new york, new york

we arrived in queens at our temporary housing this past thursday (we will be moving to long island on wednesday) and have been enjoying every moment of the time off we've been given (we start work tuesday).

(side note: I apologize to those grammar friendly blog readers out there, aka my majored-in-english sister, for my excessive and probably inappropriate use of parentheses throughout this blog....please just disregard and realize I've been living out of a duffel for the past six weeks which somehow is definitely directly related to my grammatical blogging errors).

before we begin work on tuesday, I've been using my free time to 1. walk as much as possible because sitting in a van for four and a half straight days has a tendency to make my body forget how to move to any position other than sitting straight up and down, 2. explore the lovely city that is new york in an outfit that does not consist of khaki pants or steel-toed boots, and 3. sleeping and lounging as much as possible. time well spent? definitely.

today while sharing brunch with a wonderful friend from grade school, I had my first encounter talking with someone (outside of FEMA corps) who was directly affected by superstorm sandy. the owner of the cafe we were at was talking about his experience before/during/after the storm and how he was appreciative of all that FEMA did post-sandy. it was the moment that I feel I've been training for since day one. as a part of the community relations position, we've been trained to talk with disaster survivors and how to best assist them in the recovery process. talking with a survivor today, despite how brief the conversation, served as a reminder to why I am here. I applied for AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA because I wanted to spend a year of my life doing something useful and hoping to better society somehow (as opposed to sitting in my room at home looking at Pinterest and making lists of DIY projects I would probably never actually get around to doing). talking with a survivor made all of our trainings finally seem real. FEMA training prepared me to work in disaster settings and with all of that preparation and newly acquired knowledge, I feel equipped and ready to get to work.

virginia

updating my blog from the back of our van snuggled in with the sleeping bags, loose articles of clothing, and endless gatorade and power bar supply we travel with everywhere. we're driving through virginia today and heading to stay in pennsylvania tonight.

it's been interesting because whether we're at a gas station on the side of the road in the middle of arkansas or at a ruby tuesday's off main street in wytheville, virginia, people see us file into their single stall restroom or into their restaurant that we're about to essentially take over and ask what we're doing and how we came to be working with FEMA corps and why we're living out of a van for a few days to top it off. I love telling other people about FEMA corps because usually they haven't heard of any program like this before so it's wonderful to hear their thoughts and opinions on the matter but it also has been catching me off guard because I know that most people are probably surprised when they see sixty 18-24 year olds hop out of six 15-passenger vans but I've come to accept that as the norm. so I usually have to remind myself that caravanning across the country with several other vans filled with khakified corps members is probably not the most normal thing anyone's ever seen happen before.

we have a little bit of time today while on the road so we're going to be stopping at gettysburg for an hour or two to brush up on our history and give our crammed legs a break.

tomorrow: queens, new york.

across the country

we've officially graduated from FEMA training and have been new york bound since sunday morning (which strangely enough was yesterday morning and seems like forever ago). our last full day at the training center in new mexico was spent venturing through a sandstorm to get to the town of roswell in order to visit the widely popular international ufo museum. we bonded with crop circle theories and alien merchandise to ring in our last desert day.

since yesterday morning we've driven through new mexico, stayed outside of dallas last night, and continued driving through the rest of texas today and straight on through arkansas to meet up in jackson, tennessee tonight. it appears to be getting colder and colder with each state we go through (which to anyone outside of this AmeriBubble that would seem obvious) but I've somehow forgotten that we're no longer on the west coast or living in the desert anymore.

with our red duffels, secret agent-equivalent laptop cases, sleeping bags, and pillows stuffed into our van (which we've so lovingly come to call Lucy) we are 100% ready to take on queens, ny! (ok well maybe aside from the fact I was zero percent prepared for weather colder than 60 degrees and my steel-toed boots need to be re-shined because in new mexico I was rudely awakened to the fact that I have no idea how to properly shine boots).

well, traveling through nashville in the morning, virginia later tomorrow night, pennsylvania the next day, and queens after that.

FEMA corps taking on the cross-country road trip.

almost there

so we've been in training for just over five weeks now. two states. several areas of training. everything from camping to van driving to emotional intelligence to FEMA basic training to learning the entire process of how to get someone registered with FEMA in the event of a disaster and what exactly the registration and application process requires (so to all my fam and friends back at home...the next disaster that comes our way, I've got you all covered). this is the most intensive training I've ever received and feel a little bit like my brain is going to explode, but in the best way possible.

we just found out tonight that we will be deployed this sunday to queens, new york. we haven't sat down and worked on our spike prep packet yet (the packet full of information we will need regarding travel, accommodations, etc. before we head out) but I'm assuming it'll take around four days to get there via van caravan. we don't know if we'll be with other FEMA corps teams yet or not but it is official we will be heading east come sunday morning (or as official as "FEMA-flexible" allows). due to the extreme change in temperatures going from desert land to east coast blizzard land, I took a little jaunt to walmart with my team tonight and bought a $5 fleece/"bubble" jacket that I'm pretty sure will solve all of my cold weather needs. I didn't anticipate I'd be buying $5 red jackets from walmart in preparation for driving across the country in a 15-passenger van at this point in my life, but it definitely keeps things interesting, doesn't it?

tgif

six days spent in the desert attending all-day trainings, syncing our government issued blackberrys and laptops, wearing khakis with our heat absorbing steel-toed boots, and receiving several forms of photo ID. it's been an exciting, different, tiresome, thrilling, deserty time full of anticipation for the next eight months. we've been getting general FEMA training the past few days and beginning tomorrow will be attending all-day trainings for our FEMA specific jobs.

