Everything in Transit(ion)

The blog is back! Life has been busy and crazy of late. Apologies for the lack of updates. Last Friday, we completed our time at the St. Bernard Project and returned to campus. During our time there, I was able to get the home of Leroy Jarvis almost completely completed. We were moved off of his house for our last week, with only minor finishing items to be done before he is ready to move back in! In a cool bit of closure to our St. Bernard journey, I spent my last week working back at the home of Johnnie Toledo. Our first two weeks of training took place at Johnnie's home, and he is an awesome guy. I was really happy to be able to see the progress that had been made and to be able to help get him home. Johnnie's Welcome Home Party will be on October 30th if all goes according to plan! We also had an awesome group of volunteers from Gulf Coast Volunteers for the Long Haul. Some of them had been down to the Gulf Coast more than 20 times since Hurricane Katrina, and I was happy to be able to be their site supervisor for their first time with the St. Bernard Project. They did great work and were really the first group that I had been able to work with consistently for a full week. Overall, I really enjoyed my time with SBP and really took a liking to the work and volunteer supervision. It is amazing to be able to see the work and progress that ordinary folks can do with their care and effort to help get people home. It was a pleasure to be a part of that and to have the opportunity to attend several Welcome Home Parties and see the work pay off. Now, we are back in Vicksburg, MS for a transition period that will end tomorrow. We have spent the past week debriefing our round one projects and briefing for our round two projects. My team, River 5, will be heading to Biloxi, MS to continue Katrina rebuilding efforts through Habitat for Humanity. I have worked with Habitat on a 1-2 day basis before, but look forward to the opportunity to start a house essentially from scratch and see the progress. It will also be cool to see some of the beginning stages of construction after working almost exclusively with interiors with SBP. We will work a Tuesday-Saturday schedule, which will be nice for getting an opportunity to do the Independent Service Hours that we need. We will be staying at Camp Victor where we stayed for the Katrina 5-year anniversary. It is an awesome volunteer housing facility, and we will actually have our food prepared for us, which will be a nice change of pace from having to cook every night. I am looking forward to getting back on the job. Sitting in class is not my cup of tea right now. I can't believe I made it through college awake. I find myself dosing off in almost every training session, regardless of how interesting they are. Now, for those who are dosing off or getting ADD, here are the bullet points:

• I hadn't thought too much about what Forrest Gump said about life being a box of chocolates until recently. He is so wise. You really never do know what you are going to get. Sometimes you get the delicious milk chocolate or the chocolate cherry, but sometimes you get that marshmallowy/ nougety thing. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
• I went to Waffle House today with three people who had never been to one before. That absolutely blew my mind! Having eaten at Waffle House twice in one day before and for about half of the meals on my post-graduation trip, I was flabbergasted to find that some people had never had the opportunity. I had been on about a two and a half month hiatus, but it was as I remembered- the cups were dirty, the food was delicious, and half the waitresses were pregnant. All is well with the world.
• I started back writing a journal today and was thinking back on the motto that our high school developed one year and tried to cram down our throat- "I am who I choose to be." It is so true though. Each of us makes a conscious decision to live our lives in a certain way by the values and standards that make us who we are. It is something that I had forgotten or not thought about in a while, but seems really profound now.
• I had fallen away from something that I always did and was an avid part of who I was. Lately I have not been listening to my Ipod on shuffle. It's something I always do, likely because of my Presbyterian basis in predestination. I returned to the shuffle this morning as I was writing and reflecting, and remembered why I love it so. Perfect mix of music. The only problem is that occasionally, you get the songs that pop up that were only really meant for comedy or special occasions. Baby Got Back comes to mind. I guess shuffling your Ipod is also like a box of chocolates.
• Wow do I miss being in Jordan-Hare Stadium for the big game. After having football Saturdays as a mainstay in my life for the last four years, there is definitely a void there. It doesn't help that Auburn is dominating and I am not there to give Cam Newton a butt slap when he jumps up on the stands after the game. War Eagle anyway! I have already converted several folks who had no particular college affiliation into Auburn fans, so I at least have some folks to watch the games with.
• Hopefully it won't be so long until the next blog. We should have good internet at Camp Victor and a slightly smaller workload, so here's to hoping!

