Time Flies When You're Having Fun

4/13/13

It’s been about 2 ½ months since I last blogged.  It’s pretty much been non-stop since the craziness began.  It all started with way, way back in mid-February when we started a 3-week training program referred to as the Corps Training Instiute or CTI.  Over 170 corps members arrived on campus for leadership training and ever since then I’ve been on the go.  After CTI, our next adventure was driving a fleet of 15-passenger vans from the warm, sunny climate of Sacramento to the harsh dry desert of Artesia, New Mexico for FEMA specific training at the Federal Law Enforcement Facility.  Two weeks later we packed up the vans and headed across the country to help with the recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy in New York.  My temporary home is in an Extended Stay Hotel in Melville, NY on “Lon Gisland.”  How long we stay and where we go next is unknown.  Best way to describe my life is “FEMA Flexible.”

Below are highlights from my adventure so far:

Highlight #1:  My team—Gold #2.  Our birthdate is February 19^th.  We started out 10 people strong; 8 women and 2 men.  The team is best described as professional, smart, and efficient.  Just like their team leader, they need a little help in the touch, feely department but I’m just the person to make it happen.

• Pete (a.k.a, Beard), age 22, who is from Pennsylvania and went to college for creative writing and he’s a musician. 
• Chris, age 24, is from Michigan, went to college in Florida, and wants to work with animals. 
• Courtney, age 22, is from Kentucky and studied creative writing and chemistry and loves, loves, loves the Beatles. 
• Taylor (a.k.a, Jordan), age 19, is from the Houston area and is the youngest and funniest on our crew.
• Sarah, age 22, is from Minnesota.  She’s an artist and wants to be a police officer.
• Kaitlin, age 22, is from Sacramento, talks like a valley girl, and went to school in Santa Cruz for psychology.
• Katie, age 22, is from Chicago and loves talking about everything Chicago in her cool Chicago accent and studied social work in college.
• Mckena (a.k.a., Dr. Woo), age 22, is from Beaverton, has a sharp wit, and wants to be a professor someday.
• Jaimee (a.k.a., James), age 22, is from Syracuse and is looking for life after retail work.
• Heather, age 21, is from the coast of Delaware and resigned from the program 24-hours before we departed for New York City.  

Highlight #2:  My short-term relationship and marriage to a beef burrito near Phoenix, Arizona.  The marriage was officiated by Dr. Woo and attended by my team members. 

Highlight #3:  Spending 2 weeks in the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center a.k.a. FLETC in Artesia, NM.  Traditionally a training facility for police officers, border patrol and ATF agents.  It will never be the same after the arrival of FEMA Corps!  Not much more than a cafeteria, dorms, classrooms, and dudes in fatigues marching in formation in the middle of nowhere.  Highlight was walking in formation with my team ever day without laughing.