The past two weeks have been crazy. We're currently living in a hotel, but I'll get to that in a moment. Last week we worked with the facilities crew which is mostly in charge of road maintenance. We were able to partake in the annual bison census which involved driving around the island for 8 hours and stopping to count all of the bison we could spot. The crew were divided into about 6 different teams, each responsible for a different section of the island. Most of the roads on the island are dirt and I have never been off-roading for such a long period of time before. My team spotted 47 bison, while other teams that had the shoreline counted only 2 or 3 bison. One bison came close enough to our vehicle that I could have pet it through the window, but I refrained. That was definitely my favorite day on the island thus far. It was really nice that our team was split up, and we got to learn more about the island and the individual facilities' crew members that we worked with.
The wind is intense on the island and last week we were all woken up to what sounded like our tent collapsing. We remembered that we had left our laundry out to dry and we all ran out frantically with our headlamps to grab our clothing that was strewn all over the campsite. The joy of camping.
Monday morning it started raining so for work we drove around the main roads to make sure they were safe and that there wasn't too much debris in the roads. In the early afternoon we drove by our campsite to see how it was holding up in the rain and realized it was pretty destroyed by the wind. Our whole kitchen was torn apart, the pantry that contained most of our food, dishes and silverware had opened and plates were strewn everywhere. The grill was sliding down the hill and the canopy covering the kitchen had broken apart. The canopy on the guy's cabin had blown away and there was a hole that allowed water to seep in. I have a short video of what the campsite looks like when it was destroyed, but I'm unable to upload it now, so I'll try again later.
We were warned that the storm this week was going to be pretty intense so our sponsor was prepared to have us stay in a hotel for the remainder of the week. We are SO lucky about this. We were given 5 hotel rooms for the 10 of us and I have never appreciated heat and electricity so much. The last few days we were able to get in a few hours of work before it started raining again, but it has been raining all day today so we didn't have work and who knows what will be in store for us tomorrow. There's always something exciting in the Americorps world. There is another campsite that was not as badly damaged by the wind, so we will be moving there later tonight or tomorrow. Our sponsor says she's never seen a storm this big in Catalina and she's lived here for 30 years so we're very happy to be out of our tent and in a room with real walls.
Next Friday we head back to Sacramento for a week before heading to our next project! We'll be moving to Central Los Angeles (Compton/Inglewood) to work with an organization tutoring and mentoring K-12 students for 2 months. I'm really excited about working with people again, especially tutoring students. I was initially disappointed to be staying in socal for another round, but living in central LA will definitely be a different experience than anything I've ever had before. We'll be living in a three bedroom house attached to a Lutheran Church which sounds pretty spacious in AmeriCorps standards.
I hope everyone in CA is safe from the storm! Miss you all!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Greetings from Catalina!
Driving from Sac to Long Beach was an adventure in itself. Every 2 hours we have to switch drivers and “safeties” (the person sitting in the passenger seat). It ends up taking quite a bit longer to get places. We got to our hotel in Long Beach and all 10 of us went in with Tonye (our TL) to check in. The look on the lady’s face was priceless when we told her that all 10 of us were staying in one room with double beds. She was a bit confused but didn’t try to stop us. It was about 8pm once we settled in and we still had to go grocery shopping and we were looking for a store that sells food in bulk. The nearby Sam’s Club closes at 830pm and opens at 10. Our ferry ride is at 10am Tuesday morning and we had no food and no way to get reasonably priced food once we got to Catalina. We sweet talked our way into allowing Sam's Club to give us permission to shop at 7am which is generally only open for business members.
Tuesday morning we went to Sam’s Club and got the majority of our groceries for 3 weeks. We realized we didn't have a current Sam's Club membership upon check-out, and once we paid for that and took all 450 granola bars out of their boxes to save room, we missed our 10am ferry. The combination of luggage, groceries and 10 people in a 15 passenger van is a ridiculous site. We took the next ferry at 2pm, but it was still unfortunate that we missed it and didn't arrive to our campsite until dark. We somehow had to bring all of our stuff to the ferry; what a ridiculous sight. Here’s a picture of some of our stuff on the ferry.
Tuesday morning we went to Sam’s Club and got the majority of our groceries for 3 weeks. We realized we didn't have a current Sam's Club membership upon check-out, and once we paid for that and took all 450 granola bars out of their boxes to save room, we missed our 10am ferry. The combination of luggage, groceries and 10 people in a 15 passenger van is a ridiculous site. We took the next ferry at 2pm, but it was still unfortunate that we missed it and didn't arrive to our campsite until dark. We somehow had to bring all of our stuff to the ferry; what a ridiculous sight. Here’s a picture of some of our stuff on the ferry.
