Wow- sorry it took me so long to write on here again. I hope everyone's holiday season is cheery and bright.
My thanksgiving was a lot of fun- I went to Rya's new apartment on Long Beach! You can see the ocean from her windows and it was amazing being able to run on the boardwalk. Then I obviously stuffed my face with great food, but other than that I got to see all of my Long Island friends which was very necessary! I love this program and the people in it, but there is certainly a stronger bond with those friends who have lasted through the entire "life changing" college experience and I missed them dearly.
After Thanksgiving we just got back to the grind with the program- they gave us our numbers of how many service hours we have each completed and thus far I have about 600 hours in just over 3 months. I only have to complete 1700 for the whole program but I will absolutely go over that - and most people do. The physical Monday/Friday service projects have been getting harder because of the weather. There was one Monday that was so cold I could not feel any fingers or toes, or my nose for the entire day. I used to complain about how cold it was going from class to class, or from the house to the car...but now that I am outside in it for 8 hours those little moments seem like NOTHING :-P All in all it was a good day- we were building stairs in nature trails (which was a little frustrating having to dig many holes into frozen ground) and then we widened a bunch of trails and did more invasive cutting.
Invasive species I officially DESPISE:
-Phragmites
-Honeysuckle
-Multiflora rose (has CRAZY PRICKERS >:-0)
and my "all time hate" award would have to go to Bittersweet- its insanely viney and grabs onto other trees and pulls them down- breaking them and stopping their growth. Their root system is so intricate that intertwines with other tree roots and one bittersweet plant can have an underground root that will take acres and acres of land. I spent so many days digging roots and cutting and pulling them off trees and then last weekend we passed an Inn that was called "Bittersweet Inn" and it had Bittersweet (that the owners planted) EVERYWHERE!! All over the fences and arch ways, there were wreaths made out of it!!!!! The people in my car were like "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!" One of the members had to talk me out of taking lopers to the entire Inn. But do not dismay because I will go back there one night on a secret mission- dressed in all black with a stocking over my head and lopers in one hand, a handsaw in another. Oh yes...it will happen. Just kidding!! Kinda.
At Self-Reliance I have been working on a Teachers workshop that I did on Thursday!! It was for the Junior Solar Sprint and I had to teach teachers how to teach their students about the program and I had them make their own model solar cars. It was four and a half hours long and fun, but stressful in the beginning because 30 min before it started my supervisor (who was supposed to do a Photovolaics presentation at the workshop- and had the projector for my presentation) called me and said she was on the side of 195 (highway off Cape) because her car had broke down. So I called a teacher at 4 C's (Cape Cod Community College) and asked if he could possibly do it- and he did!! I was so grateful and the night ran smoothly after that. I was a little scared in the beginning that the teachers were going to see how old I was (we had just been corresponding through email and phone) and not really respect me because I am obviously just out of school- but they did and they listened to me like kids!! Ha it was great.
We have also volunteered at the Fire Station to sell Christmas trees (the reusable ones that come in pots- then when you are done using them you can plant them in your yard and you are not killing any trees!! I know I know...you are all really pumped about this too) and we also did a Christmas party for a place called the Children's Cove. This is a center for kids who have been physically or sexually abused by adults in their lives. Their stories are so disturbing and I cried when I heard some of the things that happened to them which I won't repeat here. But somehow they live with what happened to them and they move on- they are so strong I honestly do not know how they do it. But back to the party- we set up about 20 booths that they could make T-shirts, ornaments, raindeer food, candles, decorate cookies, Spin art (that was my booth! :-) ) and the list goes on and on. Then Santa came and gave them all presents. It was a great hit and the kids loved it. Its always nice to have something they can look forward to when they have dealt with so much disappointment from people they were supposed to be able to trust in their lives.
Alright- well I have to cut it short. A few of us are going to Barnes and Noble to wrap christmas presents to raise funds for our MLK Day project in January.
Enjoy your holidays!
:-)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
RM <3
HOKAY SOO...I went to Binghamton this weekend and saw my old a cappella group- Rhythm Method perform their Fall show as well as saw all old college buddies and met some new members! First off...the show was AWESOME...if anyone knows me (which you all should..hopefully...) then they could probably guess that I cried. The first song...tears...then I got pity "Oh Jaci!" looks from Seth and Jen and then decided to dry my tears...but then I cried again at the end. My mom came to see me/the show and I successfully cried more than she did- which is probably a first EVER. I just didn't want it to end. Seriously great and they are going to competition!
Not only was the music great- but being back there was also--I mean, that group is my extended family. The new members- Emily, Alex (Talex), Alex (Slater) and Andrew all pretty much rock hardcore.
When I got back to New England (thanks to Mrs Matthei) I went into Boston and met Amanda and Ashleigh in an Irish Pub for dinner that was like walking into Ireland/a Lord of the Rings scene. Then we went to the Middle East which was a restaurant/bar for a concert by Centro-matic (really cool rock alternative band). I didn't get home until 1 am and had to wake up at 5 because we had service in Provincetown (the tip...an hour and a half away) that morning. So needless to say after a weekend of not going to bed before 4 am both friday and saturday nights--- I am EXHAUSTED! Eh..actually I'm probably just being a baby and should suck it up...good advice...I'll do that.
Moving on (moving on) our service in P-town on monday was BENCH BUILDING!! I think it may be the best service day I have had yet only because we started digging holes in the ground, then took a bunch of timber and made a bench- finished it- and stuck it in the holes and mixed concrete to finish it off. I got to see a project through start to finish and while my arms now hate me for lifting, hammering, digging and lugging so much...I felt so accomplished. AND by the end I was titled the official user of the screw gun because I know how to WORK IT! I am not talking about just literally working the screw gun--I mean work it in the "I make this look good" sense. Just to be clear.
