Lunch with some locals

Hello all.
If you have watched any TV (NEWS) over the last day or so, i'm sure you have seen plenty of Katrina stuff, and i am not really gonna talk about that tonight. I mentioned some stuff in my last post and if you have questions about things or anything, just let me know. Instead, i thought I would make this a slightly lighter post, since i feel like i've complained or been kinda negative lately.

Last night we found out that we HAD to go to Pass Christian to the taping of Good Morning America (ABC). Robin Roberts, one of the anchors on the show is from Pass Christian, so she was coming back for the 2nd anniversary. We got up nice and early, way before the sun came up, to drive out there and stand in a crowd, where we couldn't be seen. About 5 other Americorps teams (from my campus and the Perry Point Maryland campus) that are working in the MS gulf coast area came as well. For the first hour we wern't able to get really close, i mean the crowd wasn't large but we kept getting pushed to the back and then big signs from people in the front, blocked us from being seen. We just wanted to wave to our parents! Is that too much to ask?

Our persistance in getting closer paid off when Robin asked for Americorps people to come stand by her with other volunteer organizations for her segment on the volunteers working down here and the need for more. Well, myself and a couple teammates were standing around so we jumped at the chance! We grabbed the "Volunteer Ya'll" sign and kneeled down in the front. (PS. I love those signs). My big debut came when the camera panned to us and my smiling beautiful face was right there! Soon after, my phone started vibrating, and it was Amy's (my sister in law) mom. She just happened to be watching the show and saw my lovely face! It was pretty funny. I Think mom was recording it on DVR, so hopefully they'll save it so i can see it when i eventually make it home! (in less than 2 months)!!! So that was kinda cool today. . .definitely made getting up super early worth it, well that and the free muffins and fresh fruit yummmm!!!

Switching gears a little, I have mentioned that I am working in the library at an elementary school in East Biloxi. The librarian invited me to her family's sunday lunch this past sunday. So i thought, good food, and nice folks, sure why not! Mrs. Pennell, the librarian is married and has 2 high school aged children. Her parents live on the back bay of Biloxi (its kind of a sideways penninsula, so the back bay is on the north end). Their home was completely washed out from the storm, and they had a guest house that was somewhat spared because it was behind their house on the same land. Her dad spent the 2 months after the storm fixing the guest house, so he and his wife could live there. Mrs. Pennell and her family, and her sibblings families live in Ocean Springs, which is about 15-20 min east of Biloxi.
Lunch was at her parents house, which is a really cute little house, but kinda small when you have 4 families with lots of kids in there. I had a really good time though. Her 2 sisters live in the area too, and they all have 2-3 children each! Apparently they eat here almost every sunday after church, so they mentioned me coming back before i leave! I had some good chicken and dumplins, green beans, fresh pineapple, and salad. I really enjoyed being around a family again, even though it wasn't my own. It was probably the highlight of being here so far!

That's about it for now, I'll leave you with the scripture from church this past sunday! It spoke to all of the crazy mixed emtions I have going on right now with life, leaving, starting something new, etc!
Hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend!

"Have I not commanded you: Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Volunteer Y'all!!

As the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approches, many people and organizations down here are trying to get the word out that more volunteers are still needed. While it may not like like the disaster zone it did 2 years ago there is a whole heck of a lot of work still to do, to get these communities back on their feet. Driving in parts of New Orleans there are tons of empty houses, just sitting there, some gutted, others still with everything (including lots of mold) still sitting in them. In the 9th ward, there are still cars on fences, flipped busses, and homes with half a roof and no doors or windows. Or there are just empty lots, where homes have been bull dozed and the families have not returned. . .if they survived the storm. 95% of St Bernard Parrish was flooded and there are still many empty and abandoned buildings there, it doesn't really look like a town at all.

