ArtWalk, Earth Day, Little Kids, and Free Food

What a busy time we are having in Memphis, y'all.  Here are a few highlights from the last time I posted a detailed description of the adventures of River 10...

Ducks hitting the red carpet

On the Wednesday 18th, we all went to volunteer at Memphis Center for Independent Living.  We did odds and ends jobs for the morning, but the exciting part was in the afternoon.  Our team was given free passes to the Stax Soul Music Museum.  We literally danced the entire way through the whole building.  It was a fun adventure for us all.  I now have a fond appreciation for Soul Music.  After the Stax Museum we went to the Peabody Hotel.  This hotel is world famous for you won't even guess what.  This place is world famous for their Mallard Ducks.  They have a fountain in the middle of the lobby with 5 Mallards.  There are 4 females and 1 male.  These ducks come out at 11am and go back to their penthouse suite on the top floor at 5pm.  The most amazing part about this and it is why we went to go see them is there is a duck march.  At 5pm the Duck Master comes to the lobby and rolls out a red carpet.  The ducks hear the music and get out of the fountain and WALK THE RED CARPET to the elevator to go to their suite.  No word of a lie on this one.  I was in heaven.  Kind of reminded me of Makeway for Ducklings which NOONE on my team has heard of.  Really showing my Boston on this one.  It was so awesome.

Thursday we put in more windows at First Congo, no big deal.  Just laid another 165 bricks and stuff.  We rock.  Friday the 19, we were on the GreenLine with VECA prepping for the ArtWalk that was Saturday.  The entire day of the ArtWalk was a huge success.  We all got to see different non-profits, artists, and a ton of kids.  We were thanked by a large amount of people for the work we are doing in Memphis.  It made us all feel really awesome and feel like we are doing a good amount of service in Memphis.  There was a kids corner at the ArtWalk where my Team Leader and Sam were in charge of face painting.  I decided that it would be in my best interest to let Beste paint whatever she wanted to my face.  Once she was finished and the looks and laughter subsided, I got to see that she painted me a full pirate face.  I embraced it in full effect and wore it to the bar that night.  Didn't even wash it in the shower.  You know what they say, you only live once.  And yes everyone at the bar, I do know my face is painted like a pirate.

Sunday was Earth Day and the whole weekend was Global Youth Service Weekend.  So, what do you think we did? Service, on our day off!  We were volunteering at Shelby Farms for a 5k road race.  Beste and I got to stand at mile 3 and tell the runners they had only a little to go and clap for about a good hour.  Our view was awesome, right on a lake.  Pretty beautiful way to celebrate Earth Day.

Monday was our first day off for the entire week.  I took it in for all it's worth.  I laid on my bed for about 6 hours straight uploading pictures to Facebook, if you are connected to this social media, check 'em out.  If you are not, well sorry, I suggest finding someone who is connected to the interweb in this way, or ask me to share some pics with you (dad).

Tuesday was more GreenLine clearing and using hard tools again that I can handle because of the muscle I am building up.

 

Me and the new members of River 10

 

River 10 females doing WORK.



Wednesday was really the day I was looking toward getting to on this here blog.  So Wednesday we started out at MCIL again, but really, we were doing NOTHING.  We were sitting being zero productive.  So Beste grabbed the bull by the horns and got us moved, great TL she is.  We got moved to the VECA community to a condemned home.  This home had a dilapidated garage in the back.  River 10 was assigned to demolish this large piece of beauty.  We attacked it at full force.  The 5 females on our team decided we would use the sledge hammer, the regular hammer, and our strong arms to really attack the whole garage while the boys did the picking up of the wood we were removing.  Girl Power.  Once we got the big pieces out of the way, we noticed that there were a lot more children around the neighborhood.  After a good 45 minutes of walking by us and just saying hi, one of them made it to the backyard where we were working.  Bo Bo was his name.  He decided he would be an honorary AmeriCorps member for the afternoon.  Why not! He then rounded up about eleven of his closest friends (all aged 5 and 6) to help us.  I was in my GLORY.  These kids had our hard hats on, gloves on, our safety goggles, and were using the wheel barrow.  It was honestly one of the best moments of the entire program.  I really felt like I was at my happiest because I saw children again.  It made me realize how much I miss my middle school students (especially those 8th graders) and my Bridgie at home.  One of them, Tevian, wore my hat, helped me rake, and became my little buddy for the afternoon until he had football practice.  These kids really turned our mood around for the day.  The 5 and 6 year old faces looking at us gave me a sense of hope that the work I am doing in this program is for all of the right reasons.  We were in their neighborhood helping one of their neighbors homes that was vacant for so long that it was creating an unsafe place for these little boys to play.  The reason I joined AmeriCorps is really because of children like Tevian, Bo Bo, and Little Mike.  I want to make a difference in lives, and on this day I really felt like I did.

