thursday

it's only 8:49am and I've already run a timed 1.5 mile (at 12 minutes and 39 seconds thanks to 5am PT sessions), overflowed and basically destroyed the one coffee pot we have, and have made my two elaborate sandwiches for my lunch, consisting of turkey, mayo, and cheese (the latter has not been the most interesting part of my morning but I felt I needed a third activity to include in that sentence...).

I'm putting off getting into my khakis before I head to training for my positions by listening to mumford and sons and drinking my cold coffee (I forgot I actually made a successful pot after the initial disastrous one). we have been assigned positions within our team separate from our entire team job (which for my team is Community Relations or CR). my individual positions are CAPpers, which are the people who go out into the community (schools, events, etc) to recruit and educate children on AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA so that they know that is an option for them once they turn 18, and I am also in charge of SLI or Service Learning Initiator, which is involved with organizing service learning opportunities for my team. both of those trainings will take me from 9:30am straight through to 4:30pm, hence the desperation of drinking cold coffee at eight in the morning.

a whole year

being in FEMA Corps is a strange reality...not only did I never think I'd be living as a government employee on an air force base north of sacramento, but I've also only been here for two weeks and have already met people I feel I have known my entire life. the AmeriBubble we've been living in is really all encompassing, so much so that when I was visiting a friend in sacramento this weekend, I felt like I was breaking some sort of rule for riding around in a car that doesn't have 15 seats without my khakis on. at some points I don't think it has hit me that this is my life for the year of 2013...living off of $4.75 for food each day, buying toiletries from the Base Exchange on campus that is reserved for military/ex-military personnel only (a tax-free store that has been kind enough to extend their membership to AmeriCorps NCCC members), and learning everything about disaster relief from emotional intelligence when talking with disaster survivors to camping out either at a disaster site or en route to one.


I can't exactly fathom being with FEMA Corps for the next nine months when two weeks have felt like eternity. and not in a bad way either. not at all. I have never felt more excited for a year of my life than I am right now.

2013 is the year to be FEMA flexible.

these boots are made for (a lot of) walking

you can tell it's the weekend on campus when everyone sleeps in until 7:30am (a time I had never thought I would consider luxurious) and the halls are quiet and lack the rustling of khakis and lunches being made. this saturday morning serves as a welcome and much needed break from five days of 5:30am-5:30pm training.


and finally, the steel-toed boots have arrived (which actually don't contain steel, they are made up of composite) but nevertheless, an exciting addition to my life.

also, I have officially been assigned to the task of Community Relations (CR) for our FEMA assignments. we've been split up into our permanent teams that we'll be with for the next nine months. our job as CR is to talk one-on-one with disaster survivors and serve as helping hands and listening ears. our jobs may consist of everything from going door-to-door within communities talking to the residents to setting up stations/tables out in the field to help people fill out assistance forms. we'll learn more specifics once we head to New Mexico for our FEMA training. our trek to New Mexico begins march 8th in a 15-passenger van over the span of 2-3 days. needless to say, I am most definitely looking forward to some serious team bonding during our travels.

corps training institute

our corps training institute (CTI) lasts for about two more weeks then we're headed to New Mexico for our FEMA specific training.

this past weekend was a long one, since we enjoy celebrating federal holidays here at FEMA Corps, and was filled with a day in sacramento exploring the capitol, a relaxing sunday reading in a park nearby while some other members from my pod worked out the soreness in their muscles from PT with some laps around the park, and a long uncharted hike in old salmon falls in Folsom (we arrived and were greeted by a large half empty lake--or half full?--and a vast dried up landscape which didn't give us many hiking trails to go off of, hence the "uncharted" adventure). nevertheless, it was a day in the sun with 70 other FEMA Corps members and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

today we return to the ever exciting orientation/training schedule of CTI. we just came back from an extensive seminar on camping from which we learned everything you'd ever want to know about camping while on spike ("spike" is the term we give to being out on a project and away from campus. it originated from before NCCC's time when members would camp while out in the field and would need to put spikes in their tents to hold them down). there's a chance we would camp either while being out on spike or en route to spike, so we've just acquired knowledge about what to do with a tent and our not-so-waterproof khakis in case of any type of weather. ever.