In Biloxi, much of I-90 (along the beach) looks a lot like it did a year and a half ago when I was down here. The Casinos are back in full swing, which is good for the community in that it provides jobs for people, but it is sad that those were the first businesses to come back. Many buildings along that strip that were partially destroyed or only had frames standing still look the same. There are some signs of rebuilding, most of which has been done by volunteer organizations. 2 playgrounds have been built by an organization called KABOOM, trying to provide safe places for children to play, as more people come back into the area. The school I am working at only has 160 children enrolled, and if that number does not increase by the end of this year they will be forced to merge with another elementary school in Biloxi. There is a project community right beside the school, which are the nicest project homes that I have ever seen, which should bring more families in, but they still need to be finished. Hands On did a mold removal experiement/project on this one community, called Hope 6. They tested 4 different methods to remove mold, and they now use the one that they found to work the best. Lately, the mold crew here at Hands On is having to go and clean mold from homes that were once gutted and demolded improperly. This is becoming a problem in both Mississippi and Louisiana.

The media is jumping on this bandwagon to attempt to increase the numbers of volunteers in these communities. Last week i mentioned that I went to NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana) to see Andersoon Cooper. The show that he taped with us focused on what has been done since the storm, and the massive amount that is still left to do. In typical Anderson Cooper style, he talked about some of the reasons why things have not changed that much, and challenging people to do something about this. You'll have to watch his special, on Aug 29th (Anderson Cooper 360) and look for me, but more importantly, to find out about everything that still needs to be done.
This past Monday we had a press conference here at Hands On. The CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (the government agency that is responsible for Americorps) was here, and had breakfast with us. The press conference was mostly a PR attempt to get the name of Americorps out. There are a lot of Americorps State people here (they do shorter terms of service and stay in one place) and there are always an NCCC team or two here as well. One of David Isner's (the CEO guy) announcements was that this past year, the number of volunteers increased than the previous year after the storm. Of course, he was thanking everyone who came down here, and encouraging others to come volunteer their time.

If you have some time, I recommend you comming down here and giving some of your time. There are tons of organizations here you can work through, and that will provide your housing. So far, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has been the most organized in work and living that i have experienced. They still have some camps down here in MS and LA. On top of the vast need still down here, there have been a number of recent disasters in other parts of the US and in the world. I would liek to challenge you to find out how you can help. If you are unable to give right now, pray for the people affected by the disasters.

Oh yeah, Volunteer Y'all is slogan for the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer service. Signs saying this are all over the place, along with "Thanks Ya'll" signs. For me, y'all is an ordinary word, that i use on a daily basis. For my team, who still thinks it is funny when i say it, has now started saying y'all at the end of most phrases. Atleast i know that the northerners will take something from the south home with them, whether they like it or not! =)

Current countdown: 41 days!

A life of waiting

Growing up in North Carolina, i have always been around the threat of hurricanes in the summer months. Of course, living in the central part of the state, it is not as big of a deal as the coastal places, but it's a threat that I am somewhat familiar with. You know, the mad rush to the store to get milk, bread, water and ice, and making sure we have flashlights and batteries, all things I have done growing up. Living down here on the gulf, with a massive hurricane looming in the ocean has already given me a glimpse into the life of the people that live down here.

As of right now, Hurricane Dean is spinning over Jamaica, and not a threat to Louisiana or Mississippi. Predicting the weather is about as easy as predicting when I will get married, so because of this reason, Americorps is already talking of evacuation for us. Apparently if the storm misses the Yucatan Peninsula, it could take a northern route and then we will be in the line, instead of south Texas and Mexico. I was in New Orleans last night and today for a while, staying at the new Camp Hope (a few miles from the old one in St Bernard Parrish) and the Gulf Americorps Staff was prepping all of the team leaders on what they need to do if they are given the word to evacuate this next week, or any time in the next month that we are here. Two of our teams that are working for Habitat down at Camp Hope, had to work all day today putting the pallets of supplies in the warehouse up on top of 4 ft high cinder block pallets. They had a lot of fun doing that on their day off.

