des moines coffee chat

sitting in a starbucks off the road in west des moines, iowa, listening to the acoustic starbucksy music they play, waiting for our team leader to take a conference call with our unit leader and point of contact at our next deployment location.

a man in his early thirties approached me because he recognized our grey shirts and khakis, the eternally identifying symbols of americorps nccc corps members. he mentioned that he was originally from illinois but that he had done americorps nccc at the sacramento campus as well. after his year in his own 15-passenger, he went on to serve with an americorps state program in iowa and now lives here in iowa. his main emphasis was on how much he misses his nccc experience. his advice: really appreciate every moment of the program right now "because then you get out and real life is hard". 

another family, consisting of an older gentleman and three daughters, approached me as well. the gentleman was adorned with a white beard, a dark tan indiana jones hat, yellow suspenders decorated like rulers, and long green cargo shorts. he recognized our uniforms because americorps nccc members had helped rebuild rooftops at a boy scout camp he worked at several years ago. he went on to tell me about the family roadtrip they're taking across the country to end up in los angeles, where they're originally from, though his children have spread out across the country over the years (hence the family road trip across the country). departing words: thank you for all of your service. 

thank you, people of america. 

colorado driving

driving through colorado and all I can do is admire the beauty around me. photos wouldn't do the rivers, farmhouses, hills, and rocky mountains justice. nevermind being able to capture the vastness of the bonneville salt flats or the deep richly red beauty of arches national park in utah yesterday. 

we're on day three of our journey back to virginia. 

being in the car so many days on end while being serenaded by fleet foxes, the head and the heart, and other folky mood music which inspire life reflection, tends to make a person think a lot. I'm finding I'm much more comfortable living wildly outside of my comfort zone (for now anyway. I guess that comes with the FEMA corps territory...traveling from place to place at a moment's notice). I've become strangely accustomed to owning two shirts, a pair of pants, shorts, and my uniform and packing up my life in fifteen minutes.

some days I wake up and forget I'm sleeping five people to a motel room or in the middle of nebraska or that I have a ten hour journey ahead of me that day in attempts to slowly crawl across the country. it's a strange existence. but it's a good one. 

change-up

we've been redeployed to virginia; currently on the road and back making friends with interstate 80 all over again.

we'll be working at a high security FEMA facility in virginia assisting with the deployment unit...which is slightly different than driving a day and a half to washington state and working out of their regional office in disaster preparedness.

it's been an interesting journey thus far and will only continue to become more interesting, I'm sure, as the next three months present themselves. 

in the meantime...we've arrived at our spot for the night in nevada, and will continue on our 5-6 day journey to the east coast in the morning. 

the last three months

sitting in the airport waiting to catch my flight back to mcclellan air force base in sacramento (aka campus). 

I've got my duffel of diabetes supplies that goes with me everywhere, a bag of "energy" nut and berry mix (because who doesn't want energy before they re-enter FEMA corps life), and a fresh batch of chocolate peanut butter cookies my mother handed me as I walked out the door intended to share with my team ("intended" being the operative word here...just kidding, team!....kind of....).

this last week was a wonderful blend of family, friends, homemade food, beach days, scrabble games, car sing-a-longs, and sleeping in my own bed. it was a little strange to repack my duffel and think about heading back into amerilife because the last time I was in my room packing a duffel, it was to begin my amerijourney. when people asked me this past week, "do you enjoy it? what's been your favorite place?" it was difficult to answer because the past six months have been so much more than a fifteen minute explanation (which is probably an obvious realization to anyone who just read that thought sentence). I have learned not only about myself and my abilities and capabilities and how I deal and react in familiar and wildly unfamiliar situations, but I've also learned about people and their interests and tendencies and what drives people to pursue certain paths in their lives. this half-year so far has been a massive social experiment (not that I'm creating or executing any form of experiment in any way really, but more a unique opportunity to fully immerse myself in situations that are saturated with a variety of people). 

I feel I've grown in that I've gained an incredible amount of flexibility in my life, as well as learning how to be patient in situations where the last thing I want to do is be patient. I also feel I've gained the ability to listen and converse with others while withholding judgment and preconceived notions about either that person and/or the topic being discussed and am able to just be present in the conversation. and to have learned those skills as well as in depth insight into how I function and can serve as a positive contribution to society, I think is an invaluable experience.

so when people ask "do I enjoy it?" and other four or five worded questions, I don't know how else to answer other than that I am grateful I was able to have this experience at this point in my life. (I also usually direct them to my blog as well because "being grateful" doesn't usually satisfy their craving for details and ameristories. so thank goodness I decided to start this thing!)