The St. Bernard Project, etc.

The blog is finally back! My apologies for the super long time between posts, but I've been busy and just have not found myself inspired to write, but here goes nothing. After two weeks of training to understand both why and how we do what we do with the St. Bernard Project, I am now in my second week as a site supervisor, leading groups of volunteers in rebuilding the interior of Katrina-damaged homes. It may seem ridiculous that 5 years after the hurricane, there are still people not back in their homes. It is. And it is not just a few. The St. Bernard Project has rebuilt 315 homes in the Saint Bernard Parish, is currently working on almost 50 more, and still has almost 2o0 families on the waiting list, awaiting funds from grant money or private donations as well as volunteer groups to help with the work. If you are looking for a mission trip, consider the St. Bernard Project. The house that I have spent the last two weeks working on belongs to Mr. Leroy Jarvis. Leroy didn't plan on leaving during Hurricane Katrina, but one day one of his friends came to his house, packed up all his stuff, and told him that they were leaving, which probably saved his life. His home was destroyed down to the foundation. After living with friends in Texas, Leroy received a call informing him that there was a FEMA trailer waiting for him. Upon arriving back in New Orleans, he found that there was no such trailer. Luckily, friends took Leroy in while he was able to get some money together and purchase the trailer that we are currently working on making into his new home. Leroy is one of a ton of people who have had several setbacks since the storm that were largely out of their own control. Since we arrived here, we have seen 5 Welcome Home Parties, with families moving back into their finished homes. There is nothing more rewarding. It makes the long days and weeks of hanging drywall, mudding, sanding, priming, painting, flooring, etc. well worth it. And I am developing some pretty great life skills that may come in handy should I ever decide to purchase a fixer upper. Now for the bullet points of the really interesting information:

• I am getting ripped. Maybe not, but I have really begun to enjoy the physical training and am definitely improving my physical fitness level.
• I saw a girl get arrested on Bourbon Street for running underneath the horse of a mounted policeman. Probably my favorite non-work-related incident so far.
• You can check "ride a mechanical bull" and "eat alligator" off my bucket list. My bull riding performance was decent at best. The alligator was delicious.
• For the opening day of the NFL season (Saints game), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Hall of Famers Tim Brown, Thurman Thomas, and Marcus Allen worked with SBP. They actually worked on the same house that I had been working on for the majority of the week. Together, we welcomed a family home and at part of a 50 foot po boy.
• It has recently come to my attention that the Alanis Morissette song "You Oughta Know" was written about Dave Coullier aka "Uncle Joey." This only makes me love the song even more.
• My awesome sister sent me a collection of notes from my Auburn Presbyterian Student Fellowship crew yesterday. It reminded me how lucky I was and am to have such a great group of friends and to have been surrounded by such funny people. It was a great mixture of laughter and sentiment from some of the people that were with me through my most formative years.
• Louisiana seafood is safe to eat. If it makes it to your grocery store, it has been through so many tests that you can guarantee it will be fine. I have had plenty of seafood in the form of gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp and grits, etc. and can guarantee that it is fine and tastes delicious when properly prepared.
• We have 2 1/2 weeks left in Chalmette/New Orleans. We should find out where our next project will be in a few days. On October 15th, we head back to Vicksburg for 10 days of transition.
• War Damn Eagle, 4-0 and #10. I have gotten to see most, if not all, of each game and though a decent amount of luck has been involved, all the pieces are there for this to be a really good team.
• I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens. I hope you take the time to give faith a fighting chance. And if you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.

