FIRE 6!

That’s my team!!! We found out our permanent teams tonight. The anticipation was killer. We were supposed to find out on Friday, but because drug test results hadn’t all come back they kept postponing it. Finally today after a long day of diversity training they put us on a scavenger hunt to find our teams. I have such an amazing team leader named Pita. She was a team leader last year and is mad chill. She seems lenient on the ridiculous policies (like swearing in uniform). So, I’m pretty happy with the corps members on my team. Actually, mixed feelings. Like most of the people are really cool, and one of the girls (Gina) is someone that I’ve been friends with over the past 3 weeks. But honestly, there are a couple people who have already been annoying me. I hope it’ll be something that I can just laugh about. I need to learn to be more accepting/patient of people anyways. I just get so annoyed with obnoxious people. Ha.

MCALLEN, TEXAS. We’re heading there for our first round project (November 12-December 13). It’s the most southern point of Texas. It’s a border town. Our project is doing wildlife recovery work. We are responding to a flood that happened last year. Not totally sure on the details. But I think we are living in trailers with kitchens. Pretty sweet! I’m so freakin pumped! Bring on the country music!

YEEHAW

Difference of 14 Days

Hello Lovelies!

Exactly two weeks ago I woke up in Limon, CO, went to breakfast at an IHOP, left the table, and threw up in the bathroom. I was nervous and dehydrated. This morning when I woke up I felt a pinch of anxiety, but I am happy and no longer fearful of what the next 9.5 months will bring. Sundays for me are historically anxiety provoking, but today was such a wonderful day. Could not have asked for a better day. I woke up at noon to people I can actually call friends being really loud in the room right across from me in attempt to wake me up. How nice is that? Waking up and instantly being around people that are genuinely making me happy. I have been laughing a TON. My roommate is great. The girl who lives directly from me is absolutely hilarious. I have 3 other people that I am calling my friends. I have been doing a lot of things with these people. Lying in bed this morning I was a little bit anxious because it was my first free day since last Sunday (yesterday I went to the YMCA to set up a Halloween party to get hours for my independent service project… we need 80 total hours). I felt pressure to make it a good day. When I got out of bed and over to my friend’s room a hike was suggested. Cool. I thought I wanted to be lazy today, but it’s really great to have people who like to DO things. I feel like I’ve been pretty active in the past two weeks (not just physically, but seeing movies, going downtown, running, and searching for live music venues). It was a gorgeoussss day! Like 70 degrees and sunny. I drove up to Boulder with 3 other girls to hike the flat iron #1 (I think). It was the same exact hike that I did with Ben almost 2 weeks ago. It was amazing the difference that 2 weeks of acclimating to the altitude has done. I stopped far less on the way up. I did not feel like I was going to collapse. I got so dirty (the dirt is really dusty on the path). It was awesome. My black Nikes are brown right now. I have a layer of dirt and sweat on me. I feel amazing!! After the hike we went to the Cheba Hut which is a sub place that Ben introduced me to in Boulder. As good as I remembered. Boulder is just such a freaking cool city. I could definitely see myself living there for a year sometime (can’t stay in one place too long). There are dogs, active people, and hipsters everywhere. Lovely! Two weeks ago I threw up from anxiety of not being comfortable in my program, not being inspired, and not finding people that I can relate to or have fun with. It’s gone. I’m not going to lie, orientation is boring, but I’m so content and optimistic for the year. For the first time since last fall I am feeling hints of inspiration. These two weeks have not been completely positive… My skin is freaking out. My skin is as dry as it would normally get in January… It’s only the middle of October… I’m scared. I’ve had to switch to head and shoulders. God. I actually carry chapstick around with me… and use it. I need to find a better face cleaning/moisturizing system. Ok that’s enough complaining. I’m going to shower and watch Practical Magic.

PEACE

10,000 feet!

Today on our agenda was “teambuilding”. Best. Teambuilding. Ever. Our unit (Fire) drove the vans up 2.5 hours to Rocky Mountain National Park. I seriously was not in America. It seemed like something from the Swiss Alps or a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings. We were set loose and given two hours to hike (in our uniforms of course) or do whatever on our own. I went for an incredible hike with some really cool people. (I’m making friends with some really great people. I’ve never been in a situation with so many people from all over the country. Pretty much all states are represented equally). Back to the hike…We had to stop like every 15 minutes to take pictures because the views were just out of this world. Not a cloud in the sky and a brisk 45-50 degrees. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the scenery here. There were a few ponds along our walk that were nestled in between giant snow capped mountains. The water was green and looked freezing. There was snow occasionally on our path, but lots on the sides of the mountains. Everything just seemed so fresh. There was a small waterfall that poured into a lake/pond that seemed to keep following us on our hike. Another aspect that made it so different from Northeast mountains (what I’m used to) is the trees. It felt a lot more open here. The trees were either green pine, yellow foliage, or bare of leaves. There weren’t a lot of tree colors like a Massachusetts fall. Solid yellow. Man those snowy mountains were overwhelming. In a beautiful way. They seemed like you could climb up to heaven on one. When we reached the final pond on our journey, we were at 10,000 feet. Woah.

