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…)