We're totally not in Kansas anymore...

It's so great to be back in NOLA; been back here for a week and am having total deja-vu! Why you might ask? Because we're doing the same project I did when I came down the first time for disaster relief! We're building a house from the ground up, but this time I get the opportunity to work with Habitat for Humanity, which is awesome. Our project is great, and our site supervisors are amazing.

First, our 3 day road trip consisted of driving through: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, a quick drive through Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi, and of course Louisiana, before finally arriving to New Orleans!

The drive wasn't SO bad... but damn, it felt like we were in Kansas forever. Pretty much this is what Kansas looks like... flat, yup.

We got to New Orleans Monday night just in time to wake up nice and early the next day to start work!

N. Tonti is the street in which we are working on.

The week basically consisted of work, PT, and service learning. For some service learning we're watching the documentary "When the Levees Broke", I highly recommend seeing parts of it if you haven't already.

Yesterday most of my group went to the annual Po-Boy Festival (http://www.poboyfest.com/). And then later in the afternoon some of us decided to venture into the French Quarter and Bourbon Street for a bit.

Only a few days of work this week due to Thanksgiving! I SO wish I was going home in order to see the Towson University TIGER Marching Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... but alas, I'll be giving thanks here in good 'ole NOLA with AmeriCorps. And yes, I just totally made a plug for the Macy's Day Parade in my blog about AmeriCorps, haha.

We're AmeriCorps members and we'll get things done!

NO MORE CTI!!!

Most of the week was pretty uneventful. However, Wednesday and today were great.

Wednesday was Veterans' Day therefore, we had the day off. A very small group of us went to the Children's Museum of Denver for ISP hours. By far the best ISP. How much more fun can one have than getting to play with paint, clay, and interact with children for 7 hours of service hours? I don't know about you but personally, I'm more than content with a day full of artsy crafty stuff whether it's for service hours or not!

Today was induction marking the end of CTI and the beginning of our time serving the southwest region of the states (+ the gulf coast) as Corps Members (CMs) of AmeriCorps NCCC, Class 16.

Tomorrow we're en route for a 3 day road trip through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and part of Tennessee (?), to New Orleans, LA where we can start, well, getting things done!

Ameri-terms

I realized that I've been, and will continue to be, using various terminology and acronyms used in the AmeriCorps NCCC world so here's a glossary of commonly used words that are associated with being involved with AmeriCorps NCCC. *Most definitions taken directly from the AmeriCorps NCCC member handbook.

AmeriCorps: The national service initiative that engages nearly 70,000 individuals in full- and part- time through NCCC, VISTA, and more than 600 state, local, and national nonprofit organizations.

(One of my first few posts already gave a description of AmeriCorps NCCC).

Corps Member Training Institute (CTI): This refers to the first four weeks of training for all AmeriCorps NCCC members. It is a time of preparation and readiness for the months of service ahead.

Individual Service Projects (ISPs): 80 hours of individual service required to successfully complete the program. This can be done individually, or with your team.

Physical Training (PT): A 45 minute work-out, individually or as a team. (We will be having PT a few times each week which consists of but not limited to: baseline (1.5mile run/walk, push-ups, sit-ups), jogging, yoga, any team sport, an exercise video, etc.)

Spikes: Projects that require teams to travel and live away from the campus for the duration of the project - usually 6-8 weeks. (We have 4 spikes during the program).

Team: The primary entity for each member. Every member has been assigned to a team with an assigned team leader. Teams train, travel, and work together. (I'm Sun 3 - team 3 of the sun unit).

Team Leader (TL): The immediate supervisor of members. TLs are responsible for the safety, well-being, productivity, and personal development of each member assigned to their team.

Unit: Five to seven teams compose one unit. At times, units will train for and travel to projects together. Much of the training during CTI will be accomplished within the unit structure. (Sun unit for me).

Unit Leader (UL): The AmeriCorps NCCC staff member responsible for their assigned members, and the activities of the entire unit. The UL is involved in planning most of the details for work and how it is to be accomplished at individual project sites and is also the first-line supervisor of TLs.

NOLA, here I come again!

Before I get to my weekly update I have to share the most exciting news of all of CTI...
WE FINALLY FOUND OUT OUR PERMANENT TEAMS AND WHERE WE ARE GOING AND WHAT WE ARE DOING FOR OUR FIRST SPIKE! I'm on Sun 3, team leader Scott, 10 teammates, and we're going to New Orleans to work on houses with Habitat for Humanity!

I've done work after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita down in New Orleans (and Gulfport, Mississippi) before and am curious to see what has been done since I've been there last. I'm also excited to be able to work with Habitat and more rebuilding efforts since that's the thing I've wanted to do the most while in NCCC.

Last weekend I did some ISP hours with a group, helping out at the Denver Police Department's annual Halloween carnival. I got to take pictures of kids with police officers. It was cute.

This week consisted of CPR and first aid training and certification with the American Red Cross, diversity training, and a unit day involving a mini-hike and a few free hours in downtown Boulder.

Downtown Boulder

View from the hike

I spotted a crazy huge house in the middle of the mountains in Boulder, CO. That would probably make a verrrry nice vacation home.

After we found out permanent teams towards the end of the week, the rest of the week included more meetings, spike prep work, and an ISP helping out a clinic that was giving H1N1 vaccines.

5 more days of CTI then we're hittin' the road to NOLA!