 







Me and my buddy Tevian



Thursday was our best day for team morale.  We were at our peak on this day.  We started the day with the rising sun for PT then found out at 7am when we were done running 2.4 miles and doing a large core workout that was awesome (because I made it up) that we didn't have to be at work until 10.  We took the next 3 hours to literally sit in the kitchen and bond.  We made breakfast for each other and just had a fun morning.  Unfortunately, the next two days at our location were kind of low in work so we felt useless.  But, it didn't change how we are now feeling about being a team.  We really are on the upswing as a team and we are all really happy to be with each other.

Adding to the happiness is free food.  We got an anonymous note on Scooter our van on Friday morning that read something along the lines of Please come to skunx.  Dinner on us :).  Skunx is come to find out one of the most amazing pizza joints ever.  We went to scope out the scene to see if the note and to see if the dinner on us part of the note was true.  IT WAS.  We got 5 free pizzas.  They. Were. Delicious.  HOWEVER, we used this pizza outing as a celebratory meal beacuse we found out our next spike location!  River 10 is heading to Lorton, Virginia and Hattiesburg, Mississippi!! Lorton, which is 18 miles outside of DC is going to be an exciting project.  We will be blazing a trail, literally, in this town.  There is a patch of wooded area that we are going to cut out to become and environmental trail.  Pretty cool.  In Hattiesburg, we are going to be doing construction on a disaster area.  Disaster relief it is! We will be finishing a home that houses volunteers that was started by another team this round.  This town is a 2 hour train ride to New Orleans where about 5 teams from our Corps will be located or close to.  A lot of my good friends from other teams will be there so it will be fun to see those people while we are on our trips.  It has been hard not seeing some friends, but only 2 more weeks until Vicksburg again.  We don't know too much yet, just where we are heading, but WE ARE PUMPED!!

Tomorrow we are going to construct a greenhouse at a community garden on our day off.  We are buuuuuuuuuuuusy!

That's all for now.  Until next time readers.  Stay classy y'all.





The 2 tiny reasons why I am here, Bo Bo and Tevian.

All shook up in Memphis

Here I am, still in Memphis ya'll.  Still loving everything, but hitting a little rut.  One of our teammates put it best, our honeymoon stage of each other is over, and we are all learning who everyone really is.  Every team goes through these feelings and they will pass.  Until then, here is what has been going on work wise in Memphis...



MLK's hotel room and cars



Last Monday we had our day off.  Our team decided, since we had visitors from campus, to go to the Civil Rights Museum.  It was one of the most amazing places I have ever been.  I felt like I was learning so much (things I already should have known, I know), but my eyes really opened.  The museum itself is located at Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and assassinated.  It really was an amazing place and we really enjoyed it.  After the museum, our team went to Central BBQ.  Southern BBQ, nothing like it.  My taste buds have really changed since I left home and I love spicy and BBQ so much now.  The pulled pork I got was out of this world. My mouth watered as I ate it.  I was a proud member of the Clean Plate Club on this day (Kristen you'd be proud).

Last Tuesday we worked on the Green Line with Kirbster.  He really loves us and we are so happy working with him.  Sam, Chris, and I got to paint about 14 signs that are going to be hung around the working area of the Green Walk which is April 21.  My paint skills really came in handy on this day, I really made the janitors of Burlington proud with the paint job I did.  We had a meeting with the Art Walk committee to get to know the details of the day we are pretty much in charge of this Saturday.  In the afternoon we did a lot of brush clearing and making the location of the Art Walk just simply beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Doing a lot of work
on the Green Line

Wednesday we were again, on the Green Line.  This Green Line is in the heart of Memphis and is a 1.7 mile stretch in the middle of Memphis.  We started at the end to work toward the beginning to clear brush, weed whack, power saw trees, and rake leaves.  I used a weed whacker for the first time and a really intense power saw.  My arms were killing me, but I powered through and chopped down unnecessary brush and whacked some weeds.  Pretty powerful tools, but since I am jacked I can control them. 

Thursday we were back to doing one of our most favorite activities thus far, glass brick laying!  This day we put together 3 and 3/4 windows.  We are pretty much the best team ever.  Sam and I took on a window together and got it complete, so complete that Marky Mark, our site supervisor said it looked flawless.  Would you expect anything less?  This part of the projects we are involved with really seems to bring out the little kid in our team and we seem to always enjoy each other on these days.  We, per usual, ended up throwing mortar at each other instead of laying bricks at times, but we really got things done on this day.



