Stewart's Governmental Experience

ARived.

2012-01-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

I have arrived in Arkansas. I flew to Jackson, drove through Louisiana to get to Eudora, AR. 2/3rds of the states that I saw yesterday are not in our region for AmeriCorps. It's so close to the border that we actually go grocery shopping in Mississippi. I will be crossing The Mississippi regularly.

The day is very long. We leave the house at 7:10AM and do not get home until about 7:30. We have a break from 11:30 - 2, which encompasses lunch & the time that allows us to stay so late.

My day looks as follows:

7:30-11:30 working in a Pre-K. My teacher, Miss House, said maybe 5 words to me the entire day, including hello and goodbye. She asked me to sit the children down in front of the screen for a little movie. Some of these 3/4 year old's are all but impossible to understand, with the minimal understanding of English they have, and the thick-as-molasses accent. I'm hoping to instigate lots more of me reading books to them, rather than them just watching kid shows for hours, we'll see how it goes. It's really not my place to say, "Oh Hi! I'm Peter from California! You're teaching these kids incorrectly, let me improve upon your methods!" - At All. I would be dancing on her toes by trying to do this. But, again. We'll see how it goes.

11:30 - 2 I went home and took a nap. I am still very behind on my sleep. I would say for good reason, but of course that's only an opinion. I still need a day to catch up. (Some people say that sleep lost is sleep lost, and you can't "catch up", but I just don't feel that is accurate according to my normal sleep schedule regularly relying on nights of catch-up)

2 - 5 I stopped by the Cultural Center for a quick meeting, and then went to the local Elementary School (different from the morning one), to teach a few classes some sign language. This was much more immediately rewarding than the morning babysitting. I was actually able to utilize and capitalize on my ability to communicate and interact with groups of small children. Many of the names here are difficult to understand, and impossible to make sense of. I will make a list for another post, but one example is, "Forever". Her first name is Forever. What.

5 - 6, helped out with an indoor soccer class back at the Cultural Center. Ages ranged from 7 - 16. 13 kids came to play, practice, learn, etc. It was entertaining, but I think my favorite part of the day will continue to be what is called "Enrichment".

6 - 7 tutored a couple kids in Math and History. They're actually in High School so their work was real as opposed to "Sit down. Watch this video."

7 - 7:30 has not happened yet, so I don't actually know. Also I wrote this post in the transition between Soccer and Tutoring/ finished it up while they were working.

A girl on my team is obsessed with Avatar: The Last Airbender. So tonight we're going to go to Walmart & pick up the seasons on DVD. It's a pretty good show, and very easy to get into, so that will be our little thing. I'm supposed to be doing research on the Stock Market and how to invest and everything, but I'm really doubting I'll have the time or energy.

Anyway! I'm busy enough to almost entirely forget the shenanigan about almost going to Big Bend, so that is excellent. Pictures tomorrow!

Back on the bus.

2012-01-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

I am currently riding on Denver Public Transit into the south western part of the city to buy time at a place called "Jumpstreet"tm. Probably tm anyway.

The reason I am on public transit instead of in a van is that nobody else was willing to go. Nobody out of the 15-20 that I was able to ask said they were willing to go spend $10 & get on on a series of trampolines. People choose drinking over almost anything it seems. I don't understand it.

I hope I never do.

The now is always so short.

2012-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

Fire Training: Complete. I just drove myself and my rag tag team of Alternates back to denver from CO springs. My boots are broken in, my back is sore all over, I have 'hot spots' from rubbing on very unnecessary places (neck/back) from the Fire packs.

However. The training culminated in the final day. We were able to actually run lines of hose (take them off the truck in backpacks and walk), charge them (turn the gates to fill them with water), and spray the nozzles. It was a ton of fun, and I could so easily see myself doing that for a very solid amount of time.

But it's over now. I have a weekend to work with and then I fly to Arkansas on Tuesday. It will be such a dramatic gear change. Wildland Firefighting... Class of 3&4 year olds.

I guess that's why I joined AmeriCorps: Unpredictability!

