Big ropes to learn

Today marks two weeks since I've been here but I feel like it's been so much more. I know I always say that in the beginning so I'm trying to keep that in mind. :)
It has been a very very full and fun 12 days since I last updated. I started Americorps on Monday the 10th! We had a long week of orientation and trying to get some clue as to exactly how we were supposed to reach our very general goals by the end of the year. They didn't give us much direction as to how to plan for or run our classes. Not much guidance on what to expect or a vision that they have for how the program will run. Lucky for me I guess was that everyone else was just as confused.

Listening to tons of information and filling out lots of paperwork last week was not the most fun I've ever had but getting to know 15 other incredibly talented and diverse people was great. We have such a good team and once we all figure out what the heck we're doing then it we will be extremely successful!

I made a few good friends in the group. Keeley lives just a few block from me and has been great in helping me with getting to and from work. Her elementary school is just minutes from mine so when our schedules coincide then we go in together. It's such a relief to have that off my back for the most part. I really don't mind commuting because I can get to school at 10 and do work on the way over but it's a little bit unsafe so until I have a bike I can easily tote on the bus and max (light rail) and ride the few blocks to school then I'll keep riding with Keeley. However, I am looking forward to getting a light and nice commuter bike so that I can enjoy one of the best biker-friendly cities in the nation!

Keeley and I planned a few nights out so that our team would have a chance to get to know each other a little better. About 10 of us went to happy hour on Friday after our last day of orientation and I saw a few the other nights this weekend.
Nancy, Keeley and I went to the Columbia River Gorge. The river separates Oregon from Washington. It's a state park up there. There are tons of waterfalls. They're enormous! It seriously felt like a fairyland. There was beautiful bright green moss growing on the trees and the mist was heavy coming from the falls so you were just surrounded by this sense of magic. I was so happy to be there! However, I almost didn't make it out there because we had an electrical fire in the basement that morning! Right when Keeley pulled up to my house to pick me up the 6th fire truck was arriving. It wasn't a huge fire but they sent 6 fire trucks and the rescue truck thing. It was so crazy. An electrician was rewiring our house so that not everything was on the same circuit. He drilled and the lights flickered. He drilled again and they went out. Then he was yelling to my roommate from the basement that there was a fire and that we needed to get out! The 911 operator asked if everyone was out of the house. We hadn't seen the electrician come out so I went to check to see if he was in the back yard. He wasn't so I walked up the back steps to yell into the basement. I had to yell from the bottom step outside because there was so much smoke and a horrible plastic-burning smell coming out. Luckily he was fine.

I only stuck around long enough to take a few pictures of the fire trucks. I didn't need to stay and be subjected to the smoke all in the house. Luckily nothing smells or was damaged. I know it could have been really bad. We were lucky.