First Day of Real PT

This morning we woke up bright and early to do our first day of the entire corps doing PT.

My roommates got up at 4:45AM.

I woke up at 5:10, threw on my already laid out work out clothes, chowed down on a Nutri-grain bar, brushed my teeth, grabbed my Sigg and iPod and hit the field by 5:25AM.

After stretching we did circuit training and yoga for a cool down.

Good times, despite my inability to regulate my body temperature to a non-goosebumps inducing temperature.

After breakfast and a shower, and MacGyver-ing coffee from half a coffee maker, a 4 cup sauce pan, and a spoon, I was ready to start the day.

Thank-fully it wasn't long. We ended at 3:30

and then I realized, that's a 10 hour day already.

The only draw back I can really see to PT thus far is being hungry at 10AM, starving by Noon, and ready for dinner at 5pm. Waking up that early really throws off your eating schedule.

Speaking of which, I should probably be hitting the sack soon, seeing as how my 5AM wake up call means I must be in bed by 10 if I want at least 7 hours of sleep.

All and all though, if this is going to be my schedule for the next 3 weeks, I could really get used to it (which is scary for someone who could barely make it to 12:45 MW class).

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AmeriGET IT

Disaster Qualifications

For those of you ardently checking this blog, you will know that I actually did not post this on Wednesday but rather I back dated from Thursday, October 22.

Nonetheless,

had I been in the frame of mind to write a blog yesterday, it WOULD have been about our Red Cross trainings that we had.

I say would have because I did not in fact complete all of the Red Cross Trainings.

I made it through First Aid, and probably could have passed the CPR test from taking it in my previous walks of life, but this time I did not actually make it through the training.

I'm not sure this is quite the avenue to disclose the reasons why, but suffice it today, I was deeply affected by the thought of performing CPR and could not force myself to sit through the training.

The NCCC team leaders and staff we're more than accommodating and rest assured I will finish the CPR course and get certified (lucky for my one of my fellow Corps Members is a Red Cross trainer!)

I suppose it's easiest to say what I was perhaps subconsciously upset about yesterday was the idea of being the help in a disaster. I've always gone by after the fact and helped rebuild (like New Orleans). But I've never done what our Team Leaders are doing in Samoa where they are literally giving the live sustaining necessities to people who not only lost everything, but in many cases have ran out of other places to turn. They are building shelters out of what we would call tents. There are no schools nor churches to place cots and make use of an industrial kitchen. It's the basics.

Sure, I know the odds of me having to do that are slim, but that doesn't change the fact that I will be "qualified" to and could. One of my many reasons for doing NCCC is to help people in need. In my past however, I've chosen who to help, and just how I wanted to do so. This time, I don't get a choice. I'm getting a very broad basic training so that with just a little more, I'll basically be able to do anything.

And it's the anything that's scary.

Disaster qualified sounds cool. It sounds like I'll get to do rough, hard work and really make a difference. But it also sounds like long hours that stretch you physically and emotionally and undoubtedly leave a permanent mark on you spiritually.

This is what I signed up for. I knew this could happen. But being faced with it takes some getting used to.

But I will.

Because "I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done."

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AmeriGET IT!

Sacramento

In August 2001 the Pacific Region campus moved from San Diego to McClellan Air Force Base in the North Highlands area of Sacramento.

At first glance this might seem like an odd decision. Why move from the beach to the valley?

I don't have an official answer for that, but after being here for less than a week, I can already detect some very valid and obvious reasons for the move.

I happen to love Sacramento, already.

Which is precisely why I get slightly perturbed when people bad mouth the city. But before I can get into the things I love about Sacramento, I think a little background is in order.

I've done my fare share of living in "less glamorous cities." Tallahassee, Florida. Tulsa, Oklahoma. And Syracuse, New York. It's true, no one is going to move to these cities unless their job requires them to. But that doesn't mean they don't have great things to offer. To this day, the best church I've ever been to is Bethel AME in Tallahassee, my fondest memory of being outside in my city was riding my bike along the River-walk, and I would withstand any number of Syracuse winters just to have the beautiful CNY falls.