Disaster Assignment and First Project

When last week began, our plan was to have our project clearance meeting Monday, have our induction ceremony Tuesday, and leave for Chalmette, Louisiana for our first project on Wednesday. *Disclaimer- we were told repeatedly in our interviews that flexibility was a key attribute necessary for being in NCCC. Monday afternoon, ten minutes before our clearance meeting, we found out that we would instead be leaving right after induction on Tuesday to head to New Orleans on a disaster project. So instead of having two nights to pack, prepare, and say our goodbyes, we had less than 24 hours. So we washed our van, grabbed our tools, put on our big boy/girl panties and got to work packing the next six weeks of our lives into one red bag about the size of a backpacking pack and one backpack. Needless to say, stress was running somewhat strong for the team as we attempted to complete a tri-fold poster for induction, clean our rooms and kitchen, and prepare to leave for a disaster project we knew almost nothing about. So Tuesday morning we sat down with the big whigs of Vicksburg and the National Service family, got inducted, and headed out for Lefitte, Louisiana. Wednesday morning, we unloaded a truck full of food, water, and toiletries donated by Peyton and Eli Manning. In total, we unloaded 800 boxes and 286 cases of water and distributed them to families affected by the oil spill. Lafitte is primarily a fishing town, so many of its residents have been severely affected by the spill, both directly and indirectly. We watched as families of all ethnicities and social classes came to gratefully receive food and supplies to help aid them through their tough times. Many of the fisherman are finally returning to work, but the 3 plus months without significant income has put them severely behind. At the end of the day, all of the boxes and water were distributed and we headed out for our new housing in Chalmette, Louisiana, about 15 minutes from New Orleans. We have since begun training with the St. Bernard Project to be site supervisors in the rebuilding of housing interiors destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I will go into further detail on the St. Bernard Project and our training as time goes on. Now, to the bullet points.

• The drive to New Orleans over the water is absolutely amazing. Quite similar to what I saw driving to Key West a few months ago, though the water is not as clear. The sight of being completely surround by water with the exception of the bridge you are traveling on is breathtaking.
• Bourbon Street is absolutely nuts. I have never seen a crazier place in my life.
• I haven't yet had a beignet, but will hopefully change that by the end of the week.
• The team that was here before us left our house absolutely trashed. The last thing we wanted to do after 7 hours working in the sun was spend 3 hours cleaning up another team's mess. Oh well, we did it and the house is actually really nice now.
• The neighbors here are really friendly. As we were doing some yard work yesterday, one guy came over and edged the lawn for us, and another brought us a big broom to sweep away all the grass. We were told about the extreme sense of community here that existed even before the storm, and it has been very evident in just the first couple days.
• I'm not feeling very profound today, so I will be back with more when I feel something interesting coming on.
• War Damn Eagle! Cam Newton is a beast.

Update and Random Thoughts

So it's been a while since I posted, which is a reflection of how busy we have been. Days have been filled with 8 or 8:30 to 5 or 5:30 training, some homework, PT three mornings a week, and additional training and meetings at night. Needless to say, internet time has been scarce, and we are attempting to squeeze in some final time with the folks who we have become quite close with, but will now be separated from for most of the rest of the 10 months. I am currently writing from a group housing shelter for volunteers in Ocean Springs, MS where we are staying while we take part in the Hurricane Katrina 5-year anniversary. We will be working with the Gulf Coast Habitat for Humanity the next 2 days putting siding on houses. Sunday we will attend the Governor's Volunteer Appreciation Reflection (probably not the right name, but it's lots of big whigs reflecting on the 5 years of rebuilding.) It is exciting for me to be back in Ocean Springs where I was almost 5 years ago. The progress seems remarkable since I was here right after the storm, but there is still work to be done. Now time for bullet points for the ADD or short-readers among you.

- We spent 2 days and 1 night camping at a YMCA camp and doing some hands on training. I was amazed at how many people had not been camping or really didn't like camping.

- We learned roofing, trail clearing, power tools, and painting in addition to some team building via high and low ropes courses.

- It is crazy the different backgrounds and reasons that people come from and have for being here. Some people came to get away from a situation or past and needed an escape. Others came to ponder their future. Others came as a response to the help or good fortunes that had been given to them, some even by NCCC members. All, however, came to serve. It's really quite remarkable.

- One week from now, we will be heading to our spike project in New Orleans. I am so excited to be out of the classroom and getting things done.

- I'm definitely not excited about leaving behind some of the awesome friends that I have made on campus in just a month. It really is remarkable how quickly we have bonded.

- Poison ivy is really obnoxious.

- My 2010 Auburn football preview blog is up at https://cover2sports.net/Auburn.html for those who are interested in that sort of thing.

- There is also a very entertaining video of my performance at the NCCC talent show up on Facebook.

