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!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
