i love my ameri-life!

today has been a fantastic day among other pretty great, if not exhausting, days. here's why:

my roommate's sleep-talking woke me up at 4:29am, saving me from the alarm that was scheduled for 4:30am. group pt (physical training) kicked me sparklebum and increased my resolve to master push-ups this year. i enjoyed the jog home and quick shower before heading to delaware for our last day of red cross disaster relief training.

i spent the next few hours working with other ameriwhorps on simulating how to set up, run, and close down a disaster relief shelter. it was humbling to realize how much coordination goes into that sort of thing, and how inevitable are mistakes. it was thrilling to know that the red cross and i are in agreement that, if necessary, i could manage a shelter, man an emergency relief vehicle, and conduct client interviews to provide relief for several hundred people should a disaster occur. i hope that i never have to use those skills and am very grateful to have them.

i briefly returned to perry point (or "the point", as it is affectionately known) for a quick lunch, then joined a van of people for an isp volunteer event at the local boys and girls club.

isp=independent service project. it is a leader-approved volunteer event that was set up by a fellow corps member. each ameriwhorps needs to complete a minimum of 80 isp hours to graduate from the nccc program. an unexpected byproduct has been a sense of empowerment about volunteerism. these projects need to be planned during our free hours and require transportation approval if we are using an amerishuttle. it has been incredible to see how many local opportunities are available if you have a group of 10 people who are available for a few hours on a saturday. i really like it.

and the boys and girls club. let's just say we were helping out with the valentine's party, which included:

1) a soulja boy dance competition
2) jumping rope
3) many piggy back rides
4) monkey in the middle
5) lots of elementary school children

what's not to love?

so i'm kicking it with the housemates tonight, heading out for another isp tomorrow (a stream/park cleanup in baltimore), then determining what kind of adventure i can plan for the remainder of a long weekend.

i'm sure i'll say this again, but if you are reading this and are 18-24, please consider the national civilian community corps. it freakin' rocks.