- I am now certified in First Aid, CPR, Red Cross Disaster training, Salvation Army disaster training, Child-Friendly Spaces, and many other things which may or may not be useful during our next 9 months.

- A quote that is posted in one of the rooms on campus that I find pretty awesome, "If you are here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." - Lilla Watson, an aboriginal activist

- It is crazy that this program runs from ages 18-24, because I believe that those may be the 6 most transformative years of a person's life. The maturity difference in some cases is quite obvious, but also provides an interesting challenge. The mission of Americorps NCCC is to build leaders and strengthen communities. I knew about the strengthening communities part before I came, but the building leaders portion is an interesting challenge for some of the older members.

-Disney songs transcend all other musical preferences.

- I haven't had Chic-fil-a in a month, and have only had fast food twice since I have been here. That is a pretty big accomplishment considering the last 4 years.

- Some people are going to get up at 6:00 three mornings a week all year and still get absolutely nothing out of their physical training. Seems pointless to me. I plan on giving my all and making my PT worthwhile. I am even somewhat enjoying it, except for the early start.

-That's all until New Orleans, unless something dramatic happens.

Permanent Teams and Our First Assignment

The last two days have been long, tough, and emotion-filled. Wednesday was a day of both excitement and dread as we awaited the revelation of our permanent teams while not wanting to leave our temporary families. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly the bonds for Temp River 1 have formed and the love and friendship that we have for each other after only a week and a couple days. I am definitely sad to be leaving these awesome friends, though I know we will still have some time together for the rest of the month and when we return for project transitions. On Wednesday night, however, Temp Team 1 came to an end for me, and River 5 became my permanent home. River Five consists of 4 former members of the temp team, which is awesome. Drew, Brittany, Joe, and Mario are joined by Neva, Molly, Nora, Dianca, and Eric, and led by Team Leader Allie. We spent the day getting to know one another and beginning bonding. Starting over will be a struggle, but I am sure that the friendships will grow strong throughout our time. At the end of the day came the revelation of our first project! River 5 will be joining River 2 in Chalmette Louisiana, 10 miles from New Orleans to work with the St. Bernard Project. St. Bernard parish was the first to be declared unlivable following Hurricane Katrina 5 years ago and continues to rebuild. To date, the St. Bernard Project has built over 270 houses in addition to gutting and rebuilding homes. Our group will be trained and serve as building site supervisors for construction, gutting, and rebuilding of residences in Chalmette. I am extremely excited to return to the Gulf Coast after 2 previous rebuilding trips shortly after Katrina. The 6-7 week stint will provide the opportunity to do so much more than we were able to do in the 4-5 days trips. More details to come as we begin our briefing on the project, but we already know that our housing is conveniently located next to a laser tag arena. Not sure it gets much better than that.

Diversity: More than just an old wooden ship

On Tuesday, our unit went through a day long diversity training in an effort to create awareness both about the wide range of backgrounds of our members, as well as the communities of which we will become a part. We worked through problem solving, managing disagreements, and attempting to understand the culture and background from which people came before judging. By far the most poignant activity, however, was the privilege walk and ensuing discussions. During a privilege walk, everyone lines up in the middle of a room and then steps either forward or backward depending upon the amount of privileges they have been privy to in their lives. The key factor in this exercise is that all of the things that are called out are things completely out of the control of the participants and solely determined by their surroundings growing up, their family situation, and their racial or ethnic background. I knew before we started that I would end up fairly close to the front, and that is something that I try to be thankful for every day. It amazed me, however, to see how large the gap got, and how all of these people from such different surroundings ended up choosing to live a year in service. The ensuing discussion was fascinating as people struggled with the privileges they had or had not received and how we take what we've been given and use it to remedy injustice. It was an intense day, and an activity that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in at some point in their life. Now for the bullets:

• Temp Team River 1 picked up two new members over the weekend- Danielle from Las Vegas and Mario from Atlanta.
• They didn't stay with us long, as we now have our permanent teams (spoiler- you'll see more of Mario as the blog continues)
• PT number 1 was decently tough. It consisted of 4 stations. First, an "Indian" aka Native American run in which the line of 30ish people begins running around a field. The person in the back sprints to the front of the jogging line and assumes the head position. The team continues jogging and the process repeats for 8 minutes. Second was a relay race which involved running with high knees down to do 5 push-ups and back. Those in line to wait are jogging in place. Station 3 was a ramped up version of the Furniture Game, which involved constant running amidst the partner formations. The final activity was a kick-boxing-esque workout, combined with some bows and toes. Tough workout, but felt pretty good after.

