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.)