Almost the end of spike 1

The weather hasn't been very nice. We've got enough snow so that it's impossible to work in the ditches. The past week and this week have flew by because we haven't done too much. We've helped out at the local food bank a lot bagging potatos, bean, and stocking canned vegetables. It's a really good program for families who can't afford buying all their food at the high priced grocery stores. People from the city volunteer a lot at the food bank and it makes a huge difference. I enjoyed working there because of the familes it was supporting. Being in Americorps I've really began to appreciate the things I have at home. Wednesday my team went on a couple of tours. One had to do with atmosphere and the other was Celestial Seasonings. The atmosphere tour was really interesting because of Colorado's bizzare weather. It always goes from one extreme to another. The Celestial Seasonings tour showed us how the tea was stored, bagged, and packaged. Little boring, but interesting to see the machinery. I also got a few good tea's for the house.

We've been able to go out and about here in boulder. It's a very active city, with plenty of things to do on the weekend. A few of us went bowling the other night, which turned out to be really fun. We also help out at the local YMCA on Friday and Saturday mornings refereeing and keeping score for a biddy basketball league. In return we got free memberships to the Y while we're here in boulder. Helps out with pt that we have to complete each week. Especially since it's been rather cold outside. They also gave a few of us tickets to the Colorado University basketball game the other night. It was really fun to watch some college ball in person rather on t.v.

Today we went and worked with FEMP again. Forest Ecosytem Managment Plan. We helped them put the cut down branches again in the wood chipper. Today I think it got to 12 degrees. I had a ton of layers on and once we began working I warmed up fast. It was a short day, finishing work at about two. Then we went to the Y to workout and shower. The house water isn't drinkable and showering using up the hot water too fast with 13 people. We also just found out what our next project is going to be and where we'll be living. We got construction in Louisiana, finishing a house that a previous group just started. We'll also be living in the Ninth Ward. It's one of the most dangerous area's, but we'll have to stay in large groups. We're living in a Habitat House too. It only has one bathroom, so it should be an interesting two months.

Tomorrow a few of us are going to see Binary Star, a hip hop group. It will be nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Then its only nine more days till I'm on a plane back home for Christmas break!

A day on the mountain

For our first spike project my team, Sun 1, was sent to Boulder Colorado. A lot of members call our house the Amerimansion, but it’s not that big when thirteen people are living in it. It’s an old frontier house bought by the Open Spaces and Mountain Parks. That’s who I’m working for this round. They are known for buying up land around Boulder to keep as is, instead of someone else buying it and building a huge house. They also go to farmers who have a lot of land and make purchase offers on it, but give them a good deal in return. For example, our house was bought by the Open Space program from the Eisenberg’s. They were an older couple who shortly passed away after everything was final. There are five bedrooms and three baths, so not too bad living compared to some other teams.

We are working for Open Spaces and Mountain Parks. Our sponsors are very fun to work with. It makes the days go by fast. Our primary job is clearing out ditches so water can flow easily. Some ditches go for about a mile long, but with thirteen people working together it gets done fast. The tools we use are loppers, little saws, and shovels. Chautauqua Mountain putting chopped down ponderosa pine branches into a wood chipper. About mid way I noticed an eight point buck running around with its mouth agape and grunting since it’s the rut. About a half hour later it a mule doe came bounding through the area with the buck right behind her. It’s always nice seeing the wildlife, although I’d rather be seeing a mountain lion, or elk haha. Something exciting instead of the usual deer. Our team cleared the open area pretty fast with the other three main workers. It wasn’t completely done, but we can finish it within another half days work.

Last weekend we went down to Pearl St. The architect who designed it also designed the commons in Ithaca. Pretty small world. My roommate and I got our picture taken with these two panda bears walking around haha. I have no idea why they were there, but our guess was some bored college students. The University of Colorado at Boulder is an amazing campus. That Sunday night we got a little bored and decided to play some house games. First up was twister, which got a little crazy. Then we did the limbo, I came in second haha. The final game was pin the tale on the donkey. Hard to believe we’re all 20-24 years old haha. I really like living in the house with everyone. I’m used to a big family and this is exactly what it’s like. I’m getting pretty excited to go home for Christmas to see everyone though.

Thanksgiving is Thursday and our sponsors supplied us with a ton of food. A lot of people in the office also baked us pies, and bought other supplies. It was very generous of them. Our team was invited up to Calwood to spend it with Christina’s team, Sun 4. It’s about a half hour from our house, and they have a huge kitchen and dining hall that will fit all of us better. So the plan is to take up all our food and prepare is there and stay the night. It’s going to be weird not having Thanksgiving with family, but I know I’ll remember this one for the rest of my life. Hopefully my pie turns out as good as moms :)

First Service Project

For our first service project, all of Americorps NCCC helped at a local Denver Elementary school. Luckily there were a ton of us there because the sponser had a lot for us to do. The first and most important was to put in a mile long gravel track for the students. The school also asigned eighth graders to each group so they could help out too. My team was put to work on a flower bed that needed to be torn out, while the other beds needed the rocks removed in order to plant new plants. We got to use sledge hammers, crowbars, and shovels. It was fulfilling to successfully knock out the wall with my teamates. It was also a great stress reliever to swing the sledge hammer into the wall! Once we finished our specific project, all the corps members gathered to finish the mile track. With the students and members, we started an assembly line passing buckets of gravel to dump onto the track. Other members were taking wheelbarrows across the field. It was pretty tiring, but the final result was the best feeling I could ask for. We walked through the schools cafeteria and it erupted into applause. The children were so thankful for our work that day, as well as the staff. It was a very satisfying feeling to complete that project. This is exactly what I came to Americorps to experience and so far it's the best decision I've made.

