whoa! time for an update.

Hello!
I thought it might be time for an update, as things have certainly been a'changing since I finished AmeriCorps NCCC and became an AmeriCorps VISTA (note name change of blog to just "Emily's AmeriCorps Adventure").

I made it through all of Camp Wi-Ta-Wentin, and while there are times when I miss being able to spend time on the bayou, kayaking and relaxing, or spending time with Baywatch, Rat, and Mr. Wayne, I don’t think I’ll be going back next summer. ;o) Spending so much time away from Iowa has never made me appreciate it more. As opposed to California, where it's brown and hot, or Louisiana, where it's muggy and the mosquitoes attack at every hour of the day, Iowa is a blessed release. Mind you, we'll see if I'm still saying this in the winter (but I love snow) or after spending over 4 months in one place. ;o)

The train ride from Sacramento, CA to Osceola, IA was good, but long. Though trains are much roomier than planes, you normally don't have to sleep two nights on a plane, nor do you have to eat 2+ days of plane food. :o/ They were doing rail maintenance through the Rockies, so we had to go around through Wyoming instead, which was disappointing. However, still a very scenic route. But while I enjoyed the ride, I don't know that I would recommend that long of a train ride again.

I am getting settled into my new dorm apartment in Mount Vernon. There's not necessarily a lot to it, but the living room and bedroom are pretty spacious. After living with 9 other people in crowded spaces, I can certainly appreciate this space as my own. :o) I have no TV or microwave, which was a conscious choice, and has worked out pretty well so far. However, life in an apartment by myself with no TV can get quiet at times. I'm generally quite happy in my apartment in the dorm ... until the time comes to do laundry. Then I am not happy. Not only am I a 23-year-old semi-staff person trying to do her laundry in a first-year dorm, but it's also WAY more expensive than what I'm used to (free or only $1). That being said, I've been trying to visit my parents, sister, and brother more often. ;o) Mostly because I love them and they're wonderful, but getting to do my laundry at home is certainly a good thing.

So far I am enjoying my work --- I really enjoy working with my supervisor, Kara, who is a Wartburg alum. It's nice to have similar backgrounds, as it's amazing how different Cornell and Wartburg can be, being small liberal arts colleges of comparable in small town, Iowa. The biggest difference is that Cornell operates on the block schedule - students take one course at a time over 3.5 weeks. That, and everywhere you walk in Mount Vernon, it seems you're walking UP hill. ;o)

The work part:

• I worked on New Student Orientation Service Day when I first got here, and everyone served nearly 1100 hours.


• I am working on getting the ICAP program up and running - 5 Cornell students have the opportunity to do 300 hours of service over the school year and receive a $1,000 AmeriCorps educational award. Sounds like a great program, but I FINALLY have all 5 students after looking for over a month. Goodness gracious.


• Cornell will have three Alternative Spring Breaks go out this year at the end of March, as opposed to the one in years past. This is a huge accomplishment! We were hoping for two trips, and ended up with enough applications (without extending the deadline, even!) to have 3 trips this year. Amazing! One trip will work with World Hunger Relief in Elm Mott, TX. The other two are going to NOLA with rebuilding efforts. I am advising one of the NOLA trips, and we will be working with Camp ReStore. I am very excited about going back down to NOLA. :o)


• We are also in the process of planning our first Block Break Service Trip. (Students take their final on Wednesday of 4th week, then have the rest of the weekend off before they start a new class on Monday = block break.) We are planning on going up to Waterloo November 19-21 and working with the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. We are hoping to get 15 participants. Cross your fingers!