Monday Funday?

Random thoughts on a long and taxing Monday:

• We took our physical fitness baseline at 6:00 this morning. I was dreading it leading up to it, but was overall happy with the results, at least as a pushing off point. Each time we return to Vicksburg from our spike (projects where we stay off campus) we will do these tests again to judge our physical fitness progress. We will do PT at least 3 times a week for our entire time here. My baseline numbers for today: -1.5 mile run- 17:08; Goal for end of program- 14:00 -Push-ups in 1 minute- 17; Goal for end of program- 30 -Crunches in 1 minute- 74; Goal for end of program- 90 crunches or 50 situps
• Reading a powerpoint presentation is the worst way to present large amounts of boring information to a group of 18-24 year-olds who have been up since 5:15 and done a fitness test.
• Powerpoint in general is not an overly effective method of information distribution, especially when read straight off the slides.
• I might be a bit picky when it comes to presentations after majoring in mass communications.
• My address here is Drew Bonner, Class XVII 2715 Confederate Ave Vicksburg, MS 39180. I will add it to the blog header.
• I have really enjoyed cooking here. It is so much easier to cook when you are doing it for 10 people then just 1 or 2.
• Alabama Crimson Tide- 12 National Championships, 8 teeth. RTR

Americorps Overview and Week 1

My Americorps journey has begun. On Monday, August 2nd, I arrived in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the Southern Region Campus of Americorps NCCC. One of the first things I saw upon arriving on campus was that there was a pool, complete with a water volleyball net. At that point, I knew things would be ok. Week one has consisted primarily of training, paperwork, and meetings to get get 140 new Corps members acclimated to the policies and procedures of the NCCC. We have been placed into temporary teams in order to get to know some folks and easily facilitate the training, but those will change on Wednesday, when we are placed into the permanent teams of about 10 people. My temporary team, River 1 (we are divided into 2 units, River and Delta) has been amazing. We have all bonded really well and are not looking forward to being broken up next week. The Temp River 1 team consists of Drew from Alabama, Joe from California, Reshia from Florida, Adam from Wisconsin, Brittany from Maine, Lauren from Indiana, Sam from Wisconsin, and team leader April from San Diego, California. Together, we have gone through trainings that include Southern culture, Vicksburg's Civil War history, van driver training (3 of us are now certified to drive a 15-passenger van), policies and rules, uniforms, and Americorps history. As someone who frequents blogs fairly regularly, I am aware that lengthy blogs are generally skipped over. As a result, I will now transition to bulletted thoughts and observations from week one to keep interest. This will be the blog's general format going forward.

• I celebrated my birthday on our first full day here, and my team and others were awesome about making sure that it was great, even after just meeting the day before.
• Night swims are awesome.
• Many of those who do not live in the South were absolutely astounded at the amount of pests that we have here- snakes, spiders, chiggers, fire ants, and tornadoes are just a few of the things that have really freaked people out during the first week.
• It was fascinating to learn about Southern culture from an expert, even as someone who lives in the South and has all my life. It was even more interesting to see the pre-conceptions that many people had about our region (though many of them are fairly accurate).
• NCCC is the domestic version of the PeaceCorps and the modern version of FDR's CCC.
• Our region director is a very wise man. He sees what I think is the very important fact that building communities is not only about solving immediate problems, but about developing education and awareness to help build and strengthen community infrastructures.
• It has been really awesome getting to meet so many people who are all in the same boat, coming to meet 140 new people and begin a year of service. I had originally pictured NCCC as a combination of summer camp and The Real World. So far, it isn't far from the truth.
• I think this year is going to be really awesome and can't look forward to what it brings.