I will close this diary-esque blog entry and continue to read my ibook on my iPad (because books don't fit in my duffel), eat my airport-bought "energy mix", and wait for my delayed flight with a smile on my face (because I am flexibility professional!)

catch up

I've been well reminded by my mother that I have not updated my blog since august 5th and it is now august 17th. what have I been thinking.

upon arrival in sacramento, we were greeted by our other FEMA corps members who had arrived at campus a day or two before us, coming from their deployments in everywhere from oakland, california, to new mexico to kansas city to oklahoma. we went through transition, which consisted of debriefs in front of the unit leaders on our individual projects, community meetings, and celebrations we've created for our previous deployments (ours was a FEMA corps version of the cup song I took to writing lyrics for during some down time in dc). 

it was a wonderful few days catching up with friends, other teams, and staff on campus that I hadn't seen as far back march. everyone has different stories from their different projects and different interactions they were able to learn and grow from, but all of our experiences, whether at headquarters in dc or on an indian reservation in new mexico or a facility in southern texas, were similar in that we've all learned an immense amount about ourselves and how we interact not only with each other and the communities we serve, but with the world around us. the past six months have been some of the most interesting months I've lived and it's a wonderful feeling knowing I have a support system with the other corps members who have been on the same journey. 

I am now enjoying my weeklong summer hiatus from FEMA corps, spending time with family, sleeping in a bed without one to two other people in it, eating foods that are green and leafy, and appreciating the home I was raised in. I've never appreciated southern california more than after driving down the coast with my corps member friends who are from the east coast and had never before touched the pacific ocean. it's nice to come home and see my own community in a different light (not to mention planning a way to call the entire city together to make sure every person and family has a fully functioning emergency plan and kit and to educate them on the realities of natural disasters...but that may take longer than the four more days I am here....)

all in all, I am more than happy to have this time at home and catch up with friends and family before heading back up to finish my year of service. 

next stop: washington state.

wyoming

we've driven through two time zones already and ended up in beautifully dry and windy wyoming. 

driving through nine states in a 15 passenger van through several climates and time zones with seven other people in khakis and boots. not exactly something I would have thought I'd be doing in august of 2013, but then here we are.

we have officially become best friends with the I-80 and all landmarks along the way. yesterday afternoon we stopped off the highway to visit a volkswagen beetle spider (per usual) and this morning were greeted by a big bronze bust of honest abe staring back at us. I'd say we've had a successful journey thus far.

we'll be in sac the day after tomorrow and begin transitioning from our round in dc right away.

sitting on our bed in our small wyoming town hotel watching house hunters is the perfect way to detox from our days of travel. 

iowa

it's strange to think I was working in FEMA headquarters two blocks from the capitol building two days ago and now I'm driving through the middle of iowa's corn fields. at the rate we've been going though, I guess it shouldn't surprise me at all.

I began my AmeriCorps NCCC-FEMA corps adventure february 12th and here I am, it's august 4th and I've lived in sacramento, new mexico, new york, illinois, and dc for 2-5 weeks at a time. I guess most wouldn't consider that "living" some place, but with as much integration and involvement that went on in each community we visited, I would consider myself having lived in each of those locations. well. maybe not new mexico...because we were at a federal law enforcement training center, and I hope no one would live at one of those ever. so scratch the whole new mexico bit. 

we're heading back to sacramento, driving through several states I had never imagined I would see ever. and of course those are the states that have been the most beautiful. so saturated with life and warm personalities. we'll be transitioning from our most recent round in dc while in sactown and then I will be visiting home for about a week. 

but before sactown arrives, I have convinced my team to take a few side trips, some of which include visiting the black angel in iowa city, iowa (a cursed grave marker) and a volkswagen beetle spider (which is actually incredibly self explanatory and is exactly what you'd think it would be. I know. the wonders of interstate 80).

and who says the great plains don't have much to offer? (I actually don't know if anyone's ever said that, but I'm assuming someone has at some point).

 

dc: out.

today we leave dc to head westward, back to our sacramento campus. came into FEMA headquarters this morning to finish up our last bit of work and leaving at noon to get back in the van and hit the road. it's been a wonderful experience, working in headquarters. the people are wonderful and I have learned more than I could have ever imagined while working here. acting as the unofficial special assistant to the director and deputy director in external affairs has been an incredible opportunity that, a year ago, probably wasn't on my life to-do list. but I've done it. and it feels like a massive accomplishment. I've enjoyed getting to know dc, with its humidity, daily/weekly thunderstorms, history creeping along every street, free museums allowing for people to be a part of the history at any moment they wish, the jazz nights on fridays in the sculpture gardens, the quaintness of old town alexandria, the mile walk from our extended stay to the metro, the hours spent volunteering at an organic farm in maryland, meeting people both living in and passing through dc, tea time talks with teammates, catching fireflies out of the corner of my eyes, realizing fireflies exist more than just in storybooks. you know, the usual things you experience in any city you visit. .... dc has been a lovely time filled with lovelier moments. california is beginning to call my name.

emi: follow-up

visiting the emergency management institute was a wonderful way to both get out of the city busyness of dc and to gain some historical and service learning perspective. emi houses the national fallen firefighters memorial while also serving as a campus where FEMA and other emergency management professionals can go to receive training. before the campus was bought and used by FEMA, it was an all-girls liberal arts school. some of the buildings were created in the 1800s whereas others have been added and changed to accommodate FEMA's purposes.

aside from our day trip to emi,we were also able to stop in to the lovely little town of frederick, maryland. our team spent the day, wandering the town, visiting shops we can't afford on our stiped, and enjoying the sunshine maryland had to offer that afternoon.