Then TUESDAY! (which is today...oh boy it has been a long day) My COD day group and I did our RECYCLEFEST for Henry T Wing School in Sandwich! Our day started at 7am when we met at the school to set up/rehearse for the fest which started and 9am. Greg and I made a rap called "Recycle Michael" where we used the instrumental music from Chris Brown's "Run it". There were three main characters- Recycle Michael, Landfill Lenny and Soda Pop Pam (that was me!) Basically the rap was about Lenny- who does not know how to recycle and Michael and Pam who teach him how cool it is. The first line is a parody of an MIA Paper plane line by Lenny (as he flies a paper air plane into Michael): "I fly my paper real high like a plane, if the teacher tries to catch me too bad, I erased my name" followed by Michael who says "Hey Landfill Lenny, I'm not trash- I have a better place for your plane to crash (and points to a recycling bin!) It continues and at one point I lead the school in a cheer where Michael break dances while picking up recyclables and putting them in the bin. I'll stop there but I am obviously very excited about it and it went over very well. The kids were chanting "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- Go Michael!" at the end and teachers wanted us to do it in other classrooms. We also did a puppet show which was slightly disastrous on our end but the kids didn't realize so it worked out fine (we had to improv when the recording stopped working!)
Well- we are about to watch Wall-E so I am going to curl up with my crochet and fight for a comfy spot on a couch!
Goodnight all
Not only was the music great- but being back there was also--I mean, that group is my extended family. The new members- Emily, Alex (Talex), Alex (Slater) and Andrew all pretty much rock hardcore.
When I got back to New England (thanks to Mrs Matthei) I went into Boston and met Amanda and Ashleigh in an Irish Pub for dinner that was like walking into Ireland/a Lord of the Rings scene. Then we went to the Middle East which was a restaurant/bar for a concert by Centro-matic (really cool rock alternative band). I didn't get home until 1 am and had to wake up at 5 because we had service in Provincetown (the tip...an hour and a half away) that morning. So needless to say after a weekend of not going to bed before 4 am both friday and saturday nights--- I am EXHAUSTED! Eh..actually I'm probably just being a baby and should suck it up...good advice...I'll do that.
Moving on (moving on) our service in P-town on monday was BENCH BUILDING!! I think it may be the best service day I have had yet only because we started digging holes in the ground, then took a bunch of timber and made a bench- finished it- and stuck it in the holes and mixed concrete to finish it off. I got to see a project through start to finish and while my arms now hate me for lifting, hammering, digging and lugging so much...I felt so accomplished. AND by the end I was titled the official user of the screw gun because I know how to WORK IT! I am not talking about just literally working the screw gun--I mean work it in the "I make this look good" sense. Just to be clear.
Then TUESDAY! (which is today...oh boy it has been a long day) My COD day group and I did our RECYCLEFEST for Henry T Wing School in Sandwich! Our day started at 7am when we met at the school to set up/rehearse for the fest which started and 9am. Greg and I made a rap called "Recycle Michael" where we used the instrumental music from Chris Brown's "Run it". There were three main characters- Recycle Michael, Landfill Lenny and Soda Pop Pam (that was me!) Basically the rap was about Lenny- who does not know how to recycle and Michael and Pam who teach him how cool it is. The first line is a parody of an MIA Paper plane line by Lenny (as he flies a paper air plane into Michael): "I fly my paper real high like a plane, if the teacher tries to catch me too bad, I erased my name" followed by Michael who says "Hey Landfill Lenny, I'm not trash- I have a better place for your plane to crash (and points to a recycling bin!) It continues and at one point I lead the school in a cheer where Michael break dances while picking up recyclables and putting them in the bin. I'll stop there but I am obviously very excited about it and it went over very well. The kids were chanting "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- Go Michael!" at the end and teachers wanted us to do it in other classrooms. We also did a puppet show which was slightly disastrous on our end but the kids didn't realize so it worked out fine (we had to improv when the recording stopped working!)
Well- we are about to watch Wall-E so I am going to curl up with my crochet and fight for a comfy spot on a couch!
Goodnight all
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Yes we can!
Let me just start off by saying GOBAMA! :-) I am very excited for these next four years and I have faith that our President elect will steer us back on the right journey from the crazy scary ride that happened when Bush took hold of the steering wheel.
Moving on...Halloween was great- we all went to Provincetown and I was Greed from the 7 deadly sins so I made a money out of paper dollar bills. Saturday night I stole Alex's costume and was a bee (I'm allergic...its funny!!! Get it!?) I took a pic with my Epi-Pen.
November has been a great month thus far! The weather is great- just today I ran outside (and around the Cranberry bog!) in shorts and a T-shirt and the sky was as blue as could be. Last monday we hauled 3 ton of rock into the Quashnet river and set it up around the bank for river restoration. It was so much fun...until I fell in!! I tripped over a log in the water that I didn't see and WHAM! HELLOOOO WATER! I am still trying to get the inside of my waders and aquaculture gloves dry.
Friday we had an AmeriCorps convention in Boston where all 76 programs in the state of Mass came which comprised of over 2,000 volunteers. It was PACKED and the state Governor Duvall Patrick same and spoke to us. We then got a tour of the State House and in the House of Representatives there was a wooden cod that hung off the ceiling that was 4'11'' and I said to myself...That fish is the same size as Lynsey!!! Then I pictured her hanging above the House of Rep and laughed.
This weekend was pretty relaxing and I had my first MasterSingers by Sea concert. There were professional singers and orchestra members from Boston. It was great and now we are already preparing for the Madrigal feast in December!
Sorry this isn't too detailed---we are all watching Harry Potter right now and I am somewhat distracted :-) But I am SUPER excited for this coming weekend when I go to Binghamton to see Rhythm Method's semester show! I'll be sure to write after that!
Have a lovely week
Moving on...Halloween was great- we all went to Provincetown and I was Greed from the 7 deadly sins so I made a money out of paper dollar bills. Saturday night I stole Alex's costume and was a bee (I'm allergic...its funny!!! Get it!?) I took a pic with my Epi-Pen.
November has been a great month thus far! The weather is great- just today I ran outside (and around the Cranberry bog!) in shorts and a T-shirt and the sky was as blue as could be. Last monday we hauled 3 ton of rock into the Quashnet river and set it up around the bank for river restoration. It was so much fun...until I fell in!! I tripped over a log in the water that I didn't see and WHAM! HELLOOOO WATER! I am still trying to get the inside of my waders and aquaculture gloves dry.
