Project #1 began with a two day van ride into the arctic
wilderness of rural Washington.
Maybe not arctic wilderness, but it was pretty cold there. At least compared to
sunny, never-a-cloud-in-the-sky Sacramento.
Anyways, the van ride included lots of fast food, getting on each others nerves,
and arguing over music (I’ve come to realize that most people have limits around
playing Taylor Swift 24/7) The drive also included spending one night in
Albany, where I got to eat dinner with my family and hug Shanti as many times
as I could in a 3 hour period. I also got to drink a quart of raw milk for
breakfast, and tell anyone that would listen about how much better my breakfast
was than theirs. We finally got to Carnation, after spending a few hours
meandering about the freeways with a lack of good directions and navigation
skills, found out that besides being really really adorable in a weird “how can
I hug that yurt” sort of way, our housing was cold. Real cold. NEVER EVER
UNPLUG A SPACE HEATER, GOT IT? The closest showers were also 15 minutes away,
unless you counted the trickle of cold water they tried to call a campground
shower. It was definitely beautiful though, the views were amazing, and the
bridge we had to cross every night when we’d rather be sleeping definitely made
me love living in a campground (no sarcasm, I swear it.) Working outdoors was
absolutely wonderful as well, despite the cold and rain. We have all become
intimately acquainted with blackberries and mud, reeeeal mud, I’m talking MUD.
And just in case you’d ever like to spend some time learning about tree species
and salmon habitat in the Pacific Northwest, I’m kind of
a pro. Or not. But I CAN tell you what a Cedar tree looks like! I also make a
fantastic how-to-go-pee-in-the-wilderness-while-trying-to-hide-from-the-volunteer-crews-you’re-supposed-to-be-leading
guide.
Our work week was Tuesday through Saturday, and included one
day working in the local middle school. My average day in the middle school
began by waking up late, attempting a frantic dash to Starbucks (thank goodness
for corporations so big they can make it into towns with populations under
2,000, right?!) which never really worked because I ended up running out of
time and then turning back, because I realize I’m just incapable of walking
half a mile, ordering and drinking coffee in under 5 minutes. Life is just too
hard. ANYWAYS, there were definitely a few very interesting days in the school,
and I did get to help quite a few kids one-on-one. One of the most interesting
classes was Mrs. Luce’s 4th period special ed. “Jacob! Jacob, why
are you pants on the ground, Jacob?!” I
also overheard some girls discussing who their bridesmaids were going to be
(why did I only do that in elementary school, I could have at least waited till middle school to choose my bridesmaids,
right? Then at least I’d have a chance of remembering them)
I had a great time
with both the middle school work and the outdoor work, and I got over 30 of my
required 80 Independent Service hours done. I also completed my responsibilities
as Environmental Liaison (Eugenian girl duties) and Corps Ambassador Program
Representative (ever tried to talk to a high school student about their future?
Makes for a real interesting one sided conversation, I’m tellin’ ya!) All in
all it was a pretty cool way to spend 5 weeks. AmeriLife!
