the Balance

Man, where have I been? Between limited internet connectivity and long work hours, its been getting hard to find time to post things.

The lonliness of a deserted campus continues. Fortunately our job at the partnership has been getting busier as the holidays approach, and I've been trying to get ahead in ISP hours. Did I explain ISPs yet? Of the 1700 hours of service we need to complete the program, at least 80 need to be independent service projects that I come up with myself, or help a fellow corps member with. Today we got up at 6 to go work in the kitchen and warehouse at the homeless shelter. Doesn't get much volunteery than that!


Last friday was family night at the Partnership. We set up dinner and activity for the kids. I'm afraid that I still feel a bit awkward around children, especially when half of them speak Spanish or Russian. Their being poor also makes it hard...we can't assume they have a TV to watch SpongeBob, or can read Harry Potter...so its hard to find common ground with them. really depressing stuff.

But we try.
I can't believe we've been here over a month, and that Christmas break starts in less than a month. I really really really can't wait. And why can these posts NEVER turn out as well and interesting as I want them to?

Melancholy man

Lets see...

We switched rooms recently, to be closer to our new teammates and team leader. My new room is better in pretty much every way: more furniture, first floor, towel racks...now if only it had a reliable internet connection. So from now on, I'm afraid updates will be more sporadic from now on. Also, I broke my camera. Again. I just cant be trusted with these things.

Anyway, most of the teams left on spike this morning. There are only about 5 left on campus; the ones who are working on local projects for this round like us. The place seems abandoned. Nobody in the kitchens, or the lounges, or the halls. Garbage bins are full and overflowing, and people just left their crap where it lay, it seems (some corps members are not known for their cleanliness). It feels like we survived the Rapture... But Im gonna miss a lot of people. I don't want to think about how long its going to be before I see many of them again.

We started our first day at Folsom Cordova. More meetings, more training. I can't wait to get to work, cause Im going nutty with this stuff.


Oh, and the Leonids meteor shower peaks tonight. Try and check it out!

Dawning is the Day

Sorry for being out of touch this past week. It's been crazy busy and my new room is JUST far enough away from the wireless router for a sketchy connection. Laptops, I have come to realize, are otherly worthless without the internet. They're just expensive mp3 players that you can't put in your pocket.

This was the final week of CTI (Corps training institute). We're finally done with all the mindless lessons and repetitive team building excersizes. Physical training will now take place later in the day. We can even drive the vans without a team leader being present! We had a nice induction ceremony today and got a piece of paper that I ought to find a frame for. Now I'm a REAL AmeriBoy! Now, all the teams are going their separate ways on Monday to start their first projects.

Our first spike is actually right here in Sacramento, at the Folsom Cordova Community Partnership, about 45 minutes away from base. I'm actually looking forward to staying in Sacramento. it will really give me time to get to know the are and make it feel more familiar. Its hard to maintain that optimism in the face of teams who are psyched to be going to Utah or the gulf coast, but it should get easier when they're gone. We all will have a project in Sacramento sooner or later; its good to get ours out of the way early. It will be weird, though, wandering around campus with only 4 or 5 other teams.

The Community Partnership is dedicated to improving the lives of low-income families int he Rancho Cordova area. They provide nutritious foods, education, and economic aid to parents who are trying to better their lives. They also have day care so parents can have time to take classes. They already work with a few Americorps VISTA members, but their terms are up this month, so they'll be leaving the Partnership just in time for winter and the holiday season (when demand for its services increases sharply). Thats where we come in.

It sounds like a really impotant project; we'll all be directly fighting poverty and helping people find better lives. And thats why we're here, right?

minstrel's song

Finally back from Camp Mendocino! It was a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back.

The trip up took about 4 hours. It was a great day and a beautiful drive through some of California's wildly varying terrain. We went from endless farmlands...


to rolling semi-arid hills...

to sheer redwood covered mountains.

I even got a turn at driving the van. It was a pain in the ass trying to maintain a certain speed and really scary going around some of the sharp turns on a steep hill in a huge 15 passenger van.

Camp Mendocino is nestled in a valley in said redwood mountains. The steep cliffs on all side, combined with the really tall trees meant that we only got direct sunlight for about an hour each day. So yeah, it was a bit chilly. Sleeping at night was difficult because the "cabins" we stayed in were little more than a roof. The doors and windows were just curtains to keep the bugs out.

Most of the time we were doing team-building activities. You know, being presented a challenge and having to figure out the best way to solve it as a team. Identifying who the natural leaders and followers were, and trying to make everyone try to participate equally. All the noble stuff that is forgotten immediately in the real world. I'm sad to say that, as usual, I find myself falling into the submissive follower role. I hate being like that, and will try to do my best to break out of it.

One of the coolest features of the place was their rock climbing wall and their ropes course. I actually managed to get to the top of the wall with only a little bit of cheating, and had a blast dangling from safety wires and ropes strung up about 30 feet in the trees and flying down on a zipline. Awesome!

On the last night, we all got fed up with the coldness in the cabins and decided to camp out next to the fire pit under the stars. The whole thing was surreal and I'm still not sure it actually happened. But it was the best sleep I had while I was out there and will remember it forever. It makes me miss real camping with my friends.

Did that post make any sense? I had a much nicer sounding post all planned out in my head but I think I'm too tired to get it across. But here I am at the ungodly hour of 10:45, filling you guys in even though I have PT tomorow at 5:30. See how much I care?

Miss you all.

Its up to you

Listen up, my droogies; heres a couple orders of business.

First: i got my mailing address: all of you should send me things!

Lee Forrest
Americorps NCCC
Class XVI / Silver 6
3427 Laurel St.
McClellan, CA 95652

I'll throw it up on a permanent sidebar so you don't forget.

Second: Tomorow we leave for our first spike. Actually its more of a mini-spike, since its only 4 days long. But I'll be out of touch for the whole time. So don't feel bad...I'm not ignoring you! We'll be going to Camp Mendacino, a summer camp for lower income kids. It's about four hours north of Sacramento, in the redwood forests surrounding Fort Bragg. Look it up on Google Maps. On one hand, Im gonna be freezing my ass off, but on the other hand, it will be nice to get away from this place for a few days. Plus: redwoods!

Alright, Im off to scrounge together a Halloween costume.

Tortoise and Hare

A woman in Western Samoa has been having visions of the future. Apparently she accurately predicted the coming of the last tsunami and earthquake that struck the islands, with such details as severity and date.

She's predicted another tsunami will strike the island in the next 24 hours. So...if another tsunami strikes Samoa by tomorrow, I'll be pretty freaked out. And you guys should probably be, too.

Don't you feel small?

I noticed that all the stores around here are just named for what's inside them. Just from campus I can see "the Waffle shop," "Kitchen Furniture," "the Music Store," "Russian Restaurant," and "Delicious Burgers." Down the road a bit is "Groceries," "Cheap Cigarettes," and "Hardware."

Don't people around here have any creativity? Props to the Vietnamese place across the streeet for putting a little effort into their name.

Jokes about finding this place have already been done.