Amerizoo.

This blog post is particularly rich in vitamins and minerals so it's going to be a long one.

I don't even know how to preface the crazy week I've had so I'm just going to jump right in.

Though I've had a lot of great trainings and workshops the last few days my community mapping one stands out the most.  Though the title sounds important and official it was essentially a citywide scavenger hunt.  For the first time since I've been here I actually got to venture into Sacramento!  It was so much fun going around and photographing clues.  Here are some highlights.




Going into Old Sac Town.



Silver 5!



Andra, Ellen, and Tucker posing by the old bridge.



Jeff pretending to be enthralled by a local rag.

Kaitlin in the tunnel.

Kaitlin in the toffee shop.




I love Halloween.

 

My favorite building in Sac.

Gathering clues at the Farmer's Market

In the park

At The Naked Lounge Coffeehouse

Two days ago meant starting on our next small service project. I must admit it's a little embarrassing to admit that we were carving pumpkins and hanging up plastic bats to decorate the Sacramento Zoo while other groups were gardening and doing hard labor in other parts of the city.  Nonetheless we had an amazing time...in fact I think this is the best day I've had in the corps so far.  Though I didn't get to see many of the animals, the ones I did see were pretty awesome.  Also the staff at the zoo were fantastic to work with.  Not only did they assign us some cool jobs but they provided us with lunch, gave us candy, and even free tickets to come back for their Halloween celebrations last night!

Giraffe!

Kaitlin is a witch!

Tucker is a better witch.

Anteater!

Punk Flamingos.  Or Pink.

Rick hanging decorations on Big Cat Street.

Organizing a lot of candy.



Kaitlin bagging them for freshness.

I wish I could have captured all of these tombstones.

Building a kids photo area.

Using said photo area.

Going...

Almost...

Ta-Dah!

Jeff and Rick with hair.

Where in the world is Ellen San Diego?

Pumpkin Carving.

Andrea loves pumpkin carving.

Josh does not.

Tibbs.  I have a hard time coming up with captions for him.

Carving until we can't take anymore.

Dead flamingo.



As Fozzie said, "Wocka Wocka!"



Jeff and Tucker getting ready to go to the Sac Zoo Halloween celebrations.  Probably dueling to decide who will drive.

Can you guess what their costumes were?

In the spooky train ride!

Coming to the end of this blog I apologize if it seems incomplete or unorganized.  This has been pieced together over the last few days in 15 minute segments.  It's getting pretty hard to find a good time to use the computer labs.
Also I have a complete online album dedicated to my NCCC photos if you ever feel like seeing a little more of what we do.  Check it out!




One last note...

As many of my blog readers both here in Sactown and back in Charlotte know, I still stay in close contact with my Habitat co-worker, Carol.  She was definitely the one person in my life who heard the most about the angst of waiting to be accepted, making important life decisions about work and school, and every other concern and joyful thought I had about preparing to turn my life upside down.  Without her unwavering support both then and now I'm not sure I would have been so prepared for an amazing adventure.  She was recently highlighted for her service to Habitat for Humanity Charlotte in a really neat article.  Check it out!

The Cronies

I just wanted to post this picture of some of my peeps hanging out at a local hotwings restaurant.  Katie is missing....sorry Katie.  But it's a picture I like anyways!

Myself, Shea, Tucker, Ashley.

A Circle of Sorts.

Hello blog people!  I just have a few quick things I want to share with you tonight.

First off I believe I mentioned my 'Make A Difference Day' project that we completed over the past weekend at a local elementary school.  It turns out that they posted a few neat pictures of us and wrote up a little article.  Check it out!

We have another special project coming up at the end of this week I'm particularly excited about.  We are fortunate enough to be selected for doing some particularly fun service work at the Sacramento Zoo to help them paint and decorate for Halloween!  How awesome is that?  Sometimes these fun little things we get assigned to do catch me off guard after things like physical training in the rain, meetings on safety protocol, and lectures.  I'm certainly not complaining though.  I am stoked about this.  I'll be sure to post some photos when we finish.

Today meant some more team building and tool training.  As a general introduction to power tools and what not we built a box to keep our tools together when we're riding in the van.

Everyday I spend more time with my team and less with anyone on the outside of Silver Unit.  We are all on such staggered schedules that it has been difficult to stick together with folks from outside your team.  I imagine there's a purpose to this.  Tension still runs a bit high sometimes which isn't good for someone as laid back as me....but it is unavoidable I suppose.  Though I know it will get better it concerns me considering our upcoming living situation...which is something I want to bring up now.

It's time to finally tell you about my first service round!  I leave November 4th for beautiful Portland, Oregon!  I will be working for Habitat for Humanity under their volunteer coordinator helping to utilize their volunteer force in completing eight houses before Christmas.  I am so excited to soon be around Habitat people again and to spread the word about Habitat Charlotte and Julia's Coffee! 

I will be living in the Habitat center not unlike the Americorps members in Charlotte.  One difference is however that it'll be a two-bedroom apartment style arrangement split between seven guys and three girls.  It should be interesting to say the least.  As far as I'm concerned we have no choice but to get along by that point. 

I'll let you know more about my round one project as soon as more details come my way.  What I can tell you now though is that I am beyond excited.  This seems like the perfect way to start my NCCC experience. 

One more thing, I graduate from the Corps Training Institute next week which means I am officially an Americorps NCCC member.  All the trainings will start to trickle down and I will receive my Ameritux (apparently a formal BDU of sorts).  My, my how the time has flown here.

Until next time.

Missed the Life Sign.

I woke up a little earlier than planned today so that I could post a few pictures from Camp Mendocino and other pictures I have crammed on my memory chip.  Oh, and to give you a few more hints as to my upcoming location move and the organization as to which I'll be working for.

But first pictures.

A Turkey!

Built by former NCCC members!

This playground was awesome.

A little view of the high ropes course.

The swinging bridge.

Cool sculptures.

Shea in a big tree!

Shea and a deer.

Ameriplay.

Tucker taking a go.

Tucker taking a fall.

Andrea's turn.

Michelle's turn.

Piggy!

Another team preparing for work.

Rick teaching my team how to play hoop stick.

Andrea was really good at it.

Tucker no so much.

Kaitlin and Tibbs building our garden wall.

A little bit of civilization runs through the camp during the day.

A location known as 'The Big Tree'

A little farther behind the big tree.

Entrance to an old logging camp.

I thought this was a banana peel.

Tucker is sleepy.

Tucker and our team leader Jeff playing some game.

Ameriball.

Getting set up for treetop fun.

Stop by step.

The Ameriolympics.

Tucker is sleepy (again).

Okay, now that you've sat through that it's time to tease you with two hints.  First a few regarding who I'll be working for during the next couple of months and lastly were I'll be going.

*Organization:

This non-profit has a strong foundation started from a rural farm in Georgia, has a novel connection with a man known as the President of Malaise, and has had strong international ties especially in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

*And your visual location clue: