SOS Week 1

So, I have survived the first week of Summer of Service. The CMITS (corps members in training, the youth), arrived on Sunday. We greeted them, met parents, showed them their luxurious (haha) rooms in the old barracks. Sunday night we had our first team meeting and introductions with the team. Monday they had some exciting trainings all day. They also received their stylish uniforms. Their shirts are canary yellow. . .i still rock the gray. I have a pretty crazy bunch. They are all 14 and 15 yrs old. A couple of them went to the same school so they knew each other in advance. In some ways that wasn't good, because they were causing trouble from the beginning. Actually they havn't been too bad. We are starting to crack down on things, because there are some kids (not necessarily mine, but sometimes. . .) who arn't here for the right reasons and shouldn't be here, ruining everyone else's experiences. One girl has already left, we took care of that this past weekend. I won't get into that long story on here, but lets just say i was up till 2 AM Sat night w/ staff trying to figure things out, and then up again by 7 Sunday morning. Then David and I had a 2 1/2 hour meeting with a parent Sunday evening. I did get to a church here, and to see Harry Potter, but it was a very long day, and i am still recovering, sleep/exhaustion wise.

The project my team (Blue 4) has been working on this week has been at a Summer day camp, sponsored by the Charleston Recreation and Parks department. Our first day was Tuesday, and we found out when we got there than the camp wasn't exactly what we were told it would be. It is located a a small park complex in Charleson, near a project community. Apparently, last session they had 35 kids, but this session we have never had more than 14. With 12 of us there, you can imagine there is a lot of sitting around going on. Plus, to make it worse, the staff there is not supportive at all. They don't plan activities for the kids to do, and it has been a real headache for David and I to try to work things out with them. We have met with our unit leader here on base every day since tuesday, trying to work things out, and get ideas. The staff here has been amazingly supportive and I could not ask for better people to work under (even though a few of them are tarheel's). Side note- it has been a lot of fun to have people back in my life that understand the rivarly that we all, NC'ers, know and love.
Back to the project. . . David and I decided on Friday that we would be willing to try to plan and run the activities at this camp, but only if our team was willing to be in it 100%. We talked to them, and were completely honest about where things stood, and they said they were willing. Well, today came and that definitly wasn't the same group that agreed to put forth 100%. So, this aft ernoon we met with staff and decided to move to a different project. Our team wasn't happy with this, mainly because they don't wanna leave the kids. I don't wanna leave the kids either, but there has to be enough work to do. Plain and simple. Plus, today was rough on them because david and i are done taking attitudes. Ours definitly arn't the worst attitudes in the program, but it's enough that is disrespectful and needs to change. Otherwise, they can go home. Sounds harsh, i know. I don't wan't to send them home, but we don't have time, in a 3 week program, no only 2 left, to deal with people that don't wanna be here, and don't wanna do the service. All of the crew leaders feel the staff is being too lenient with some things. Heck, there was some kind of altercation between 2 guys tonight and i don't know if they are getting sent home or not. Ugh. . .so frustrating, all the talk about sending people home, and not carrying it out. It is hard, this is a good program for these kids to be in, but if they arn't going to cooperate, our hands are somewhat tied.

That is definitly no where near what all has happened, but this would be insanely long and I don't have the time to tell much more. This has been an amazing experience already, and It is only 1/3rd done. This has also been one of the hardest experiences, especially in this short amount of time. Student teaching was insanely exhausting, but not anywhere near this soon. We racked up 113 hours of work last week. We are pretty much on duty from 5:30 AM (for PT) till 10:30 or later at night. It is going to be so strange going back to a regular corps member for 2 months after this. I am looking forward to seeing what these next 2 weeks have in store.

Tonight is going to be an early night to bed. (hopefully 10:30??) Some of us, crazy crew leaders, staff and a few committed youth are getting up to do a 40 min run on the Ravanelle Bridge here in Charleston at 5:30AM. It's a really pretty bridge. . .a long pretty bridge. The sunrise makes the run worth it.

Hopefully i can write again soon. Time is not something I get, even on my "off duty" nights.
Happy Harry Potter release week!!!