• I was spending a lot of time at the beginning trying to create an Access Database to track volunteer hours. The bare bones of the database have been built now, so once we start getting reports of the volunteers' hours this year, I'll enter that & we'll see how it goes. I started off feeling quite stupid trying to develop this thing, but after working with a very helpful IT person, I realized I never would have made it work on my own. No more feelings of overwhelming stupidity. :o)


Other than that, just general stuff - checking in with students, general office needs, whatever my VISTA 24/7 "other duties as assigned" calls for. ;o)


It's been amazing to be back in Iowa, and I've seem so many people since I've been back, but there are still so many more I want to see, and of course, see everyone over and over again. Thank you to everyone who's welcomed me back home. I've been lucky to visit some people (thank you!), and especially to be visited by some of my teammates (love you!). Hopefully I will see and visit more people soon. It seems like, since I've been back in Iowa, my weekends have been incredibly booked, enough so that I feel more busy on the weekends than I do during the week evenings! Part of me hopes my weekends settle down, but again, I love seeing people, so it's okay to be busy, as long as I'm having fun. Right? ;o)

I hope everyone is happy and healthy! Remember to wash your hands and cough in your sleeve. ;o)

If you would like to subscribe to Emily's ridiculously long and seldom-sent email updates, send me an email from your preferred email address and let me know how you're doing! :o)

hugs all around!
peace,
Emily FAIRCHILD

it's so humid!!!!!

It's a lovely Monday day off in New Orleans, and I've just updated our team blog. :o) Check it out if you're interested!

peace,
emily FAIRCHILD

Hallo!! and Happy Easter!

Our work at the San Joaquin River Parkway & Conservation Trust has concluded, and the tents have been taken down, packed up, (taken to Sacramento), put back up, hosed down, aired out, taken down, packed up, and finally put away. I don’t need to see them again any time soon. :o) But I did survive. My second project went well. Supposedly, our team removed milk thistle, the nasty evil lettuce invasive species, from 4 acres of restored land. We laid over 8,000 feet of irrigation line. We pulled over 70 T-posts out of hard ground. I was a parking attendant, supervising the parking of over 200 cars (I think) at two separate events at the River Center.
Our team was invited fully into the Fresno community over four weeks. We met a lovely couple at the laundrymat whose daughter had served in NCCC the year prior, and they invited us to their home for a spaghetti dinner. We assisted with a large event on our first day of work, and the board member in charge of that event invited the team over to a barbeque at her house. (She and her husband were absolutely awesome – so my role models of old age living. They went traveling together, spending several weeks visiting different countries, renting a car and just driving around wherever they pleased, stopping when they were tired to find a hotel. Awesome.) We were also invited for a work day and barbecue at the house of the chairman --- why, if she is the first chairperson of the board, is she called a chairman? I don't get it. Anyway, that was also very nice, with delicious veggie dogs and burgers. ;o) One of the big events which we helped with (and I attended to the cars) was called The Big Read, and was in conjunction with the county libraries. As a thanks to us for helping, and probably because we were in there every week, sometimes multiple times a week, they hosted a large dinner for us. They also gave us a box of books, several of which are advanced copies. So, while I was certainly ready to get out of the tent, it was wonderful to get to be a part of the community, even for a short time.
Now, while I may have complained, tent life wasn’t horrible. I won’t be doing it again soon (I hope), but it wasn’t bad. I think the area made the sleepless nights a bit more bearable. ;o) The Millerton Lake State Recreation Area is absolutely beautiful. If you have a roomy camper, I would really suggest the Fort Miller camping loop on the North Shore. The view is breathtaking. A couple of times we acted like real dirty hippies, and did yoga as our PT on a grassy hillside, barefoot and hairy, not having showered for several days. It was a very good experience. :o) And my teeth (or rather, holes from where my teeth were) seem to be healing just fine.

On Tuesday, I will be leaving for my next projects, which will be absolutely amazing – I am very excited for them. We will drive (yes, drive) to New Orleans. :o) There, we will be working with Green Light New Orleans, a non-profit organization started by a rocker that installs energy efficient light bulbs into fixed and low-income housing. We will be there for 3 weeks, staying in a house near downtown. The sponsor would like us to install 100 light bulbs a week, and we will get to ride bicycles around the city to do so. :o) Some days when we aren’t cycling around, we will be working in the office. I think we’ll be working on an energy-efficiency checklist for individual homes. This is going to be a great project, with a good cause behind it that will hopefully help me to learn cost-saving measures to apply later in life.
Our next project, after New Orleans, will be working with Camp Victor in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. We will be working with the camp, leading volunteer groups at different sites on home rebuilding and restoration. A couple of team members are going to stay behind at Camp Victor as needed, and assist with the operation of the camp there – building maintenance, cooking, cleaning, etc. From what I understand, AmeriCorps will have our own room, but we’ll share the 5 showers with the other 200 or so volunteers at the camp. Good thing we learned to get by on showers every other day. ;o)
This project also sounds amazing, and I am very excited to get to work here. We will be here through the end of May. I think our team has been very fortunate in the projects that we’ve gotten. I am grateful to have these opportunities in the Gulf – to get to be a part of bettering the community, rebuilding in a positive way, assisting in looking out at the big picture by installing new light bulbs. Then, we’ll also get the chance to actually get in there, and be a part of the rebuilding, and help make a difference in the devastation that has still not been fully addressed. I am eager to go to the Gulf, ready to get some service hands.

