We did the high ropes course today! Kari got an excellent picture, left, of my excitement. I have been trying to decide if I am really that skinny now (I have definitely lost some weight) or if it is just a super flattering angle. Eh, whichever it is, I'll enjoy it.

Today was good. A lot of team support and cheering went on during the ropes course. Good times.

We also had our briefing for our first round projects today. Went well. Can't believe we start it all in a week!

Tomorrow around 2 we will leave for New Orleans. First we have some training to take care of. Last training!!!! Sitting in classrooms is getting old. Time to start moving and doing.

Called Cayla today, it was nice to chat with a friend from home. I dont know how often I will be able to call people once things get moving. Hopefully more often than I think.

All in all things are still going well. Stronger friendships are being created and new ones emerging. I can feel myself growing in all kinds of ways. I am even starting to kind of maybe enjoy the humidty. Just a little bit. At night. When the sun is on the other side of the planet. If there is a nice breeze. Yeah.

Also, this is my room:

Today was a really good day. Calm, relaxed, easy going. I slept in after a late night, helped clean the team van, lounged in Danny/Bradley's room all day, played some volleyball and now I'm getting ready for bed.

For dinner tonight a local chruch, United Methodist Church, cooked for us. I was hoping for some good deep south cooking... we got pasta. I can't tell you how many times we've eaten pasta since I got here! But it was a really good time! The pasta WAS delicious, the locals were so incredibly friendly, and I met a few more Corps members. It was a good time and the church was so kind to do it for us. If I ever feel the urge to wake up early one sunday I think I'll make my way to a service of theres.

I am so happy with my decision to come to Vicksburg and be a part of this program. Some days are tough, but I have yet to have the urge to go home. That is, aside from the first night here when I realized I had to use public showers/toilets for the next ten months. But I think I've worked through that!

Anyways, quick little update to make sure everyone back home knows I am doing well and had a great day :-)

mini update

Man, I can't believe how fast this month flew by considering how slow the days are!
Trainings haven't been so bad lately, A few organizations that have come to talk with us have been very interesting and I am keeping them in the back of my mind as an after AmeriCorps possibility. Save the Children and Evacuteer are two that really caught my interest.

Oh! This Thursday and Friday my team (along with 8? others) will be going to New Orleans for the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. We'll be down helping build some homes. I am really excited. It will be great to help with a disaster that affected our country so drastically. FIVE YEARS later, and it is still being deqalt with. All of the other teams will be going to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to help rebuild there.

Also, I have never been to New Orleans so I am looking forward to exploring! But I have been told that I need to work on my pronunciation of "New Orleans." My Washingtonian accent is getting in the way I guess. I pronounce it Noo-Ore-Leens, but down here/there I have to say it N'Are-Lens. Which doesn't work very well coming out of my mouth. Ha.

My first spike is coming up pretty quick too! I have a couple days of prep after we get back from "N'Are-lens" and we will have our briefing and clearance meetings with the staff, and then a day later we leave for Florida! I'm pretty excited.

I've been getting to know the members of my new team a bit more the past couple weeks and I'm excited to be doing this with them. It'll be good.

That's all for now, I have some reading/research I need to go do for our first spike.

Chainsaw Training.

I was selected to be one of two who gets to learn to use a chainsaw! Today was in class training (8 hours worth!) and tomorrow will be field training (also 8 hours worth). I'm so excited. It is going to be so hot though and I have to wear pants, long sleeves, my steel toed boots, and all of the safety gear. Tomorrow might be the day I die from heat exhaustion.

Also, I have had a few days to adjust and... I really do love my new team. My TL is so great and I'm getting to know the rest of my teammates which makes things easier. However, I still wander down to Delta 1's kitchen every once and again to see if I'm missed.

We found out our first service project! My team is doing a split. First we'll be in Palatka, FL for the first three weeks working in the marshes. I will be surrounded by insects, snakes, gators, and the hot hot heat. Lord give me strength!

Then we will be going to Biloxi, MS and we will be helping with the destruction left by Katrina. ...Yes, 5 years later and there is still work to be done.

I'm excited for both projects. We've got some more training to do to be ready for both projects, but after every training session I become more and more confident in my ability to do this. I never saw my self building houses, working in a marsh, or using a chainsaw! It is extremely empowering.

I have so much more I want to write about, but I am so tired. I am going to go fall asleep to a book.

For Friends and Family

Ashley Denn - Class 17
AmeriCorps NCCC
2715 Confederate Ave
Vicksburg, MS 39180

Longest Week of My Life

It's been rough. First I have to leave my home, my family, my surroundings, my belongings... everything I find comfort in, and start a new life with all these strangers in this strange place with these strange surroundings. It was exciting for sure but stretching also.

My temporary team was amazing. We were perfect, worked well together, got on really great... We were perfect! I found a new family and a new way to be comfortable. We really became close, closer than we probably thought possible in a weeks time.

Today we switched to our permanent teams. Which is good. I am happy with my Team Leader (TL) and excited to get to know the new faces. It's just so draining to have to go through all this stress, uncertainty, self-consciousness, and change again. I know I can push through it, but I don't know if I have the energy to do it whole-heartedly.

I just feel home sick all over again. I finally got settled in just to have things stirred up again.

Tomorrow is chainsaw training. Four people, including myself, have volunteered to do it with only two spots open. This means names will be pulled at random. I really need this. I need an energy boost. What could boost energy like playing with chainsaws??

Here is a picture of Delta 1 after they surprised me with cupcakes on my birthday.

Poor quality, I know. Mike is also missing. Once someone posts the most recent/better quality photo on Facebook, I will post it.

This post kind of seems like a downer, but I really truly am enjoying my time here. It's just been a long, exhausting, adjusting kind of week. Lots of waking up early, sitting in long trainings, and staying up late (still not adjusted to the time difference).

Happier posts will follow.