River 10 with Sledge Hammer



Friday may have been the most boring day, but we really helped out people in need.  We were at Memphis Center for Independent Living.  Last Saturday we spent the morning with Sledge, aka Sledge Hammer our site supervisor, here planting flowers for their patio and making the entire place look more beautiful for a big event.  This is the project I was most excited about because we would be interacting with individuals with disabilities.  This particular day was their Spring Fling.  They had about 80 individuals come to this event.  We were in charge of cooking and interacting with the individuals.  Even though the day did not involve physical labor, we really felt like it was our lowest day.  I felt somewhat useless until a woman asked me to assist her in the bathroom and then I felt like I had a real need.  I got to talking to this woman who is 62 and completely paralyzed on her left side from a stroke/car accident.  She told me I was good at what I am doing and the most beautiful girls she has seen.  She told me that God has a plan for everyone and I was sent to her on this day to be her angel.  Yeah, I got a little emotional, but she was the sweetest woman ever.  For our lunch break we went to the VECA office and had a little seminar with a professor from Rhodes College, a college in Memphis.  We had a discussion on the study of the history of words, etmology if you will.  It was one of the most engaging conversations I have had since coming here and, I'll admit it, it made me miss college.  At night there was an event in downtown Memphis that some of the team went to.  We ran into Kirbster while there and he told us about a great pizza place on the street.  He then handed us 50 dollars and told us to enjoy ourselves.  He really is a saint.  Gotta love the Dr. Fertman look alike.



Me and "Elvis"



Saturday was spent doing literally all day ISP's.  I need at least 80 hours of Individual Service Projects and Saturday alone was 12 hours.  For part of it we got to help out at a Farmer's Market.  And by help out I mean we put up a few tents and then sampled every bit of food available.  (Something may be coming to 10 Thomas for Dad-Z in the near future)  The market was unbelievable.  The other part of the day was spent painting a stair case the leads to the Global Goods Fair Trade store located in our hostel.  The directions we received were "make it colorful and do what you want."  We did just that.  We did a base of blues for the ocean, pained the globe, then put our hands in every color paint and threw it at the wall trying to represent splatter paint.  It was awesome.  As I type there are purples, yellows, and greens on my hands still.  So clean.  Saturday night a few of us went to Beal Street.  I found an Elvis impersonator and got a picture, heard some real blues music, and enjoyed cheap 32 ouncers, which were literally called "Big A** Beers."  Really fun night.  Some of us finished up painting all day yesterday on a nice Sunday from 11am-1:45am today.  We took a break here and there to eat, but really all together these two days we got 21 hours plus of ISP.  That brings my total to about 45.5 hours of Individual Service.  Awesome.  Here are a few pictures from our ISP...

 

Today is a day off and we are going to finish the staircase.  I wish I was in Boston for the one of my favorite days of the year today.  But I know what I am doing will benefit me in the long run and there will be a Marathon every year.  I miss everyone a lot and hope everyone is doing well. 

Until next time...keep it classy.  LET'S GO BRUINS!

Glass bricks, Green Line, 2 ER trips, and one full week of work!

 

VECA Green Line

Today marks one week of being in Memphis doing work.  It has been a real exciting one.  We decided, per request of TL Beste, to do 10 push-ups on the hour, every hour while we are working.  Once 10 gets to be enough, we will move up to 15 and so on.  Also, if you swear while wearing our "A" you need to do 20 push-ups on the spot.  Friday was our first day of real work.  On this day we reported to the Green Line which works with VECA.  Our site supervisor is Dr. Kirby, Kirbster, who was a professor at a local university in Memphis.  He is a spitting image of Dr. Fertman, my orthodontist.  Our team is planning their annual Art Walk and we will be pretty much running the day for VECA.  We are pretty much a big deal.  3 teammates and I mapped out a large green space we are going to utilize for the event where we are going to put booths, vendors, and a huge table where another team member and I get to put our CAPping skills to use.  CAP stands for Cops Ambassador Person aka we like to do public speaking roles.  Also a big deal.  After dodging the rain, we successfully mapped out the green space.  In the afternoon we got to go into a community garden in Memphis.  This garden is in a rough neighborhood and it is used so that the people of the neighborhood can plant their own fruits and veggies.  Sam, Jamie and I got to plant a tree!  It may sound dumb, but it was hard work man.  I was sweating like a pig and had a GREAT hair day that day.  I felt so accomplished after digging a large hole and planting a tree that is going to bloom with flowers.  Kirbster loved it.  One of my team members, Dave, used a chainsaw and cut down a huge tree.  It was an overall awesome day.  125 push-ups later.



Jamie, Sam, and I with our tree.





