April 13-17th

APRIL 13th
On Monday, I left for San Diego for my pre-service orientation (PSO). The airplane I was supposed to take out of Eugene had gotten struck by lightening, so a mechanic had to come and check it out and make sure it was safe. Unfortunately, the mechanic was not on site at the airport (which was the tinest airport I've ever been in.), so we had to wait for the mechanic to get there, wait for them to okay it, then wait to board. All of this delayed our flight about 40 min, which in turn made us miss our connection in Seattle. At this point I had not met the other Vista, who is serving 25 miles south (Canyonville) of me (Roseburg), but I only had her cellphone. I called her in Seattle and met up with her, so we were lost together. We luckily caught a new flight shortly after arriving. We were also lucky to catch the last shuttle to the hotel. PHEW.

APRIL 14th-16th
There were about 200 people there from all over the country, and from many ages ranges, which I didn't expect. We were split into groups based on which state we were serving in. My group -- the blue dots -- were serving in Oregon, Utah, and Idaho. It was amazing how many people were from Michigan just from the Blue Dot group. I met someone originally from Saline, 2 from Troy and another from Grand Rapids. The guy from GR was also just graduating from my alma mater -- GO BLUE!

For the most part, the training was pretty boring just going over the rules, history and admin stuff for AmeriCorps*VISTA. The last day we got to pick which class we wanted to take -- Partnerships & Building Relationships, Resource Mobilization or Volunteer Generation & Development depending on what were were doing in our organizations. I took the Partnerships class and it was really intense because it made me realize how difficult my job might be in bridging connections and trying to get various groups to have a common goal. It was a lot on the last day, especially when I was tired and really ready to go home.

My flight was originally supposed to get in at 11:55 PM PT, but we were lucky to get our flight changed to an earlier time. I tried to change my seat because I prefer window seats, but our flight was booked. We couldn't understand how many people would be flying from LAX to Eugene, OR. We soon found out when the UCLA Men's Track & Field team started filling the waiting area seats. Our new flight was supposed to arrive at 9:30 PM PT, but we were delayed thanks to the UCLA Men's Track & Field team. They had a hard time listening to the flight attendant when they told them to stowe their electronics. When we stopped in Medford, OR, they all got up and made it difficult for the passengers (I think only one) to board and take their seat. Once again, they couldn't listen and turn off their electronics, so we were delayed leaving Medford.

FINALLY, we got into Eugene. Unfortunately, Eugene is about a little over an hour from Roseburg, so Amy (the other Vista) and I had to drive all the way back to Roseburg. Driving in the mountains when it's so dark is hard especially when you can't have the brights on all the time for the sake of the traffic in the other direction. My lights aren't very bright, so it's hard to see, not to mention I was extremely tired. The last 20 miles were brutal. Amy stayed at my apartment because she hadn't been able to get settled into her place, plus she was still 25+ miles further south.

APRIL 17th
Luckily, I did not have to start work today. Today we had a Farewell/Welcome picnic at a park in Canyonville for the Vistas serving UCAN. I met all the Vistas serving at other locations. They gave us (the new Vistas) a present -- reusable grocery bag filled with paper clips, notepad, popcorn, AmeriCorps*Vista sweatshirt and some other things, which was very nice. It went until 2ish, and then we came back and I got to come home and rest. I'm glad I didn't have to start work today. This weekend is going to be near 80, so I'm looking forward to it. I start training on Monday at 9 AM! I'm glad it's not until then because I know another Vista serving in UT had to start today after getting in late.

Sorry for such a long update, but I didn't have my computer with me this week. Look forward to more on Monday!