Touring

2012-01-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

We just had a tour of the actual prison. We were shown every part of it, as per usual on a tour, but we were also let into the female ward for a little while. It was pretty odd being right there in the same room full of criminals. The cops were quick to refer to the whole lot as "These are the bad guys." It's interesting how specific of a mindset these officers have to have. If nothing else, it was interesting.

In the big house.

2012-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

I thought it might be time again to get back to shorter, more regular type posts.

So this week has been a lot of classes. Sitting down, listening to lectures, tons of powerpoints (oh how I wish I had the chance to add some special effects to them), and minimal outdoors anything.

One of the few things we have gotten to do outside was a short demonstration on a medium sized wood chipper. Now, all wood chippers are about the same. They're big, loud, diesel, and throw chips very far. They also all have some kind of safety mechanism to stop the blades immediately, in the case of somebody getting pulled into it. This company, decided that it was a good idea to attach two hard to see, impossible to grab, plastic lines to the feeding ramp. So if I'm ever getting sucked into this massive wood grinding implement, all I have to do is manage to grab one of these tiny plastic strings.

My housing during this short time of Fire Training is in a county detention center. It's where they house inmates that they allow to go out and work during the day. They all stay on the 3rd floor, my team takes up the 2nd. We have completely separated stairwells and all that, but it is still something to remark.

I am very glad I got the chance to live with this group of people though, they are really a good bunch.

Part 5- "Final Decisions"

2012-01-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

The next day, two days before we were to leave for Arkansas, I get a call. It is my Team Leader again, he's almost frantic on the phone. After a speedy success of formalities, he asks, "So I need to know, pretty much right now, would you want to be a Fire Alternate?"

What this would mean, was that I would be issued a full set of fire-gear, (including $400 fire boots), and be sent for a two week intensive training trip in Colorado Springs being trained as a Class 2 Wild land Firefighter. I accepted, partly for the right reasons, partly for the wrong ones.

Right reasons I used:
-I wanted the training, the experience, and the chance to serve on a physically demanding position.
-I was helping fill a void that AmeriCorps had, and knew I would be able to do so with high spirits and great energy.

Wrong reasons I used:
-I would be able to delay my inevitable departure to Eudora (not avoiding the town, more avoiding living with the team again)
-I would get to keep the boots. (Yes, honestly, getting these awesome boots factored into my decision making process.)

Right/Wrong:
-I would be able to live with ColeFox, and just get closer with a new group of people. I love strangers, I love meeting new people, I love that. I don't do the "deep relationship" thing, especially with a team of individuals who hate camping. (They don't all truly hate it, but it was certainly very low on the list of team choices.)

But there it was.
I was going to Eudora.
Then I was going to Big Bend on another team.
Then I was not, back to just Eudora.
Then I was going to be a Fire Alternate. (If a full member gets injured, I take their place.)

So here I am. In Colorado Springs. Training starts tomorrow at 8AM. It's been a truly physically and emotionally draining week. Spiritually it was fine, so that's the silver lining.

I need a lot more time to reflect on everything that has happened. But even with all this, I am very glad I have this amazing opportunity to travel the country in this fashion, and if I get to use my fire training or not, is not up to me so I will refrain from having opinions on it. (But I do hope I do!)

Happy, Healthy, and Tired, I leave you to read everything I have added tonight.

Part 4- "PSYCH."

2012-01-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

I knew what I was doing. I immediately called my Mother to check myself, check in with her, and explain the offer before me. She validated my own opinions and offered further insight, and I knew what I was going to do. I was going to Big Bend.

I only told one member of my team, Molly Pearlman. She is a tiny bundle of energy who can keep up, and has a real thirst for adventure. She hated me for my decision, but fully supported it, knowing that it would be the best thing for me to do.

So there I was. Going to team-meetings, doing everything, going along as if I was going to Eudora, but knowing that soon it would be announced and 100% official that I was going to Big Bend. That night, it happened. The unthinkable happenstance. The one thing that could possibly interrupt my plans.

