First Week - "I hope you're friends with your bladder!"

"Success doesn't come to you…you go to it."Marva Collins

Wow. I'm here. And if experience teaches me anything it just confirms the saying about worry being a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but you never get anywhere with it. I spent so much time panicking and worrying about this experience and now that I'm here, its not quite as bad as I had anticipated...well, not yet anyway.

Our little group of 200 corps members lives in two dorm buildings on the east corner of the old McClellan Air Force base. We have about three other buildings of our use and have been training there. As soon as we arrived, they tacked us with name tags, thrust a packet in our hands and shoved us along like a reluctant child not wanting to leave the comforts of Mommy. We got fitted for boots and uniforms (including this fabulous safari hat that you're all going to be madly jealous about!), got ID cards (imagine flat hair, sweaty, exhausted face full of effort trying to smile and you have what minelooks like), filled out enough forms to injure a hand and so much more. The worst part was they worked us until about 8pm, which for 2/3's of the members was going on 10 and 11pm. Long day!

I'm not too impressed with the outter Sacramento area. Driving in from the airport was dead, brown fields and a lot of just busted up property. There was a strech that actually reminded me of when the Blazels and I took the public bus in Mexico. Apparently its not too safe near here either. It's been encouraged more than twice to always have a buddy when going anywhere...even to the gas station two blocks down. They advised us not to speak to anyone, just head up and straight ahead. It was even suggested that girls not walk on the south end of the main road because it is a "Strolling Section" of town. What is that you ask? Well, prostitues. It is common that men will start conversation with you in hopes of drumming up business and many pimps hang out there trying to recruit new ladies for business. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!

We have our first service project set up for tomorrow. It's Make a Difference Week in the area and we'll be doing some clean up and gardening in the city's local parks. I have a fun team (Go Pod 11 - Special K!) so I'm pretty excited!

Well, I'm exhausted again and I think I'm going to try to fit in a nap before dinner. I need to go to the BX (like a K-Mart for the military base) but heaven forbid I walk three miles without a buddy. Until next time!

Cheers!