easier, with all this purity moving through my lungs. This is, however, not the case, as I get winded simply climbing the stairs to my floor in the dorm! We have our 1.5 mile baseline run in less than a week, and all I've done so far in terms of exercise is to run a mile or less three times since my arrival. I'm not too worried though, because anywhere we travel to to do a project will undoubtedly be at a lower altitude than the Mile High City. I'll feel invincible!
Right now we are cycling through our temporary teams (each unit is comprised of 5 teams, and I am in the Water unit) but we'll get our permanent teams about 10 days before we leave on our first project (if it's not a local project this is called going on SPIKE- why, I'm not completely sure, but it indicates that we must travel more than 1 hour outside of Denver to reach our project site).
Today we had two long sessions of training in preparation for going on SPIKE, from what to do to prepare for our projects, to how to interact with project sponsors and any media that might show up while we're working. I have to say, it was a little intimidating, seeing as I've never been formally interviewed in my life. However, the take-home message was pretty simple: one you're a member of Americorps NCCC, you represent the "A" 24/7, whether or not you're in uniform. There is definitely something to be said for the notion of group mentality when considering this. Basically, it was explained to us that when you are interviewed as a member of NCCC, you are never representing yourself as an individual. You are always a representative at least for your team, at most for the organization. No pressure. But really, I don't think I'll have any trouble representing either in a positive light, considering my experiences thus far. If I ever get overwhelmed at the prospect of perpetually being seen only as part of a group, I only need to remember why I'm here to make it ok again.
So, I'm sorry I haven't written anything until now and that as a result this entry is so incredibly long. Congratulations to anyone who actually made it through, and thanks so much for reading! I promise the subsequent entries will be considerably shorter!
(edit: So, scratch the shorter post thing- apparently my concept of a long post is somewhat shorter than most other people's. And most likely there will be too much time between posts to make them any shorter than this one.)
But, snow aside, my first week here has been great! I've met so many more people than I could count, made some friends, explored a good deal of the city, and listened to many presentations on the rules by which our lives are governed in Americorps NCCC. Though many of these rules seem to be pointless to us now, I'm sure we will soon see the necessity for them. It is completely understandable that some form of restriction is needed to make a group of 250 young adults work together in an efficient way! I'm only just now realizing how hectic this situation could be, and admiring the miraculous lack of chaos that seems to exist here.
To top it off, I don't think I could even have picked a more beautiful setting for my NCCC training experience. Denver is wonderful. We are housed, and are being trained, at Colorado Heights University, which just so happens to be stationed at the highest point in the city. From up here, we can see a gorgeous panorama of the mountains right out the window of the dining room at every meal. So far, I think breakfast has the best view. The mountains furthest from us still had a dusting of snow on them when we all arrived, four days after Denver's first snowfall, but the view should be slightly whiter tomorrow morning. The thinner air up here definitely feels cleaner to me, making me feel as though any physical challenge should be somehow easier, with all this purity moving through my lungs. This is, however, not the case, as I get winded simply climbing the stairs to my floor in the dorm! We have our 1.5 mile baseline run in less than a week, and all I've done so far in terms of exercise is to run a mile or less three times since my arrival. I'm not too worried though, because anywhere we travel to to do a project will undoubtedly be at a lower altitude than the Mile High City. I'll feel invincible!
Right now we are cycling through our temporary teams (each unit is comprised of 5 teams, and I am in the Water unit) but we'll get our permanent teams about 10 days before we leave on our first project (if it's not a local project this is called going on SPIKE- why, I'm not completely sure, but it indicates that we must travel more than 1 hour outside of Denver to reach our project site).
Today we had two long sessions of training in preparation for going on SPIKE, from what to do to prepare for our projects, to how to interact with project sponsors and any media that might show up while we're working. I have to say, it was a little intimidating, seeing as I've never been formally interviewed in my life. However, the take-home message was pretty simple: one you're a member of Americorps NCCC, you represent the "A" 24/7, whether or not you're in uniform. There is definitely something to be said for the notion of group mentality when considering this. Basically, it was explained to us that when you are interviewed as a member of NCCC, you are never representing yourself as an individual. You are always a representative at least for your team, at most for the organization. No pressure. But really, I don't think I'll have any trouble representing either in a positive light, considering my experiences thus far. If I ever get overwhelmed at the prospect of perpetually being seen only as part of a group, I only need to remember why I'm here to make it ok again.
So, I'm sorry I haven't written anything until now and that as a result this entry is so incredibly long. Congratulations to anyone who actually made it through, and thanks so much for reading! I promise the subsequent entries will be considerably shorter!
(edit: So, scratch the shorter post thing- apparently my concept of a long post is somewhat shorter than most other people's. And most likely there will be too much time between posts to make them any shorter than this one.)
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