Friday we had an AmeriCorps convention in Boston where all 76 programs in the state of Mass came which comprised of over 2,000 volunteers. It was PACKED and the state Governor Duvall Patrick same and spoke to us. We then got a tour of the State House and in the House of Representatives there was a wooden cod that hung off the ceiling that was 4'11'' and I said to myself...That fish is the same size as Lynsey!!! Then I pictured her hanging above the House of Rep and laughed.
This weekend was pretty relaxing and I had my first MasterSingers by Sea concert. There were professional singers and orchestra members from Boston. It was great and now we are already preparing for the Madrigal feast in December!
Sorry this isn't too detailed---we are all watching Harry Potter right now and I am somewhat distracted :-) But I am SUPER excited for this coming weekend when I go to Binghamton to see Rhythm Method's semester show! I'll be sure to write after that!
Have a lovely week
Monday, October 27, 2008
Are your thoughts results of static cling?
Hey! So the title to this blog is my favorite line in a song on the new Jason Mraz CD...great line. ANYWHO I have a lot of updating to do so let us begin!
My weeks are crazy as usual. I just turned in my weeks timesheet and I put in 58.5 hours last week alone! I have not had a free day since the 18th and I will not have one until the 2nd of November..oh how I am going to enjoy THAT day! The pace is fast but the work rewarding...we did the beach sweep (which I was in the paper for!) and it was so great to talk to kids about issues that they will have to deal with in the future (and that we are dealing with today) and its refreshing because they are so much more involved in environmental change than I ever was when I was their age. My COD day is now planning a recyclefest for a middle school on the Cape and we are going to do a puppet show (its amazing and I play the Sandwitch! Get it..Sand...witch...) I just like it because she has a green ribbon in her hair and I get to use her arm to pet it (being a puppeteer is WAYYY harder than I thought!! I kept closing her mouth when she should be talking and opening it during the other times..its weird. Either that or I am slow....NO COMMENT! :-) The other thing we are planning is a mural made out of recycled paper materials that will be off a clean earth like blue water (and foil to make the water shine!) and trees, birds, fish, the sun, etc.
I then went to a wind power conference in Plymouth that was really eye opening because I never thought that there could be so many opposing views on the side that SUPPORTS wind...I naively figured you were just for or against..but there are many more issues than that that add to the walls these wind people have to break down.
Friday we had another Wet-fest and I worked at a table called "Where Rivers Meet the Sea" and we talked about estuaries and did an experiment with layering water based on their salt content. There were some HYPER kids at the school and some of them just did not know how to keep their hands to themselves (Meredith got sprayed in the face with a water gun by a little boy...HA HA! I laughed at her) BUT there was this sweet little girl, Veronica, who was quiet the whole time and then right before she had to switch groups came up to me and said "I really liked this one, thank you" and it warmed my heart.
In OTHER news--I am learning how to crochet (sp?) from a lady in the senior residence next door and she is AWESOME..there is also a lady there from CORNING!!! Go figure...she lived on Ontario street for all those who know where that is!
We wont first place in trivia this week AGAIN..not that I'm bragging or anything but I had the save the day answer to the question "The word Numismatics referrs to what kind of tangible object?" The answer you ask? COINS! BOO YAH!!! FIRST PLACE HECK YES!
And I am sick..I had a fever of 101.6 yesterday and took Nyquil for the first time EVER last night and it made me dream things in weird technicolor. I'm lying about the technicolor BUT (for comic relief) I did drop my glasses in the toilet this morning because I was still feeling the effects (clean toilet..don't worry mom :-)
Last but not least...yesterday a group of us went to a Bioneers Conference in New Bedford and it was an extremely moving experience. It turned my life upside down in the best way. There were influential speakers there like Van Jones, Majora Carter, John Abrams, Simran Sethi, Lynne Twist, John Perkins etc etc. It was great and so hard to put into words but they all basically spoke about different aspects within the environmental change world and had some really cool quotes such as "If you are alive today, you have a role to play," "Waste is the sign of bad design" or "We cannot have peace on the earth unless we have peace with the earth." The theme of the weekend was a butterfly and the reason why is because the caterpillar (right before it goes into a cocoon) apparently consumes way too much and when this happens a signal inside the caterpillar triggers cells inside to form together that makes the caterpillar begin building a cocoon. They compared this change from a caterpillar to the butterfly to the change that is going to happen in our world and the cells are supposed to be us! It was really cool and I just want to leave you with a part of my favorite quote from the weekend by George Bernard Shaw:
"I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have gotten hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations"
Thank you.
My weeks are crazy as usual. I just turned in my weeks timesheet and I put in 58.5 hours last week alone! I have not had a free day since the 18th and I will not have one until the 2nd of November..oh how I am going to enjoy THAT day! The pace is fast but the work rewarding...we did the beach sweep (which I was in the paper for!) and it was so great to talk to kids about issues that they will have to deal with in the future (and that we are dealing with today) and its refreshing because they are so much more involved in environmental change than I ever was when I was their age. My COD day is now planning a recyclefest for a middle school on the Cape and we are going to do a puppet show (its amazing and I play the Sandwitch! Get it..Sand...witch...) I just like it because she has a green ribbon in her hair and I get to use her arm to pet it (being a puppeteer is WAYYY harder than I thought!! I kept closing her mouth when she should be talking and opening it during the other times..its weird. Either that or I am slow....NO COMMENT! :-) The other thing we are planning is a mural made out of recycled paper materials that will be off a clean earth like blue water (and foil to make the water shine!) and trees, birds, fish, the sun, etc.
I then went to a wind power conference in Plymouth that was really eye opening because I never thought that there could be so many opposing views on the side that SUPPORTS wind...I naively figured you were just for or against..but there are many more issues than that that add to the walls these wind people have to break down.
Friday we had another Wet-fest and I worked at a table called "Where Rivers Meet the Sea" and we talked about estuaries and did an experiment with layering water based on their salt content. There were some HYPER kids at the school and some of them just did not know how to keep their hands to themselves (Meredith got sprayed in the face with a water gun by a little boy...HA HA! I laughed at her) BUT there was this sweet little girl, Veronica, who was quiet the whole time and then right before she had to switch groups came up to me and said "I really liked this one, thank you" and it warmed my heart.
In OTHER news--I am learning how to crochet (sp?) from a lady in the senior residence next door and she is AWESOME..there is also a lady there from CORNING!!! Go figure...she lived on Ontario street for all those who know where that is!
