Give Thanks, For Life Is Beautiful

Thursday, Nov. 24

          Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of you were able to give thanks and be happy with friends and family today, as I was able to do with my new AmeriCorps family.

          Our team was lucky and nabbed a spot helping at St. Louis’ Thanksgiving Day parade this morning. Beginning our day at a lovely 5am, we drove into downtown and were promptly assigned to the snowman balloon. Our 10 man team (our team leader and one other member did not participate) simply had to walk holding the giant balloon throughout the parade, sounds easy right? Nope. First, it was a very cold morning, which means the helium did not make the balloon float as well as usual. Second, there was a large downdraft from the building that pushed the balloon down into the ground. In the end, we ended up having to basically hold the balloon up above our heads; at one point we tried to let it fly on its own and half the team ended up getting squished under it. okay, so I know I just made that sound like a horrible time, but luckily we were all in a good mood that morning and it only ended up making it a hilarious walk through town. The teamwork we needed to get through also only brought us together more by the end of the parade.

Our Balloon!

          For Thanksgiving Day dinner, our sponsor was kind enough to get a local grocery store to provide our full meal! All we had to do was pick it up and throw it in the microwave as even the turkey was already cooked. After our 3pm dinner, our whole team snuggled up for a movie marathon. All in all, it was a wonderful day and I am so thankful for the friends I have made, my supportive family back home, and AmeriCorps for allowing me to take this great journey.

Week of November 14 - 20

Monday, Nov. 14

          This morning I woke up sicker than a dog. I had been feeling sick yesterday as we arrived, but this morning was worst than any sickness I had had in a long time. My throat was so sore I resorted to spiting in a cup because it was too painful to swallow my own saliva. As my teammates prepared to meet our sponsor, explore the town, and be introduced to our project, I laid in bed, miserable and unable to rise for even an occasion such as this. Around noon my team leader decided it was necessary I be taken to urgent care immediately as it was assumed I had strep throat (many other Corps members had come down with it as well over the past two weeks). The remainder of my day was spent in a hospital bed, waiting rather impatiently for my test results (mainly so I could get some medicine because the doctors wouldn’t even give me a pain killer for my throat). Finally, around 7 at night, they released me with medication for strep throat. Quite the first day, huh?

Tuesday, Nov. 15

          Ahhhh, the wonders of modern day medicine. Today I feel worlds better and was ready to go out with the rest of my team. Ranger Tim met us early in the morning for a day of team building on the trails. Much like a running trail with various exercise activities along the route, this trail had team building activities such as a type-rope for two, balancing beams, and a log maze/path.  As the day progressed, Ranger Tim’s comments on our inabilities and shortcomings during the exercises only made our team frustrated and angry at one another. Every time anyone would mess up, he would comment on whose fault the mistake was and then make us start the whole activity over again. Finally it came time to leave for lunch and as the whole team began venting to each other about our dislike of the Ranger, we realized the activities had made us bond over one thing, our opinion of him.

on the two person type-rope

Wednesday, Nov. 16

           Today was our first official day of work and the first time I was able to see the site. We are building a 12 mile long running, hiking, and horseback riding trail that will be known as the Rock Hollow Trail. We will begin by clearing the brush and leaves to get a general feel for how the path will go. Next we bring in the big stuff, axes and chainsaws, to clear fallen or hanging trees. Finally we will have to bench the entire path, a fancy word for cutting into the ground to assure a level path.

           A basic work day begins at 7:30am. We drive about 20 minutes from our home to the work site, grab our tools from the back of our cargo van, and begin the hike up the mountain. The unfortunate thing about building a trail is that the farther you build, the farther you have to walk to work each day. But I guess this will keep us challenged and strong so I ought not to keep complaining.

Friday, Nov. 18

           Today I turned 5 years old all over again. Wondering how this is possible? Well, today we went into St. Louis for the first time to visit a place known as City Museum. The museum is in a large old factory that has been completely gutted and replaced by... wait for it... a gigantic, 10 story jungle-jim! But not just any old plastic jungle-jim, the entire attraction is build out of recycled materials and in a beautifully artistic manner. Its difficult to really describe the place so I will let my photos do all the talking.

The Enchanted Caves

exploring a WWI era plane atop the building

10 story long spiral slide!

Saturday, Nov. 19
          Today we worked for the sponsor on a different project than usual. We worked at an event called the St. Louis Winter Wonder Walk in Tilles Park. Every year, this large park is covered in millions of lights surrounded by a mile long walking path. Our job was to simply walk around the park making sure everyone stayed on the path and did not wonder into the lighted areas. As I watched families and friends walk joyfully through the park, I became homesick for the first time since I left. The holiday season is definitely a time for friends and family and now I cant wait to to go home for the holidays!

Sunday, Nov. 20
          Today I attended my first professional football game! Our sponsor kindly provided us with free tickets to the St. Louis Rams vs. the Seattle Sea Hawks game. Although none of us are big football fans, we were all super excited to go. As soon as the game started, everyone was asking what was going on and within 10 minutes, one guy was asleep, one guy was playing video games on his GameBoy, and the rest of us were texting and playing games on our phone. Yup, we make football fans cry. In the end, the Rams got slaughtered and the whole stadium erupted in boos and anger, so we decided to slip out before traffic got out of hand. All in all, I'm happy I can say that I have been to an NFL game before, however, I could have gone without having to sit through the full game.

I'm Back!