The team meeting was called, every member was told it was a no-miss meeting. You had to be there. I knew what this was. It was going to be Chris telling the rest of the team that I would be missing out on Eudora, to go to Big Bend instead. I would be back on the team after this project, but would be gone for this one. He sits down and says the words, "We're losing a member, but he's going to do something else great and I hope we can all be happy for him. Evan is joining Fire Management."

Again, my body did not know how to react emotionally. As I saw all my team-mates looking to him, some on the verge of tears, some scowling, but all happy that he would be doing what he wanted to do. I stared into space, knowing full well that it would be impossible for me to now leave the team. With Evan gone, it was only TL Chris, Baby-Chris, and myself as the male part of the team.

A completely separate group of people had decided, independently from my TL, that Evan had to leave his position on my team, and join Fire Management instead.

Chris told me after the meeting that he still "didn't know" about my situation, but I knew that it would not happen after this. Molly and I shared a long and weirdly affecting conversation about my future. Neither of us knew what to feel, how to react, what to say or not say, or how to feel about this.

Part 3- "Impossible Horizons"

2012-01-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

The next day after seeing the team and friends again, we had no real responsibilities and I was able to slackline almost the entire day. ColeFox, another wonderful individual who will certainly make more appearances in the near future, hung with me most of the day and the conversation was held in an off balance dichotomy of easy going topics and true interpersonal depth.

The day after this, my team had our Round 1 debrief with the unit leader, Allan. It went very well, with my camera providing excellent slow-motion capture film, but mostly the highlighting the editing skills of Elizabeth, a member of my team who did the bulk of the work for the video.

After the meeting, my TL (Chris O'Reily), asked me to stay back. Of course that is not common, and immediately I am set on edge. What did I do. Who did I insult. Am I receiving praise or being reprimanded. What is this for. Does he look happy. Is my shirt tucked in. Was I appropriate. What could this be for!

He sits down, I follow suit, and he says...

"I have an offer for you. You'll have time to think about this, but I'm so excited to be able to offer it to you. I get to offer you the chance to go on the Big Bend project with Jeff-..."

He kept talking for a while, but I had no idea what he was saying after that. My mind was racing. I knew I was being told to choose between my team, the people that I had grown close to in Boulder, working in the middle of nowhere town of Eudora, Arkansas, or going to the impossible to imagine setting of Big Bend National Park doing 2 month of intense back country camping with a known-to-be-great team of individuals. I had multiple friends doing that project, and I was getting a chance to join them. I'm sure you can assume from this description, I told him I would love the opportunity to go.

I was being offered, for no reason at all, to join another team to do a truly awesome project, just because my TL knew that's what I wanted, and wanted to see me be rewarded for my willingness to 'go with the flow' of my team. He never said it, but I'm sure he was excited to offer this to me because when I was told that my team did NOT* want to go camping. All I wanted to do was camp, and I found myself on a team of city-loving, toe-shoe hating, non-climbers, who hated camping.

This was impossible, but I found myself in the situation, and honestly could not have been happier with the days proceedings.

Part 2 - "The Team"

2012-01-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

Upon arrival back at campus, I literally didn't have time to drop off my bags before I was running into more friendly faces than I can concisely relate. I threw my bags in a friends room on the first floor, and started the first retelling of my adventures back at home. This gents name was, and I expect still is, George. He is a singing, dancing, wrestling, outspoken individual. The antics that will ensue from our chance meeting here will be numerous, humorous, and sanguiferous. After satisfying each others basic curiosity of the others time away, I went away to respond to a "where are you!?" text. Upstairs I found many of my team mates all together doing exactly as I had just done with George.

Not to say I was not excited to see them again, but I must say it was weird. A strong mix of emotions presented itself when I saw myself with this group again. Their affinity for such a specific form of interaction had not changed at all, and the surface level conversations continued. I do not know what it was, but after only a few minutes I had to excuse myself. Nothing was different, I was not upset, nothing happened to really merit any sort of negative emotional response from me, but I just could not deal with such overtly trite conversations at this moment.

The bitter part of the bitter-sweet mix of leaving home, really stung at this moment.

Part 1- "Welcome Home"

2012-01-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

There is no way for me to recap, nutshell, or abridge in any way the events that have transpired over the last week. That is the case & thus I will make no attempt to do so.