In Americorps I have to complete 80 hours of independent service hours. (ISP) I didn't really know what that consisted of, but quickly caught on. My first volunteer project was deconstructing an old house. My second ISP going to the Habitat for Humanity House organizing their store. We would have families load up their vehicles with the purchase they had made that day. Some examples would be dishwashers, dryers, refrigerators, and washing machines. The main lady there loved our group and invited us to come help with the opening of their new Habitat House. The three girls in the picture are Tabitha, Sarah, and Alyssa. They had a themed room that each showed off a different part of the House. My favorite room was one that visually showed how to make your house for EcoFriendly. It had a very good presentation that showed how a lot of families could save tons of money. My favorite ISP so far was on Halloween. First I went to the Boys and Girls Club. This organization helps get kids off the street and into a save environment. It also helps kids starting at 14 years old setting up their college portfolios. I thought that was really amazing because I know how hard it was to apply for college and know what to fill out. This club really gives kids a head start at life or even a second chance at life. They have an indoor gym for basketball, an indoor soccer program, and football. They want these kids to have the same opportunities as everyone else. Another great aspect to this program is that kids can join for only $1 for a year. The Denver Broncos donate money each year and are the main supporters to this club. After working there, I went to help at the Children's Museum. This was definately my favorite becasue I was able to be around little kids and constumes all day. The museum had all kinds of activities set up outside and tons more inside. I helped with a little bowling station with plastic pins and then helped put little fire truck tattoos. The festival ended at 8pm and I stayed till 9 cleaning up. We had a lot of helpers so it went by fast. That was a 12 hour day so I'm up to 26 ISP hours.

For a team building day they took us to an indoor rock climing place. I was very excited because I've never dont it before. It was so much fun! They had all different types of levels for you to try. I went around to most of the areas and fell in love with it. Luckily there are a few people in the Sun Unit (my unit) that go rock climbing regularly. We've set up to go this Sunday, so hopefully it gets passed. I loved doing it because it was a good workout, but arm pump is no fun haha. We have a club here at campus called O.A.K. Outdoor activities klub. Every Sunday we try to get something fun planned. It's up to us to come up with ideas, so hopefully I can get a group set up for kayaking.

Campus

Colorado is beautiful! Our campus is called the Colorado Heights University. There are other students who use the campus also. The mountains are gorgeous and right behind the dorms. It's a pretty site to wake up to every morning. In the distance you can see the higher mountains covered in snow. We have a pack of coyotes in the field behind the cafeteria and last night i was woken up by them. They can get pretty loud. I'm starting to get used to the air here. Yesterday I played basketball with Traci on my floor and two team leaders. I got pretty winded fast because the air is so thin and that was the most activity I've done so far. We have sports clubs set up and outdoor clubs. Hopefully we'll get some basketball games started. The outdoor club also sounds pretty cool. It's up to the members to decide what we want to do. Some ideas were skiiing, kayaking, camping, and hiking. I'm pretty excited to do some trips on our weekends.

Last week I went on my first project to the Habitat for Humanity House. I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be an awesome day. We went to their old Habitat House and carried out anything that was left over. Some stuff included old file cabinets and other junk. After doing that for a couple hours the lady with us, Brite, asked if we wanted to go work on a house nearby salvaging the cabinets in the kitchen. We successfully got them out and loaded into the truck to go back to the Habitat warehouse. Next me and another member worked on getting the dishwasher out. Luckily I had watched dad out ours in at home so I kind of knew what I was doing. We had to unscrew all the piping and bolts, and smash up the tile holding it down. After all that it easily slid out. It was a good feelings to have it come out without any damage and in good working order still. After that we took a saw and tried to cut out part of a cabinet holding the stove in, but the blade was bent and the bolts to the stove were stripped so unforunately that stayed at the house.

After a long week Saturaday had finally come. On October 17th, a bunch of us decided to take our first trip into downtown Denver. I'm not used to using public transportation, but right down from campus we took the bus. We would transfer from the bus to the lightrail, which would drop us off right at the 16th street mall. It's a lot like the commons in Ithaca. We walked around to all the stores and got to know the area a little bit better. We decided to eat at a place called tokio joes and sat out on the patio outside. That day the weather was sunny and about 75 degrees, not too bad for October! A few more members came down later that day and I met up with them and didn't come home until 8pm that night.