Spike Prep

This is a picture of some of my teammates and me on Halloween when we all had lunch together in our costumes among the sea of Americorps people all dressed the same. My team leader, Mike, is the one with the footie pajamas


Our projects where we are away from Denver are called "spike projects". This week we mostly prepared for them. We assigned roles on the team, so each person has one or two jobs. Mine are PT (physical training) coordinator and Yearbook representative. I am doing both of those jobs with another member of the team. We are going out on disaster relief, so we are only allowed to bring one bag with us, which they provide, so we have been trying to cram all of our stuff into another suitcase, since we are only allowed to store one when we are gone. We have daily room inspections to make sure we are packing, cleaning, etc.
Today we had our project briefing, where each member of the team stands up in front of the director and unit leader and talks about their role on the team and what they will be doing in that role while on spike. During this meeting we found out that our team would be traveling to Galveston, TX to live in a tent city and do work down there. We were excited to finally know where we would be going, after weeks of not knowing. A few hours later though, during my room inspection, my team leader said that plans had changed and that now we are living in Austin for the entire time, and most likely living in a hotel. I am excited, because I like Austin, and I think it will be a good opportunity to get to know the city better. We leave Monday, drive to Amarillo and spend the night, then drive to Austin on Tuesday.
Today (Friday) I volunteered at the Children's Museum. We have to complete 80 hours of independent service project (ISP) while completing our 1700 hours of service during the 10 months of Americorps. The Children's Museum was my first 5 hours. They had a big trick or treat event where kids came and played games and trick or treated in different rooms inside and outside of the museum. It was really cute. My friend Ruthie and I were assigned to games first, and then to mask making. The kids were really adorable and excited about everything, which was awesome.
Tomorrow is our induction ceremony where we are officially inducted into the program. I think tomorrow night I am going to camp in Boulder and then we leave Monday!