Upon arrival back to Denver airport I was greeted by a young Mr. Travis. Travis, as I will be taking the liberty to call him here on, had been up since 6AM. Now, this alone on a Sunday is a feat it it of itself, however Travis had not simple managed to stay awake. He had spent the entire day shuttling himself and car loads of AmeriCorps members back and forth between the campus and Denver International Airport*(TM). Necessary to mention, it is now just past 8PM, he had overbooked and was behind schedule, and his phone had just died. As happily as possible I tried to help wrangle the other members for this trip back to campus, a round trip of an hour and a half, and we set off. Now, to reiterate for any readers, this is unnecessary amounts of information because this is blog is meant for personal recollection, and it is all in the details, is it not? Pressing on, Travis recalled a wonderful story that I find so classic that it must be retold here. The previous day...

Travis was, once again, helping his friends by being the driver for some event. Nearing the end of the day, he noticed he needed gas, and immediately found himself completely dry. Luckily a gas station was no more than a ten minute car-push away, and soon they were pushing the car over the last little hump before it was able to roll nicely down right next to the pump. Travis sighed a sigh of relief, seeing his car right where it needed to be. But the driver decided that she didn't need to brake at this point. Or turn the wheel. Or put it in gear. Or do anything to slow it down in any way. So instead of coasting nicely to a stop next to the pump, the car kept rolling. Straight up onto the curb in front of the 7-11, and moments later directly into the 7-11 itself. Shattering glass, concession stands knocked over, bent metal all immediately were apparent to the helpless Travis.

His car was not damaged to inoperability, nor was anybody injured at all.

I am jealous of when he recalls the story, "Well this one time, I ran out of gas, and within the hour, my car was inside a 7-11. Here's how it went..."

experimental Failure.

2011-12-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

I tried using a new post method of just texting blogger, but as far as I can tell from my phone that was a failure.

Worked hauling slash today. Cold wet and everything burried in snow. It made for a very successful work day. You really feel like you have accomplished something when those are the conditions. Tomorrow I am going ice climbing for the first time, as part of a 2 hour hike. Yes, there will be pictures and video. Well I have a 7AM leave time tomorrow, sleep starting hopefully soon!

2011-12-12T21:34:00.003-08:00

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2011-12-12T21:34:00.001-08:00

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Collective Memories

2011-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Humans are unique because of their ability to share knowledge so easily. I am experiencing something that is the same process but with memory. A fellow corps member and I have been assigned (/ we really wanted to) to build the Spike 1 Debrief video. Basically this means that we are in charge of picking and choosing between thousands of photographs & videos, arbitrarily choosing the best. Which ones encapsulate our experiences the best. Which put forward the quintessential Water-3 moments accurately. It is a task that has already taken more hours than I will recount here, and is not even close to done.

I wish I had more time to be in Boulder, it really is an amazing place.

I met somebody with the name Rider Blaisedale (BLaize-dale) Smith. You meet, "Mr. Smith" and then you find out that his name is RIDER BLAISEDALE. We talked to him for a solid half hour, maybe more. Hopefully will see him at tomorrow's REI garage sale, and...

Out of time.

Updates Galore

2011-12-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Another week lacking in excessively notable events has passed me by.

Highlights this time:
- I put my TL's toothbrush in Jello one night, and the next evening, even though he swears he didn't do it, he tells me that my room back in Denver got flooded. I jello his toothbrush, he floods my room! (as well as half the rest of the Dorm.)

- Completed first Capping event. Capping- Going out in scheduled manner to tell groups/ individuals about AmeriCorps NCCC and why it is better than what they are doing with their lives this year. We went to a High School in Boulder. I was glad that I remembered how to talk to the youngins, easy to do because I could say I just got out of HS myself. Gave out a bunch of cards, hopefully helped somebody down the road.

- Finally got over to CU to see the friends there, hung out with Theater majors. Being able to have an evening of talking loudly with my hands in the notably exaggerated sense was wonderfully replenishing. I came home that evening excited to see everyone again.

