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).