Just an update

I got the question the other day about "do people in minot flood often? did they expect the flood?" or something to that extent and I honestly didn't know the answer - I assumed they didn't expect it just from the little knowledge I had of approx. 300 homes had flood insurance out of the 4000+ that got damaged. Today I got a chance to talk with a FEMA worker and another local volunteer both who have lived here for their whole lives and they both said it was a complete shock..it's what's known as a 100 year flood. They have flooded in the past but never to the devastating affect it had back in 2011. Also someone else asked if the work we're doing here was for the 2011 flood or for recent flooding, there has been no significant recent flooding all the work I'm doing is from 2011...it takes a long time to recover from a flood.

The work we're doing is challenging to say the least, there are good days and some questionable days but over all I'm really enjoying the work here...even if the work isn't necessarily pleasant we're still helping those who cannot help themselves and there's no question about that being the right thing to do. Today for example we had some rather dirty work that had to be done and I ended up coughing and sneezing all day and being physically miserable but what kept me going was how helpless some of these people are...they're perfectly fine people but just the circumstances keep piling up against them to the point where nobody could tackle it alone. The woman today had to be moved from one FEMA trailer to another - the deadline for her to get out was today at 5pm but she JUST got out of the hospital for having two knee surgeries...so obviously she needed assistance.
The deliveries are my favorite part of the work - the warehouse does deliveries to those who qualify for assistance and the gratitude you receieve while unloading their matierals is amazing. I understand why people pursue work in disaster relief, although stressful and unpredictable it's so fulfilling.

I'm getting use to the fact I don't have cell phone service, it's very annoying but it's okay. So far the internet is sufficing well enough. It's given me a lot of time to think about things and plan stuff - I'm WAY ahead of the ball on my portfolio..I'm almost done with it and I've gotten 41.5 hours of ISP hours out of the 100 I need. But just as far as my future goes here's a bulleted list (I make LOTS of lists...)

• return home in November
• Spring 2014 semester @ JTCC
• I have some classes picked out
• Summer 2014 semester
• also planned courses
• Fall 2014 semester
• you guessed it...more planning
• STL in Vinton, Iowa
• I am applying for this position in Vinton, USTL to be more specific. I'll basically be the assistant to the Unit leader.
• return home in November, return to school, transfer for VCU, major in BIO or ENV, find a career, travel the world.

That's the next two years planned out right there. When I come home this November I plan on also applying to state/national Americorps programs as well as traditional jobs back at home so I can work while giong to school...I couldn't imagine not working now..since I work basically 7 days in a row! haha 16 days without a break after next weekend :p

But during this summer break I also plan to go to Des Moine, IA...some of my teammates want to go up there for a little day trip so I've been looking up stuff about it :) maybe we'll find a train and go somewhere also..who knows.

I definitely apprecaite traveling more..I used to be scared to really go new places or try new things but I've discovered that the world (well America, but I'm going to assume the world also) is a beautiful place. It's absurd to tie yourself down to one place, if given the chance you should travel all over...take advantage of everything around you. I definitely plan to do more traveling in the future and try many new things. I hope I can encourage others to do the same, I was missing out on so much while I let my fears hold me back...I don't want others to feel that way too.


okay I guess that's enough you know everything that's been going on in my head now. E-mail me with any questions :)