Our accommodations are actually pretty nice at the camp. There are two cabins, one for girls, one for guys. There are 8 beds in each so we have plenty of space. There is a wooden floor and sturdy canvas around the tent so you almost feel like you are inside with the exception of heating. We have two showers, one of which is an outdoor shower which is really awesome at sunset. We have a full kitchen with refrigerator and freezer and hot water, so there’s not much to complain about.
This past week we spent working with the Fox Recovery Program. The Catalina Island Fox was almost completely wiped out by canine distemper about 9 years ago so the conservancy created a breeding facility to bring the population up. Now that the population has flourished, the fox pens are no longer needed and are really overgrown and the brush is a fire danger. We removed wires and camera equipment from the fox pens and cleared brush for the last 3 days. We have found a few rattlesnakes and we wear snake chaps when trudging through the brush. Daylight is short on the island and it’s a mad rush after work to be sure that we have enough daylight to do PT and start a fire for warmth.
This past week we spent working with the Fox Recovery Program. The Catalina Island Fox was almost completely wiped out by canine distemper about 9 years ago so the conservancy created a breeding facility to bring the population up. Now that the population has flourished, the fox pens are no longer needed and are really overgrown and the brush is a fire danger. We removed wires and camera equipment from the fox pens and cleared brush for the last 3 days. We have found a few rattlesnakes and we wear snake chaps when trudging through the brush. Daylight is short on the island and it’s a mad rush after work to be sure that we have enough daylight to do PT and start a fire for warmth.
Home.
Bison are everywhere
So far Catalina has been awesome! Every night we have a campfire after dinner (both to stay warm and also for entertainment). There is a nearby park with a playground which we visit on a daily basis. We have been given 2 vehicles to use to drive to and from work and we were lucky enough to be able to use them to drive into Avalon last night for my birthday. We found live music and that was all I needed to be happy! It was definitely strange to spend my birthday clearing brush in 80 degree weather, running up and down mountains for PT and having carrot cake (that's the only kind the convenience store sold) around a campfire. 
My team at the fox recovery pens after work one day. I suppose our view of the mountains and ocean is nothing to complain about!
PS I don't get cell phone reception at our campsite, but will try my best to keep in touch when I get back into Avalon on the weekends! Without electricity or cell phone reception it's hard to remember I'm only an hour from home, but when we listen to the radio on the way to and from work everyday we hear the traffic update on the 405.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Back from Break
Exciting news: I’m going to the university of Minnesota pharmacy school next fall! I found out that I was accepted 3 weeks ago, but now it’s official that I’ll be moving to the Twin Cities at the end of August! My good friend in AmeriCorps, Mae, found out that she was accepted to law school in Minneapolis the same week as me and it’s exciting times for both of us!
Another winter break accomplishment: I talked about NCCC so much that 5 friends said they are applying for next year.
Upon returning to the dorm from the airport this afternoon I found that half of the floor that I live on was flooded. Luckily it is not the half I live on, but there is furniture in the hallways and laundry room.
I’m back in Sac for the night and will be driving down to Long Beach with my team tomorrow morning. We will be purchasing all of our groceries for three weeks before we take the ferry over to Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. This should be interesting. As far as I know, the first week we’ll be working with biologists to save foxes that are endemic to Catalina. I’m hoping to develop a passion for animals this week. I also have a headlamp and approximately 6 books so I will hopefully be able to survive without electricity for 3.5 weeks.
I will hopefully give an update when I go into Avalon (the only town on Catalina) every once in awhile, but until then, email/facebook me your address and you will receive a postcard! :)
Another winter break accomplishment: I talked about NCCC so much that 5 friends said they are applying for next year.
Upon returning to the dorm from the airport this afternoon I found that half of the floor that I live on was flooded. Luckily it is not the half I live on, but there is furniture in the hallways and laundry room.
I’m back in Sac for the night and will be driving down to Long Beach with my team tomorrow morning. We will be purchasing all of our groceries for three weeks before we take the ferry over to Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. This should be interesting. As far as I know, the first week we’ll be working with biologists to save foxes that are endemic to Catalina. I’m hoping to develop a passion for animals this week. I also have a headlamp and approximately 6 books so I will hopefully be able to survive without electricity for 3.5 weeks.
I will hopefully give an update when I go into Avalon (the only town on Catalina) every once in awhile, but until then, email/facebook me your address and you will receive a postcard! :)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Food Bank!