We wont first place in trivia this week AGAIN..not that I'm bragging or anything but I had the save the day answer to the question "The word Numismatics referrs to what kind of tangible object?" The answer you ask? COINS! BOO YAH!!! FIRST PLACE HECK YES!
And I am sick..I had a fever of 101.6 yesterday and took Nyquil for the first time EVER last night and it made me dream things in weird technicolor. I'm lying about the technicolor BUT (for comic relief) I did drop my glasses in the toilet this morning because I was still feeling the effects (clean toilet..don't worry mom :-)
Last but not least...yesterday a group of us went to a Bioneers Conference in New Bedford and it was an extremely moving experience. It turned my life upside down in the best way. There were influential speakers there like Van Jones, Majora Carter, John Abrams, Simran Sethi, Lynne Twist, John Perkins etc etc. It was great and so hard to put into words but they all basically spoke about different aspects within the environmental change world and had some really cool quotes such as "If you are alive today, you have a role to play," "Waste is the sign of bad design" or "We cannot have peace on the earth unless we have peace with the earth." The theme of the weekend was a butterfly and the reason why is because the caterpillar (right before it goes into a cocoon) apparently consumes way too much and when this happens a signal inside the caterpillar triggers cells inside to form together that makes the caterpillar begin building a cocoon. They compared this change from a caterpillar to the butterfly to the change that is going to happen in our world and the cells are supposed to be us! It was really cool and I just want to leave you with a part of my favorite quote from the weekend by George Bernard Shaw:
"I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have gotten hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations"
Thank you.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changesss
Hey all!! WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW!! haha justttt kidding!!
SO this week we started our Individual placements, which was at Self-Reliance. So far I have been doing a BUNCH of reading on all the forms of Renewable energy, and I also made an information poster on Biodiesel. Then I had COD day at the office (Community Outreach Development) and we are planning a Beach Sweep where high-school students go to a beach we choose and clean it up along with an environmental twist..likkeee having a game where each student is either an animal or a piece of plastc and the plastcs are trying to capture all the animals (kinda like sharks and minnows)..FUN STUFF! The two service projects we had last week were with the Brewster DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) Monday was Fire fuel reduction which is basically clearing out all the dead trees and brush from a conservation area so in case there is a fire it won't be as detrimental to the rest of the forest. Friday we were culling oysters all day which means seperating the large oysters from the aquaculture beds the DNR set up. THAT day was amazing because we were in the water during low-tide on the beach...ALL DAY and measuring oysters. Ryan, our shellfisherman is 28-ish and he's extremely knowledgeable as well as cool...he let us choose some oysters that were over 3 inches and EAT THEM RAW! I cracked them open and ate two...with a bunch of hot sauce. I couldn't actually taste the oyster...it was all hot sauce. The texture was slurpee..yum?
Then my mom and my grandparents came up to visit for Columbus weekend!!! (Oh and I forgot to mention that Whit and Lynsey came to visit me the last Sunday in September for their Rosh Hashannah break and it was amazing :-) ) <-- double chin. ANYWHO--so I showed them the Knob, Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and then the Outer Cape like Seal beach, the Truro winery, etc. Sunday we went on a sunset hike to the top of a Sand Dune on Great Island and watched the sunset with a bunch of strangers and it was so much fun. Some of the people from the Wellfleet house came as well as Amanda, Ash and Phil from my house. One thing I thought was really cool is that everyone clapped when the sun went down! Apparently its a nightly tradition there to enjoy the sunset and they clap every night which is a great tradition in my opinion..I feel as though people don't stop and appreciate those natural beauties, myself included. Working on it!
In other news my trivia group won 3rd place this week..and we are going again tomorrow to try and reclaim first place! Also there is a group of us that are going to run a relay marathon at the end of October (I'm hoping for 10 people in our group so we each only have to run 2.6 miles :-P) ALSO I joined a singing group called the MasterSingers by the Sea and we have a bunch of concerts throughout the year that I am pretty pumped for.
That's all for now! I hope everyone is doing well and are enjoying the fall foliage! Get outside! Take a hike! Bike ride! Run! Whatever! Just enjoy it because in January you are going to wish you had.
TTFN :-)
SO this week we started our Individual placements, which was at Self-Reliance. So far I have been doing a BUNCH of reading on all the forms of Renewable energy, and I also made an information poster on Biodiesel. Then I had COD day at the office (Community Outreach Development) and we are planning a Beach Sweep where high-school students go to a beach we choose and clean it up along with an environmental twist..likkeee having a game where each student is either an animal or a piece of plastc and the plastcs are trying to capture all the animals (kinda like sharks and minnows)..FUN STUFF! The two service projects we had last week were with the Brewster DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) Monday was Fire fuel reduction which is basically clearing out all the dead trees and brush from a conservation area so in case there is a fire it won't be as detrimental to the rest of the forest. Friday we were culling oysters all day which means seperating the large oysters from the aquaculture beds the DNR set up. THAT day was amazing because we were in the water during low-tide on the beach...ALL DAY and measuring oysters. Ryan, our shellfisherman is 28-ish and he's extremely knowledgeable as well as cool...he let us choose some oysters that were over 3 inches and EAT THEM RAW! I cracked them open and ate two...with a bunch of hot sauce. I couldn't actually taste the oyster...it was all hot sauce. The texture was slurpee..yum?
Then my mom and my grandparents came up to visit for Columbus weekend!!! (Oh and I forgot to mention that Whit and Lynsey came to visit me the last Sunday in September for their Rosh Hashannah break and it was amazing :-) ) <-- double chin. ANYWHO--so I showed them the Knob, Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and then the Outer Cape like Seal beach, the Truro winery, etc. Sunday we went on a sunset hike to the top of a Sand Dune on Great Island and watched the sunset with a bunch of strangers and it was so much fun. Some of the people from the Wellfleet house came as well as Amanda, Ash and Phil from my house. One thing I thought was really cool is that everyone clapped when the sun went down! Apparently its a nightly tradition there to enjoy the sunset and they clap every night which is a great tradition in my opinion..I feel as though people don't stop and appreciate those natural beauties, myself included. Working on it!