today we had our first day off in a while and spent it bonding with the stalactites and stalagmites of carlsbad caverns in southern new mexico. it was the hottest day we've had since being here and it was nice to escape from the heat via a 750 foot descent below the earth. on our way back home, we stopped in a lovely little town for drive-through ice cream. who knew a bat cave and an ice cream shop on the side of the road could serve as the perfect day off combo.

desert training

due to the high-security facility we're currently training at in new mexico, we are prohibited from taking photos hence the lack of visually appealing material being blogged as of late (and for the next two weeks).

we are receiving FEMA specific training here for the positions we are assigned to. we arrived to a dry and windy desert landscape with the most beautiful sunsets and even more surprising sunrises (because trust me, I've seen plenty of sunrises since being in FEMA corps and these are definitely the best I've seen thus far). I had never imagined I'd be living in a dorm room in southeast new mexico where I'd have to worry about scorpions sneaking into my steel-toed boots overnight, but then again, planning for the future is overrated, right? I feel a little bit like a disaster relief-community-serving nomad and I am perfectly comfortable with that self-appointed title. I feel honored to be given the opportunity to leave my home and devote several months to assisting communities and offering support for people affected by disaster. I'm looking forward to the trainings we will be in for the next two weeks because we get to delve a little deeper each day into our FEMA roles. I've never been in a more professional setting than this one and am incredibly appreciative to be at a federal training facility in the company of other men and women who are training to serve our country.

this weekend we will be joined by FEMA corps members from the denver, colorado campus and we eagerly await their arrival. in the meantime, I will be honoring my 9pm bedtime so that I can function as a normal 5am-rising person should.

van ridin

en route to new mexico, staying in needles, ca with about nine other 15-passenger vans' worth of corps members. 5am call time (or "muster" time) for tomorrow morning and heading out on the road by 6:15. because we are so conveniently located on the border of time zones, phones have been getting confused and changing between hours, which contributes to our extra early muster time. and to add to our agenda, we are planning for daylight savings time on sunday...a wonderful first weekend away from campus.

overall, the 10 hour van ride went nice and smoothly due to it being filled with naps, yogurt covered peanuts, and taylor swift sing-a-longs.


meeting up with arizona tomorrow and new mexico by sunday.

new mexico: here we come!

packing our lives into little red duffels and sweeping the campus clean...a typical thursday night for the FEMA Corps members here at the pacific region campus. we've successfully completed FEMA basic training at our campus and will be leaving promptly at 6:45 tomorrow morning in a massive 15-passenger caravan south to new mexico. (once in new mexico) we will be learning more about our teams' specific FEMA roles (my team's role is Community Relations, which acts as "the boots on the ground" at a disaster site. we go into the community and talk with the people who live there to better understand their needs as well as the needs of the community and work to assist them in any way we can). as much as I'm looking forward to some quality van team bonding time, I'm even more excited about delving deeper into our FEMA training.

induction and FEMA basic

our Induction ceremony was yesterday, monday the fourth of march. we are no longer corps members-in-training but have officially transformed into full fledged FEMA corps members. we received our blue FEMA shirts and will acquire the rest of our official FEMA uniform once we arrive in new mexico (which, by the way, consists of five more t-shirts, another hooded sweatshirt, a fleece, and a jacket...so it's a wonderful thing that we have a nice tiny red duffel to fit it all in). by the end of this week, I will have packed and re-packed my duffel bag approximately eleven times, which is to say that come November I will most likely never want to see a duffel bag ever again.

in news unrelated to my packing abilities...we began FEMA basic training today on our pacific region campus. today through thursday we will be introduced to all things FEMA via nine hour training sessions at the wildfire training center which is a few blocks from our barracks. before we head south on friday morning at 6:45am we will hopefully have some idea of where we will be headed post-new mexico training but that is still up in the air. in the meantime, I will be busy storing my extra belongings in my original green military duffel bag to keep here on campus while I pile the "essentials" into my smaller, more portable red duffel (which will be with me for the next 2-9 months and should have a change of clothes for any and every climate....wishful thinking).

last weekend in california

this last friday was the last day of our CTI (Corps Training Institute), meaning come tomorrow at Induction, we will officially be corps members. we celebrated the end of our three-week long training on friday with the AmeriOlympics (which included events such as the four-legged race and a team leader race to put on their PPE, or Personal Protective Equipment consisting of goggles, coveralls, and hard hats) and a barbecue with the corps members and team leaders.

saturday was spent with a large number of other corps members traveling to san francisco via the megabus at 6am. in between the walk through chinatown to fisherman's wharf and then down to haight and ashbury, I was able to see my little brother who is currently attending the university of san francisco, which was a nice little treat. taking a break from my typical peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches throughout training was very nice, especially when it's replaced with clam chowder in a bread bowl overlooking the golden gate bridge.

sunday was spent sleeping and recovering from walking the entire length of san francisco. we are leaving this coming friday to venture to new mexico so we are all relishing the last few days of our northern californian dorm dwelling. since we will be leaving to our projects after new mexico (which have yet to be announced) we will not be coming back to sacramento for a few more months I believe. and yes, we will be traveling the country via our 15 passenger vans as opposed to any other mode of transportation (if that was a question on anyone's mind).

tomorrow, monday, we have our induction ceremony that will allow us to officially become corps members. we will be joined by FEMA representatives as well as the NCCC and FEMA Corps staff. another exciting bit about tomorrow is that breakfast will be catered, which is always a nice alternative to my tea and toast on the run that typically tends to happen. but before we get excited about catered breakfast, there is PT (Physical Training) which begins in approximately six hours and twenty minutes (yes, at 5:20am). ladder runs and run-sprint-jogs before the sun is up....bring it on.