Probably something else of importance that I have already forgotten.

I need to find some plane tickets around here sometime, the deadline is closing in much more quickly than I would like. I leave Boulder in a week, and am really looking forward to seeing some familial faces, some familiar faces, and some freaking Snow. (boarding). I am so close to such world class mountains, but I don't have the time, the gear, the transportation, etc. It will be easier to deal with the winter in Arkansas, where I am not teased on a daily basis with tantalizing horizons.

Random Note of the Day: I like to play a game with a team mate, where we 'instant message' each other on Facebook, saying something like "You're behind the coffee machine." and then the other looks up to see the sender staring at them through whatever was mentioned. It is highly entertaining.

No time for pictures tonight!

I like the picture thing.

2011-12-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, pictures coming after post this time.

This week was interesting. I was definitely having a hard time a few moments dealing with being entirely stuck around the same people, but a couple phone calls to loved ones, & a camp-like positive circle activity we did totally changed it. Then it snowed, I discovered a function to take high speed capture video's (240FPS capture!), and my life has been on the up and up since.

The drunkards (people over 21 who enjoy drinking) are not actually 'drunkards' but they'll have a few drinks so they earn the title. On the nights that they do go out, they don't seem to find their way home until usually past 2AM. So far this is not an issue for me, because I sleep upstairs and their entrance is of nominal annoyance, however for one of the roommates downstairs it is in no way satisfactory. This will be more of an issue than I would have guessed, in time.

Dinners were excellent this week, one night a garden salad with all the fixens with Mac 'n Cheese with steamed broccoli. Another night an awesome mixture of Lasagna with chicken and layers of tortilla in it, a lot of spices, and many other stuffins'.

Breakfast is almost always: a bowl of oatmeal, followed by a bowl of 3-4eggs (oiled pan, toss egg in, throw lid on), then usually a bowl of cereal. I use a maximum of one bowl and one spoon for this. By the end the amalgamation of flavors is... interesting.

The coffee shop about a mile down the street is the closest internet hub, so they all know all our faces. I'm usually here for business so I have no taken to chatting the servers, but they certainly recognize me and my bangs.

I have grown bangs. I didn't mean to, but it happened. & They are a surprisingly consistent source of laughter for the rest of the team. The jokes aren't really explainable, too much body language and tonal qualities for text to accurately convey, but rest assured, I am actively enjoying them.

There is a chance that tomorrow I will go snowboarding, but the trying-to-save-money thing is preventing that. I'm not that good at it, always buying little $4 coffee's and whatnot. Definitely need to buckle down next project and just spend no money at all to get myself back on track.

Okay, tired of trying to think of what to say- picture time!

We made cookies December 1st, as it was falling the first snow, at 1AM ish. They were unnecessarily delicious. (Peter left, Molly right)

I made an "A" (this was also from the lazy day) Chris wanted to be in the picture.

We have part of our whiteboard dedicated to "Quotes of the Day". I would never expect these to make sense to any of you, but it's just another part of my life here. Always adding quotes to the board. Other recent quotes were "I know when I need to touch the wheel."// "He's NOT an idiot. He's a cute idiot."// A, "I would buy her." B, "I would accio her." // "I'm going to vomit! It's so delicious!"

Also, so you all know, people in my life say snow. It is silly, doesn't make any sense, and makes me smile every time. AmeriCorps friends, Camp friends, Home friends. They're all aware of it. It. Is. Spreading. :D

Anyway:

This was my day of work Friday. On the screen is a live feed of what the Sun looks like. Where the sun spots are moving, what the activity of the surface is doing through a few lenses. It was the National Atmospheric Research Center (NARC). Julia & Martine (my sisters) need to both get jobs here. I will get an internship. It was amazing. They have 3 supercomputers with more computing power than you can even imagine, and over 100 universities have access to them to help with research on many different subjects all over the place. It is a one of a kind place. Funded federally, university developed, and privately run. This is the place that questions go when they have no answers. This is the place that NASA will send questions because NASA thinks "This is way too complicated. Send it to NARC."

Seriously amazing.