These cities, like Sacramento aren't going to draw in the tourists. They're not the cities people are flocking to move to, and that's OK. In fact they wouldn't be the same if they were. Big cities are great, don't get me wrong. I'm form Houston after all. But after spending my fare share of time in medium sized cities, I can appreciate what they have to offer.

I'm looking forward to exploring downtown Sacramento, visiting the capital, learning about the different trees that are in abundance here more so than people, having picnics along the river, learning about the Rail yards, using the light rail, eating at the local diners and restaurants of international cuisine and of course getting to know the needs and people of this community.

Sacramento might not be San Fransisco, Los Angeles or San Diego, but in my opinion, it's better. I love Sacramento for the same reasons I love Houston, visiting doesn't cut it. You have to live there to get it.

I'm looking forward to the day when I defend Sacramento with the fervor that I defend Syracuse, Tulsa, or Houston.

and if my words won't work, perhaps the Wikipedia shot of the Skyline will.

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AmeriGET IT!

AmeriPuns

Today's post is going to be incredibly short.

1) because I have my baseline assessment at 5:30 AM tomorrow

and 2) because there's only so much one can write on the subject.

Today Pod 18 had their physicals which meant TB tests, Tetanus shots, ear and eye exams, height and weight checked, and an over all health screening. After which we had a very shot info session and because it decided to rain in Sacramento today, and the rest of the activities were outside, we had the day off.

So what do AmeriCorps NCCCs do with unexpected free time?

They bond in the lounge.

The play pool.

They sing songs.

But most of all, the make AmeriPuns.

That's right. It took all of us all of 5 days to realize the hilariousness that is attaching the prefix "Ameri" to just about anything.

We had an AmeriGood time, with our AmeriLaughing, about out AmeriBad jokes, eating our AmeriLunch, rubbing our AmeriArms from the soreness of the AmeriTetanus shot and finally took a AmeriNaps before our AmeriDinner.

You get the picture.

and if you don't, just trust me. AmeriAnything is AmeriRidiculous which also means it's AmeriAmazing.

But now it's time for this AmeriCorps to get in her AmeriBed, and take her AmeriSleep, so she can wake up at the crack of AmeriDawn, and muster with her AmeriPod, to get AmeriPumped, for her AmeriBaseline.

AmeriGET IT*!

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Your's in AmeriLFS!

(*that's the new AmeriTagline for the AmeriFuture)

"It feels like we've been here forever."

but it's only been 5 days.

Today was our first day off. And surprisingly, we needed it. It's tough adjusting to an incredibly busy and early schedule. So what to 300 some odd 18-24 year-olds do with their first day off?

Some went to San Fransisco.

Some did laundry and slept in.

Some played team sport after team sport.

Some ran errands and caught up with friends and family back home.

I went to church.

Saw Where The Wild Things Are with my Pod

Prepared for the Interfaith Youth Conference I'm presenting at next week.

and came back to play a game of Capture The Flag!

That's right, just as I pulled up, I saw 50 kids congregating in the parking lot discussing the rules. "Nikole, capture the flag, NOW! " yelled Alex as I drove up. I immediately dropped off my stuff, threw on some yoga pants and a hoodie and ran outside. It was during the middle of running around frantically in the dark trying not to get tagged that I came up with today's thought.

This isn't like college, this is like summer camp.

It's a good thing I LOVED summer camp!

I thought about spending some time catching up with friends, but it just didn't happen today (they can however, read this blog and know that I AM thinking about them). To be honest, I'm not sure how to properly explain my life here. I'm loving every minute of it. Even the parts I "complain" about. In fact, I love it so much that it makes me not want to talk about it, because just like summer camp, I know NCCC isn't for everybody.

Yeah, I wake up ridiculously early. I have physical training at 5:30 in the morning. I eat PB&J for lunch, and I'm in training sessions from 8-5pm. I have a social family style dinner, and attempt to hit the hay by 9pm to do it all again. And even when I think I'm doubting what I'm doing, someone re-affirms my being here.

Today it was a woman in church who responded "Oh good, because our community certainly needs help!" in the most earnest way possible, when I told her about what I'm doing and what NCCC is.

Today might have been a "day off" but I'm always representing AmeriCorps NCCC and I couldn't be happier about it.

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Your's in LFS