In other news my trivia group won 3rd place this week..and we are going again tomorrow to try and reclaim first place! Also there is a group of us that are going to run a relay marathon at the end of October (I'm hoping for 10 people in our group so we each only have to run 2.6 miles :-P) ALSO I joined a singing group called the MasterSingers by the Sea and we have a bunch of concerts throughout the year that I am pretty pumped for.
That's all for now! I hope everyone is doing well and are enjoying the fall foliage! Get outside! Take a hike! Bike ride! Run! Whatever! Just enjoy it because in January you are going to wish you had.
TTFN :-)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Say what you need to say
I'm going to try and condense all that I have to say about the weekdays since it has been awhile and a lot has happened!
To pick up where I left off... Wetfest was soo much fun! The Wet Festival is something that Americorps does in all the school districts on the Cape throughout the year. Basically we set up 12-15 activities in the school gym that all have to do with education about water- the water table, septic systems, watershed management, the water cycle, pollution in the waters, habitat destruction, etc etc. The activity that I was in charge of (with Tim) was Flush the Kids. Basically there is this huge toilet (made out of wood) that the kids climb through into tubes and make it to the "septic system" (one of those blow-up Fisher price houses) and come out on the other side in their "backyard." Before they are flushed they are given clean water (a clear plastic cup) with pieces of paper in it that say solids (or "pooppieee!!!" as the kids like to say) nitrogen, grease, and bacteria. There are places in the septic system where they drop all the pieces of paper off and they come out on the other side with nitrogen...illustrating that the water is not completely clean on the other side and it contributes to fish kill and eutrophication. It was so much fun and the kids LOVED getting flushed and some of them had spontaneous dance parties in the septic system.
The week after that we had the rest of our trainings and met our service partners..I am only four miles from my individual placement which is COMPLETELY bike-able! I start there this Wednesday.
Thursday of this week a group from my house went to trivia at a bar called The Beach House...and four of us girls won it!! Meredith, Jenny, Maria and myself were a team and we DOMINATED...not really though...we almost lost to a bunch of older gents that were not too happy with us by the end of the night due to our success BUT we got a $25 gift certificate that we are going to use this Thursday (I mean..we have to protect our title!)
Friday after training Alex, Jenny, Meg, Brian, Abbey, Amanda and I went camping in Martha's Vineyard!! We took the ferry over and brought our bikes and looked ridiculous with all of our tents, book bags and sleeping bags ALL on our bikes...it was a blast! The reason we went to the vineyard was to see Entrain (that awesome band we are now groupies for) and camping was the cheapest thing on the vineyard (still $80 for a four person campground!). HUGE SIDE STORY (so you may want to skip it)..So friday night we got to the bar and I went up to the bar and asked the bartender for water and then I threw out a tissue in the garbage behind the bar...THREE POINTER!! So I hear the guy standing next to me say "Wow nice shot" and I (being the smart alleck that I am) turn my head while saying "Yeah..I'm pretty impressive.." and as soon as I fully turned my head I noticed the guy as the LEAD SINGER OF ENTRAIN! So he laughs, complements me on my "Green is Sexy" shirt and we talked for the next 20 minutes while my friends are in awe that I am talking to this guy. Turns out, his name is Jeff, he is 27 and from Pennsylvania. He went to Bucknell and get this... in college he was in a group that opened for an A CAPPELLA GROUP at...SUNY BINGHAMTON!!!! I (of course) boasted about Rhythm Method at this point and he said he wanted to hear some of our stuff OHH YEAHHH. ALSO I asked him to play the song "Dancing in the light" that my friends and I loved at the last show and he said yes. It was the last song of the set and before he started it he said "This last song goes out to Jaclyn and Americorps Cape Cod!" And we all screamed our heads off and danced like mad, which was awesome.
PHEW so anyway Saturday day we biked all around the Vineyard and it was so much fun. Saturday night we were back on the Cape and my house went to a Town Hall in Woods Hole that was holding CONTRA DANCING! For those of you who don't know..that is a lot like square dancing. So we went, and danced with about 50 random strangers and it was AMAZING. It's safe to say that I'm pretty terrible, but the dances are a lot more difficult than I thought..and if you mess up you mess up everyone because its all about order. By the end of the night I improved and there were some younger people there that taught us a lot and needless to say we are going next month!
ALRIGHT...thanks for sticking through with me..and I welcome any comments on the blog..or emails because I am interested in what and how others are doing as well!!!
Miss you ALL!
Jaci
To pick up where I left off... Wetfest was soo much fun! The Wet Festival is something that Americorps does in all the school districts on the Cape throughout the year. Basically we set up 12-15 activities in the school gym that all have to do with education about water- the water table, septic systems, watershed management, the water cycle, pollution in the waters, habitat destruction, etc etc. The activity that I was in charge of (with Tim) was Flush the Kids. Basically there is this huge toilet (made out of wood) that the kids climb through into tubes and make it to the "septic system" (one of those blow-up Fisher price houses) and come out on the other side in their "backyard." Before they are flushed they are given clean water (a clear plastic cup) with pieces of paper in it that say solids (or "pooppieee!!!" as the kids like to say) nitrogen, grease, and bacteria. There are places in the septic system where they drop all the pieces of paper off and they come out on the other side with nitrogen...illustrating that the water is not completely clean on the other side and it contributes to fish kill and eutrophication. It was so much fun and the kids LOVED getting flushed and some of them had spontaneous dance parties in the septic system.
The week after that we had the rest of our trainings and met our service partners..I am only four miles from my individual placement which is COMPLETELY bike-able! I start there this Wednesday.
Thursday of this week a group from my house went to trivia at a bar called The Beach House...and four of us girls won it!! Meredith, Jenny, Maria and myself were a team and we DOMINATED...not really though...we almost lost to a bunch of older gents that were not too happy with us by the end of the night due to our success BUT we got a $25 gift certificate that we are going to use this Thursday (I mean..we have to protect our title!)
