Saturday, February 02, 2008

i love your citizens! (and other ameritales)

VOCAB TEST
it has come to my attention that all americorps lingo must start with the prefix "ameri-". that you might be educated further:

ameripants: uniform black/brown cargo pants
ameriphone: a federally-funded cell phone issued to team leaders
amerivan: shuttles used to transport ameriwhorps
amerihouse: the living accommodations provided to ameriwhorps at perry point; collectively known as "the village"; 2007 filming location for a small-budget horror flick starring tom cruise's relative
ameriwhorps: a premonitorily assigned nickname for nccc members
americrush: any romantic feelings between ameriwhorps
ameritales: vignettes about life as an ameriwhorps

CAUGHT IN THE ACT
an enthusiastic ameriwhorps approached me last night in the rec room: "i'm so sorry - i have forgotten your name, but i wanted to tell you earlier - i love your citizens!" i thought it an odd remark given the circumstances and even more strange to use a possessive adjective...until i realized she was talking about my jeans. we discussed her design fetish for a minute or two and relished the revelation that i purchased the pants out of the trunk of an SUV last year.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PLAY
after the wildland firefighter meeting on thursday night, i heard a fellow ask if anyone wanted to walk to the village instead of taking a shuttle. i quickly volunteered to join him - chris, from from grand rapids, mi - jordan (his roommate) and jessie (a woman who flew with me from denver to baltimore). we enjoyed some amiable conversation and agreed to reconvene later in the evening for games.
the contestants: several women and men, all ameriwhorps.
the game: "battle of the sexes", a humorous trivia game that would make susie b. turn in her grave.
the wager: sunday dinner.
the outcome: i just hope the fellas like frozen lasagna.

DOPPELGANGERS
i have seen a few familiar faces among the ameriwhorps:
housemate sara: looks and sounds very much like sniar. she and i easily fall into conversations about philosophy, religion, and politics between spontaneous dance parties and other shenanigans. another reason i suspect she is sniar's long-lost twin.
tyler: looks very much like i would imagine bp did as a 19-year-old. with strawberry blond hair, high cheekbones, and a mischievous grin, you get the feeling he's amiable before he even says anything. fortunately, that inkling proves true when you actually talk to him. although...when we first met, he said, "oh don't bother with my name. there's a million of us here. chances are, i'll never see you again." as a result, i make a point of nagging him with, "tyler! so good to see you again!" every time we cross paths (which is frequently).

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
i never feel entirely settled in a place until i start to acquire nicknames. so i was thrilled when i'll-never-see-you-again tyler decided to tag along for "battle of the sexes" with: "hey detroit! you know my name and i can't remember yours!" i was even more pleased when one of my first acquaintances, second-year jeff, took to calling me "boom boom" at the mixer yesterday. and, of course, i don't mind the occasional "christy" i get from nia-who-shortens-everyone's-name-including-her-own.

2 comments:

CompTron said...

why don't all the ameriwhorps wear citizens, i ask? they're stretchy, cheap, more attractive than the americoveralls i suspect, and they sound democratic.

i do love your ameritales, sparkle. glad you're happy and adventuring.

Maxine Parrish said...

I think you're ameriawesome! Wait, that sounds too much like "a mariachi..."

Amerifab? Americool!