The second part of the day is summed up:

This is Evan. Here, he is pondering what exactly is on his face. We were at the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory, to which I have been once before. (I had to check with everyone in my family.) We took the tour, got hair nets, and now wear them as a joke at the house when we are cooking. Great day, great fun.

Well I think that's enough words for one post. If you read the whole thing, I suggest going outside immediately and spending copious amounts of time there.

Hard day at work.

2011-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

Three of my teammates on the trail. Really, really on the trail.

This day was a ridiculously relaxed work day. So here is "Peter" on the trail.

After a long day at work, we pampered up and got ready for ~~prom~~ a Thanksgiving event at one of our Unit Leaders house. The night was a ton of fun, and very refreshing for me to have some fresh faces to entertain; as my entertainment towards those who live with me can go in waves.

Here is Callaghan, throwing a "stop-sign" that we use when ground guiding vehicles. She likes to throw this whenever she feels my actions, or far more often, my words, need stopping. As you can see, we get along just fine.

Well it's been an interesting first month, and quite honestly I don't really know what to think. It has been such a continuous event, that I have not had the time to really sit down and think about it all that much. It has been interesting seeing how my role in the team has developed, and I'm hoping that later on throughout the year my almost entirely consistent (minus the mornings) upbeat attitude has a truly positive effect on those around me. As of yet, my desire for unceasing conversation has not necessarily been seen as the greatest attribute by those around me, and working with that is proving interesting if nothing else.

I love my team, project, location, TL, etc. & all that still holds true, but..
I miss adults, I miss conversation, I miss opinions, I miss debate, I miss you (truly).

Picture Time!

2011-11-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

This is my office view. This is at GreenBear mountain, just outside Boulder.

And this is my Team Leader. He ran his face into a tree.

And this is my Team: Blue Sweatshirt TL Chris, to his left we have Molly, Callaghan, Sabina, Evan, Jenee (who is facing away from the camera), then Elizabeth, my empty seat, and then Chris. This was Taco Tuesday, and the girl on the left of Chris and right of TL Chris is TL Chris's Sister. She just came for dinner. It was awesome. Chris and I made it. Got it? Good!

In the Laundromat

2011-11-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

(The image above is Chris (right) and Peter (left), at the end of a long day of work on a trail that is in GreenBear mountain, it is about a 2 mile hike in to where we actually work. We're just about to get back off the trail at the end of the day.)

I'm sitting here waiting on my $2.25 in quarters to magically turn my crusty socks clean again. My uniform has remained miraculously free of high dirt content, so I have not fussed over cleaning it necessarily. Socks however. Socks are the killer.

I got a new camera, and if the software were working you would be seeing more pictures. Hopefully I'll figure it out by the end of this post.

Boulder has been wonderful. I work with the Open Space and Parks Department, who are the entire reason why Boulder is so unique. They own a giant doughnut of all the land around the city, so it stays small and the urban sprawl is minimized. I have been building trails with them for every work day for the past week and some change. The days are not that long, not that hot, not that cold, really easy to deal with. My luck has continued with the team I am with serving alongside me with no real problems to speak of, yet.

My energy is definitely something that a few of them are going to have problems with. However, the youngest member of the team Chris, luckily has boundless amounts of energy. He's constantly playing Hacky-Sack, eats like a horse, always willing to come with me Rock Climbing, Running, Bouldering, or just general Exploring of a mountain. He's like a puppy. Not necessarily going to contribute significantly to the conversation, but his energy and curiosity is wonderful.

I think I got the picture thing down, let me know if it works!

PS: I am living in an old farm house. Carpet like my Grandma Rae's, same design with two sets of upstairs, full bathroom attached directly to kitchen, etc. It is wonderful. It howls and moans at night too, really the cherry on the whipped cream on the cake that we always ate at G-ma's.

Boulder COming soon

2011-11-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

Most important update to date: I landed a backtuck, backflip, and front tuck. Today.

Tomorrow I move to the city with ones of the youngest average ages(28!) - Boulder!

I've had an awesome time with this Dorm life without any work thing, but it's time to put on my Steel Toed Boots, grab a shovel, and spend 8 hours a day working on trails.