It has been kind of crazy though thinking in the mindset of the people that live down here, who have to worry about evacuating. We have been told that we evacuate early so we don't get stuck in the traffic and craziness, and so we can rest up where we go and be the first responders wherever the hurricane hits. We have been told we can only pack one suitcase (our lovely matching red issued bags) and we have to leave the rest of our stuff here. I think this is crazy, because we have an extra cargo van here, and its not like we have really unpacked any of our stuff. Personally, my stuff is mostly still in my bags on top of my bunk bed. When i was thinking about this last night I was realizing this is what people think about when they have to leave. What do i take, in my ONE bag? I dont really have that much stuff here to begin with, but it's definitly more than one bag (maybe 2 1/2?). All we can do right now though, is wait and see what happens, and pray for those who are currently in the path of the storm.

On a slightly lighter note, the reason i was in New Orleans yesterday, was because i got to meet Anderson Cooper!! I got a picture with him and everything, which i will put up sometime soon, hopefully. He was taping one of his 2nd Anniversary Post Katrina specials at the new Camp Hope, because he wanted to focus on the need for Volunteers still down in the gulf communities. All of us that were down there were standing behind him the whole time, and a few people got interviewed. 2 people, Jarred and Liz, from my campus were interviewed. You should look for it on August 29th and then in the days to follow since it will be reshown on CNN!! I am somewhere in the crowd, not too far behind Anderson. I have my lovely glasses on, so don't be fooled by my appearance! I have had to wear my glasses for the last week because my left eye somehow got scratched or something so it has been extremely irritated and red. Luckily i think it is finally getting better!

Anyways, that's about all the news from the Biloxi front. We'll be watching the news. . .online since we don't have TV's, to see what happens over the next few weeks with the hurricane season. There is always one somewhere around my birthday. I'm hoping this year will be different!

Life After Americorps?

The big question amongst Amerifolks on all teams, is what are you doing after Americorps? It's kinda like last year in college all over again. For many people here, who did this after college because they didn't know what they wanted to do, still have no idea. Luckily for me, I know WHAT i want to do. Or i guess i should say i have an idea of what I am supposed to do after this? Since I am content with this little glimpse into what avenue I am going to pursue post Oct. I am not stressing like others.
Oh, incase you are wondering what it is that i am talking about, I am planning on getting a teaching job in a high school in NC. Granted, i can send out all the resumes and applications I want, but if there is no opening, i won't be getting a job.
Those of you that know me well, know that i usually think ahead, so of course i have a Plan B. Granted, Plan B isn't all that exciting since it includes CVS for a while, and then doing grad school in the fall. Of course this leads to more questions such as, where will I live? grad school where? Go figure the 2 schools I have looked at so far are both in cold snowy mountain areas. (cold...ugh!)

Since I am kind of itching to get back into a school, i decided to work in the "youth development" area here at Hands On. The Long-termers here that work in this area, are in a couple of the elementary schools, and work at the Boys and Girls clubs in the area. I have been at one of the elementary schools the past few days. This school, Nichols Elementary, was only open one year before the storm, and after the storm it had 8 feet of flooding, so it was closed for a little over a year. There are only 160 kids currently enrolled because so many people have not returned. The first day I was there, I was sitting in a classroom, pretty much doing nothing. All i could think of was Larchmont Charter school, in Los Angeles, and all the nothing that i did there. So, i decided that wasn't going to happen again, so I was proactive and went and asked the Librarian if she needed any help. Of course she did, so i have been helping her get books on the shelves. They have gotten a bunch of new ones this year, but also there are boxes of donated books from other schools around the country. I have been putting the reading levels on the books so they can be put out and the kids can easily pull books they can read, instead of getting frustrated by not finding something. I also put the publishing information in it, while i am putting the reading level stickers on. It's kinda tedious, but i LOVE books, even childrens books, so it's fun looking at the cool pictures and of course stopping to read a little here and there! One of my teammates, Lindsay, has joined me in there a few days now so it's been fun to have someone else to talk to, someone who i like a lot from my team. Plus the librarian gave me a radio, so i just jam to some country music all day, it's wonderful! Hopefully i'll be in there helping her for the next few weeks, i'm sure she has plenty of work to keep me busy. Especially since I'll be working 4 day weeks the next few weeks, because i have so many personal days left to use!

