We're living on a ship in Bronx, New York. The worst part about that is either the food, the sleeping quarters, or the smell, depending on who you ask. I personally think the absense of coziness is most devastating. The best part is the view. Just after sunrise we walk along the deck to go eat breakfast in the mess hall. Maybe it's the smog that makes the colors linger so pronounced behind the full Manhattan skyline.
It's those little things...
In only a week we'll be on the road again. Vicksburg-bound for a transitional period before winter break. There's no place like home for the holidays :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
PHOTO ALBUM
October 26th, 2012
I'd just like to share a few of our team pictures that haven't been publicized yet. Many of them were taken from T's phone, so thanks Lady T!
Andy and Sarah participate in CPR/First Aid Training back in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Clara and John sort of like each other I guess. (Graduation from CTI)
Levi (Summit 3) and Clara participate in Diversity Training in Vicksburg.
BFFLs
Summit 2 enjoyed a beautiful hike in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA
Summit 2 on FEMA Training Graduation Day in Anniston, Alabama
We make smoothies and laundry just look so good together
Our new housing in Harrisburg, PA photo cred: Joey Gould
Football pre-game hugs:) Summit 2 love in York, PA
RIP Safety Guy
October 26th, 2012
Some more accomplishments:Wish I could still say "no major injuries," but I can't promise that since the safety guy didn't bring the donuts he promised.
Regis wasn't happy and now Safety Guy is MIA.
Clara's team won in Ultimate Frisbee on Monday!!!
(contrary to popular belief.. no thanks to Nick.)
We traveled to MEMA (Maryland Emergency Management Agency) on Tuesday.
Because the tour and informational session only took about an hour, we spent the rest of our afternoon exploring in Baltimore :)
Baltimore Inner Harbor :)
Wednesday was just another day in the office...Wendy Welcomer (cubicle across and to the left of mine) took Lady T on a shopping spree to get some office SNACKS for FEMAcorps :)
Yay for food.
Thursday was a fun one! Road trippin with Summit 6 (Sunshine Market PA) to Emmitsburg MD to visit the Emergency Management Institute.
LUNCH MENU:
Steamed Shrimp
Crab Legs
Prime Rib
Red Potatoes
Asparagus
Unlimited Salad Bar
Delish Deserts fo' dayz
Anything else delicious that we could think of...
Plus we learned a lot about the EMI.
And by the end of the day...
We were all worn out.
SUMMIT TWO.... WOO!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Walking on the Wall
October 24th, 2012
“Maybe your country is only a place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about. Maybe it's not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you meet and places you visit, full of books and films you've been to. I'm not afraid of being homesick and having no language to live in. I don't have to be like anyone else. I'm walking on the wall and nobody can stop me.”
-Hugo Hamilton, The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood
Homelessness was never a laughing matter until it had to do with us. The absurdity of it yielded chuckling and quiet, shocked half-worry. Already nomads, we felt a little homeless to begin with. The Rodeway Inn, the second of three temporary housing situations we’ve experienced on our Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Spike, didn’t exactly give off that cozy, "homey" vibe, either. So when our humble NCCC funds did not stretch over the Rodeway’s request to pay for our entire stay up front, glances were passed between the eleven of us while our Team Leader fumed. We realized quickly that the security of a stable home was a luxury we would learn to do without for the months ahead. Although Michelle and NCCC handled our situation gracefully and we were never without housing, our traditional ideas of “home” had already vaporized.
To be brutally honest, the Rodeway wasn’t so far from homelessness. Conveniently located on a truck stop, our neighbors weren’t the neighborliest, and the lack of sidewalks along the freeway at the end of our driveway definitely put a dent in the property value. Was that blood or a mysterious four letter word on the boys’ freshly tucked sheets? And though many jumped on Andy’s bandwagon of blaming Clara, the sink was broken before she touched it. The biggest difference between Rodeway and the Day’s Inn that Michelle found for us last week is that Day’s Inn has the facilities for storing and preparing food. We can all safely agree that Rodeway’s (gourmet) microwave dinners will not be sorely missed.
Back in Vicksburg I remember playfully suggesting the concept of “accent mutts.” Soon, after spending so much time with such a variety of speaking tendencies, we would all be mutts when it came to language. Or, in Hamilton’s words, we would have “no language to live in.” Sarah-isms became Tanisha-isms, and vice versa, until everyone in our little unit was infected by everyone else’s isms so that a familial environment developed. Some gave a little leeway here, others adopted a bit of a twang there, and we all just accepted that John Joyce says “bagels” incorrectly. And so it began: the internal shift in thought, the growth of definitions, blurring of lines, to create our new homes.
Homes have little to do with the structure. In fact, we’ve found our homes by breaking down walls between one another. Whether we’d prefer it or not, the Day’s Inn will never be home, though we may call it such on our drive back from work. On August 13th we didn’t just close a door and open a window; we stepped outside. Travelers, wanderers, migrants, we find our permanent abode only in ourselves and one another.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Green-y
Summit Two! Woo!
As week three in the Pennsylvania Recovery Center in Harrisburg, PA comes to a close, let us reflect on a few of our accomplishments thus far in the program:
No major injuries!
Michelle found more promising housing in the form of an extended living hotel with clean sheets and a kitchenette.
Lady T has been promoted to Food POC
Lady T also made some pretty sweet calendars
Sarah is now Speaker of the House
"I think this situation is greeny because it's close to blue which is sad face, but it's a little bit happy"
~Sarah Gerhart, Speaker of the House
Joey continues to have the best attitude ever.
Andy copied a whole forest-worth of paper
Summit 2, Woo!!
(picture above right: John Joyce, our Spotlight of the week (SOTW) on Facebook, enjoys the scenery and his teammates while on a hike in Pine Grove Furnace State Park for PT on Thursday.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)