Hey All! Finally got to a place with internet today! So here is what the past week has been like:


Tuesday Nov. 8th:
This evening the whole Corps participated in the traditional Black and White ball; and, my, are we a creative and stylish bunch of people! Here are some photos from the evening:

Thursday Nov. 10th:
So we all thought I was already an Americorps NCCC member, but apparently we were wrong until today. Yup, today me and my fellow Corps members we officially accepted into the Americorps NCCC program in an induction ceremony. The ceremony was much like a graduation, except the opposite, it was welcoming all of us instead of saying goodbye. There were speeches, musical performances, and a walk onstage to receive of 'Certificate of Appointment'. So now I guess you can say I'm really really super duper officially an official Americorps NCCC member.

Out Whole Team (Sun 5)

Saturday Nov. 12th:
Today began our Round One SPIKE projects. At promptly 8am we piled into our vans and took off on the two day long drive to St. Louis Missouri. Saturday night we stayed over in Salina Kansas and although our day compiled of nothing more than sleeping in a van, we were exhausted upon arrival.


Sunday Nov. 13th: Today we arrived in Greensfelder Park in Eureka Missouri, just as the sun was setting. We are staying in a three room building; one room for sleeping, one for eating, and one that is maintained as the parks visitor center


Ahhh, I have so much more to tell you but I am out of time and must return to work! We are working at an event called the St. Louis Winter Wonder Walk tonight!

What A Week!

          I want to start this post by apologizing for my lack of updates recently; the internet is still quite finicky here on campus. Although I still can't see my actual blog, I can post, so I would like to take the time I have now to let you know what's been going on here in Denver:

Tuesday
          Today was one of my favorite days of training so far, and definitely one of the most eye-opening. Our teams participated in an all day Diversity Training class where we learned about how to accept and understand others and, most importantly, about the personal experiences that shaped our fellow team members into who they are today. As I sat listening to my friends and teammates talk about their experience living in homeless shelters, walking to school in constant fear of being shot, or battling with a drug addiction their mothers had passed to them while still in the womb, I realized how profoundly blessed my life has been. Yes, I have always been grateful for the life I live, but now I truly understand the phrase "You don't really know what you get till it's gone". I realize it is not just about being grateful for money or family, but the fact that that money kept your stomach full each night and that family wants you home for Christmas each year. As I wandered to my room at the end of the day, another thought struck me; many of the friends and classmates I grew up with will never truly appreciate their lives as I have learned to today. Most have gone off to college with many other kids from backgrounds just like them, and when they go into the work force, they will have jobs with people who went to nice colleges like them and grew up in towns just like them, and then they will start families of their own in towns just like they grew up in, and they will never fully understand the lives they live. I hope to be able to break this chain. When I return home, I would like to encourage as many as I can to go out and explore the world and its people. Take the time to not just learn but live the life of those you may have never been able to understand.

Thursday
          One of my favorite things about living in AmeriCorps is that they encourage us to teach one another whenever possible. Corps members are encourage to create and host evening classes in anything they feel skilled in, so tonight I took two dance classes, one in West African Dance, and one in Krumping. Both my instructors took time to teach us not only the dance, but the history and feelings behind the dance as well. It’s these moments I love, when everyone is laughing and learning together, one feels fulfilled.

Friday
          One of the main components of our teams is our team roles, which we received today. I will be in charge of our team’s part of the Corps yearbook, which means I will be photographing our experiences and writing small blurbs about our team and projects. I also received two smaller roles as Food POC (point of contact) and PT (physical training) Coordinator. I’m not too incredibly certain on what each job will require, but I figure I will be gaining skills with every job and that’s what’s most important.

          Tonight my friends and I participated in a popular Denver activity called the Santa Fe Art Walk. From 5pm to 10pm, all the art galleries on the street opened there doors as well as artists who took over restaurants and other stores. We spent almost four hours just wandering through the widest array of artwork I have ever seen in one place. As I drifted through the artwork, I finally understood why some people are such avid art collectors. Many times a painting, a photograph, a sculpture would catch my eye and capture me and I would wish I could show the whole word the feeling and the beauty of the piece. I guess this is just another reason to set myself on a good path in order to make money to provide for my interests.

          Aaaa, ok, I’ve been procrastinating all day by writing this blog. Tonight we have a Corps-wide event called the Black and White Ball where everyone must come in evening attire…made entirely out of black and white trash bags! So you would think with my interest in fashion, I would be loving this opportunity, and I did, for about 5 seconds, until I realized how hard it is to make anything out of trash bags. Of course, I would love for my dress to be perfect and totally unique, but my frustration has gotten the better of me and now I have half an hour to wrap myself in a trash bag and call it an outfit :-/. Well, I’ll post pictures later, but I gotta go get to work!

Sunday, Monday, and today (Tuesday) will come in tomorrows blog!

Internet Trouble

          Hey Everyone, so sorry I went MIA after Mondays post. There has been quite a bit of internet trouble here on campus, first the internet just completely went down, then it was so slow a page took two hours to load, then they blocked all the sites with a high bandwidth (which meant Yahoo and this blog got blocked), and now they unblocked some stuff but I still can't see my full blog because the page is too large. Yup, quite the mess. Anyways, I have had a lot on my mind that I would like to write here, but I have to be at lunch in 10 minutes so I don't have time to write now. I am going to try to get to a cafe with internet this afternoon because I don't even know if the entry will post. So no promises on when the next one will be up, but I'll do my best for you all!