Peace, love, and deep breaths.

"I will get things done for America"

“…To make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.


I will bring Americans together 
to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, 
I will take action.
Faced with conflict, 
I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, 
I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment 
with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, 
and I will get things done.”

Don’t I sound patriotic? Hehe. This is the AmeriCorps NCCC pledge, and this is what the team leaders chanted on our first meeting of orientation.

I am doing orientation in Denver for a full month at Colorado Heights University. The purpose is to learn the policies and procedures, train for necessary skills (like CPR) and become a unified team. So far it has felt like a strange combination of freshman orientation and some type of military school. Like freshman year there are tons of people dropped on a campus and out to make groups of friends. It’s pretty awkward. We also live in a dorm, with terrible dorm showers…and a gross cafeteria. I have a really cool roommate though who is from St Louis, and we seem to be getting along really well. There is such a mixed group of people here. Which is totally great. There are definitely enough down to earth people around. I have already met some really great friends. Already have a little crew. Some really chill people! We usually have “class” 8-5, but after that we are done for the night and can leave or do whatever. There’s a Mexican restaurant right across from campus called “4 G’s”. It’s hilarious. It’s a place where people have been going to get there fun on. Its’ actually pretty ridiculous… It’s a brightly lit big restaurant where people go to drink. The beers are $1.50 and there are pool tables and a jukebox. Fortunately I made it to downtown Denver on Saturday night. It only takes like 15 minutes to get downtown. It’s amazing. It’s also so great to have a car here. On Sunday afternoon I just got in my car and found a café (similar to Panera) downtown to chill. I love Denver! Downtown is so chill and spacious and clean, yet definitely has a city feel to it. I’m legit living in the best of every world—city, open minded and active people, gorgeous mountain landscape, and 300+ days of sunshine a year. The only thing that’s missing is the ocean. Oh well. I have no idea why I haven’t lived here earlier. My campus is in town called Englewood (it’s still part of Denver). It’s not nearly as nice as downtown, but its still cool. The area I live in does not have any skyscrapers. It’s mostly taco places. There’s a huge Mexican influence in my neighborhood. The campus is pretty sweet. It feels like a tiny university. It’s pretty small, but there are really nice old brick buildings and a real nice quad. I really like it here.

So about the military feeling. There are just some very strict standards and policies. We have to be in uniform from 8-5 everyday, or whenever we are doing anything AmeriCorps related. Our shirts need to be tucked in, no cuffing anything, no hats besides our AmeriCorps one, only black white or grey socks, always have to wear the black belt they gave us, only black or grey headbands… basically nothing that isn’t AmeriCorps. We can get written up if our shirt isn’t tucked in. Crazy. When we are in uniform we have to act in a way that positively represents AmeriCoprs… basically no swearing or talking politics or drinking in uniform. We have had tons of meetings/classes about policies. It seems pretty repetitive. You cannot be in someone else’s room after 10pm on weekdays and after midnight on weekends. This is no sexual activity allowed on campus. But they say relationships are allowed. Hmm. I think I’m getting used to it all.

We had our first service project on Saturday. There is a community park near by that we built a trail for. Washington Park is a very large park with some ponds. There are lots of dog walkers, runners and bikers there. We restored a running trail. There were piles of gravel/dirt (I forget the name of the material) along the path. We broke up into teams and worked on a couple piles each. We used shovels to spread the dirt and then raked and compressed it down. It was tiring shoveling all of the dirt. But I had a really cool group of people with me. We were chatting the whole time so it flew by. It was great feeling sore afterwards. When I was working a woman pulled her car over and asked what organization we were. I felt an unexpected pride when I answered. It’s really cool to be a part of something with such a great reputation. It feels legit.

Today we did day 2 of driver training. We were in our 15 passenger van allllll day. Each person got a turn to practice driving. We went to some cool places along the way. We checked out the Columbine memorial. It was very eery. It was also the first overcast day we’ve had. Reading the plaques dedicated to each victim made me shiver. I recognized the area from the news and documentaries. The rest of the day was a lot more upbeat. We explored red rocks then drove up a mountain where Buffalo Bill is buried. Learned who Buffalo Bill is. Ha.

That’s a lot. Sorry guys. Right now I’m wicked pumped for a full day of driver training number 3 tomorrow. Not really. I hope everyone is doing really well. Please please please keep in touch!

