A short one

I'm trying to think of things to share and I really don't have much. This week is our last for CTI (corps training institute ... I know, right?) training, much to everyone's relief. Our team has spent a portion of the week going over our upcoming round in Beaumont. I found out that we'll actually be staying at a YMCA in Port Arthur, TX. Basically, we've just been assigning team roles/responsibilities and going over what to expect. We presented our project briefing this morning to Kevin, the Earth UL, and Ray. It was mostly a formality, they just want to know that we're prepared to go and that we have plans to accomplish everything that we've been assigned. Everyone is pretty excited to finally get going. The wildfire teams will be staying an extra week to do our wildfire training. Then, we'll all ship out on March 10th.

This past Tuesday, we did our first PT as a team. We did a variation on an Indian run, tossing a ball to the person behind us. Every time we dropped, we had to do 15 push ups. We had two drops within the first thirty seconds. After that, we had a smooth run. It was more fun than I thought it would be. We stretched at the end of the route, but no one was tired so everybody went for another lap. I can't really describe the feeling, but it's really great to see that we automatically push each other and support each other, even in little things like PT. I think we're definitely starting out well as a team.

We also had a few birthdays in the Earth unit, Adrienne (one of my teammates), Ronnie and Maria. I started the night off by joining a latin dance class that Andrew (one of my travelmates from the train) had set up. That was a lot of fun. Apparently, he had taught some swing at the ballroom dance class the night before. I was a little peeved that I missed it, but salsa was pretty similar so it was still a good time. Andrew was moving on to teach rumba when a bunch of us left for the bowling alley down the street, where Adrienne was celebrating her 23rd birthday. I'm happy to report that I actually had fun, and it's pretty much because of the bowling =) At first, the lanes were packed because it was $1-bowling night. I hung around in the bar for a little while with Nikki, Levi and a throng of AmeriCorps people, played a little pinball. At one point, Pat managed to get a lane so we jumped at the chance and bowled a game. I left around 11:00, just because I wanted to get some sleep, so I walked home with Sean and Levi.

Tomorrow, the wildfire teams have their pack test. We have to walk three miles in 45 minutes, carrying a 45 lb. pack. There are a few people who are unphased by it, but I know plenty of people (including myself) who are pretty nervous about it. If we don't pass it tomorrow, we have to bust our asses in PT during our first round so that we can work up to passing the test on our next (and final) attempt. Merh =\

I've been looking back over my past entries and I just want to take this time to say that I hope I'm painting a thorough picture of my time in NCCC. It's difficult to sort out what I should write about and what can be passed over. If anyone has any questions as they read or wants to know more, feel free to leave a comment and I'd be glad to expound on whatever strikes your fancy. For now, I'm going to start walking back to the dorms. Since we only had our project briefing this morning, we've had the rest of the day to ourselves. I walked down here to Wal-Mart to do some shopping (my moral fiber twinges with disapproval) and hit the library for some internet, as the campus internet is apparently down all over. I got my flag in the mail last night, so I'll probably spin. Hopefully, I won't be too rusty.