Today officially marks one week in AmeriCorps NCCC! Since I’m trying to beat the death of my battery I’m going bullet point style on this one.
• When deployed on disaster relief do not eat more than one MRE (meal, ready, eat) a day. Rumour has it that post-Katrina some guy ate three MREs in a day and didn’t shit for three weeks. I’m leading with this little nugget to illustrate just how glamorous my life is becoming.
• I feel like I’m getting the college experience I never got in England: roommate, flip-flops, iffy food, and all.
• If you need to put on snow chains or change the tire of a 15-passenger van, I’m your girl.
• There is a sketchy little Mexican restaurant across the road from campus called 4 Gs. Apparently it was owned by the Mexican mafia. There is a really big back room so I’m inclined to think that that’s the truth. A guy who works in the cafeteria named Jose can be found there and he will divulge what’s on the menu for the next day. Score!
• The biggest demographic of people serving here in Denver is females over the age of 21. So much so that a bunch of us got put on the second floor of a different hall while everyone else is in Walsh. We couldn’t be happier, what with all this talk of unit leaders being called in at 2 a.m., lap dances, and people hooking up 3 days in to our little AmeriCorps adventure. A massive thanks goes out to the American taxpayers, as always.
• A girl on my floor illuminated all of us to the existence of a creature called a beefalo. Cue many blues songs being sung about this magical creature on our 6 mile hike in Roxborough State Park.
Speaking of Roxborough….
Not too shabby, huh? Well, I’ll tell you one thing: do not listen to these so-called ‘team leaders’ when they say that it’s going to be an easy hike, it’s all lies. We had a full day of ‘unit time’ today up in Rocky Mountain National Park (post coming soon) and again the TLs said that the hike would be easy. Um, no.
Apart from hiking in cool parks, exploring Denver & Boulder, and learning to navigate the cafeteria food, our days here are jammed packed from seven in the morning to seven at night with trainings galore. I do get the chance to pursue a graduate certificate in non-profit management (not sure I want to work at a non-profit but hey, getting to put some letters after my name sounds pretty awesome!) and get a congressional award, so I can’t complain too much. For the congressional award we have to set some personal goals. My main goal is to read twenty books throughout the ten months I’m with NCCC. While in Boulder today I stopped by a bookstore and picked up what is going to be my next read. Care to guess? No? Okay, I’ll just tell you. Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History.
Oh yeahhh.
Over and out.
Amy x