I’ve been trying to do more reading lately, and I’ve read a couple of good ones, I must say. I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns a couple of hours ago, which was utterly fantastic. I’ve recently read Black Boy by Richard Wright, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and finally, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I don’t know what’s next --- I’ll need something for the long van ride, but can’t really get a library book at this point. I’ll see what I can dredge up from the ‘library’ in the campus lounge. But please, let me know if you have any recommendations. :o)

It’s gotten to that point where the question keeps coming up, from others and myself: what will I be doing next year? That is a great, but very annoying question. As of yet, I don’t know. I do know, however, that I don’t have much savings, so the answer probably involves the basement of two lovely, wonderful, caring parents. We’ll see how I’m coming along in two years, and then hopefully try somewhere new. :o) I think I would like to go back to school, and hopefully this time study something I like. (Maybe I should just focus on studying…) In any case, like I said, I don’t think that will be happening soon. But in case you have a basement… and a job opening … keep this service-oriented, hard-working, people-loving woman in mind. ;o)

I hope everyone is doing well! I find myself really missing my home state – certainly not for the weather (I got sunburned again today, and haven’t seen snow in ages), not just because the state is passing equality-minded legislation, but more just that the people out here don’t hug as much, and aren’t as good at a thought-provoking conversation over coffee, and don’t carry the friendly faces that I miss so much. I am hoping to take a train home, which would put me back in Iowa around July 25th. I look forward to seeing many of you shortly thereafter.

Peace.
Emily FAIRCHILD

P.S. At the very beginning of this, I mentioned pulling over 70 T-posts out of hard ground. I did an ISP (independent service project) on Friday. There, we had to take down fencing, which including pulling up T-posts. Are you aware that there is a device specifically made for this purpose?!? Pulls them out in one, two, maybe three pushes on a lever, and BAM, the T-post is extracted. I did not know this. Neither, I believe, did our last project sponsor. We took a picture and will be sending it to him, shortly. (grrrrr…)

I am horrible at blogging...

... but this is not news to any of you.

The Games have been amazing, and of course, I've had a great time since I last blogged. The quick and dirty:

I had great holidays in Des Moines and really appreciated seeing all the friends I did. :o) Many many thanks to those who made a trip to Des Moines. It really meant so much to see friendly familiar faces.

My birthday was nice, even though there was no hockey game this year. My team and department decorated my cubicle with balloons and streamers, I got beautiful daisies delivered, and Bob and Char sent multiple birthday cards (I'm not the only one who can't make decisions).
My team went out to Olive Garden for dinner (very extravagant on the Ameri-Budget) and I got a mango and cupcakes. It was a good day, especially since I got to share it with the celebration for Martin Luther King, Jr.


Games: amazing. Of course! How could they not be. Everything went off well on my end of things. The Special Olympics Towns were great, even though I was a little worried about the one in Sun Valley, in the end, the volunteer commissioners really did an amazing job and the whole thing ran really smoothly. All the athlete lounges were good, and some athletes went away with some nice Uno games, even if they weren't necessarily intended for people to take. However, a generous donation insured that we did not run out of Uno cards, despite people walking away with them. I didn't interact with the athletes as much as I would have liked, but I worked really closely with the volunteers, and that was amazing. There are some top-notch people in Boise. ;o)

I've had this weekend off since the Games ended, and just got back from a weekend trip to Denver. It was so fantastic to get to sleep on a bed a couple nights, and to spend some really good quality time with friends. It was so good to relax with NOT 9 (or 29) other people.