In a 24 hour period, I will have done a backflip And moved to Boulder. What more do I have to say?

My Last Weekend

2011-11-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been unbelievable.

The entertainment factor has been through the roof. Sleep has been secondary to: Jumping on dozens of trampolines at "JumpCity", spending hours discussing religion, eating humus and pita bread at 1AM, and many other bonding activities.

Boulder should be excellent, and honestly I am quite glad that I will still be close enough to Denver to see a lot of friends on local teams. There will be some good weekends to come.

It's weird that CTI (training) has taken so long, and yet is already over. We were all so excited to get out of here, but the reality of living with a permanent team in close quarters hits you & you second guess everything you thought you wanted.

8AM Tomorrow, my first move.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

It is 11:11 on 11/11/11.

I turned 19 today (too bad I wasn't born in 00, THAT would be excessive!)

My team surprised me by tricking me into thinking that we had to go to a team building thing (eg: planning, shopping, etc.) but instead we drove straight to JumpCity! Exactly like Sky High. It is a massive room, with 15 100 foot long trampolines, with the last 15' being at a 45 degree angle upward. We spent a solid 2 hours there, the whole team in attendance. It was the best surprise I could possibly have asked for.

It is not necessarily the fact that this happened, but the idea that they knew it was my birthday and wanted to show me a good time all together, that tells me that this really is a caring group of people that I will learn to rely on to get our projects done. I can easily see myself growing very close to everybody here, and cannot wait to see how we interact under the pressure of deadlines and palpable expectations!

I made a cake with other friends that I have made. One girl, who seems to be pretty good at this whole "life" thing, made me a notebook that I'm sure I will fill up eventually with memories of AmeriCorps and other adventures. It super artsy, has a picture of a boat on the front with a background of a world map (old style) and the back is some blurred lines of a handwritten novel. I assume it's an original draft excerpt of Count of Monte Cristo or something.

Great day. Long day. I'm exhausted. Now to commence my nightly routine of guitar, read, and dental care.
(I have only missed one night of tooth care since I got here! <-- That's for you Mom and Dad.)

Team Roles, Dynamic, and Future

2011-11-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

We have all decided as a group who will be acting as what role in the team. Roles include Vehicle Maintenance person, Future Project Developer, Food Person, etc.

I am one of two "CAPers" which basically means that I will find venues to attend and spread the word of AmeriCorps. I'll be telling possible future members about it, possible future sponsors about it, and possible future team leaders about it. I'll be doing a lot of talking is what I'm trying to say; as well as starting relationships with some excellent contacts? I think so.

My team has an excellent dynamic. 10/11 of the members are excited to their teeth about being in AmeriCorps and "Getting Things Done" for America. We have a member who is still more in his shell, but I'm sure after being around my unnecessary amounts of energy for another couple weeks, he'll come out of it.
With 6 girls, 4 guys, and a male team leader, it's nicely balanced and everybody seems to be finding out successful ways to interact with everybody else. We really are off to a great start on the whole team bonding thing.

We don't move to Boulder until the 14th, but I cannot wait until we do. If it is half the adventure I expect it to be, I'm sure I will gain a lot from the experience!

Final Teams Announced

2011-10-31T23:01:00.000-07:00

EDIT: I wrote way too much, so here is everything condensed:

- I found out who my team is. (The group I will be living and working with for the next 9 months)
- I am inordinately excited about who my Team Leader is (A super chill guy, my #1 pick for Leader)
- I get to live in Boulder from November 14th - December 16th
- I am already great friends with multiple of my team members, from before we knew we would be on the same team.

I have 9 Corps Members + the Team Leader. Together we will be serving our nation through a variety of service projects until July 27th, 2012. Here. We. Go.

Unnecessary details:

I will be living in the colloquially nicknamed "Ameri-Mansion". This living arrangement causes jealousy with anybody not living there because it has amazing amounts of amenities. Hot water, rooms to ourselves, a kitchen, a dining room, etc. Unheard of. + it's location. On the last main street of Boulder, it is right near downtown - walking distance, while still also being walking distance from many trail heads and other parks.

