Day 17: It’s been a long time since I last updated, but I have been quite busy! This past weekend I went to visit the wonderful Mississippi Elser clan. It was really nice to get away from campus for a couple days and relax. They fed me really well (as uncle David always does with some sort of protein, but aunt Jackie made really great potatoes too!) Aunt Jayne and I went for a long run on Sunday morning, which felt great but was pretty difficult for me and aunt Jayne kicked my butt. We all went on the boat on Sunday morning. It was so nice to just lay in the sun and swim in the warm but refreshing water!
Monday and Tuesday of this week we traveled to the Warner-Tully YMCA to camp and do a series of hands on training. Monday we arrived at 8am and immediately jumped into a full day of training.
1.Low ropes course. We spent 2 hours working as a team completing a series of team building activities. It was a very telling display of our team dynamic and the challenges we may face in the next 10 months. Our team seems to be full of impulsive and over confident people. At times it was frustrating to see our team fail at many tasks instead of being patient and coming up with a plan about how to accomplish the task well.
2. Trail blazing. This was really difficult but fun. The camp was adding a mountain biking trail so we were asked to clear the path for more preparation of the trail. We worked with some fun tools including: fire rakes, joe blades, loppers, and axes. It was extremely hot and muggy, but really satisfying to see the progress of our work.
3.Power tools. We were taught how to use all the different saws that we have to use (saws all, skill saw, table saw, etc) We then did a whole lot of nothing for 2 hours except tear down and put up a wall of the pool house, and sweating like crazy.
4.Roofing. At the end of the day we began to learn about how to put up shingles, but shortly after it began to downpour. It was a bummer to not learn how to roof because that is most likely what we will be doing on our first project.
We were stuck in the rain for about an hour. The power went out and we ate dinner in the dark. Once the rain stopped we set up tents in the mud and walked out to a clearing in the middle of the woods where we put on skits about training and tried to start a bonfire with wet wood (it was a failure.) It was extremely hot to sleep in the tents, but we made it through.
On Tuesday we had a less strenuous and more fun. Although it was wet and hot, we were excited to get to work.
1.Painting. We worked some more on the pool house painting the rafters, trim, and touching up the walls. We were able to wear our sweet coveralls! I have to admit it’s pretty hot in them though, despite the fashion statement you make ☺
2.Low ropes course. We did another series of team challenges that showed more personal challenges than team struggles. We had a few people get really frustrated at the challenge of not being the most physically fit. I hope that in the future we will be able to take into consideration the thoughts of others and support each other when one of us feels week.
3.High ropes course. This was the BEST part of the whole trip. It started raining as we were walking over there, but it was still so fun being so high in the air. Right as we all finished it began to downpour again and we rushed to take cover in one of the cabins. I haven’t done a high ropes course in a long time and it was fun to get across from tree to tree. And of course the zip line was great!!
Overall it was a fun couple of days, but we all were very exhausted and ready to get out of the rain and home. Once we got home I cooked tacos and we ate dinner while having a team meeting. We found out our specialty roles for the next 10 months. I will be a Project Outreach Liaison (POL) which will involve me planning community events on each project as well as putting together resources for Individual Service Projects (ISPs.) It is going to be a challenge, but Alyse (my team leaders) asked me personally to do it because she didn’t see anyone else on the team being able to do it, which was pretty flattering. I also am not supposed to tell anyone this, but I am going to post it here. Alyse also asked me to be the Assistant Team Leader for this round of projects. She chooses one person per project round to be the ATL, so I feel honored to be chosen first. She said that she thinks that I will be a great support system and leader on our team. ☺
As for today, we had PT early this morning and had Red Cross disaster services training all day, which was pretty boring. I was nominated by several people in the room (they started chanting my name, ugh) to be the shelter manager for our simulated shelter setup. When the exercise was over, our trainer told us that in the 4 years that he has been teaching this course, this was the best simulation he had ever seen. I felt proud to be the head of directing the activity and that it went so well.
We have PT early tomorrow morning and I am already exhausted, so I am going to go to bed!
OH! Other GREAT things to mention: got the most adorable dog today! Happy birthday dad! Burmese Mountain/Golden Retriever mix ☺ ☺ Welcome to the family buddy! Also, we found out that we are going to New Orleans next weekend for the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It will be fun and very moving to be there.
Ok, that’s all!
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