Party drama

Sorry for sucking so much at regularly updating this thing! I’ve been pretty worn out with work and everything lately. I guess I’ll just get on with it and talk about stuff.

Okay, so work lately has been tiring. Friday and Saturday both involved a lot of physical labor (Friday with tree deliveries, and on Saturday I spent a lot of time shoveling mulch for our maintenance project. My arms and left thigh are really sore, but it was a good workout). All of the Americorps members also have to organize neighborhood plantings (a minimum of 15 trees in a 4-5 block radius), so I spent some time last week actually walking around, knocking on doors and talking to people. My partner Micah and I actually got 2 applications on the spot, so that’s encouraging. Lots of negative responses also.

On Saturday Micah (my neighborhood planting partner) quit the Americorps program! He just really didn’t like their management style I guess, but I think it’s a silly reason to quit something like this. Oh well! My new partner, Vanessa, is really awesome. It should turn out alright. Oh, I’m also doing a school planting! The arborist (Christian) and I are going to the school on Wednesday to meet with the principal and maintenance dude to look around (and we’re going to try to talk them into taking more trees!). I’ve never actually set up and organized a school planting before so I’m nervous.

Hmm… oh yeah, Karoline’s birthday was a few days ago. She is one of the chicks I live with, and last night (since the grandparents headed off to Mexico) we had a post-birthday celebration. It was fun and there were a lot of cool people there. We hung out, did an air band tribute to AC/DC, and everything was cool until Ian showed up! Well, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so whatever. I did end up turning super-bitch on him though! Some back story:

Our City Forest has been having some trouble lately because several of the Americorps members have been taking advantage of the casual atmosphere around the office (showing up late, goofing off too much, not wearing the uniform). Last week we all had a big meeting where the staff basically told the Americorps members that some of the rules were going to start being enforced. No inappropriate language in the office, we have to show up on time, wear our uniforms, not take extended lunch breaks, etc. Big deal, right? Common sense stuff. Some of the members are stupid and freaked out (including Ian, who doesn’t wear his uniform and makes a plethora of inappropriate comments).

So anyway, someone anonymously hung a sign on the office bulletin board that said "A friendly reminder: Americorps = Conformity". I was ticked off because it was an immature thing to do, especially after this big meeting we just has where the staff tried to approach us like adults and be reasonable. I took the sign down.

Last night at the party Ian mentioned something about work (probably something about how shitty work was), and I asked him if he made the sign. He said yes, and I asked him why. "Just a friendly reminder", he says. I told him that wasn’t his intention, and that it was obvious. I then told him I took the sign down and he didn’t understand why. I told him that it was an immature thing to do, passive aggressive (not an effective way to deal with frustration, of course!), and made us Americorps members look like real assholes to the staff at OCF. Plus we are VOLUNTEERS, and are here to serve as a part of OCF. We should respect what OCF asks of us (especially common sense things like wearing your uniform!). Ian stood up, put on his cowboy hat, grabbed his guitar and stormed out of the house. He had brought 2 friends, and they just said "Well, he’s our ride, so we should probably go. Nice to meet you!"

I was so pissed! Another instance where he doesn’t know how to handle situations. I wasn’t even being disrespectful, just trying to explain to him why I took the sign down (and why I would take it down again if I ever saw it up). Grr.

Okay, on to something else! The Peace Corps regional office received my application, and I’m supposed to contact them to set up an interview time. I’m nervous! I have to get fingerprinting done beforehand, and have to figure out how I’d get my expenses covered while I’m away. That’s the part I’m most nervous about because I don’t know if it’s possible.

I’m also looking into Americorps programs that pique my interest, thinking maybe I’ll find something worthwhile to do for another year. I also received an application for Brethren Volunteer Services (BVS), which is kindof like Americorps/Peace Corps but funded through the Brethren church. You don’t have to be a member of the church to join, so that’s a plus.

So I’m basically just trying to cover all of my bases. Right now though I think I’m going to listen to Car Talk (an awesome radio show on NPR if you ever want to look it up) and clean my room. So domestic!

By the way, I recently took pictures of the place where I’m living and will upload them whenever I find my USB cord thingy for my digital camera.