The End of the Road is nearing...

As of today's date there are exactly 21 days until the Americorps NCCC journey comes to an end. Three weeks from today, I will be boarding an airplane in Baltimore, MD and flying back to Crystal Lake, IL. Of course saying goodbye is the hardest thing especially when you have created so many special friendships with the people in the last 9 plus months. I am trying not to think of that at the moment, but when other people bring up the countdown til the finish it is hard. But aside from all the excitement of finishing, bare with me because there is SOO much to tell within this blog from what has happened from disaster and what our Raven 3 was doing (which was answering phone calls at the EOC) to what I am currently doing with another team in St. Marks, FL. Hang on....the ride might be long and bumpy :)

Last time we left off was if I recall about getting extended down in Galveston, TX until the 11th of October. We found out on October 5th that Chris Quaka and the rest of the other Perry Point upper staff gave us an extension to stay down on disaster for another month or until November 5th. Most of the teams 4th rounds end on October 29th, but they wanted Raven 3 to stay down 7 days after that and finish up down there. Myself and teammate Joni had other feelings regarding the situation. So we expressed our feelings to Andrea and our team leader arranged a team meeting to talk about logistics and how things were going to be for the remainder of 4th round. As we sat in a circle we went around getting each other's feelings on it. When it got to me, I felt that our time spent down in Galveston, TX was more than enough. There is a reason why team's are sent on disaster for 30 days and we fulfilled so much. We definately made an impact on the community of Galveston and as well as the state of Texas. Texas now knows, if they didn't before, what Americorps NCCC is all about and the great things we do. Joni was in the same boat as me as we shared similiar reasonings. A couple days later Andrea came back and pulled Joni and I aside to talk about our options. One option was to serve the rest of the time in Galveston with the team OR we could join another team. Those teams being either going to St. Marks, FL and working on trails or going to Ocean Springs, MS working with construction. After getting about 2 days to really think about each situation and what I really wanted to do, I decided to switch teams. There were several reasons that balled up into one on why I decided to change. Personal issues, individual team issues with me and some other members, etc.

Back tracking a couple of steps...our Raven 3 team after working with EOC and answering phone calls, once that office was dying down to the point of receiving a few calls here and there, we were told that the office was going to be closing down. Closing down meant our team had to search for job elsewhere. Elsewhere led us to helping out at one of the Point of Distribution places on the island for 4 days. We teamed up with some of the Army and Air Force people and handed out bottled water, ice and hot meals to residents on the island. We were scattered in the EOC office still but only 2 of us were working per day. One in the morning from 8 AM-3 PM and then someone would relieve that person and work from 3 PM- 11 PM. Working with the military men and women was a lot of fun. We learned what they actually do and still got great work out hoisting the heavy waters and several ice bags. Beautiful weather was also a plus when we were working. On top of the rewarding work, the customers that drove up in their cars were super excited and thanked us immensely. Once the P.O.D. was taken down on that Saturday, we were searching yet again for more work.

We settled upon that next day, teaming up with the Red Cross. At the Red Cross we were thrown right in the mix with riding and serving meals in the ERV trucks. It was a great experience because we switched riding with drivers everyday to meet new Red Cross volunteers. I had a great crew each and every time I rode with someone. Everyone in the RC is so nice and polite and you have to enjoy the people you work with to enjoy the experience. I met 4 people that I still keep in touch with today! It is crazy in a matter of a couple days and working with someone for 2 days you can become so close. First ride I was on I was with Stan and we did bulk distribution and went around to the assigned neighborhoods and gave out breakfast foods, paper towels, water, baby formula, snacks, etc. to the people/workers in need of the supplies. In the afternoon of that day we got radioed to serve hot meals in an area that there was a fire. In the end, there wasn't really a fire but we still spent a couple hours feeding the people within the area. It was fun because they were so thankful! For the remainder of the time working with the Red Cross, I was put on hot meal serving both in the afternoon and at night. We ended up working from 8:30 AM to 8 PM when the truck came back and after clean up. Long and tiring days indeed. (side note...I am nearing almost 2000 service hours come time for graduation!)

Along with riding in ERV's we also were at the loading dock making sure all the ERV trucks had enough food on board. Also we were helping a man named Keith unload items from semi-trucks such as toys, drinks, canned goods, etc. That kind of work was a lot of stop and go, I preferred being on the truck and staying active. Joni and I were working with the ERVs until we left with Raven 5....going back to that story now, I came to Andrea the next night and told her I wanted to switch teams and join the team going to Ocean Springs, MS. but she said I can only go with Jenna B's team (Raven 5) to St. Marks, FL. I was upset, but in the end it worked out. We are supposed to be getting back at Perry Point, MD on Halloween giving 13 days to say goodbye and hang out with friends, compared to getting back on November 8th and having 5 days to say adios! I think in the end I made the right decision.

The morning I left my team (and it was not because of betrayal of the team being i was the Assistant Team Leader), Raven 5 traveled over to Metairie, LA for the night and camped out in hotel. I got the chance to head down to New Orleans and see some of my other Americorps friends that were in for the weekend or had been working at Camp Hope. It was a great time catching up with them. Next morning we packed up our stuff and left for St. Marks. We arrived to our destination on Sunday and unpacked. Very beautiful and woodsie-like which was a good site to visit. In relation to Tallahassee we are about 35 minutes away. The housing when we arrived was called the "Garage Majahl"...it was basically a run-down garage turned into a living space with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms with 4 bunks in each. Some of us decided to sleep in the bunks, while others chose to pitch a tent outside and live outside. I am not much of a bug person, so I decided to stay inside...good decision because of all the chiggers and ticks...

TO BE CONTINUED!