It seems incredibly strange to me to get on a plane for a weekend trip. I suppose I really am becoming quite the traveler. However, with that, I am also becoming quite the financially-challenged individual. Luckily, it occurred to me now, rather than later, that unless I start saving from my stipend, I will not have anything to live off of at the end of my AmeriCorps term, and could end up spending more quality time at home than I, or Bob and Char, would really care for. So I enjoyed my little vaca this time, but I anticipate that it will be my last, and it's time to really start planning a bit more for the future. Scary stuff.

Our next project has been announced, and we will be going to Fresno, CA in about a week. Our next project will have an environmental focus, so we'll be removing invasive species, doing some irrigation work, and educating some little kids (whilst canoeing). Should be a great project. It's only 4 weeks long, so after 4 months in Boise, 4 weeks will seem really short. Or, at least, that's what I'm hoping, since I'll be living in a tent. Yes, a tent. We'll stay at Millerton Lake state recreation area. There are real toilets and showers, so I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to make it. ;o)

In regards to mail: no more mail should be sent to my Boise address. Since the Fresno project is so short, I won't be giving out a separate address for that spike. Everything should be sent to my address on base in McClellan, CA. And yes, I will take cookies. ;o)


So, not to make excuses or anything, but when I'm horrible about blogging, occasionally my teammates are better. Don't forget to check out the team blog, especially to see Mary's pictures. :o)

Peace,
Emily

15 days!

That's right, only 15 days until I am back in Iowa! Though I am very much enjoying my project, I am very ready for a break and to see family and friends.

So, an update:

This week, we had job specific training for the athlete entertainment (ATE) volunteers. Another Corps member, Fionna, is working with volunteer services, so she led the general overview part of the training; then, I followed up with the ATE specific training. There were about 75ish people there, so it was a pretty big deal. I think it went well, and I'm feeling less stressed now that 1) it's over, and 2) I now have most of my commissioners! I lost one, but I think I can fill that spot pretty easily, so I'm not too concerned.

Also this week, the Delegation Services team took a road trip to McCall for a site visit. McCall is about 2 hours away, and is the site of snowshoeing, as well as a Special Olympics Town. The drive was gorgeous and it seems like a nice little town, but unfortunately, no snow yet. Hopefully there will be plenty come February, otherwise that could be one interested snowshoeing competition! ;o)
Our Special Olympics Town is at Shore Lodge. The place is really beautiful and has a great lookout on a lake. The room for SO Town is much smaller than what we had anticipated, but there's a great theater that I think we'll be able to use, so that should be nice. SO Town in McCall will only be open for 2 days, but Nicci and I were trying to convince our boss Ashley that we really should be up in McCall that whole time. ... I don't think Ashley was buying it. ;o)

Yesterday, we got a lovely welcome new addition: another AmeriCorps NCCC team! I don't know many details, unfortunately, but I think they came from Los Angeles. Their previous project didn't have funding, so they came to work with us! We (Blue 4) had anticipated another team (or two) potentially joining us for the Games, but didn't expect them so soon - neither did anyone else. But nonetheless, I'm sure they will be a wonderful addition.
Because of the new team coming in, we did have to rearrange our living conditions. The team leaders are together in a one-bedroom, the guys from the two teams are in one apartment, and the females are with their respective teams in two different apartments. That's right - I'm now living with 7 other people in a 2-bedroom apartment. Let the fun begin.

I've been incredibly busy the last couple days, as a result of my big training session, then being up in McCall and trying to take care of things there. However, I'm starting to get the feeling that the busy time has started, and from here on out until the Games are complete, it's going to be a little hectic. Even with my experience with ETK and V-Day, I certainly have not been prepared for how much goes into an event this size. This is definitely a learning experience, but I'm enjoying the work. I stay busy and meet a lot of people, I usually make progress I can see, there's certainly excitement, and it's a joy because I know that I am going to love what I'm working towards. I can understand why there are people here at the GOC (sorry - Games Organizing Committee, I think) that follow Special Olympics Games all over. (here's a link to the SOWWG website, in case you've never checked it out and are interested)

Tomorrow morning I have training at the Idaho Humane Society. Let's hope I get to work with puppies!!!! (I've been a little puppy-obsessed lately (my team would say little?!?) but I think when I get home and get some hugs, I'll be better.)
Speaking of home, it's only 15 days away! (Did I already say that?) I hope to see many friendly familiar faces during that time. (and get lots of hugs.) :o)

Peace,
Emily

ooh ooh, PICTURES!

task for the day: blog ...
on another blog.