Other than that, i've just been doing a lot of nothing really. The place I live, is kind of tiresome in that everything happens here and it is one big open space. People come in loud in the middle of the nights, or they get up early and make lots of noise. Things are pretty unorganized as well, so normally I would get aggravated at that. HOwever, i have adopted this i don't care attitude when it comes to things like that that would normally annoy me, since we are so close to being done. I know, not a good attitude to have, but why get mad over it. 4 1/2 weeks left! Then the traveling fun begins! I have gotten back into the swing of things with my team, from being gone for 5 weeks. One of my teammates, who has always drank quite a bit, now drinks everynight (or day) and we are getting worried about her. I just want to shake her and be like THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO LIFE!! But i can't without her punching me in the face. . . so idk, i feel kinda helpless.

I just heard the dinner call, gotta go grab some while it's still there!
Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend. HOpe it's a little cooler (and less humid) where you are!

Hello Biloxi (again)

Well, tonight i find myself in Biloxi Mississippi. I am excited about having my last project here, rounding off my 9 months of service. For those of you who do not know, I was in D'Iberville (a few miles north of Biloxi) last April, with a small (but amazing) group from church. I drove around a little today, but I have wanted to get back here, during my stint in the gulf, to see how things have changed over the last year and a few months.

My team is working and living at Hands On Gulf Coast, in west Biloxi. A few of my friends from other campus's and my own, have been here for a project, and have, for the most part, enjoyed their stay. The building is located on the property of a methodist church, and it is pretty much a big ol' gym. The beds are set up on the 2nd level, on what is called the loft. The best way i can describe this is for you to picture a running track above a gym. There are a bunch of bunk beds set up here on the loft. The long term volunteers have their own little "rooms" built either by wood or just big sheets. We are currently with the short termers, but one they leave over the next few days, I am going to be snatching their good bunks and air matresses that do not leak. Tonight I will probably be sleeping on the wood slats of the bunk bed by oh. . 3:36am. It's all good though, it's a roof over my head and i have blankets, since i am always cold! (yes, somehow even in this heat and humidity). It will be nice to get settled in tomorrow. By settled, i mean my clothes out of my suitcase(s) and into the plastic 3 tiered plastic tower i got today, and others on the top bunk.

Prior to coming to Biloxi, i spent a long weekend at Eglin Air Force base. Most of the weekend was just the Gold Unit, and then most of the Green unit showed up Monday afternoon. I did a lot of much needed decompressing and relaxing over the weekend. I was even able to hit up the beach a little, and managed not to get too splotchy of a light pinkness. Yes, you'd think by the age of almost 23, i would be able to evenly apply sunscreen!

I believe that the countdown to October has begun for myself and many of my friends. Unfortunatly, many of us who want to be here, and who actually enjoy doing the service aspect of the program, are looking forward to it being over. It's kind of a strange feeling. I don't want the service to end, but i am ready to move on from other aspects of the program. Transitioning back into my regular team(and aspects of my campus, since we have been with other teams) has been interesting. It has been fun catching up with the 3 people from my team that i missed while I was in Charleston. I know I will not always be able to choose who I am around, and i won't always like who I work with. I am just looking forward to having a small amount of choice again, when it comes to that. Work will start tomorrow, and we will all be working seperately, like they did last round. I am not quite sure what i'll be doing yet. I could be doing construction, or working in the tool shed and running tools and supplies to the different sites throughout the day (apparently my team leader kinda wants me to do this since i am organized and have a decent sense of direction? haha), or there are other options. I'll tell you more about Hands On next time and what i'll be doing for the next 6 weeks!