Since today was my last day working at the food bank, I realized that I still have more to write about.
This first project was so amazing. Last Monday one of the staff asked if any of us wanted to tutor a student in math and I immediately volunteered. I was paired with a girl to study for the GED. It turned out she really needed help with English and Social Studies, which I was less excited about. I had no idea what the GED tested and assumed it would be similar to junior or senior year English class, but boy was I wrong. She showed me the packet of papers she was expected to complete for the week, most of which focused on similes and metaphors in a paragraph of text that was provided. I tutored her for about 2 hours and in that time learned that she is 25 and dropped out of school at 17. What surprised me most was that she was pretty much unable to read. She said teachers were never willing to explain things to her more than once and she slipped through the cracks and she was so grateful that I was willing to repeat my explanation multiple times for her. The next day I was assisting at a mobile food distribution and I saw her again when she came to pick up food for her family. The Sacramento Food Bank really provides assistance to those in need in just so many ways. I loved that I was able to directly interact with the clients.
Today I helped with the clothing program. 1000 articles of clothing are donated each day to families in need. Volunteers sort through the clothing, organize them on the racks and bag the clothes that the clients have picked out. I have never worked with people that are so appreciative of your help before. Even when clients approach their limit of clothing for their visit, they are almost always polite and hand me items to return. I'm definitely going to miss working here. The food bank set a high standard for our first project and it's going to be hard for other projects to be as great!
Last night a team returned from Catalina and everyone seemed to have a great time, so I'm really excited to be going there after new years! Yay for 2 weeks at home though! Happy Holidays everyone!
This first project was so amazing. Last Monday one of the staff asked if any of us wanted to tutor a student in math and I immediately volunteered. I was paired with a girl to study for the GED. It turned out she really needed help with English and Social Studies, which I was less excited about. I had no idea what the GED tested and assumed it would be similar to junior or senior year English class, but boy was I wrong. She showed me the packet of papers she was expected to complete for the week, most of which focused on similes and metaphors in a paragraph of text that was provided. I tutored her for about 2 hours and in that time learned that she is 25 and dropped out of school at 17. What surprised me most was that she was pretty much unable to read. She said teachers were never willing to explain things to her more than once and she slipped through the cracks and she was so grateful that I was willing to repeat my explanation multiple times for her. The next day I was assisting at a mobile food distribution and I saw her again when she came to pick up food for her family. The Sacramento Food Bank really provides assistance to those in need in just so many ways. I loved that I was able to directly interact with the clients.
Today I helped with the clothing program. 1000 articles of clothing are donated each day to families in need. Volunteers sort through the clothing, organize them on the racks and bag the clothes that the clients have picked out. I have never worked with people that are so appreciative of your help before. Even when clients approach their limit of clothing for their visit, they are almost always polite and hand me items to return. I'm definitely going to miss working here. The food bank set a high standard for our first project and it's going to be hard for other projects to be as great!
Last night a team returned from Catalina and everyone seemed to have a great time, so I'm really excited to be going there after new years! Yay for 2 weeks at home though! Happy Holidays everyone!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Some pictures from the last weeks
Susanna, me, Mae in Lake Tahoe
Iris, me, Mae, Pat chilling in San Fran
Lake Tahoe!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
A Long Thanksgiving Season
Working at the food bank so far has been exactly what I was expecting to do with AmeriCorps. This has been the longest and most rewarding Thanksgiving I've ever experienced. Two weeks ago Friday my team assisted in a turkey drive and collected an incredible 6600 turkeys. The goal was to collect 5000 and was pleasantly surprised to receive so many more. The event was well publicized by KCRA (a local Sacramento television station) and a few of my team members were on the local news. Unfortunately I was out of town that day and missed what my team considers the best day of work thus far.