Peace and love,
lily

The Road to NCCC

First of all, I’m SAFE, SOUND, and SETTLED at Colorado Heights University. My journey out here was a road trip for the books. I started off from Belmont and drove down the beautifully windy roads of Pennsylvania filled with hills of reds, orange and yellows until I made it to Morgantown, WV. There I stayed with my friend Justin and explored his college town. The mining history was very apparent in the scenery. Morgantown also introduced me to the incredibly addicting show called “storage wars” on A&E. Check it out. I’m a better person for watching 5 consecutive hours of it. Ha. Bright and early the next day I headed over to Harrogate, TN. This day was again filled with wonderfully hilly roads. As I got farther and farther from New England, the more the gas prices dropped. Very happy about that! I reached Harrogate in the late afternoon and picked up my friend Ben (who would be traveling all the way with me). Stretched my legs in Harrogate and then set off for another 6-hour drive. Before we set out we gassed up and stopped at McDonalds to begin our Monopoly craze. Almost every time we stopped for gas or to use a bathroom, we found a McDonalds and got a diet coke or large fries (which we usually didn’t eat) to earn pieces for our game board. It quickly became quite and obsession. We stayed in Jackson, TN (an hour outside of Memphis) for the night. I can’t express how enjoyable our little motel rooms were every night after driving for the entire day. Cable TV and a shower were very simple pleasures. The next day we stopped in Memphis. We parked and walked down Beal Street. The blazing heat and rock or blues music coming from each bar filled me up. We kept walking until we hit the Mississippi. What an experience! We made our way through the brush and got to the shore. Took our shoes off, put our feet in, and sank… Mississippi mud! It was amazing. It was cool and gross and the same time. One of my favorite experiences of the trip. With dirty feet we left Memphis and drove through Arkansas and settled in Oklahoma City for the night. During the drives we switched between music and listening to the Hunger Games. We would always begin a drive with music to match our excited mood for driving. Hunger Games happened most other times… except during sunsets. Sunsets were for music. What sunsets we saw! The best ones of the trip were in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Kansas, were the flat farm planes allowed full visibility. Sitting at IHOP in Oklahoma City we were trying to decide what touristy activity we should do there. Casino. It was great haha. There were tons of Casinos in the area so it was a cultural experience right? Ha. Ben and I both went in with 40 dollars. That was our limit. It was my first casino experience so I watched at first. When I was feeling good about it I went to the black jack table. It was so fun! It was a social and learning experience. The other guys on the table were so nice to me. They gave me tips and some conversation. I played a bunch of hands. At one point I went down to 20 dollars. But when I made it back to 40 I stopped. I walked out +2 dollars! Ben didn’t do so well… But we got a free lunch and sodas, so it was definitely worth our afternoon. At the casino we made a game time decision to skip Santa Fe and head up to Kansas and over to Denver. Beautiful sunset again. Actually one of the best I’ve ever seen. That night we crossed over to Colorado. It was perfect. When we saw the sign we pulled over. There was a crazy giddy reaction inside me. I really felt what I was about to do. Live in this state. It was late and the air was very cold. We howled and a cow replied. Incredible. After staying in such a cozy and cheap hotel in Limon, CO, we went for Denver. We spent the afternoon walking around Denver. The main street in downtown is called 16th street mall. It’s like a huge Church Street in Burlington VT. For the next few days we stayed in Boulder (which is only 30 mins from Denver!). Man I love Boulder! It also has a Burlington feel to it. The mountains are epic. One day we drove into the Rockies to check out Roundup River Ranch (a Hole in the Wall Camp). Going through the mountains felt like I was in a different country. I’ve never seen anything like them. Some were brown with trees, some were covered in snow, and some were red rock. Yes, we drove through areas with snow. The camp was legit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It rested on a flat area surrounded on every side by giant mountain. The landscape seemed very southwestern. There was even a train going through the mountains that Butch and his gang definitely would have robbed. The camp was simple but southwestern and beautiful. The camp director was an incredibly nice man who took us all around and really appreciated our thoughts. The people all over Boulder were great. A lot of thoughtful and down to earth people. A LOT of hipsters also haha. Boulder rests on the foothills of a mountain range called the Flat Irons (part of the Rockies). On my birthday we climbed one of the Flat Irons. The hike was supposed to be pretty easy. However, I was gasping for breath most of the time. This was the first time I really felt the effects of the altitude. It was like I could never get a good breath. It was a strange feeling because my muscles weren’t tired, but I had to stop very frequently to catch my breath. But anyways, the hike was beautiful. Tons of views of Boulder. Lots of friendly people on the path.

Me and Ben’s road trip sadly had to come to an end. He helped move me into my dorm at Colorado Heights University (about 15-20 minutes outside Denver) on the 12th. My nerves were going crazy. I was excited and nervous for my next ten months and very sad to be saying goodbye to a great friend. All very natural feelings I think. I think it was perfect that I got to this ten-month commitment on the road. The love of the road will really fuel me through my AmeriCorps experience as it will be spent in part in a 15-passenger van, on the road, headed to different communities in the southwest. I’m ready to team up with my fellow Corps member and serve communities of America. Lets Go.