Northeast Fun!!!

Hey All
So currently i'm living in a tent on the Narrow River in Rhode Island and working on a historical organic farm!! It's so cool, we walk about a mile to work through the woods, get to help pick crops that are sold in the farmers market on the weekend. The owners is awesome and it's pretty much run by ladies, and everyone loves life!! It's all about being healthy and green and how everyone can work together to make the world a better place... i may sound crazy but this is how they do it up in the northeast.. the town i'm living in is called Saunderstown and its about 20 min from Newport RI so crazy!! Favorite this i have done in the 2 days i have worked on the farm, cutting fresh dill, smells sooooo amazing!! thats all more to come this time i promise!!
~~~~Britt~~~ xoxoxox~~~~~xoxoxox

Gulf Coast

Well it's been a good while since i have written and i am so sorry about it. But i gave been in the Gulf for a few months now working with a specialty team called the Gulf Liaison Team, we help all the other NCCC teams in the gulf with projects, ISP's media, and any problems we have. I'm living in Hattiesburg MS but spend half of the week usually in New Orleans, Biloxi and other hurricane torn areas. While down here I have developed a love for the people, food, history, atmosphere and architecture. New Orleans is a place like no other and i have enjoyed my time down here, talking with locals old and young about their personal experiences and their life in this vibrant city. I have also done my fair share of research and reading when it comes to Hurricane Katrina, everyone down here has a story to tell and an opinion that want to give about what happened its all very interesting. The picture i have posted is of a church in the lower ninth ward, there are maybe 20 blocks or more of houses that were completely washed away when the levees broke now all that is left is grass that hasn't been cut in three years and concrete slabs where houses once stood. The church is gutted out, with boards still on it from the storm, spray paint from when search and rescue came in, and an eari vibe that resonates with the whole area. I will probably will stay like that until someone buys the property and builds something new, but thats not likely anytime soon. I promise to write more posts with more pics about what i'm up to.
thanks and love ya tons
Britt

Pickens, SC

This is such a long over due post but the school were we are working at dosn't let us get to there kinds of sites. So I'm in Pickens S.C. working with some of the cutest kids around i help out in a 3rd grade class during the day and then tutor 2nd and 5th graders after school. I also go into the K-4, they love me in there so it;s a total mood booster. The school is so grateful that we are there and it totally shows they shower us with food all the time and the kids treat us like celebrities. There is a handful of kids that come from the Miracle Hill homeless shelter and they are the sweetest. All they want is a hug and someone to listen to them read. Alot of the kids were raised by a single parent, live in near poverty or have a broken home in some way. But they are all amazing and want to learn soooo bad, i hope that stays with them throughout middle school and hs because the dropout rate is above 50% in all the county. Its so sad beacuse you can tell they want to learn and get smart but many of there parents just don't encourage learning. I'm loving life so much hear and all the not so good things that happen are erased by the love the kids give us. Hope all are doing well and i'm fixen to get back here as soon as i can. love ya'll tons!!
Britt xoxoxoxoxooxox

Spike

Hey everyone,
Well this week we found out where we are heading to on our first spike mission.... Pickens South Carolina. We are tutoring at a k-5 elementary school called Ambler Elementary School, it's in a low income community and we also get to help tear down and rebuild a foot bridge. Thats all the info i really have on it now but as soon as i hear more i will post. This last week has been pretty slow, lots of rain and cold temperatures. We had lectures everyday at UD and got Red Cross disaster certified. Our house finished the week with a Valentine party with the boys next door, it was a potluck party seeing that we don't have enough money to cook for more then ourselves. I have to go because it sunny and 70 degrees out!!!!!! So amazing. I will get back soon. love everyone tons!!
love always xoxoxoxox
Britt

Eagle 7, oh ya!!

Hello from the bitter east coast!!!