Saturday we got to work with a new supervisor on renovating apartments that are going to be for rent for low-income families.  They are small, but if a family needs a home for cheap, they will take it.  I prepped a room to be painted, took me back to my painting days as a janitor.  Some of my other teammates painted the outside of the house while others did some landscaping.  In the afternoon, Dave and I went to an apartment to stain the porch.  I wish of all the times I saw Dad-Z staining that I jumped in to help.  It is harder and more tiring than it looks.  Wearing the coveralls is a pain, but at least my awesome khaki and gray didn't get stained.  Hard work and sweat always leads to a good night.  That night some of us went for Mexican food and drinks Mexicans drink.  Then we moseyed on down the street to an Irish bar.  Just exploring all heritages.  About 150 push-ups later.



Sunday and Monday are our weekends because we work Tuesday-Saturday.  Sunday was a relaxing day.  I spent it with Jamie walking to CVS, getting Starbucks, and relaxing.  Sunday night Sam and I made dinner until she sliced her finger on the can of peas.  ER trip #1 on the round/year.  She is fine, just a nasty cut.  Monday some of us got up early and went to the Midtown Food Bank for an ISP.  This was an eye opening experience.  We learned how many people are actually hungry in the 31 counties this food bank serves.  We got to organize a ton of bread to pass out and boxed up rice to ship to families.  When we were there, we found out that there is another non-profit inside the food bank called Kids Cafe.  This Cafe is open on Tuesday-Thursday and it is where kids can go to eat dinner with other children.  The woman explained it as the one meal where the children who come get to sit and eat.  Jamie and I took it upon ourselves to contact this woman about wanting to volunteer with the kids.  She told us that I can teach a nutrition class and Jamie can serve as someone they can talk to.  We are starting this next week! 0 push-ups day off.



Little circle saw action.



Monday night brought ER trip #2, this time for me.  I had something real painful in my eye and come to find out I have conjunctivitis!  Fun times.  Tuesday was a sick day for this corps member, unfortunately.  It was my first time since February 27 I was alone for a long period of time and BOY did I hate that.  I was so happy when my team came home.  Wednesday we worked at the First Congo doing projects for our sponsors who got us the hostel and housing.  We split up and the part of my team I was working with knocked out windows that were flooded and we got to replace them.  We didn't replace them with ordinary windows.  No, we got to lay down glass bricks using mortar, aka butter.  We called the cement butter because we had to spread it over the brick and lay them out.  Our supervisor, Mark, had a lot of fun with us.  We laid bricks pretty much all day and it was awesome.  The morning was used to prep the windows by taking the old windows out using tools.  I got to operate the circle power saw.  I felt like the absolute woman.  It was awesome.  The best part of the day was when we decided to have a nice butter fight.  We were throwing cement at each other and having a really good time as a team.  It was a really good day. A lot of push-ups.



We don't have fun.



Zero fun.



Today was a little different.  It rained, then was sunny, then rained, and then was sunny.  Weird Memphis weather.  We were supposed to continue laying bricks, but then all Hell rained down on us.  We got to do things inside.  We put some shelves together for the food bank that comes to donate food to the church for a day called Helping Feed the Homeless.  We then organized a real messy room.  It was doing busy work that is totally necessary for our First Congo to operate at it's finest.  Today it was counted that including PT, we did close to 200 push-ups for the day.



Very productive.



Overall, minus the junk in my eye, this week was awesome.  Memphis and all of the work we are doing is going really well.  River 10 is getting things done for America for sure.  Still loving being down south, y'all! 

We made it! End of CTI, Johnson flood, and Memphis



Rachel, Sam, Margaret, and I before Induction sporting the AmeriTux



Reporting live from Memphis, TN!  This week brought the end of CTI.  We are officially trained and ready to take on America.  Monday brought us to Induction Day.  This ceremony was so nice.  We got to listen to many speakers and recite the pledge to become official members of AmeriCorps.  It was a long 4 weeks, but I am so glad I made it.



Sunset over the Mississippi River.



Tuesday was a bitter sweet day.  We had a few things to do around campus, but mainly it was used to say bye to the friends who have quickly become family in 4 short weeks.  I have made some of the best friends here that aren't on River 10 with me.  These people were the hardest to say bye to.  I am extremely thankful that Sam, one of my best friends here, is on my team.  However, the third musketeer, Rachel, is on a different River team.  The three of us spent Tuesday hanging out and going to one of Vicksburg's finest eating establishments, Whataburger, for dinner. (totally kidding about finest, it's fast food)  Once that beautiful moment was over, I went with my old River 10 team from week one to watch the sunset on the Mississippi River.  This was the first full circle moment for me while being in Mississippi.  This was my first team as I got to campus and they were the people I got to spend my last night in Vicksburg for 6 weeks with.  It was so nice to talk about the 4 weeks of CTI with the ten people I started it with.  Once I got back to campus it was time to pack.  My little red bag had to fit EVERY piece of uniform, PT clothes, and leisure clothes.  This was a struggle.  While hanging with my friends we heard a gush of water from the hall.  Then we saw water trickling into our dorm room.  What do you know, a pipe burst in Johnson Hall, my new dorm.  Needless to say, my last night which was supposed to be saying bye to friends, was spent with a shop vac, mops, brooms, and towels trying to clean the mess.  Have no fear, I survived the Johnson Hall Flood of 2012.



