West VA!

I have a feeling I'll be periodically updating this list, but for now let me break a couple things down for you so you can get the AmeriCorps slang:

TL: team leader
Spike: when we go for an extended stay in an area we're working at.
Rounds: You go on once Spike each Round, which is about 2 months. I believe there are 4 Rounds, but I can't remember.

You can also add "Ameri" to pretty much any word. AmeriSister, AmeriTurkey, AmeriLove (which can lead to AmeriBabies).

The Spike I was hoping to get was to New Orleans, if only bc I miss miss miss warm weather! However, I just found out that my team is going to Hurricane, WEST VIRGINIA! That's right, I left Florida to go live in Hurricane.....

Aside from working all day outside in the cold, I'm super pumped! We're going to be restoring old historic buildings and building a playground, clearing trails, painting, etc. etc. I'm also excited about our accommodations. I thought we'd be sleeping in tents or something, but as it turns out my whole team is going to be sharing a house with laundry machines and a kitchen! I can't wait to get out there and start hiking and seeing mountains! The organization sponsoring us is lead by this guy (can't remember his name) who really loves AmeriCorps workers. He said he's gonna take us out periodically on the town and to minor league baseball games. I'm freakin excited to get out there and start working! Plus I'm sooooo done with all this training.

Speaking of the training. Some of you noticed that I wrote how annoyed I was on facebook. Let me tell you why. They piled ALL OF US into a small, very warm, room for disaster relief training with the Red Cross. They then proceeded to speak to us in monotone voices and show us boring videos that were poorly made in the 80's or early 90's. They did this for 8 HOURS! I had also gone to Firefighting PT that morning, so I had been up since 5 am. Naturally, I dozed off a few times. So did everyone, more noticeably so did a couple of boys that were sitting directly next to me. Despite the fact that I was hardly the only person passing out, my name repeatedly kept getting called by some other TL to wake up. And when he called my name, everyone else woke up to. So i was made the public example all afternoon. Now, there have been some things here that I haven't agreed with, but I love this experience and this program so I haven't said anything. But that training was ridiculous. I couldn't even make myself feel guilty for falling asleep! Especially since people who got to sleep in were passing out. Not to mention a few other TL's AND one of the Red Cross presenters (he fell asleep in his chair during one of the videos). I got NOTHING out of that training, except two booklets which I could've easily read on my own or with my team.

Sorry for the rant, it just really pissed me off.

Today I leave for a mini-Spike in Virginia to clear some trails for a few days (lots of manual labor on these Spikes!). I'm very happy to be getting out there and living the AmeriDream! So if you call me and can't get through, it's probably because I have no signal where I'm at.

I hope everyone doing well. I miss you guys sooooooooooooo much!