To Make a Long Story Short…

I travelled back to Denver. Hung out in Denver for about a week doing not much.

Then… I got on a plane and travelled to Philadelphia where we got ‘snowed in’ by the snowpocolypse and spent 3 days trapped in a hotel. Gin Rummy and Settler’s of Catan were played, TV shows were caught up on, sleeping was had. It was a rather nice relaxation for working disaster.

So that catches us up to two weeks ago I believe. So Monday the 11th we arrive in Staten Island. We get a little time to explore our new home, pick our rooms and unpack.

While Basketball Court in a home seems cool… If you decide this for your home make sure it’s soundproof. Put the Piano down there too!

We were living in the Parish Hall of a Moravian church which was really nice because we had a basketball court and a huge kitchen to cook in and most importantly a gigantic graveyard to explore.

Located at the stairwell… just in case ya know zombies come to attack from the graveyard you’re living in.

Interestingly enough Dalen, my teammate Meaghan and I discovered that the fences in the graveyard had spikes on them, you know the kind to keep people out of places… but the spikes were pointing inward. We all decided it was probably just preparation for the zombie Apocalypse which is good news for just about everyone… Everyone except people who live in the

The location of the scary ghost encounter. Also where I slept for week. The day after this we got cots… so don’t feel too bad for me 😉

graveyard. So on our first night Viviana and I are just snoozing away and I decide that I can’t sleep and finally as I’m getting back to sleep Vivi closes the window and wakes me up at which point I notice that our door is open. I point this out to Vivi and panic ensues.

I scoot my sleeping pad over close to Vivi, we put a chair infront of the door and we grab our pocket knives and prepare for the ghost/robber/zombie who is definitely outside of our door.

After exploring our home, it was into the city for a training. Unfortunately we did not realize the training was IN the city… as in in the middle of Manhattan. So we drove around for about an hour looking for a parking place for the big ole’ 15 passenger van. It was awful. The next day was more training in the Rockaways which were hit pretty bad by the storm. We learned how dangerous  mold is and how to wear our respirators. Important stuff.

All suited up in our Tyveks and Respirators

Then the real work began. We suited up in our Tyvek suits and respirators and were ready to begin work. Most of the work included scrubbing mold all day, there were a few days of ripping up flooring too which was a nice change of pace. All the homeowners that we talked to were so grateful for us to come help them. It was really amazing how thankful they were after they had lost so much and it had been so long since the storm. It would be easy for them to be angry, but they weren’t. After 2 days of officially working, I got a lovely ‘surprise’ valentine’s day gift delivered to me. Dalen is much better at describing this (http://wdalenrice.blogspot.com/2013/02/nyc-part-1-staten-island-glory.html) than I am. However, this (and the work I’m doing in New Jersey and fun I’m having in New York) will have to come in a later post, Dalen’s description will have to do for now!

Flexible from the F to the E.

It’s true what they say in Americorps – NCCC… the only constant is change. Looks like our time in Arizona will be cut a little short.  I was enjoying the nice warm weather and the hard work that trail building entails. However, it was decided that Sun 1 would be heading to New York to do disaster relief from hurricane Sandy. I’m looking forward to being able to experience this type of service and to help people who are in desperate need of help, but I am going to miss the warmth and welcoming that was Arizona. This past week here in Arizona has been really great. We got to work on the trail some more and we got to have an ‘enjoy the trails day’ which meant lots of hiking around where we hadn’t been yet. We also got to go to breakfast with the Rotary, have dinner with the people from Parks and Rec.

 

I also got to experience the awesomeness that is Pickle ball.  I think I found a new hobby in Pickle ball, it’s a lot like tennis but much easier. With tennis I get so irritated at how bad I am that I can’t move on to improve my skills, with Pickle ball I have a sense that I can improve so I actually enjoy the game.

So tomorrow we’re back on the road to Santa Fe and eventually back to Denver for a week until we head out to New York. Updates to come!