Me and Sam.



Wednesday morning brought on Christmas morning feelings.  River 10 was heading to Memphis!  We piled into Scooter our 15p van for our 5 hour drive.  Before we parted our ways, we said our last tearful goodbye's to some close friends who we all have decided to write, call, and skype.  Once that emotional morning was over it was Memphis bound!  We got to our site for work around 2pm.  We sang, laughed, slept, and cruised at a speed of 65 mph the whole way.  Our site sponsor is VECA, Vollinteen Evergreen Community Association.  VECA was created to improve communication and strenghten resident relations within biracial neighborhoods. Our sponsor, Michael, is awesome.  He is a recent graduate from Rhodes College in Memphis and is pumped to be working with us.  For them, we are going to be improving their Green Line which is a natural trail outside.  We are also helping to repair affordable housing and the office/Welcome center of VECA.  They have us also in charge of an Art Walk festival.  We are going to be planning the event and picking spots for all vendors and booths.  There are also 3 co-sponsors of this SPIKE.  One co-sponsor is the First Congregational Church, which is actually connected to our hostel.  We will be doing maintenance of the outside and inside of the church.  Another sponsor is Memphis Heritage Inc.  For this sponsor we will be helping them for 3 days by doing prep work for their big yard sale fundraiser.  The contact woman, is the best.  She told us to call her our Memphis Mom.  She wants to get us tickets to baseball games, the Civil Rights Museum and anything in Memphis.  Our last sponsor is one I am particularly the most excited about.  They are called the Memphis Center for Independent Living.  For this project we are working with the center to improve their outdoor garden and patio.  We also may be building handicap ramps.  I am most excited because 51% of the staff at MCIL are individuals with disabilities.  Today on our tour we met all of the staff and I am so excited.  We get to interact with these individuals and I was crawling out of my skin with excitement.  I felt right in my element in this building.  I really am so excited to be living in this unbelievable hostel and getting to know David, Terrel, Chris, Lannise, Jamie, Sam, Johnny, John, Andrea, and our fearless Team Leader Beste, aka River 10, a lot more.  We are bonding really well and our home here in Memphis is awesome.  Me and my teammate John are in charge of PT for our team so we are running them to the ground.  I also am Assistant Team Leader this round so I have much more responsibility.  I am excited about that.  An AmeriCorps requirement is that along with our 1,700 hours of community service by graduation, we need to do 80 additional Individual Service Project hours.  But, we lucked out.  Our hostel has about 3 or 4 places we can do ISP hours at, and we did 2 hours tonight already.  I can feel this is going to be a good SPIKE!



ISP bike shop work.



So that's it from Memphis.  I am really happy that I am here with my team in this unbelievable city.  Also there are 3 Dunkin' Donuts here that my teammate Jamie and I are excited about.  I will be doing a lot of walking around the city on our days off (Sunday and Monday) to get acclimated with the place. 

More to come when we really start getting our hands dirty as we walk in Memphis everyday!

Induction Day

Hello all.  So tomorrow, Monday March 26, 2012, I become officially inducted as an AmeriCorps member.  After the long 4 weeks of CTI (Training) we are DONE!  It seems like it has been about 4 years, not weeks.  I can't tell you how happy I am that training ends and I get to use my new skills come Wednesday in Memphis.  I applied to be a speaker at induction tomorrow, but was not chosen to share my reflection.  I wasn't too let down since on Friday at our community meeting they let me read it to everyone.  Our community meetings consist of every Corps Member, every Team Leader, and every staff that are on our Southern Region campus.  They were the people that I really wanted to read my reflection to anyway.  We all know how much I love to talk, so this was not that big of a deal to me.  I wanted to share with you my reflection.  It had to be written about what service means to me and how the last 4 weeks at NCCC has been for me.  This is what I said...

Before beginning a day of service I always think of the quote that reads, "Those who can, do.  Those who can do more, volunteer."  Service and volunteerism are vital for human growth and development.  The fulfillment I feel knowing I helped another individual makes me feel on top of the world.  Service is more than a physical act.  Service brings out emotions in me that are sometimes too much to put into words.  Now, doing National Community Service, I believe I am going to feel pure happiness knowing I will be touching lives of complete strangers.  Each and every young person should take part in service during their life.  It only takes one day of volunteering to get hooked enough to make service your life for ten months.

