Finally an update

Hello everyone! I had really intended to post something before I left after FACES was over, or maybe once I got here, but time sort of got away from me and I ended up putting it off until now. Where to even start!? It has really been a whirlwind of a couple weeks. The end of camp was amazing, and I am SO incredibly lucky to have had such an opportunity to work with all the wonderful kids who attended. They constantly taught me things every day that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and I am still thinking of them often. On top of being done with FACES, I had to say goodbye to everyone in Bellingham for the next ten months to embark on the beginning of my journey. I must say that this was one of the more difficult days I have experienced because last year I befriended some beautiful human beings that I am missing dearly every day out here in the cornfields of rural Iowa. There were tears, laughter, and probably a little too much wine, but the first round of goodbyes came and went leaving minimal battle scars. Unfortunately, the day I left Bellingham would be the first of those goodbyes, but now, because I have been gone for about two weeks, I know that the physical act of saying goodbye to someone you will not see for a very long time is the worst part, and that missing people doesn't always have to be such a bad thing. The trip out here was quite the adventure. I got to have to pleasure of riding in the back of my family's minivan with Joe, while my parents carted us out to the midwest. Something I always enjoyed as a child were the various roadtrips we took as a family, so it was really neat to do one again. Despite the nature of the trip, and the looming feeling that there were more goodbyes to come, we all had SO much fun! We sang along to our favorite songs; Cat Stevens, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Beatles, Dixie Chicks, Mumford & Sons, Simon & Garfunkle...you name it, we sang it. Joe and I had a lot of fun challenging each other to guess the name of songs, or playing the spelling game where the first person to spell a word loses. In other words, we kick ass at road trips. We stayed in Rochester, MN with my grandparents the two nights before I was dropped off, and it was great to spend some time with them. They are in the process of selling their house and downsizing to a condo to accomodate their traveling lifestyle...so cool for them! When the day came for me to finally leave for good, my parents and Joe drove me to Vinton, which is about three hours away from Rochester, to drop me off. It was pretty much just as sad as I had envisioned it to be. Maybe more.... It has certainly been difficult a few times, missing everyone so much back in Bellingham, and feeling farther away from my family in Waitsburg than I have ever been before, but the people I have met here are some of the kindest and most interesting that I have ever come across. I theorized about a month or so ago when I was feeling really down about leaving that the type of people who would give up whatever the heck they were doing at that point in their lives to do ten months of volunteer work while living on a stipend must not suck that badly, and so far that has proven to be very correct. Already, I feel like I have been welcomed into an impromptu family by the team I am working with, and that I have known some of these people for much longer than I actually have. Right now, we are still in the middle of training for our first round of projects here in Vinton. In a few weeks, we will be departing for Anniston, AL, for more in-depth FEMA training. I'm not entirely sure of everything this training will entail, but I am excited to check another state off the list and to take a road trip with the team. Our specific role for the next ten months will be Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA). More specifically, we'll be canvassing in communities that might have been affected by a natural disaster/flood/fire/etc., assessing their needs, and reporting them back so that they can get the resources they need to recover the things they've lost. Within the team, we have all been assigned different positions to help operations run more smoothly, and I have been assigned the position entitled "Service Learning Initiator." We haven't dug too deeply into any projects yet, but, along with another team member, I will be leading weekly reflection activities about our service to make sure we're all able to voice our opinions/thoughts/feelings about the different projects. From my understanding, this will probably involve researching social, environmental, or economic issues behind our projects, and getting creative about appealing to everyone's learning styles in our group! This could be challenging, but I am excited to delve into it! Overall, things have been going well so far. There are still a few times everyday where I kind of wonder why the hell I just dipped out of school for the year to live out of a duffel bag and travel around the country doing service projects, but I am usually able to justify that feeling, so I suppose that's a good sign. Hopefully, I'll post something before we leave for Alabama to talk about the rest of training, and maybe next time, I'll know what our first project will be, and I'll be able to tell you guys a little bit about it. I have already recieved some good old-fashioned snail mail, and it made my whole life, so if anyone wants to send me fun letters, I will try to reciprocate! I just biked down to the post office in the blazing midwestern heat last week and bought a bunch of stamped envelopes, so I'll be writing people like crazy! My address here is: Maya E. Garcia, 1004 G Avenue, Vinton, IA 52349. Of course, I wont really be here for very much of the next ten months, but from my underrstanding, they forward any mail to the prject sites, should it come to campus while we're gone. SO SEND ME FUN THINGS BECAUSE IT MAKES ME REALLY HAPPY. Love you all and miss your faces dearly, Maya