Last Monday and Tuesday were turkey distribution days at the food bank. 2500 turkeys were allotted each day for distribution and the remaining turkeys were given to other non-profits in the Sacramento area to assist in preparation of a hot Thanksgiving dinner to those that do not have access to a kitchen. Monday was one of the most eye-opening experiences I've ever had and I'm sure the memories will stay with me for a long time. KCRA did a great job of publicizing the large number of turkeys we had to distribute and when we arrived at 6am to begin distributing turkeys, people were already lined up around the block, many of which had slept there all night. I was given the responsibility of "traffic control" and I stood on a street corner and made sure that no one crossed the street until I gave them permission to do so. This turned out to be a great job. I got the chance to speak to almost all of the clients that came to pick up a turkey that day and what I observed was incredible. Almost everyone I spoke to told me this was their first year relying on the food bank for Thanksgiving dinner and most of them have only recently begun utilizing the services at the food bank. One man was a WWII veteran and that was really upsetting to see. One woman told me every year until now she was the one donating turkeys but her business took a turn for the worse this past year and she found herself in line for a free donation. That story became too familiar and I heard it multiple times throughout the few hours I spent distributing turkeys. At one point a crowd of people surrounding me started discussing the economy and how things have never been so bad for so many people. Of course I know the unemployment rate is high and the status of the economy but it really sinks in when I was surrounded by so many people relying on donations for a Thanksgiving meal that I always took for granted. So many people thanked me over and over after handing them their Thanksgiving meal and couldn't be more appreciative of our assistance.
This is only a portion of our freezer after some of the turkeys were already distributed.
On Tuesday I helped a Food Bank employee (also a former AmeriCorps NCCC member) collect donations. It was awesome to see how many people were donating clothing, food, turkeys, and other miscellaneous items while so many people were in need. Everyone was in high spirits and it was really great for them to see the people they were donating to.
Thursday was the Food Bank's 16th Annual Run to Feed the Hungry. It is the largest Thanksgiving day run in the country. My team along with about 20 other AmeriCorps NCCC members volunteered to help set up for the race and clean up afterward. I helped control traffic before the race and helped pick up trash afterward. (I also received 2 free t-shirts which is always a big plus!)
One of our sponsors from the Food Bank invited my entire team over for Thanksgiving dinner. She was an award-winning cook and baker and her kitchen wall was covered in 1st place ribbons from county fairs. Her family was extremely generous and it was really nice to spend Thanksgiving with my entire team. It was definitely strange not being home for Thanksgiving for the first time. For the remainder of the weekend I went to Lake Tahoe with a few friends. The ride there was quite adventurous and took 5 hours instead of 2 due to an unanticipated blizzard. We had to pull off the freeway to purchase and install chains on our tires which is something I've never experienced before. It was a great weekend of hiking and lots of card playing. Most of all it was nice to step off the base for a few days!
Needless to say, this was the most meaningful Thanksgiving I've experienced. One of the employees at the food bank told us we would remember this Thanksgiving 30 years from now and think that it was the best one we've ever had. I can already tell that she's right.
here's a link to a few pictures of the food bank during the distribution
http://www.sacbee.com/photos/gallery/2343099.html
Last Monday and Tuesday were turkey distribution days at the food bank. 2500 turkeys were allotted each day for distribution and the remaining turkeys were given to other non-profits in the Sacramento area to assist in preparation of a hot Thanksgiving dinner to those that do not have access to a kitchen. Monday was one of the most eye-opening experiences I've ever had and I'm sure the memories will stay with me for a long time. KCRA did a great job of publicizing the large number of turkeys we had to distribute and when we arrived at 6am to begin distributing turkeys, people were already lined up around the block, many of which had slept there all night. I was given the responsibility of "traffic control" and I stood on a street corner and made sure that no one crossed the street until I gave them permission to do so. This turned out to be a great job. I got the chance to speak to almost all of the clients that came to pick up a turkey that day and what I observed was incredible. Almost everyone I spoke to told me this was their first year relying on the food bank for Thanksgiving dinner and most of them have only recently begun utilizing the services at the food bank. One man was a WWII veteran and that was really upsetting to see. One woman told me every year until now she was the one donating turkeys but her business took a turn for the worse this past year and she found herself in line for a free donation. That story became too familiar and I heard it multiple times throughout the few hours I spent distributing turkeys. At one point a crowd of people surrounding me started discussing the economy and how things have never been so bad for so many people. Of course I know the unemployment rate is high and the status of the economy but it really sinks in when I was surrounded by so many people relying on donations for a Thanksgiving meal that I always took for granted. So many people thanked me over and over after handing them their Thanksgiving meal and couldn't be more appreciative of our assistance.
This is only a portion of our freezer after some of the turkeys were already distributed.
On Tuesday I helped a Food Bank employee (also a former AmeriCorps NCCC member) collect donations. It was awesome to see how many people were donating clothing, food, turkeys, and other miscellaneous items while so many people were in need. Everyone was in high spirits and it was really great for them to see the people they were donating to.
Thursday was the Food Bank's 16th Annual Run to Feed the Hungry. It is the largest Thanksgiving day run in the country. My team along with about 20 other AmeriCorps NCCC members volunteered to help set up for the race and clean up afterward. I helped control traffic before the race and helped pick up trash afterward. (I also received 2 free t-shirts which is always a big plus!)