We've created a team blog because I just can't keep up with one. ;o) But the great thing about this one is that our team photographer is posting her pictures! So, go view our team blog and check out the awesome pictures, and hopefully, at some point today, a list of what Blue 4 is thankful for. :o)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Only 1 month until I am back in Iowa!!! woohoo!

Finally: a Boise update!

Friends! Hello!
I can’t believe I’ve been in Boise this long. Oh goodness. I am spectacularly bad at updating this thing. Sorry.

Okay, let’s see. I’ll cover the apartment, the job, and then the amazing staff at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Idaho, USA. First, a couple of other notes: any mail, packages or otherwise, should be sent to my address in Boise. I’ll send that out in an email, so if you don’t receive it and want to send me a card or anything, please let me know! Second, I will be flying to Des Moines for the holidays. I will arrive late evening, 20 December, and leave early morning, 4 January. I would love to have visitors and see friends! :o)

Apartment: Apartment is great. With 10 members on the team, we are split up between two apartments. Special Olympics provided the apartments, and they also took care of our furnishings, which was awesome. Unfortunately, our apartments are not very close to each other in the complex, but we have been meeting together to eat dinner every night (Britta is a very good cook!). The apartments really are great – especially when I think about the other NCCC teams that are out serving right now – it’s like we’re in a Hilton. Plus, we have laundry facilities in the apartment, as well as access to the clubhouse with indoor basketball courts (site of 6am PT), a small workout room, and a Jacuzzi outside. :o) Another advantage is that the apartments are a 5-minute walk from the office so we can walk every morning. It’s a little like the summer before my junior year in Waverly – I have an awesome terrace and a great apartment, but bedding isn’t the best. ;o) Instead of a mattress on the floor, this time I’m up off the floor on a very squeaky, not very big cot. It’s pretty far from comfortable, but we’re working hard and playing hard, so I normally sleep well at night.

Job: Oh, I don’t think my job could be more perfect. :o) I am working with Delegation Services, and I’ve been put in charge of athlete entertainment. So, it’s like a blend of ETK (campus programming board) and Camp Sunnyside all in one. I couldn’t believe what a good fit. :o) And it has been a good fit. Luckily, it’s not like I’m starting at the beginning – a lot of the work has already been done, and I’m doing a lot of follow-up and such. There are 7 athlete lounges, one at each of the competition venues, and three Special Olympics Towns in each of the Games cities (Boise, McCall, & Sun Valley). The lounges have board games and video games and movies. The Special Olympics Towns will be awesome – at least in Boise, it’s separated into two areas, one with a Western theme (activities include barrel racing with a stick horse and cattle roping with wooden cows) and the other area with other fun activities (inflatable jousting and sumo wrestling, table games like air hockey and table tennis, and arcade games). Almost like Knight Out during orientation at Wartburg, or part of a small Fun City. :o) Tonight I led my first committee meeting. It went pretty well, though many people were not there. But the director said I did a good job, and I think everything was covered. Now, onto the next task.

Fantastic staff! They are taking very good care of us at the office and in Boise. We were able to go to a Steelheads hockey game (and you know how much I love hockey). Our seats were awesome, very near the ice, and the Steelheads won in a shootout. Very good game! In our first week, we got tickets to a benefit concert down at The Knitting Factory. It was 2 funk bands, so it was definitely a fun time. :o) We’re also getting season ski passes to Bogus Basin which isn’t far from Boise and is actually one of the competition sites (for alpine skiing). I’ve been back to The Knitting Factory a couple more times this week – once to see the Old Crow Medicine Show, a Southern bluegrass band, and then yesterday to see The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers (which, by the way, was an incredibly awesome show).

That’s all for now! I’ll tell you more as it comes, but moral of the story is: I’m happy and this project in particular is absolutely amazing.

Peace,
Emily