Catching up

Well I know it has been a couple of days, so I’ll do my best to catch up on the last few days here. Friday was the first day with our new teams. For the next few days, I am part of Sun 3…but wanting the original sun 6 back so badly (we all do actually). Keara is our team leader right now and the new team consists of Darrian, Sam, Paul, Meredith, Laura, Aubrey, Kristin, Becky, Alyssa and myself. We met after breakfast at 745 and headed in the vans to the Rocky Mountain Clinic for our physicals. These consisted of hearing, vision, vitals, drug test, pregnancy test (for the ladies obviously), a tetanus shot, TB test and an overall physical with a doctor. It took the greater portion of the morning as there were so many of us there, and my arm still hurts from that shot: (After the physicals we made a quick stop at the Halloween Store and the back to campus for a little break before our next session. We had packed a lunch again, so I had my lunch and just chilled for the break. At 130 we had a “Residence Life” session with one of the TL’s and after living in a residence hall for 4 years, let’s just say most of it was a refresher : ) After that we had some Unit Time and we basically just bonded and did some different team building exercises. After that we were done for the day which was nice, so I did a couple of things that afternoon, played soccer with some people, then dinner and then a group of us headed out for a little bit. We attempted to head downtown, but after some miscommunication with the bus schedule, we ended up just walking to a place called 4G’s just across the street. We had a drink, watched a game on the big screen, and really just talked amongst ourselves. It was really cool just realizing that I was talking to people from so many different places, I loved it though. We headed back early since we had a full day originally planned for Saturday and hit the sack. Saturday morning we were up and ready. We were supposed to go hiking as a unit, but due to some unpleasant weather conditions…like the rain, wind and chilly temperatures, our TL’s made an alternative plan for us. We first headed to the NCAR: National Center for Atmospheric Research just outside of Boulder and the van was full, all 15 seats accounted for. After some time there, we headed into downtown Boulder and were given some time to look around and what not. It was such a gorgeous place, and somewhere we definitely want to return on a nicer day. Our little group (Dan, Matt, Leeann, Becky and I) ended up a Paradise, a bakery on Pearl St. (the pedestrian mall) and had our bag lunches there and then ventured to the candy shop across the way. We all walked away with a little something from there and then back to meet the vans. After we returned to campus we were done for the day and a few of us just crashed hardcore…like a 3-3.5 hour nap (much needed). Then dinner a bit later and deciding what to do for the night. There was a lot going on but Dan, Leeann and I decided to stay in for the night and just do something low-key. We took the bus into Englewood, like 7 miles away, picked up some cheap movies and snacks and headed back for movie night in Dan’s room. The movie this time was “Stand By Me,” which after hearing that I should see it by numerous people, I’m glad I have now. We stayed there, talked a bit, and went through some of Dan’s pictures on his computer and then headed to bed. I wasn’t super tired at that point, but read for a while and soon was sleeping too. Sunday was our first official day off so sleeping in was the first order of business. I did that and talked to my mom and sister, which was great, and once it was time for brunch, a few of us headed to get some food. After eating I ended up riding along with my friend Monica to the Walk-In clinic (with two TL’s also) so she could get her head examined. She hit her head last night and has a mild concussion, but is holding up nicely  The rest of the afternoon was pretty low key. The weather is getting colder by the day and it was raining a little too, so inside was a much better place to be. I tried to set up some contacts for my Independent Service Project too, so hopefully I can get started on that and get a good chunk out of the way before we head out on SPIKE. The evening was real quiet too and I found myself just sitting in my room talking to people. It started out with just Leeann and I, then Taylor came in for a bit and by the end of the night the girls had congregated in my room and we were all just talking. Before we knew it, it was like 1045 and we were exhausted.

Monday was another early morning, meeting our groups at 7am to head to City Park. Saturday there is a huge service project at City Park, and we have a significant role in that project. Today we headed to the park to get a briefing of the project and assigned the roles we would have on Saturday. We each have our own team of volunteers and we’re basically building a trail around the park-it’s a pretty cool project. We were told that Saturday should be a really great day, so can’t wait for that. Once we returned to campus we had sessions set up all day. Our first was the different awards we could earn through AmeriCorps and the possibility of earning college credits. Before lunch we had to get our TB tests read, and I passed that but I asked about the welt-like sore on my arm where I got my tetanus shot. It’s bothering me, but the doctor said I should be just fine. Then lunch and our crew walked across the street between lunch and our next session. The next was how to use our educational awards and although there was useful information, I was more entertained with taking pictures (surprise, surprise). Then the Sun Unit did some more unit time activities and our last session was on Public Safety. Basically in that 45 minutes I learned that I currently live in a dangerous part of Denver, there is a great deal of crime on Federal Blvd., there are sex offenders in the area and that I am basically supposed to be scared at all times-it was a great preso for sure. After that we were done, so the crew waited some and then headed to dinner-possibly our best dinner since we’ve been here. Leeann, Leah and I headed to the library for a bit and then I joined them in the gym. I seem to be trying new things and testing myself a bit, so I did some different things with Leeann at the gym and I can definitely feel it right now-the legs will be real sore in the morning. The guys were across the street at 4G’s watching the games, so we showered and a few of us walked over to meet up with them. It was fun, but didn’t stay too long as we were exhausted. Monday marked the one week mark and it’s still crazy to think about. We were talking about how fast we seemed to make friends though, and comparing this experience to college a little but…but without the homework which is nice. Another great day and looking forward to the rest of the week.

Today(Tuesday) we were back on somewhat of a normal schedule…starting at 8 o’clock again  We had tool training this morning, which consisted of a classroom setting lecture, complete with powerpoint…and after the powerpoint and the pictures shown, I have basically decided that I am afraid to touch all tools-especially a nail gun, and do anything risky. We had a long break for lunch and between sessions again, but the girls congregated and talked most of the two hours we had. The afternoon session was safety training, and took place outside. We were shown the different tools we would/could be using and the different safety precautions to take, as well as the different safety equipment we would be wearing. After that, we had another small break and then at 400 we met outside Walsh Hall and did an activity to find our new teams-yes, we switched again today. In order to find our new teams we had to find the song lyrics that went together, assemble the song properly, sing it and then guess which Team Leader chose that song as their favorite song. This activity sounds like it was made for me, but let me tell you that it was rather difficult…and our group had Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” I couldn’t do much until the chorus, but I made sure that we busted that part out solid. After we met with our new groups, we talked about the tomorrow’s plan and broke off. We had dinner as a group, as usual, then a group trip to Wal-Mart…b/c like two people needed something and the rest of us enjoyed the ride, haha. Tonight we also had a movie night and watched “Remember the Titans.” Fun times for sure and many laughs. For whatever reason I listened to Leeann in the gym yesterday and did lunges among other things, I am so darn sore today and can barely walk. Hopefully this pain starts to subside since baseline tests are this week as well. It hurts, but we laugh about it together. I’m excited for tomorrow’s activity…but I’ll let it be a surprise. Night and sweet dreams!!

Smiles and love, Nichole