One of our sponsors from the Food Bank invited my entire team over for Thanksgiving dinner. She was an award-winning cook and baker and her kitchen wall was covered in 1st place ribbons from county fairs. Her family was extremely generous and it was really nice to spend Thanksgiving with my entire team. It was definitely strange not being home for Thanksgiving for the first time. For the remainder of the weekend I went to Lake Tahoe with a few friends. The ride there was quite adventurous and took 5 hours instead of 2 due to an unanticipated blizzard. We had to pull off the freeway to purchase and install chains on our tires which is something I've never experienced before. It was a great weekend of hiking and lots of card playing. Most of all it was nice to step off the base for a few days!
Needless to say, this was the most meaningful Thanksgiving I've experienced. One of the employees at the food bank told us we would remember this Thanksgiving 30 years from now and think that it was the best one we've ever had. I can already tell that she's right.
here's a link to a few pictures of the food bank during the distribution
http://www.sacbee.com/photos/gallery/2343099.html
Monday, November 16, 2009
first day of work
Today was our first day of work, but before I discuss that I'll tell you a few stories from the past few days.
Last week I went to the Base Exchange on the Air Force Base. Basically it's like Target, but it's duty free, which is awesome. When we walked in the store, an employee asked me and my friend if we wanted to win free jewelry. Of course, we said yes, and were sucked into an explanation about the various jewelry from a woman that wishes she was on an infomercial. The woman held up different jewelry and the customers raised their hands if they liked it, and I was really wondering why I was wasting my time listening to this. She then did a raffle and I won! I won't forget to mention that there were only 10 people in the running, but as far as I can remember, this is the first raffle I've ever won! (It's actually kinda ugly, but that's besides the point).
So then on Saturday I did an ISP (Independent Service Project) at a community garden. We hung out in a park during our lunch break and all of the kids asked us if we were soldiers. When we said no, they asked if we were park rangers. I guess 15 20 year-olds wearing khaki cargo pants and steel toed boots looks like park rangers. It gave us a good laugh.
So today was our first day at the Food Bank. It's an impressive organization since it offers 9 different services. We get to help participate in the turkey drive (they expect 3000 donated turkeys!), turkey distribution as well as The Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving morning. Everyday will be different and we get to participate in a variety of different projects.
After work today we went to the grocery store to buy food for dinner for the rest of the week. My team is secretly happy I'll be gone for a few days this week so they can eat meat and not feel bad that I can't eat it (I'm the only vegetarian). Actually, they weren't so secret about it, but I don't mind.
Most of the teams left for their projects this morning. This leaves just 6 teams on base in Sacramento. It's weird, the kitchen and dorms feel especially empty, but I still have 2 roommates. Thanks for reading, I know this entry is a bit random.
Last week I went to the Base Exchange on the Air Force Base. Basically it's like Target, but it's duty free, which is awesome. When we walked in the store, an employee asked me and my friend if we wanted to win free jewelry. Of course, we said yes, and were sucked into an explanation about the various jewelry from a woman that wishes she was on an infomercial. The woman held up different jewelry and the customers raised their hands if they liked it, and I was really wondering why I was wasting my time listening to this. She then did a raffle and I won! I won't forget to mention that there were only 10 people in the running, but as far as I can remember, this is the first raffle I've ever won! (It's actually kinda ugly, but that's besides the point).
So then on Saturday I did an ISP (Independent Service Project) at a community garden. We hung out in a park during our lunch break and all of the kids asked us if we were soldiers. When we said no, they asked if we were park rangers. I guess 15 20 year-olds wearing khaki cargo pants and steel toed boots looks like park rangers. It gave us a good laugh.
So today was our first day at the Food Bank. It's an impressive organization since it offers 9 different services. We get to help participate in the turkey drive (they expect 3000 donated turkeys!), turkey distribution as well as The Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving morning. Everyday will be different and we get to participate in a variety of different projects.
After work today we went to the grocery store to buy food for dinner for the rest of the week. My team is secretly happy I'll be gone for a few days this week so they can eat meat and not feel bad that I can't eat it (I'm the only vegetarian). Actually, they weren't so secret about it, but I don't mind.
Most of the teams left for their projects this morning. This leaves just 6 teams on base in Sacramento. It's weird, the kitchen and dorms feel especially empty, but I still have 2 roommates. Thanks for reading, I know this entry is a bit random.
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