Friday after training Alex, Jenny, Meg, Brian, Abbey, Amanda and I went camping in Martha's Vineyard!! We took the ferry over and brought our bikes and looked ridiculous with all of our tents, book bags and sleeping bags ALL on our bikes...it was a blast! The reason we went to the vineyard was to see Entrain (that awesome band we are now groupies for) and camping was the cheapest thing on the vineyard (still $80 for a four person campground!). HUGE SIDE STORY (so you may want to skip it)..So friday night we got to the bar and I went up to the bar and asked the bartender for water and then I threw out a tissue in the garbage behind the bar...THREE POINTER!! So I hear the guy standing next to me say "Wow nice shot" and I (being the smart alleck that I am) turn my head while saying "Yeah..I'm pretty impressive.." and as soon as I fully turned my head I noticed the guy as the LEAD SINGER OF ENTRAIN! So he laughs, complements me on my "Green is Sexy" shirt and we talked for the next 20 minutes while my friends are in awe that I am talking to this guy. Turns out, his name is Jeff, he is 27 and from Pennsylvania. He went to Bucknell and get this... in college he was in a group that opened for an A CAPPELLA GROUP at...SUNY BINGHAMTON!!!! I (of course) boasted about Rhythm Method at this point and he said he wanted to hear some of our stuff OHH YEAHHH. ALSO I asked him to play the song "Dancing in the light" that my friends and I loved at the last show and he said yes. It was the last song of the set and before he started it he said "This last song goes out to Jaclyn and Americorps Cape Cod!" And we all screamed our heads off and danced like mad, which was awesome.
PHEW so anyway Saturday day we biked all around the Vineyard and it was so much fun. Saturday night we were back on the Cape and my house went to a Town Hall in Woods Hole that was holding CONTRA DANCING! For those of you who don't know..that is a lot like square dancing. So we went, and danced with about 50 random strangers and it was AMAZING. It's safe to say that I'm pretty terrible, but the dances are a lot more difficult than I thought..and if you mess up you mess up everyone because its all about order. By the end of the night I improved and there were some younger people there that taught us a lot and needless to say we are going next month!
ALRIGHT...thanks for sticking through with me..and I welcome any comments on the blog..or emails because I am interested in what and how others are doing as well!!!
Miss you ALL!
Jaci
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
18 PAGES..FRONT AND BACK!
Not really though :-)
BLOG NUMERO DOS!! WHOO!!! Well as of right now I am still here...so thats a good start! Ha things are still as great as ever. I had a blast with the Invasive Species training/Field day and I took down some plants that needed a serious beat-down for stealing other plants homes and foods. I managed to leave Poison Ivy free as well as everyone else in the crew..however today we were at Marina in Mashpee doing Aquaculture training and Phil was standing in it for awhile trying to take a picture of us all...whoops! Needless to say we stayed away from him for the rest of the day. But I am getting ahead of myself..so after Invasive Species training we went to Waquoit Bay (pronounced Wah-coy-it...kind of. Names are weird around here and i think its to weed out the tourists from the natives) There we did Plant ID and then went to the beach con chest waders and did a bunch of testings such as humidity, salinity, wave frequency, average wind speed, etc. Twas fun AND educational ;-)
This past weekend a group of us volunteered at the Scallop Fest in Buzzards Bay and it was a lot of fun until I was told I would be working in the kitchen. Imagine hair nets, gloves (I was smacking gum too...just to fit the role) and imagine touching hot things like scallops and french fries fresh of the fryer for 5 hours. They melted through six pairs of gloves and burned my fingers so I had to put Duct Tape on them to finish the job and halt any further burns. What did I get out of this experience you say? A free T-shirt, a free meal and I got to meet some awesome Mass. Moms also volunteering who all apparently had "sons that would be PERFECT for you!" (so they are into hairnets? No thanks :-) ). But the best part of the night was dancing to a band called Entrain who are from Martha's Vineyard. They play a mix of everything I love including rock, pop, ska, jazz and reggae. Don't ask me how they did it... but they are amazing and we have officially become groupies who will follow them all over New England. Oh and the sax player is my new boyfriend...he just doesn't know it yet.
Sunday we went to Truro (the town right below Provincetown) because there was an Art/Wine/Jazz festival at a very quaint winery. They had a cute jazz band full of 7o year olds that knew how to rock...or jazz. I had some very good wine and the bottles were shaped like lighthouses (Mom and G-units...we will have to get some when you come visit!) Then we all went out to dinner and saw the Wellfleetian house (which is cute, but mine is better in my COMPLETELY UNBIASED opinion).
So far this week we had two days of Disaster Training and Shelter Simulation, which was pretty cool to learn and practice the steps to take in case disaster strikes. Plus I now have six Red Cross Certifications under my belt! Then as I said earlier, we were in a Marina today learning about the importance of Aquaculture and then we went shellfishing! It was AWESOME..we set up feeding beds for oysters in the bay and saw a bunch of locals shellfishing for their dinner! Another thing that happened today is that I got my INDIVIDUAL PLACEMENT!! I am going to be the Renewable Energy Education Coordinator for the Cape and Islands Self-Reliance Corporation! It is a non-profit organization that focuses on advocacy and education about renewable energy and energy efficiency. My job will include leading a program that brings renewable energy ideas, particularly solar, into the schools. Along with that I will be helpful the students build solar power cars through the Junior Solar Sprint Program that they will then race in June at the regional finals! I am super-de-duper excited about it but at the same time scared because I do not have that much education background. I will be sure to let you know how that goes! And last but not least Amanda and I were the cooks for tonights house dinner and we made homemade whole wheat pizzas and I now have a great homemade dough recipe to try on you all at some point!
I think thats about it. Tomorrow we are setting up for our first of many Wet Fests which I will explain in probably painstaking detail in my third blog!! Stay Classy!
