NCCC revisited

8.13.06

The older people (today ours was Vick and Jean, as they had been for the last week) taught me how to play Hand and Foot (a card game with 1,000 rules that requires 5 decks of cards) and we did that until 4pm before driving back to headquarters and then home. Boy I spend a lot of time in a van lately. And I sure do hope our project turns around to the interesting side pretty soon. I suppose you can say we did do something yesterday upon arrival at our location. We (OK Joey, but I listened intently) interviewed a woman employed by the church who had a home but it was unlivable. She told us her story of being in her home and watching the water rise and getting in the Tahoe when the water was running through the house. She said that now her son lives w/her sister in Connecticut and all her FEMA money goes to help support him. The story is compounded by the fact that she went into shock and didn't "snap out of it" until March. I couldn't imagine what a person that suffers from MS and is sensitive to heat is going through in a trailer provided by FEMA for a year now. Listening to her story made angry for the people Mississippi but also angry at our project for not allowing us to do more. Can't we be out building the home? Or other houses? I feel like our time is being mismanaged.

Added after the entry: I also remember feeling more during this project that our time of service was spent helping and socializing with the elderly than helping those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

More walks down memory lane...

In honor of my third anniversary of NCCC, I am posting more of my journal entries from that year. I sent this out to my team as a reminder, and it's amazing how much I've changed since then. Also, I really appreciate how others on the team (Thanks, Jill) have responded with their own journal entries from that period and how stunningly similar we all seemed, though we seemed so different back then. Perspective is a powerful tool.

Tonight's segment brought to you by PROZAC. Can you tell that I was in desperate need of some upon writing these?


8/2/06 11:50pm

CTI is drawing to a close and still so much to do, I feel almost overwhelmed. I do feel much close to my teammates but I feel like I will continue to grow closer still. Silver 7 is such an amazing mix of personalities. I'm sure we will all learn just as much from each other as we will from the people we will be serving. Spike trips have been moved until Monday due to Hurricane Chris and we're all pretty bummed about it, just because we are so freakin' excited about actually going somewhere and doing a real live project. We're scheduled to spend a week in Tallahassee with the Florida Trails Association building trails and then six weeks in Biloxi (living in Waveland) doing disaster relief volunteer management with the Harrison County long-term recovery committee. Don't really know what we are doing, but I"m sure we will find out soon enough. It will just be really hard to remain calm while "going with the flow." Gave blood today, and will attempt to run the Ameri-5K tomorrow. We'll see about that. I really wanted to give though.

8/4/06 12:50am

In the third floor lounges of 669 watching THE SANDLOT before getting up early to leave for Florida at 7am. Bringing back wicked good memories and bad memories. Such a great and under appreciated movie, I think. I volunteered to drive first tomorrow, don't ask me why. Spent today at Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach Center sorting clothes in the donation room for 8 hours (good ISP start, I'd say.) I'm still working on asserting my true identity without committing any verbal assaults. I made a comment about sorority slut barbie today upon seeing a particularly scanty tank top/skirt outfit and I don't think Jill appreciated it. I felt really bad about it, but it is something I am really used to doing at UGA with Emily and Alisha and Danielle. It makes me slightly homesick to realize that I can't make my normal jokes. It really is in good, clean fun, and I had forgotten Jill telling me she was in a sorority but the moment I made the comment I instantly regretted it. I didn't say anything after she told me it wasn't fair, and that was the end of that. where was the sense of humor? I miss my friends at home who honestly would have laughed at that comment and realized the absurd reality that is the Greek world. Here no one understands me, and I don't really understand my teammates. But, the important thing is we are trying. We're dancing around each other, but we are TRYING to become closer. WE are about to subject ourselves to a 9+ hour van ride in a 15-passenger van. We have to try if we don't want to make ourselves miserable. I'm frustrated at myself for not being as good, smart, witty, etc. as any of them, but I can't let them know. It will only make things worse between us. So I hold it all inside, how bitter at the world I feel, how rejected I feel, but I won't let them know...

AND EDITED FOR CONTENT BECAUSE IT GETS EVEN MORE SELF-INVOLVED...

Another blast from the past...

As I browse back through my google documents, I was looking at some of my old journal entries from the beginning of NCCC. I thought I'd post it here.

7/12/06
2:55 p.m.

Today was another long day of in-processing bullshit. We got our uniforms in the morning, and we moved swiftly through the in-processing checklist to travel reimbursements to banking to lunch and ID badges. Half of the morning stuff I didn’t need, so I just kinda sat there while others talked, which I did all of yesterday as well sorta came to the conclusion that people like to hear themselves talk just for the sake of talking. I’m in my room now, for a brief couple of hours, until we have to go back to the 202 building for boot sizing at 4:30. I’m totally stoked we get to wear steel-toed work boots. I’ e never done anything where they were a requirement before, so of course I’m going to be stoked.

Getting to know my team a little better as well. This could potentially be a very good experience. I have a feeling that there will be 1 or 2 (probably girls) that I will end up being close to and the others will just be there. I know I am a person that takes a while before I warm up to everyone and right now I’m falling into my “quiet girl” mode. I want to break out of that role badly, but I know it will take some time. So far everyone is really nice. I also know that tonight after boot sizing we’re off to some “group bonding” activity Maggie has planned for us. Sounds interesting in theory, but I know I’ll probably end up putting my emotional guard up and not share anything. It’s probably going to be one of those group initiative thing that I hate any way. Who knows? We shall find out later.

I suppose I can go and list my team members and first impressions now. Maybe in ten months I can go back and reassess, because they will, most likely, will have changed.

Our team leader Maggie seems really sweet and excited to be here. Really excited and enthusiastic, though I’m wondering how long the façade will last. Certainly a person cannot keep things going for as long as ten months, without one gigantic happy pill. There has got to be an evil side to her, and I’m wondering when we will see it and how long it’ll last. Maggie also keeps saying how tired she is and how she hasn’t slept that much, but when ever we ask her a question she’s right on the ball, so I don’t get it. I totally trust her with my documents and paperwork, and believe she will be an amazing leader this year.

Interesting reading, now that I'm a year and a half removed from the whole situation.