You know a storm is going to be bad when it is given a name

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!

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.

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.

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.

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! :)