BLOG NUMERO DOS!! WHOO!!! Well as of right now I am still here...so thats a good start! Ha things are still as great as ever. I had a blast with the Invasive Species training/Field day and I took down some plants that needed a serious beat-down for stealing other plants homes and foods. I managed to leave Poison Ivy free as well as everyone else in the crew..however today we were at Marina in Mashpee doing Aquaculture training and Phil was standing in it for awhile trying to take a picture of us all...whoops! Needless to say we stayed away from him for the rest of the day. But I am getting ahead of myself..so after Invasive Species training we went to Waquoit Bay (pronounced Wah-coy-it...kind of. Names are weird around here and i think its to weed out the tourists from the natives) There we did Plant ID and then went to the beach con chest waders and did a bunch of testings such as humidity, salinity, wave frequency, average wind speed, etc. Twas fun AND educational ;-)
This past weekend a group of us volunteered at the Scallop Fest in Buzzards Bay and it was a lot of fun until I was told I would be working in the kitchen. Imagine hair nets, gloves (I was smacking gum too...just to fit the role) and imagine touching hot things like scallops and french fries fresh of the fryer for 5 hours. They melted through six pairs of gloves and burned my fingers so I had to put Duct Tape on them to finish the job and halt any further burns. What did I get out of this experience you say? A free T-shirt, a free meal and I got to meet some awesome Mass. Moms also volunteering who all apparently had "sons that would be PERFECT for you!" (so they are into hairnets? No thanks :-) ). But the best part of the night was dancing to a band called Entrain who are from Martha's Vineyard. They play a mix of everything I love including rock, pop, ska, jazz and reggae. Don't ask me how they did it... but they are amazing and we have officially become groupies who will follow them all over New England. Oh and the sax player is my new boyfriend...he just doesn't know it yet.
Sunday we went to Truro (the town right below Provincetown) because there was an Art/Wine/Jazz festival at a very quaint winery. They had a cute jazz band full of 7o year olds that knew how to rock...or jazz. I had some very good wine and the bottles were shaped like lighthouses (Mom and G-units...we will have to get some when you come visit!) Then we all went out to dinner and saw the Wellfleetian house (which is cute, but mine is better in my COMPLETELY UNBIASED opinion).
So far this week we had two days of Disaster Training and Shelter Simulation, which was pretty cool to learn and practice the steps to take in case disaster strikes. Plus I now have six Red Cross Certifications under my belt! Then as I said earlier, we were in a Marina today learning about the importance of Aquaculture and then we went shellfishing! It was AWESOME..we set up feeding beds for oysters in the bay and saw a bunch of locals shellfishing for their dinner! Another thing that happened today is that I got my INDIVIDUAL PLACEMENT!! I am going to be the Renewable Energy Education Coordinator for the Cape and Islands Self-Reliance Corporation! It is a non-profit organization that focuses on advocacy and education about renewable energy and energy efficiency. My job will include leading a program that brings renewable energy ideas, particularly solar, into the schools. Along with that I will be helpful the students build solar power cars through the Junior Solar Sprint Program that they will then race in June at the regional finals! I am super-de-duper excited about it but at the same time scared because I do not have that much education background. I will be sure to let you know how that goes! And last but not least Amanda and I were the cooks for tonights house dinner and we made homemade whole wheat pizzas and I now have a great homemade dough recipe to try on you all at some point!
I think thats about it. Tomorrow we are setting up for our first of many Wet Fests which I will explain in probably painstaking detail in my third blog!! Stay Classy!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
First Week on the Cape!
OK!...my first BLOG!! YAYY!!! :-) I think this is the best way to keep everyone informed without making me send an email every week. So here it goes...
On Monday, September 8th I moved in the Bourne House (50 Dr Julius Kelley Lane, Pocasset MA 02559...I welcome letters :-) ) There are 14 people in the house total...My room is a quad and here is the run down of all those in my house...
Jenny- sleeps on the top bunk above me- from Rochester and is loud but hysterical.
Amanda- Sweetest girl ever..also beautiful. Is in my room and sleeps on the other top bunk- From Michigan.
Korinda- Sleeps in the bed below Amanda in my room. She is from Indiana and is very nice and a very good cook
Maria- From South Dakota- She is awesome and has my sense of humor.
Meredith- From Ithaca...AWESOME! She is a LOT of fun and has a great outlook on life.
Ashleigh- Sweet gal from Texas..owns a hybrid and it rocks.
Megan- She is our Member Leader and is SOO LOUD AND ENERGETIC! She's a great person to play catchphrase with unless you have sensitive hearing.
Nicole- She is the oldest member-28 and was a teacher for 6 years. She's also a good cook and has taught me the ways of smoothies!
Nichole- We call her Franny because she looks like one. She was a dancer and is tiny and vegan but extremely sweet.
Christin- Our Program Supervisor who we call the house mom. She rocks hardcore and makes us brownies
Davis- From Rochester- has traveled more places than I know. He brought a kayak and I plan on abusing that power (safely of course!)
Phil- From Michigan and was already in the Peace Corps (Jamaica) and runs like the wind
Harry- (known to me as 'ARRY POTTER) and he is from Mass. Doesn't like the beach, sand OR water but is willing to face his fears.
OK so thats the gang in the house. We just moved in the first day and had a bunch of cool ice breakers (get it...cool..ice breakers...ha...ha)
Tues-Fri we had training after training- learning about the Cape and how to get around, CPR and First Aid, The different IP's (Individual placements) filled out paperwork, more ice breakers, got uniforms, met the Wellfleet members (very cool people as well..short bios to come) and took pictures for the website (www.rdoac.org/americorps/) Not updated yet but my profile will be up soon! After training we would go for bike rides or run around the area and I found some very cool secret paths that all lead to a beach..aka...awesome.
Saturday-Today (Tues) we had our first retreat. We went to the Coast Guard Beach in Eastham and stayed in the Coast Guard house with all of our bosses as well as the Wellfleet members. I will be adding pictures soon from this weekend but lets just say it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. We were on the beach...and it was so much fun. We had a lot of Team building exercises and a bunch of free time that we filled up with beach football, volleyball, ultimate and swimming (COLD water...50's) I also ran on the beach and got up every morning to watch the sunrise. We had bonfires at night where Brian (one of the Wellfleet guys) played guitar and I sang along. We went shellfishing, and hiking on the Provincetown Sand Dunes as well..which may I say are huge...enormous...I thought we were in the desert, but then we got to the top of the sand cliff and were on the tip of Cape Cod..surrounded by ocean which was so humbling and breathtaking I can't even describe it properly in words. We decided to run down to the beach and lay in the sun/relax because the hike was a trek and we saw two seals in the water that decided to give us a show which was very cool.
Here is a quick list of the Wellfleet members-
Lisa- sweet girl from Minnesota
Meg- competitive runner- from South Carolina
Jessica- SO SWEET from Conneticut- her and I want to try and plan a COD Day together (Community Outreach Development).
Abbey- from Wisconsin..loves cheese and is hilarious.