also today, we will be split up into our FEMA specific teams which we will be with for the rest of the nine months. (as excited as I am to finally know my permanent team, I will greatly miss my pod 17 mates who I've gotten to know and love over the past six days, despite requests from the TLs (team leaders) to not grow attached....also I am not exactly looking forward to scarfing down the remainders of my pod's overly stocked kitchen because we bought too much food for the short time we were going to be together...this may just be the largest and most diverse lunch I will ever eat.

to be continued...

first free day

today was spent in the lovely downtown area of Sacramento. we have decided to call ourselves "AmeriTourists" (admittedly it is not the catchiest word I've ever come up with but we have decided to add "Ameri" onto every word to accurately describe our experiences...take for example my lovely neighboring dorm mate who has taken to calling herself AmeriClaire).

waking up at 8:45 this morning was strange and my body wasn't fully able to enjoy a real breakfast because it's become accustomed to eating at 6:30 every morning...(which is something I'm sure my mother never imagined I would say). so I spent my day walking around my state's Capitol, immersing myself fully in old town Sacramento and their Rocky Mountain Chocolate candy apples, and enjoying a cozy ride back to campus in a fifteen passenger van with fourteen other wonderful AmeriPeople (made up of Corps members and a Team Leader to be precise).

I am currently resting my sore body that hasn't fully recovered from our first PT workout while filling out forms for our FEMA training in New Mexico that are probably the most official pieces of paper I will ever turn in.


in other unrelated news...I received an email yesterday informing me that I was accepted into Boston University's School of Social Work, which is wonderful news! since we are being "FEMA flexible" and don't have really any certain plans for even a week in advance, it's nice to know where I'll be next year. :)

4:45am

having spent the last two and a half hours warming up, stretching, and running a timed 1.5 mile deserves a good morning nap. in a few hours we will have our physical, which includes a drug test and a TB test, and in preparation for the day's events, I will be resting in my room and attempting to keep my aching muscles still. update to come when I wake up...

becoming oriented

currently: sitting on my dorm bed listening to Ed Sheeran thinking about going to bed at 8:15pm...

today consisted of more in depth orientation information, regarding policies, service projects, team positions, etc.

over the next nine months, we will be completing 80 hours of service (called Independent Service Projects) outside of our scheduled FEMA Corps hours (which totals 1700 hours) and can be completed at various places ranging from faith-based organizations to homeless shelters to community clean-ups.

in addition to being one hundred percent devoted to the service of others, we are also incredibly devoted to our team workouts at 5am (Physical Training/PT). PT begins this Friday morning at 5:30am sharp with a brisk 1.5 mile timed run, followed by a lovely two minutes of sit-ups, push-ups, and a sit-and-reach test. This first day of PT is referred to as Baseline, meaning the timed activities will serve as personal reference points to see how we (hopefully!) improve and progress throughout the year.

BUT the most exciting news of all is that we finally received our uniforms and, let me tell you, they are probably some of the most attractive articles of clothing I will ever own. It's actually a relief to have my uniform now because I don't have to pack and repack my duffel each time I want to find socks or a long-sleeved shirt. Tugging on a canvas duffel several times a day has started to form calluses on the outsides of my fingers...I can't tell if it's because my duffel is trying to prepare me for the real world or because I just have weak dainty fingers... We received all of our uniforms that match the traditional AmeriCorps NCCC teams and will receive our bright blue FEMA specific uniforms when we travel to New Mexico for training. My future fashionista self is going to look back at photos of this time and really thank me for the fabulous wardrobe I had for nine months.

day one

day one has consisted of a 5am wake up call, short flight to Sacramento (accompanied by my lovely parents), a rental car drive around the city, in-processing at campus, room assignments, general introductions, orientations of all kinds, etc. basically, I revisited freshman year dorm move-in day of college, except with less luggage and more khakis...

I've learned that we will spend the first three weeks on campus here in Sacramento going through CTI (Corps Training Institute) and then spending two weeks after that at a government training facility in New Mexico acquiring FEMA specific skills. I've also learned that my mother will be receiving a large flat-rate box from me very soon containing clothing that is currently causing my duffel to burst. Needless to say, these first few weeks are going to be an adventure.

the night before

if I never pack all of my earthly possessions into a canvas duffel bag ever again, I think I will be ok. (...it's a shame that I'll have to repack each time we move for various projects...but let's focus on the present moment and the tightly packed accomplishment in front of me right now, shall we?)