Yes it's still winter over here and yes the cali girl is still cold, but luckily thats the only bad thing going on. This last week we received our teams for the rest of the year. I'm one of the oldest and as usual the spunkiest, my team is a little on the quite side but im doing my best to change that. This week has also been a ton of training, it's what were doing all month long, up at the University of Delaware. I'm now CPR, first aid certified and so many other things. We wear our matching uniforms everywhere so we look super cool all 300 of us. I have found out a tons of interesting facts about NCCC in the last week, such as the reason we are still operating is because NCCC has done 60% of the clean up down in the gulf coast but have only comprised of about 20-30% of the work force. We will get to be down in the gulf at least 2 out of 4 spike trips we go on, so it's going to be amazing. Also everyone hears that New Orleans area is almost all rebuilt, which is true but what you don't hear is that St Johns Parish right outside of N.O. is only about 10% rebuilt.
This week we also did get a break from the school thing, we got to go down to Baltimore for a service project. We worked with People to Parks organization and a community parks and trails group to clean up a trial head and weed out some non-native species. It was a nice day and it was awsome to get out and get dirty. We ended up finding 30 or so used tires at the top of the hill and spent afternoon tossing them down and watching them roll. It sounds lame but it was so much fun, probably because i now live in whats called the "ameri-bubble" we no access to tv, newspaper or a computer that often we end up living in a bubble. There is also ameri-love, ameri-crush, ameri-idol, and anything else you can think of. I have met some awesome people and meeting more and more everyday. It's all so different but as i have decided to just take everyday as it comes it's becoming easier and easier.
Lastly i wanted to give you an example of what a day here looks like. Lets take Thursday
4:35 wake up, 4:55 leave the house to walk over to the gym for P.T. 5:15-6:15 P.T. 6:20 get back home, shower get ready for the day 7 picked up drive to UD 8 morning lecture 10 team time, get to know you games, paper work 12-1 sack lunch 1:15 lecture on safety 3-3:30 energizer 3:30-4:30 all core member event 4:30 head back home 5:30 dropped of rest of the night make dinner talk some reading and then hit the sack. sounds bad but it's not to bad.
Also if you were wondering about the eagle 7 thats our team name. There are 4 different units eagle, badger, wolf and raven. each unit has about 7 teams in them and each team has between 9-11 corps members in them. thats all for now i will try to get over to the lab more often so these are not that long. Love everyone and i will talk to you later!!!
xoxoxoxoxo
Britt

Let the fun continue

This post has been long over due and i'm so sorry about that, but i have been way to busy getting my new life underway in Perryville Md. I arrived this past tuesday morn and the fun started right away. We are about an hour north of Baltimore right on the water, it's on a veterans hospital and recovery grounds. We got assigned our living quarters (i'm living in a house built circa 1922) with 6 other ladies. We then got our uniforms, boots, filled out tons of paperwork and all that jazz. There are about 300 members, the largest group they have ever had, so they are still working all the kinks out. The #1 saying around here is "be flexable" so true. The real fun started Wed, being girls we decided to clean the house (it has not been lived in for a few months) we started with our rooms and contined to the bathroom and then kitchen and living room. The first thing we discovered behind a dresser was a dead bird with only the bones and feathers left, we had a quick scream some pics and then cleaned it up. Next while moving the furniture around we found a large dead male SQUIRREL!! It had a bushie tail and everything, being girls we jumped up on the chairs then ran over to the guys house next door to take him out to his grave. We lauged the rest of the afternoon and dinner about that untill we found out that our stove dosen't work which is going to make cooking kind of a hassel. Not to worry we talked to some people and we hope that it's getting taken care of. To end the adventurous day we got to go groccery shopping. Me and one of my roommates went for the whole house. We get $5 per person oer day and we were shopping for 5 days, so we had $175, but don't worry we got nothing name-brand and we made out like bandits, found every sale in the place. I just got my physical done so i have the rest of the day off untill later today when we make a Target run, i need lots more long underwear b/c it's bitter cold over here and i need more layers. I will try to get back to the computer in the next few days if i'm not having to much fun!!!! Love everyone tons!!!
love always Britt!!

Here i go

Well i take off in a few hours for my journey across the country, i arrive in Baltimore tuesday morning!! I'm super excited and ready for this long awaited adventure to begin.  I hope i can locate a computer when i arrive and fill you in on any good juice that i receive. Until next time stay class and i will talk to everyone later!! love ya