Well, they just turned out the big lights here, so i think i am going to go make my way downstairs and get ready for bed. Sorry about the ranting tonight.

Goodbye SOS

Upon rejoining my regular Americorps team, Gold one, at Camp Hope, i have realized that I have been living in an alternate Ameri universe, while in Charleston. The last five weeks were probably my favorite five weeks of this whole Ameri experience. I have had some great times with my friends, but project wise, nothing has topped the experience I had with Summer of Service (SOS).

Our project for the third week was at Mepkin Abbey. It is a monastary in Moncks Corner, which is about 45 minutes north of Charleston. Two other SOS teams had worked there in the previous two weeks, so the sponsor, Vivian, who is the gardner there, knew what was coming her way. After a brief orientation to learn about the monastary, we got started helping her with small tasks around the grounds. We did some weeding, replanting, and cleaning up around the grounds. Monday we had the opportunity to sit in on the 10 minute church service, which the monks have daily at noon. Then we joined them for lunch. The catch with lunch was we sat in an adjacent room, and they do not talk at lunch. Luckily for David and I, three of our guys who are the loudest, were not with us for various reasons that day, so our group's behavior was great.

The last week, in general, was pretty intense. The CMIT's were getting antsy to go home and we were getting antsy to send them home! There was some tension between a few of us Crew Leaders and the staff because of a decision made to bring 2 guys back that had been sent home for behavior issues, with only 2 days left in the program. I won't get into that though, it's not really that important now, in refelcting over the whole 5 week experience. That snag still doesn't affect my opinion of how amazing the Charleston staff are, and how sad it is that they are loosing their jobs because the federal government is closing that campus in September.

Saturday morning was graduation, and it was cool to see how proud some of the parents were of their CMITS. The CMITS had to write a personal statement in their last week about things they learned or how they changed. Staff typed all of them up and put them together in a little packet for us. Some of them are funny to read, but it is cool to read how some of them felt, even though they didn't show it most of the time.

Mom and dad drove down for Saturday and Sunday, so after the CMITS left i spent saturday evening and Sunday with them. I had a good time showing them around Charleston.

It was sad to leave the other crew leaders on Tuesday. Half of us are still in the program, so we might cross paths again during our last few months. The others, Charleston corps members, went home, since they were done back in May with their 10 months. It is kinda strange to have spent the last 5 weeks with a group of people, and then all the sudden not see them. That's kinda how Americorps works though. You'd think I would be use to it by now. I really enjoyed being around people who wanted to do service and were excited to be there. That was one of my favorite parts about the whole SOS program. Here, with my regular team, and other teams that are living here, there are a few on each team that arn't here because they enjoy doing service. I only have 8 weeks left till graduation, so i'm not gonna let these certain people ruin it for me. I am excited about our last project, in Biloxi. We won't be working together as a team, we'll have different jobs (which i have no idea what they are right now??). This next week we will be with the whole Gold Unit, which means my roommate, Heather, from training will be there, and I am really excited to see her. It's been 2 whole months since we parted ways after break!

I left a lot out about the last couple weeks, there is no possible way to type everything I did. I can tell you all about it when i get home or if you have specific questions, feel free to shoot me an email/letter, or give me a call. I love talking about it, i just don't want you to be sitting here reading pages upon pages of me rambling on and on! =)

Those of you who have written me in the last month will be getting letters soon, now that i have time to think and breathe. Sorry for the delay in writing you back!

I can't believe it's already August. . . roughly 8 weeks left! Craziness!

I realized i havn't posted pictures in a while, so here are some ones to catch you up. There will be more later once others put pictures up, but here are some of mine! Enjoy!!!

Camp Hope- the first 3 weeks before SOS
http://uncg.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2083890&l=14791&id=25000446

SOS- Charleston
http://uncg.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084325&l=bc6c8&id=25000446

http://uncg.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087635&l=deb39&id=25000446