California forests = my new home ☺

Firstly, I should apologize for the lack of blogging. Internet up here in mountain isn’t the most accessible. Plus since I have arrived I have been incredibly busy with training and getting to know people. This weekend has been the first time that I have actually been able to use internet for more than 10 minutes.
This past week has been such a whorl wind of events and to be honest I’m surprised I’m still standing and actually excited for this next week. I can not recall a week when I have put in so many hours of work. A typical training day is from 7-10:30 which means I’m sure I worked well over 40 hours all together! The crazy thing is that even though we were busy all the time it really didn’t faze me much since everything was so interesting or super fun!

It’s a hard knock life for us
Training has been very interesting and overwhelming at times. I have learned so much and it has gotten me both excited and nervous. They have thrown so much science content at us that I don’t even how much more my brain can handle!

Here are some fun facts I’ve learned so far:
1. I am able to identify a Manzanita (sp) bush which the Serranos, the native people to these mountains, used to use for brushing their teeth. I tried it myself and found it to work quite well.
2. I was able to share dad’s trick for identifying the difference between a pine, spruce, and a fur to my class which they all found very helpful. Thanks Dad! :)
3. During my Little World class we searched for insects and I saw my first real scorpion. It was tiny but just as sweet to see it for real. I also examined a Wood Ant which you can actually eat and I DID!
4. In my Feathered Friends class I learn about the smart Acorn Wood Pecker who peck holes in the snags of the trunk and the place an acorn in that holes so that pine beetles will lay their eggs in there. Then the acorn wood pecker comes back and has a tasty treat.
5. I’ve always known that animals that come out at night are called nocturnal. But I didn’t know that there is a name for day time animals (diurnal) and even animals that are active at dawn and dusk (corpuscular) such as birds.

Besides environmental classes we have also been receiving training about cabin time. We do what is called “Tribes” which is when the students get to bond and get to know each other. This is the section that I’m most excited about. I’ve always wanted to be a councilor so I’m pretty excited, but at the same time I’ve never done it before I’m also really nervous too. There is a lot of responsibility for getting the kids ready for this and that as well as be on time. We have also talked about what to do if a child gets home sick or if there happens to be “code brown” or a “code yellow” in the middle of the night. There a many procedures for everything that I just hope I can remember them all.

Decision time…dun..dun..dun
Thursday night was the big night when we had to decide were we were going to work and live. It was an interesting process of who we did this. We toured all of the housing options in town on Wednesday and then toured the Edwards site and Nawakwa housing on Thursday. That night our last thing was to come to some sort of agreement of were everyone was going to work/live. They basically locked us in the dining hall to dook it out ourselves and could come out until we did. It took some time and a few girls cried a little, but we were able to reach an agreement and it all worked out.
I am now working and living at Nawakwa. I live in a cabin that is split into two rooms. In my room are two other girls: MaryHelen who worked for Americore based out of Denver for 2 years and Jessica who went to St. Thomas and is from Colorado. My roommates are absolutely great and we are all really pumped with who all decided to work at Nawakwa. It’s going to be a great year!!!

I wanted to post some pictures but they take too long to load. I'll be sure to do that as soon as I can. Until then I'll keep you in suspense. :) Miss you all!

Also my updated mailing address is:
PO Box 1911
Angelus Oaks, CA 92305

I'd love to hear from you! Love you, Minnesota my love!