Sunny California #2

Back to business...

So I've become very close with/to my pod over the past two weeks. We really had a pod of all-stars, although all the pods said the same thing about themselves. It's an amazing unintentional experiment of human needs (at least for my age group.) In my opinion, since nobody knows anybody at the beginning, we're all more prone to opening up to the kids we spend the most time with, which was the pod. It sounds simple, but these kids really were great. There were three college graduates from George Washington, Dartmouth and Wesleyan, a 24-year old coming back from a year in Australia, and even more easygoing, adventurous children of nature. We hit it off right out the gates.

The first service project we had was in a town called Winters, a small, rural place 1 hour northwest of Sac town at a community garden. Or at least it would soon become a community garden. Right now it was an uneven plot of land with some posts marked out. We dug trenches for 8 hours for irrigation purposes. Nuff said.

The following day the crew went to downtown Sacramento and spent the first 2 hours eating brunch and exploring a sizable park behind the capital building. It was breezy, but warm. There are rarely clouds in the sky in Sacramento. But after those first couple of hours, we branched out into different parts of Sacramento and found a very different scene. Not only were 95% of stores closed (granted it was Sunday), but some parts of teh city looked stuck in the 60's. The only people on the streets were homeless and mostly crazy. It was a really sad scene. My first glimpse of poverty. We rambled over to Old Sacramento (affectionately dubbed Old Sac, guffaw guffaw) and found a kind of frozen 20's small town setting, but the stores were filled with souvenirs and some were restaurants and ice cream parlors. Nicer then downtown Sacramento, but still shady. Either way, the pod endured a laugh fest that continued all day. For lack of better description, we just laughed at each other and stupid things (like Old Sac) all day. My abs were sore the next day.

A moderated crew went to San Francisco the next Saturday night. Talk about an awesome city. It's all on a hill, just beautiful. We met a friend of a friend working there, ate Thai food, and went out on the San Francisco town. It was awesome. The friend of a friend was Latvian, so we all went back to her friend's house and partied there for the rest of the night. Reminded me heavily of times spent abroad. I learned only the most essential Latvian phrases, which I won't repeat. The next day consisted of breakfast, Golden Gate Bridge park, Pier 39 (where Sea Lions whore themselves out to each on docks in plain sight of humans), and a store called 826 that sold pirate gear (don't ask).

We started Physical Training (heretofore called PT) the week after we arrived. It consists mostly of running, with some pushups, situps, and other exercises mixed in. Not hard, unless it's at 5:30 every morning. Ever tried serious physical activity in the middle of the night? Add some dew and you have PT. Not to mention grumbling guys and whining girls. And overspirited team leaders. And 300 kids running every which way to nab the best "night vests" (bright orange). Because if you don't get the best night vests they end up falling down one side of your body as you run, an unwanted distraction to even the least serious of runners. PT just sucks. Plain and simple. I see why some people need it, but it's too early. Simple bodily functions don't operate that early. See what I mean by "grumbling guys"? And of course you stay up too late with your new found friends and deprive yoruself of sleep. Everyone has a cold. Seriously. Everyone.

The nightlife at McClellan Air Force Base consists of two options: the local dive bar Harvey's, or the hookah bar a little down the road. The 18-year-olds prefer the hookah bar, while I like Harveys. For those who know what I'm talking about, imagine Don's Rok meets the pub. Only beer is served, but it's small and crowded with only the most suspicious townies posted up at the bar. The primary activity at Harvey's is pool. I've seriously improved my game. Or maybe I just get drunk and think I've improved my game. More coming on that once I've figured it out. On the way back to campus is the 24-hour taco restaurant Adalberto's. I have yet to stop in, but I can only imagine how much effort they put into their ingredients and flavorings. Can't wait.

So I'm almost caught up. The most recent event (happened 2 days ago) was the break up of Pod 5 (my pod). I am now fully with the team I will spend the next 9.5 months with. They are a great bunch, but the energy isn't there yet. They are quite reserved. 3 boys and 6 girls, with a male Team Leader. Everyone's starting to loosen up, but we have a long way to go. I guess that's why they put us together for 10 months. More on this later.

Just a warning, I want this blog to be just that, but also a journal. So at times I may wander off into thought, at which point if you find it boring or not understanding what I'm saying move on to the next paragraph. Not sure if this will work, but I want to remember some things I was thinking also. And keeping a blog and journal is difficult. I'm bound lose one of them.

As you were. Still "Getting Things Done" in Americorps. Even if what's "getting done" wasn't supposed to be.