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!