The past four weeks have changed my life.  Before coming to NCCC, I felt every emotion.  The second I got to campus, every emotion suddenly went away.  It was at that moment I knew I made the right choice to leave my Massachusetts home to come to Mississippi.  Immediately we were thrown into vans with random strangers, and boy am I happy that was the case.  From that moment on, and every moment after, I have met people who quickly took a large place in my heart.  Our hands on experience at King's Community has helped us prepare for our new ventures with our teams.  Those days may have been the most sweaty, but they are the most important.  I am excited to put my new skills to work on SPIKE one coming up.  I know these next 9 months will fly by and I can't wait to experience it all.  So to answer the three questions I was always asked before leaving, yes I am in Mississippi, yes I am volunteering, and yes I will change the world.  To close I would like to tell you all one thing.  When I wake up in the morning I put on our beautiful uniform and I look in the mirror.  I look at myself and tell myself I look good.  So today, I would like to tell you all one thing.  You look good.

After the last line, it is safe to say the roar of laughter was contagious.  From that speech on, everyone has been telling me and the whole corps that they all look good.  I felt really honored by the two rounds of applause I got and the fact that I got to share my experience with my friends from here and the staff of this wonderful program.  Tomorrow will be an exciting day and I can't wait to officially be an AmeriCorps Member and get things done!

I will write another blog probably Tuesday sometime before we leave for Tennessee.  Keep me and the other 165ish members in your thoughts tomorrow for our big day!

Walking In Memphis

Hello blog readers.  I know it has been quite some time since I last posted so let me give it to you in as most detail as possible.  I think a day-to-day rotation would suit this situation well, since the last week and a half has been an exciting one!

Last Monday we woke up with the rising sun, or pitch black which ever way you want to look at it, and had a great PT session.  After we sweat our brains off, we went into some real interesting training about asbestos, lead, and mold.  We were, in short, learning how to muck and gut a house.  We actually got to go to homes in Vicksburg, Mississippi y'all and put our skills to work.  We had to wear our awesome hazmat gear and sweat like crazy.  It could have been the hottest day thus far, but I powered through and didn't complain once about the heat (that's a lie).  These houses were in terrible condition, but we made the best of it and got through the day.  While at one house we were cleaning the debris pile and I ran into the home owner.  He was going through the pile to find some valuables from his home and I just asked in a casual way how he was.  His response of "I was doing pretty poorly until you all got here to help and now I am happy" made me realize in that very debris pile that I am here for a reason and I am going to be making a huge difference.  After the emotionally and physically draining day, we had a lovely dorm wide clean up night.  Our dorm, Ann, has been pretty messy, but believe it or not, I was doing a good load of dishes everyday.  We each got assignments for the dorm to clean and I had the bathroom on the first floor.  I could have used MaryKathryn's help on the toilet, but I managed to do a great job all while singing my well known song around here of Lean on me and entertaining most of my friends.  Yes, I cleaned my first toilet.

Tuesday we learned about Child-Friendly Spaces.  We may be working along side or closely with children in the next 9 months.  We learned how to basically help them out and cope with what they are going through.  While we were doing some big time learning, all I could think of was the fact that Tuesday night was the big permanent team reveal.  I could not tell you why I was so nervous about it, but I was.  However, before team reveal, my last temporary team leader made us the most delicious jumbalia.  I enjoyed it to the fullest.  Around 7 we were told to go to the gym with our temporary team.  While there we were put into lines and told an action.  I had to act like I was a willow tree.  Everyone had a separate action and we had to find the other people who were acting like you were.  When the entire team was organized, you were given a scavenger hunt clue to go find your permanent Team Leader hiding on campus somewhere.  After a good hour, we found our Team Leader.  I will be permanently on River 10 with our team leader Christine.  If you recall, she was my first Temp Team Leader.  We call her Beste (best-ie) because it is her last name, which makes her the best-e.  I could not be more excited.  She was hiding in a room with balloons all over the floor.  Those balloons had hints to our first project.  WE ARE GOING TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE!! We will be working with VECA an organization in Memphis.  We are going to be doing everything, construction, trail building, and being in charge of volunteers all while living in a hostel for 2 months.  That night was very exciting.

Wednesday we had, by far, the best day of training.  It was called Hands of Peace.  This day was the first day as a team and it couldn't have gone better.  We did pretty much get to know you games all day with another team from our River Unit.  It was a great day to start to build team chemistry and know facts about one another.  Both teams bonded real fast and every doubt we all had about our teams left after that day. 

Thursday I got to go out into the city of Vicksburg and CAP.  Basically, I went, along with 2 others, to explain to companies about AmeriCorps and to thank them for welcoming us to the city.  It was great to get to know the people of Vicksburg and Mississippi y'all in general.  I sported the Ameritux nicely and really repped the 'A' that day.  Once done CAPping, we got to join our fellow Corps members and do some beautification of Vicksburg.  I was put to Catfish row, which is right on the Yazoo River, the river that connects with the Mississippi.  We were picking up trash and making our city look nicer. 

Friday, finally.  Our Friday consisted of early morning PT then days of classroom work.  Since it was AmeriCorps week all week, we had an open house.  After our second class of the day, I was asked to speak at a little gathering of high school students in the chapatorium.  I spoke about why I am doing service and what we have been doing so far the past 3 weeks.  I like to tell people about how I feel about this program.  It is important that people understand what we are all doing and why we are doing service.
Saturday, we got to go back to the houses we were mucking and gutting and do some construction!  Our team put up a wall of dry wall.  We worked hard as a team and were told that we are a strong unit by one of the staff members.  We all thought on a Saturday, St. Patrick's Day none the less, that we would be working until 5:00.  Much to our surprise, we got finished much earlier than that.  A group of my friends and I thought it would be a great idea to go off campus and get a good dinner and have some green beverages to celebrate the best day of the year.  My bartender really made me feel at home and told me that she got some green napkins and food coloring for the beverages for me since I told her that is what my mom does.  What a woman. 

Sunday was a much needed DAY OFF.  These days seem few and far between because of everything we are doing.  I enjoyed it with a couple of good friends, a huge burger, and a nice trip to the local smoothie place.  I was happy and content with doing nothing but enjoy life in Mississippi y'all on our beautiful campus.  Unfortunately I missed a couple of big events at home.  My little Lady Tanners (yes Woburn sorry everyone) U12 hockey team were in the Valley League championship.  They lost in that game, but have improved so much over the year and I could not be more proud of all of them.  I miss their little faces a lot and I actually got to talk to all of them before the game.  I also missed a pretty big family event that turned out much better than the girl's game.  The BHS Red Devil hockey team played at the beautiful TD Banknorth Garden for the D1 State Championship which they WON!  I could not be more proud to tell people here my father is the coach of the team and that he is the best coach I know.  I know I will have days of feeling homesick, but I survived with the help of my friends and distractions here.  I am here for a purpose and am doing well now.


Sunset night one



Anyway, back to the 3 most exciting days.  On Monday morning we had PT, per usual.  After PT we had a couple of classes, but then we piled into the 15P van, which we named Scooter the Magic School bus, and drove to Northern Mississippi for a camping trip.  I have never been camping, so this was an experience.  No running water, no shower, a porter potty, and lots of sweat.  Monday was used to set up camp and sleep basically.  When we all arrived, every corps member went back about ten years and turned into a little kid.  We skipped rocks, explored, and sat on the dock for about two hours.  Two great hours.  Tuesday was business as usual.   Our team was in charge of picking up trash along a 3-mile route into the camp ground.  After lunch, we helped dig holes to put a new fence in.  After all of this, we changed into comfortable clothes and went for a long walk on trails with our team and another.  After the walk, due to excessive sweat once again, we decided the best route to get rid of the wicked hot feeling would be to jump in the lake, fully clothed.  Due to me sporting my Pats t-shirt and shorts I like I was pretty hesitant.  But I decided since it was my first camping trip I decided my motto would be "why the hell not" I jumped right in.  I made sure to force the rest of my friends to jump in, too. Tuesday night was used for team bonding.  We made a nice dinner fire side and played some get to know you games and really bonded.  I slept on the dock with a bunch of people under a clear sky of stars.  It was really dreamy.  Wednesday we piled into our vans and went to Ole Miss campus.  This campus has a ropes course.  The morning was a low ropes course, but the afternoon was a high ropes course.  Since I am such a tough guy, I did about every high ropes activity possible.  I walked on a cat walk, pretty much a large log connecting to a wire with ropes to hold onto, while strapped into a belay line with a seat to get to a platform to zip line to the other side of the woods.  I was shaking the entire time, but why not try something about 45 feet off the ground.  After that I went up a power pole that was about 45 feet high stood on top of it and jumped to try to catch a trapeze.  I missed, but stood on top of the pole scared out of my mind for a solid 2 minutes.  It was the most exciting experience.  Overall the 3 days were perfect.  Awesome sunsets, awesome conversations, awesome tents with sleeping bags to sleep on (not awesome), and the shower on Wednesday night was the best part.  I have never felt so clean. 



Today we got to go into the capitol of Mississippi y'all, Jackson.  Some teams were sent to the capitol building to stand on the floor to receive an award, while other teams, like ours, were touring the old capitol building.  The next few days will be used to prepare to walk in Memphis everyday, which I have informed my team that I will be singing everyday when we wake up.  I have taken up singing since I have been here and I am pretty well known for having the worst rendition to Lean On Me possible.  I have Dad-Z to thank for those beautiful vocals, thanks Dad.  I have been named ATL (assistant team leader) for this round.  I will be doing paper work and taking on team leader responsibilities with Beste until we return to campus on May 12.  Pretty exciting.  Monday we have an induction ceremony which we get sworn in as official AmeriCorps members. 