Sam(antha)- Very sweet redhead who sings and has the COOLEST contact case I have ever seen.
Erin- From San Francisco. This is her second year in Americorps Cape Cod and is very insightful.
Monica- surprisingly good football player for her tiny, quiet, mouselike self.
Amie- From Montana and has another great sense of humor
Crystal- From Georgia..quiet and the youngest one in the program and is doing this program before she goes to college
Amanda- Their Program Supervisor who ate an entire snack pack on a large spoon in one bite
Brian- The guitar mountain man who is from Cape Cod and taught me the beginning of Blackbird on guitar
Alex- Lax player from South Carolina who is very laid back and good at every sport he plays
Greg- Psychology major from New Hampshire. He is quiet but hilarious if you listen and has hiked all of the White Mountains like its no big thang
Tim- The Wellfleet member leader and has the EXACT same sense of humor that I do so all we do is throw sarcastic statements back and forth until we both realize how ridiculous it is.
OK So I think thats about it! There is more training this week and the following. This week is CHAINSAW training..watch out!!! Then we have plant identification/invasive species cutting and disaster training where we will learn how to organize a shelter as well as safely evacuate the Cape in case of a disaster. This weekend we are volunteering at Scallop Festival which is supposed to have some cool bands and free food! We start our IP's along with planning COD days and doing random service projects in October.
Thanks for tuning in and I hope everyone is doing spectacular!
Love,
Jaci
On Monday, September 8th I moved in the Bourne House (50 Dr Julius Kelley Lane, Pocasset MA 02559...I welcome letters :-) ) There are 14 people in the house total...My room is a quad and here is the run down of all those in my house...
Jenny- sleeps on the top bunk above me- from Rochester and is loud but hysterical.
Amanda- Sweetest girl ever..also beautiful. Is in my room and sleeps on the other top bunk- From Michigan.
Korinda- Sleeps in the bed below Amanda in my room. She is from Indiana and is very nice and a very good cook
Maria- From South Dakota- She is awesome and has my sense of humor.
Meredith- From Ithaca...AWESOME! She is a LOT of fun and has a great outlook on life.
Ashleigh- Sweet gal from Texas..owns a hybrid and it rocks.
Megan- She is our Member Leader and is SOO LOUD AND ENERGETIC! She's a great person to play catchphrase with unless you have sensitive hearing.
Nicole- She is the oldest member-28 and was a teacher for 6 years. She's also a good cook and has taught me the ways of smoothies!
Nichole- We call her Franny because she looks like one. She was a dancer and is tiny and vegan but extremely sweet.
Christin- Our Program Supervisor who we call the house mom. She rocks hardcore and makes us brownies
Davis- From Rochester- has traveled more places than I know. He brought a kayak and I plan on abusing that power (safely of course!)
Phil- From Michigan and was already in the Peace Corps (Jamaica) and runs like the wind
Harry- (known to me as 'ARRY POTTER) and he is from Mass. Doesn't like the beach, sand OR water but is willing to face his fears.
OK so thats the gang in the house. We just moved in the first day and had a bunch of cool ice breakers (get it...cool..ice breakers...ha...ha)
Tues-Fri we had training after training- learning about the Cape and how to get around, CPR and First Aid, The different IP's (Individual placements) filled out paperwork, more ice breakers, got uniforms, met the Wellfleet members (very cool people as well..short bios to come) and took pictures for the website (www.rdoac.org/americorps/) Not updated yet but my profile will be up soon! After training we would go for bike rides or run around the area and I found some very cool secret paths that all lead to a beach..aka...awesome.
Saturday-Today (Tues) we had our first retreat. We went to the Coast Guard Beach in Eastham and stayed in the Coast Guard house with all of our bosses as well as the Wellfleet members. I will be adding pictures soon from this weekend but lets just say it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. We were on the beach...and it was so much fun. We had a lot of Team building exercises and a bunch of free time that we filled up with beach football, volleyball, ultimate and swimming (COLD water...50's) I also ran on the beach and got up every morning to watch the sunrise. We had bonfires at night where Brian (one of the Wellfleet guys) played guitar and I sang along. We went shellfishing, and hiking on the Provincetown Sand Dunes as well..which may I say are huge...enormous...I thought we were in the desert, but then we got to the top of the sand cliff and were on the tip of Cape Cod..surrounded by ocean which was so humbling and breathtaking I can't even describe it properly in words. We decided to run down to the beach and lay in the sun/relax because the hike was a trek and we saw two seals in the water that decided to give us a show which was very cool.
Here is a quick list of the Wellfleet members-
Lisa- sweet girl from Minnesota
Meg- competitive runner- from South Carolina
Jessica- SO SWEET from Conneticut- her and I want to try and plan a COD Day together (Community Outreach Development).
Abbey- from Wisconsin..loves cheese and is hilarious.
Sam(antha)- Very sweet redhead who sings and has the COOLEST contact case I have ever seen.
Erin- From San Francisco. This is her second year in Americorps Cape Cod and is very insightful.
Monica- surprisingly good football player for her tiny, quiet, mouselike self.
Amie- From Montana and has another great sense of humor
Crystal- From Georgia..quiet and the youngest one in the program and is doing this program before she goes to college
Amanda- Their Program Supervisor who ate an entire snack pack on a large spoon in one bite
Brian- The guitar mountain man who is from Cape Cod and taught me the beginning of Blackbird on guitar
Alex- Lax player from South Carolina who is very laid back and good at every sport he plays
Greg- Psychology major from New Hampshire. He is quiet but hilarious if you listen and has hiked all of the White Mountains like its no big thang
Tim- The Wellfleet member leader and has the EXACT same sense of humor that I do so all we do is throw sarcastic statements back and forth until we both realize how ridiculous it is.
OK So I think thats about it! There is more training this week and the following. This week is CHAINSAW training..watch out!!! Then we have plant identification/invasive species cutting and disaster training where we will learn how to organize a shelter as well as safely evacuate the Cape in case of a disaster. This weekend we are volunteering at Scallop Festival which is supposed to have some cool bands and free food! We start our IP's along with planning COD days and doing random service projects in October.
Thanks for tuning in and I hope everyone is doing spectacular!
Love,
Jaci
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