i am realizing that i measure the passing of time with the changing of seasons. not an option here in sacramento where the change of seasons is subtle. i feel as though time is not passing at all. but of course it is, because this post is dated november! november...and i'm sitting here in shorts and a tshirt. in an empty computer lab because most everyone else is at dinner. ahhh quiet.
anyways...what a week, so much to update!
the week started with unit reveals. corps members were split up into pods until now, which were always meant to be temporary teams. they were on them for a little longer than originally planned due to the deployment of 14 team leaders to samoa. consequently, they got very attached to their pods. anyways, so on sunday they found out whether they were on blue (the best, of course), green or gold units. nccc has a unique way of announcing information, specifically scavenger hunts. how different is that from work?! they announce things in meetings or powerpoints or voicemails. now we learn and share news by setting up or participating in scavenger hunts. anyways...whew, having trouble focusing. so the corps got split into the 4 units. there were definately some familiar faces in blue. 66 blue corps members all together. they will spend the remainder of their time here on campus together in trainings and likely be back on transition at the same time.
Monday we did diversity training in the blue unit. when diversity training was over the team leaders did a mad dash to pick up enough pizzas to feed 265 people to distract them long enough so that they wouldn't realize we were doing team reveals that evening. (there are 7 teams on each unit) While corps members ate more pizza than ive ever seen in one room in my life we scrambled around writing and hiding clues all over campus as well as setting up final destinations. each team leader created a puzzle with each member of the team's name on the back of one of the pieces. people were handed the puzzle pieces, told to find each other and then follow the clues to figure out who their team leader was. my team found me no problem and we had some dessert together. seems like a good variety of people from a few different places in the country and many skills.
Tuesday we did this training called Hands of Peace that i HATED when i had to do as a team leader, so i made sure it was a little less intense when i led it for my corps members. we did the training with blue 5 in a very small stuffy room and were mostly just glad when it was done. but it was good for starting to get to know people.
the chaos continued on wednesday when we left for camp mendocino. we had an early departure time of 7:30 and made it there around lunch time. the entire blue unit went together and was lucky to have a day at the camp by ourselves before any other units got there. gold arrived the day after us. we travelled by team and when we'd all arrived we did some trainings. we also ate a lot and did PT at 5:30am. in the redwoods. in the dark. it was COLD. we did one morning of service work, staining a roof. so we got to wear our coveralls and crawl around on some rafters. it did warm up during the day though, so that was good. there were also campfires each night. the grand finale of the 4 days was a bigger, blue unit only campfire with smores and silly skits from all. sometimes it feels camp-y, but i think its ok. its also sort of good clean fun, which is rare to have with 18-24 year olds. we departed mid morning on saturday, eager to sleep in warm beds and shed some layers. we passed some green unit teams travelling to their first day at camp mendocino. scenic drive back, stopped to take some pics. will post a little later if any turn out ok. completely enjoyed no cell phone reception for 4 days.
now we are back on campus and i had two days "off." i did really take the day off yesterday, but i've been working most of today. got some wiper fluid for my van, did some grocery shopping for 30 people. did some scheduling of cooking for 30 people for 2 weeks, chose team positions (each team member will have a specific role to play throughout the year). and now, i just may be done for the day! today was a great opportunity to get my work done, i dumped it out all over my floor as my roommate is on green unit and is away.
in other big news: i know where my first project is. in true americorps NCCC form, i cannot reveal it yet, and have to think of a creative way to tell my corps members. wish i could share it here, but not sure who reads this. but soon enough i can announce it. i can say i'm excited about it though and fits my interests quite nicely.
stay tuned.