My project, appropriately, will be working on trails. I will be maintaining them, restoring them, and possibly doing a bit of trail blazing.

The reason I am so excited about my team, is that honestly, there were a fair number of people here that I was less than excited about living with even for the month of training. I am extremely satisfied with every member of my team, and because none of them know about this blog, I would feel free to post if I felt any different.

Halloween Night + Surrounding times.

2011-10-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Pretty much everyone got into the Halloween spirit this evening. A lot of wonderful costumes, a lot less promiscuous in nature due to NCCC policies, but some women still decided to try and go for as much skin as possible. I would say this is surprising, but it is not.

Amid the zombies, pilots, warriors from ever era, and sea creatures, was a wonderfully sized dance floor for each creature to get his her or its grove on. I partook in the short time I allotted for my presence at the event. The "high point" of my evening on the dance floor was running and jumping into the arms of a gentlemen who held me straight above his head and twirled around. It was absolutely hilarious.

Came home, finished watching Wizard People with three friends, most of whom fell asleep before we got to the end, and had an excellent evening overall.

Today I took advantage of the Bus system which took me to REI so I could get in on the 'Garage Sale' they were having. Made away with new shoes, goggles, a face mask, gloves, and sunglasses. All with minor defects that made the price entirely reasonable ($5-$30 for $80-110 goods)

I just realized that my chest is quite sore today, reminding me to put a note in here about the baselines we did yesterday. I did 31 pushups in 1 minute, after doing 35 sit ups, after running a 1.5 mile loop (around campus, solid hills) in 8:46. I certainly have room for improvement!

Upon waking from a 5 hour nap, it's hard to say I have not been behind on my sleep.

Pretty soon these posts will look more organized, possibly anyway!

Intro to AmeriCorps

2011-10-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

**DISCLAIMER** THIS BLOG IS BEING WRITTEN FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MEMORIES OF THE WRITER ** I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY SEEMINGLY EXCESSIVE OR UNNECESSARY DETAILS ** THOSE ARE OFTEN WHAT MAKES EVENTS TRULY MEMORABLE **

- This is a blog to log the odd experiences of Peter Julian Stewart in his service to his country through AmeriCorps NCCC, Denver Campus Class 18 -

It is October 28th, just after midnight. I finally decided to start a blog because Caitlin asked what I was doing one year ago. Or maybe I just decided to say what I was doing one year ago. I was on a bus, somewhere between OC and DC. I had a blog for that entire journey, and rereading it, I cannot say how priceless those posts are. Even the ones that are a simple sentence, I am so glad I have such easy access to those memories.

With that: Here starts my AmeriCorpnian Blog.

I flew in from Pheonix on the 9th. Spent 10th-12th in Boulder with Jessica. Rick Acre gave me a ride from the Englewood lightrail station to campus. Met as many people as I could manage in the time between moving in and the first few days ending. (Already I am aware of how many details of this journey I have forgotten.) Basically these first couple weeks have been a lot of listening to lectures, a couple days spent out in the city or up at Boulder, and every night seeing friends, meeting new ones, a little guitar here and there, excellent games of Ultimate Frisbee, and just a lot of other classic "College Dorm" life experience, but without any classes, tests, or homework.

The Ameri- prefix has been added to most words at some point here on campus. We eat Amerifood, drive in Amerivans, work on Ameriprojects, are super Amerixcited about our AmeriTeams. I am an AmeriCorpnian.

Just to mention things that are factual about my experience so far:
A lot of the people are interesting and excited to serve. A surprising amount are disrespectful and not into the program. Definitely the minority, but still a presence.

The food is definitely the worst I have ever eaten on a regular basis. It is also in quantities that require 2 - 2.5 full portions of every option per meal to be filling.

My roommate and I are pleasant to each other, get along just fine, but nothing more than that.

I have already gotten Strep B, and gotten over it.

It snowed for the first time yesterday, and then today was over 50 degrees. Wonderfully beautiful.

Slacklining is not happening nearly as much as it needs to be.