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!