50 Things I Learned In College

1. You can go cheap on a lot of things. Ziploc bags are not one of them.

2. Rhetoric and writing skills will get you a long way. Maybe all the way through a class…Or a degree.

3. Some work just isn’t worth the money. *ref: Greek Sing dress rehearsal

4. Pro-life and Global warming are two of the poorest word choices and potentially misunderstood terms in America. Pro-life is restricted solely to government restriction of abortion, but bears no significance to being in favor of life in the cases of war or the death penalty. Global warming is the term that damned the plausibility of what should in fact be termed global climate change. The theory is not that the earth is constantly getting warmer, but that humans are affecting the stability of weather in a negative manner based on the chemicals and gases being put into the ecosystem. Thanks Al Gore.

5. It’s not the grades you make, it’s the hands you shake.

6. There’s no such thing as bad pizza.

7. It is still sometimes worth it to pay for good pizza.

8. Most classic rock is not enjoyable except in extreme moderation.

9. Country sucks more.

10. Sometimes the humor is worth more than your ego.

11. Public transportation is a tool of the marginalized and a vehicle toward further marginalization. *ref- Miami mission trip

12. The more you learn about religion, the more faith plays a role. *ref- History of Christianity, Intro to New Testament, Intro to Hebrew Scriptures

13. I’ve been cursed with my dad’s ridiculous sense of humor and love of puns. *ref- every joke I make

14. If you are good enough, you can make that sense of humor work. *ref- YT, Drew

15. Theme Parties RULE! *ref- Jersey Shore, Tacky Sweater, Redneck, Rave Pt. 1-4, Black and White, Wine and Cheese, Pirates Booty, etc.

16. Being absurd is way more fun than sitting back and judging the absurdity.

17. If a professor walks in and is cussing on the first day, the class will likely be entertaining and informative. *ref: Sutton: “This class is rated MA for language, mature content, and brief nudity, which means I can say whatever the *%#* I want.”

18. Walking into Sky Bar and seeing a guy with a cowboy hat on stage in the back room is one of life’s greatest disappointments.

19. If you are looking for something that no one should ever wear, go to K-Mart.

20. Painting up at football games gives you the right to slap the players’ butts after a win. *ref- my hand on Antonio Coleman’s butt

21. Intramurals rule.

22. Spank your children.

23. The middle school principals were right, guys should always wear belts. It really does make a difference in your appearance.

24. I hate museums and parades.

25. Fireworks are only cool if they play the song from the night game on Sandlot during them.

26. Pigtails/ French braids are still cute.

27. There’s nothing funnier than punching a koala.

28. Sometimes the best nights come just chatting with friends with the sounds of an acoustic guitar in the background.

29. Leggings are pants, and girls belts are merely for decorations. Uggs are still stupid.

30. After locating your classes and figuring out your routes, you must locate your high quality bathrooms in buildings of interest.

31. Dogs are not a man’s best friend. Gold Bond is.

32. Wearing costumes on Halloween is cool again.

33. Having a wide array of friend groups is the optimal way to go through life for maximum enjoyment.

34. The Church is changing and the ones that don’t change will quickly cease to exist.

35. Some songs transcend music. *ref- Party in the U.S.A.

36. Regardless of what they say, girls think farting noises are funny.

37. It’s easier to keep your apartment clean along the way, than try to clean three years worth of grime off at once. Whoops. *ref- Move-out ‘010

38. Glowsticks and marinara sauce make anything better. *These are in addition to the previously known pepperoni and Hormel chili.

39. Everyone should own a light-up Frisbee.

40. I really enjoy writing. It’s a shame that I only do it when it relates to sports or when I am being super-sentimental.

41. Every kid should learn to play an instrument.

42. I never want to have a desk job.

43. People have the primal desire to pee anywhere but toilets, and especially in forbidden or daring places.

44. Every college student should live in the dorms freshman year. And have a light up frisbee.

45. Duty may be the funniest word in the world.

46. I could eat an entire gallon bucket of Laffy Taffy just for the amusement of reading the jokes.

47. If you have to rely on excessive yelling or hand gestures in order to create comedy, you probably aren’t funny. *ref- Vince Vaughan, Dane Cook, Conan O’Brian

48. You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can’t bomb it into peace.

49. There’s no time like the present. There’s no present like time.

50. If you get the choice to sit it out or dance…Dance!