Long winded, but that's it.  Sorry so long, but I had to get it all out.  I will give an update about our team, Ridelten, which we named ourselves because we adopted 2 Delta Unit team members for the year and we are River ten.  Another portmanteau.  So many ameripuns and ameriwords it is crazy.  I hope all is well with everyone reading and I will give another short post before we depart on Wednesday for Memphis! 

P.S. In case anyone has lingering mail they would like to send me, here is my address
Christine Conceison Class 18 Winter
AmeriCorps NCCC
2715 Confederate Ave.
Vicksburg, MS 39180
Send away people.

P.P.S Pictures do not upload here unless you have ten hours, I will be setting up a photo page hopefully with my wonderful pictures of my wonderful new life. 
That is all.

Week 2- College Freshman Orientation 101

It seems like the weekends fly by, but the week seems to drag on.  This past week was a LONG one.  I was on Divine River 9.  Our Team Leader refers to her team with a nice southern accent as Divine River 9.  Joining this team made me feel a little worried because of how well my first team got along.  Much to my surprise, week 2 went just as smoothly as week 1 did.  Our team meshed well together and we all had a lot of fun.  This week consisted of very boring classroom discussion that made us all feel like we were college freshman at orientation, but they are important to learn and have if you want to be successful in the program.  Monday we woke up with the sun to travel to the military park in Vicksburg to do our baseline testing.  We had to run 1.5 miles and do as many sit-ups and push-ups as we could in a minute.  The number 37 was all over my baseline.  After that nice way to start the day, we were in diversity training all day.  The man teaching it was interesting, but the content was very monotonous.  Tuesday brought me back to my driver's ed days.  This day was van training.  We had the morning of learning the rules of the road, then the afternoon we got to drive.  I happily got into the drivers seat of the 15p and passed that test.  I will bring my supurb driving skills from Mass to Mississippi as I drive.  Wednesday we had a training on the power of language and how to speak to individuals who are not the same as you, as well as how to converse with other Corps Members.  We had CPR, First Aid, and AED training for an entire day on Thursday.  Friday, we had disaster relief training from the Red Cross, which made the day drag.  Over all, we powered through the week just to get to the weekend off.  I will say though, since I got here, I have started some daily affirmations and I feel good starting off each day.  I spread the love around to just about everyone I run in to.  It started as a joke because of our uniforms, but now I wake up and tell myself and the girls I live with that they look good.  A lot of people think it's funny, but I think it helps to get through the day in our beautiful khaki and gray uniforms.

The best day of the week had to be yesterday.  It was around 72 degrees out and the sun was surely shining (you could tell if you could see me right now).  My two friends and I took blankets outside around 11:30 and laid out until 2:00.  It was the best moment of the week.  I got a little too much sun, but it was relaxing and I was just so  happy to be taking life in on the grass with two of my good friends.  After our real strenuous day we took a nap then got ready to take on Vicksburg down town again.  We decided that a group of 10 of us were going to go out to dinner.  I must say, it was the BEST dinner I have had in a long time.  We went to a restaurant called Rusty's.  Don't let the name fool you.  It was unreal.  I got red fish that was covered in a craw fish sauce and cheese grits on the side.  Real southern.  I did not what so ever like the grits, but the fish didn't stand a chance.  So basically, the highlight of my week was doing nothing and eating southern fish.  The real reason I am here.

This week coming up is AmeriCorps Week.  I volunteered to be an AmeriCorps Ambassador and will be going Thursday out into the city to speak to people about AmeriCorps.  I have been brushing up on my Vicksburg facts and facts about the program.  I am excited to be telling people how important this program is to me, and to our country.  I get to wear my "Ameri-tux" instead of the nice khaki garb that I rock everyday.  I am excited for the day.

Tuesday we find out our permanent teams.  This is making me a little nervous, but I am sure that I will make the best of whatever team I am put on.  I am looking forward to learning about each person on my team that will become my Ameri-family for the next 9 months.  Tonight we are going to a dinner at the church of one of the staff members here.  She is having the entire Corps from this base to her church for a nice big meal.  I am looking forward to meeting some Vicksburg folk outside of the AmeriCorps.

So that's it for week 2.  Sorry this post was not as fun as the last two, but I am sure the next one will be since I will know my team!  I hope you all enjoy your week, especially your St. Patrick's Day on Saturday!  I will surely miss Boston Saturday and the green dye that usually is spread around 10 Thomas on Mom's favorite holiday!  Have a few green beers for me, I will most likely be camping with my new team instead of celebrating one of my favorite days being Irish.  Erin go bragh!