Well...here I am posting yet again another blog. I finally found the time and the internet access to post something. I noticed it was the right time to because a lot of things have happened since the last March 3rd posting. Where to begin? Where to begin? I have no idea, but hold on for the ride, I will try to explain what has been going on...
First of all, all of last week was basically trying to pack everything and get all of my uniforms and supplies packed to load the van. We finished up our last bit of training this past Tuesday as the fire fighting training ended and the people that got chosen for chain saw training arrived back to Perry Point. It felt glad and relaxing to be done and we were given about 2 days to say our goodbyes to the close friends we formed in the first 5 weeks. Three groups deployed early on Thursday while the remaining 25 teams left on Friday morning. I took it upon myself to make little notes and wrote letters to the people I was closest to and taped little blow pops on them. Each card said something different and it came from the heart, some even got a little teary-eyed, and I explained to them before I gave it that it might sound a tiny bit cheesy. It was surely difficult to say goodbye to them.
I probably stayed up to at least 4 AM those 2 final nights making the deliveries of cards and also hanging out with them before our departure. But we all came to an agreement to keep in touch through either calling or Ameri-mail. Ameri-mail is defined as sending snail mail to the friends you have and writing their name and team number which then will be Fed-Ex back to Perry Point and then sorted out accordingly. Then the staff members place the letters into another Fed-Ex box and send to the proper teams. I hope to be getting LOTS of mail from people when the time comes. I have already started hand-writing and printing off newsletters for the friends.
We packed up the van the night before and stored our extra clothes and junk into sheds outside of the houses. I think I overpacked as it seemed my 2 bags were overflowing to the max! I needed my Dad to help me since he is Mr. Consolidate Packer!! I should have picked up some tips before I left Dad...haha. I managed to get what I needed, but am really worried about the amount of things I will be gathering from now until 13 weeks when we head back to Perry Point. Our team is not transitioning back up to headquarters. Instead we are transitioning in Jackson, Mississippi with the other Georgia and gulf teams. From there we are going to be stationed we think somewhere on the Gulf. Hopefully down in Florida so I can visit my aunt, uncle and cousins! That would be ideal :) Friday morning, we loaded the last bit of things and headed on our drive. Once again, it was surely difficult to say goodbye. We left approx. 8:30 AM and got to the hotel in Florence, SC at 9:30 PM with several stops on the way. One of those stops was to eat dinner at teammate Lauren's brothers' house for grilling and snacks. Very much appreciated and definately saved us food money! We had to switch drivers every 2 hours. I took the 12:45 to 2:45 shift and absolutely loved it. Bring on more driving! I get more and more excited when the opportunity arrives. We have a total of 5 drivers on our team. Thanks Mitchy for encouraging me to become one!
Continuing on with the journey...when we got to the hotel, we spent the night with 2 other teams. It was kind of a calm and tiring night because of all the driving. BUT...i found out that I FINALLY have cell phone service! I was super stoked. So if you want to get a hold of me, please call :) We woke up the next morning at 10 and headed back on the road for Day 2 of driving to Skidaway Island. What a great smell when we sniffed that fresh Georgia air! It felt nice because the weather was great. Around 65 degrees when we pulled up to the Marine Extension Service! You can't go wrong with that. After getting out with cramped legs and stiff backs, we unloaded the van into our dorm-like rooms. I happen to share a room with teammate Stan that is connected another room where teammate Bill and Zac are staying. We all share a bathroom. Not too big of a room, but doable for a week. The 6 girls on the team are sharing rooms as well. They are all close to each other, so if we want to talk to each other we can walk 3 steps and see them. Not too shabby.
Now onto the real work...Monday we had our orientation with our sponsors. Our main sponsors are Daniel and Alan. Both are really cool and have great personalities. We had a slide show presentation about the program and what type of tasks we will be performing while we are here. Tons of excitement was running through the air after the orientation. We are all looking forward to getting our hands dirty. Today, Tuesday, we actually got to do a hands on project with bagging shells. Oysters had to be placed into netting bags and we did that for the whole morning and afternoon. At night time Lauren and I got the chance to do our CAPping responsibility and talked to fellow campers (14 and 15 year olds) that were on the island getting hands-on experience with the marine life. It was considered an informal CAPping event. Our next step is to contact high schools and universities in the area and speak to those audiences. Obviously these kids are a couple years younger than the required 18-24. Hopefully our great speaking skills and persuasion will convince them to joining. Lauren and I are excited to actually get out into the field. My personal goal was during this SPIKE to improve my public speaking and oratory skills. We have to at least 3 CAPping events in the next 6 weeks! More jobs to come this week on Skidaway Islands. Then Sunday we leave for Jekyll Island for the remaining 6 weeks where we will be doing similiar jobs. We will be living in cabins when we get to Jekyll, which means the housing will be a lot better. I will be taking pictures of both living conditions and will post them either here or I can email them to each of you. I feel bad for the other teams because some are living in tents, some are in teepees, and others are sleeping in much worser things than us...we kind of have it MADE :) I feel very fortunate for it.
Anyways, I am looking forward for this coming Friday, March 14th because it is the St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade. It is considered the 2nd biggest event celebrated in the US. We are going to be apart of it and actually get the day off. I will take pics of that event and post. We are going to do a team get together and go.
Well...that is all I have so far. Hope it is long enough for you all. There will be more to come as we continue to get more projects. A lot is planned out and in store for us, we are just awaiting to see what it is and keep getting excited. The sponsors are glad and really thankful we are here helping. Bring on the mud, the dirt, the sweat, the tears...and ESPECIALLY those oysters :)! Until next time...take care
PS. Happy early Birthday Mommy! (you must be and feel really holy since it happens to fall on the same day as Palm Sunday)
