The Perks

There are some downsides to being in AmeriCorps NCCC, but occasionally you get a project with enough perks to make up for them. This is one of those projects.

 

Perk 1 – FOOOOOOD

We have been fed more than I have ever been fed in my life. Our sponsors often bring food for us for lunch and we’ve been taken out to eat several times. The amount of food that has been provided to us by our various sponsors has been incredible. And it’s not just run of the mill food. It’s GOOD. We’ve had BBQ’s thrown for us and have been invited to 2 different Rotary Club meetings with delicious food. We’ve been invited over for dinners and taken out to eat. It has been simply amazing.

Dean cooking for us.

  

Perk 2 – Tours

 

We have been able to tour places that not many people get to tour. We’ve seen old missions that are generally closed to the public. We got to tour the Border Patrol Office. We went to Kartchner Caverns State Park. We got to tour Native Seeds Search farm. It’s been a lot of touring and a lot of learning. This weekend we got to explore Mexico (after being taken out for brunch of course)!

Mission tour

 

mission tour

 

mission tour

Perk 3 – Housing

The housing on this project has been simply amazing. We’re staying at Hacienda Corona where there is a lovely pool and lots of fun stuff to get into. We get to feed the horses watermelon rinds and drive by cows everyday. It’s been quite an adventure living on a ranch. A ranch where John Wayne used to stay no less!

 

Perk 4 – SWAG

Upon our first day here one of the community sponsors provided us with a lot of awesome SWAG. They gave us thermal water bottles so we would always have cold water, sunscreen, bug spray, first aid kits, lunch boxes, and all sorts of other stuff. We also received pins from The Rotary Club and from Santa Cruz County. As usual I’ve been enjoying the copious amounts of free stuff.

The Hottest Summer That Ever Was

So as I am working here in Nogales and the surrounding area sweating I have been thinking about the epic stories I will tell my children and grandchildren about the hottest summer I ever lived. You think I exaggerate the heat but it has been highs of 100 all week, next week it’s suppose to get up to 106. It’s dry heat yes but doing manual labor in it is still excruciating. The heat here is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It melts things in the van and it will easily burn you if you touch anything that has been out in it.

Sweat stained shirt

It’s been a lifesaver having a pool at our housing and we’ve been taking advantage of it daily. We are doing our weekly PT in the pool playing catch or swimming around. It’s really the only way for PT not to be a miserable experience in the heat. 

Lounging by the pool

 

Old Mine off the trail we’re building

This week we are working with Santa Fe Ranch building trail and a campsite for them. They are an awesome working cattle ranch who have started a non profit as part of their ranch that gives children and people with disabilities a chance to experience the outdoors. The people are great and really interesting and it has been a blast working with them, but it doesn’t make the heat any better. Also we get to see lots of cows everyday.

 

Shade I built for people to escape the brutal heat.

As of this week I have been living the same cycle as the sun. I go to bed around 8-9 and rise around 5. We start work at 6, which sounds miserable but being off and in the pool by 2 is a nice perk. Also since we are now on PST it’s nice to actually be working about the same schedule as Dalen.