Hi from North Carolina! What a busy 2 and a half weeks it has been! We are at our 3rd park now, Merchants Millpond State Park, but only got here yesterday after a wonderful two weeks at Stone Mountain State Park and Pilot Mountain State Parks. Let me start from the beginning:
After 2 long days of travel, my team and I made it to NC Thursday, September 2. We got settled in and got acquainted with the park and the local area, grocery shopping etc before our first day of training on Friday. Our sponsors are WONDERFUL! During trainings we were prepped to deal with the difficult sponsors and supervisors, but our sponsors are absolutely great. They are so friendly and helpful that we were all immediately put at ease. We had a training in the morning to give us a background on the parks and the kind of work we’d be doing. After lunch we went out into the field to begin the work: invasive species removal (in this case, bamboo). It was definitely a lot of work, but my team kicked some major butt. They are so wonderful, and, despite disagreements here and there between a few people, they all work really well together. On our first day we cleared about 1/2 acres of land of bamboo, using loppers and chainsaws (well, the staff used those). We sprayed the stumps with herbicide so they don’t grow back (it’s inevitable some will though), and then hauled the 20-60 foot bamboo sticks to the chipper. It was hard, dirty and tiring, but fun and rewarding. My hands have scratches on them, my legs have bruises, but the end result after our first week made it all worth it. And to see just how appreciative and impressed the staff was after we finished was awesome. After our 3 day holiday weekend we finished out the week clearing the main plot of land and then some of another plot, to make a total of 2 acres of land cleared and 40 tons of bamboo removed from the 2 sites. I was so incredibly proud of my team for all that they did that on our last day at that park on Thursday I bought them all ice cream at the local country store, a place where we hung out frequently after work because it was such an adorable place.
Images below: the plot of land before we cleared it (I can’t find the full picture, so this one shows a bit cleared); the plot of land after my team and I cleared it; another plot we started clearing; chipping wood; with the Stone Mtn. Park Rangers; my team and I in front of the Stone Mtn. State Park sign.
So besides the work, some other highlights/thoughts:
1. Some of us decided to try not showering for a week, and I thought that was a lot of fun. It was a relief to not have to worry about showering! I made it 1 week and showered on the 7th day and boy did it feel great! I didn’t realize how dirty my hair was until I washed it and could run my fingers through my hair without running into knots =) We may not have showered BUT we did use a local waterfall as our shower. We’d dip into the water at the end of the day to cool off and wash away the sweat and the stink. I never once felt dirty or smelly, thanks to the waterfall trips, but by the end I was SO ready for a shower.
2. On our first weekend we did a lot of exploring. The first few days we were getting settled, going grocery shopping, developing a system for camping with 11 people our of 3 coolers etc. It was interesting but I think we’re getting a good system going. We also hiked to the top of Stone Mountain and what a beautiful view from the top! It was absolutely awesome and so worth the tiring hike (the total for the loop was 4.6 miles).
3. Two CMs and I came across a Copperhead snake, and then ran. We saw in on the sidewalk at night as we were heading to the bathroom and it started to slither off into the dirt, but then decided to slither backwards towards us (they’re the kind that’ll go after you instead of retreating, and are poisonous).
4. I took 1 corps members to the hospital the first weekend we were there. She had a perfect red circle on her leg with a bump in the middle. I thought it might be a spider bite, she thought staph infection, but it turned out to be nothing.
5. I didn’t realize until our first night in the hotel, during our travel days, how hard it might be to separate myself from the team, especially from the girls. For our first week my team was the only group of people my age I had contact with, and mostly the girls since we shared tents etc. The 5 girls on my team are so great and fun that sometimes I found myself wishing I wasn’t a team leader so I didn’t have to dance along that professional line. I love my job (obviously, or I wouldn’t be doing it!) but that didn’t make it any easier. It’s not such a problem with the guys, as we don’t share tents or anything, but while I do have a strong group of girls, I don’t have a strong set of guys. They’re great guys, except one I have a bit difficulty relating to or understanding, but they definitely need more work. One of the guys causes issues among the team and can be snappy and condescending, but other than that, my team works well together.
6. It wasn’t an easy week, considering groceries and laundry were 30 minutes away, we had a curfew of 8pm (when the park gates closed), we were living out of 3 coolers and the back of a cargo van, often ate in the dark with bugs that wouldn’t leave us alone, and often had to go to bed around 8-9pm because that’s when it was dark and we had nothing else to do except be in our tents, away from the bugs, BUT despite all of that, my team bonded and had a good time with each other, and I had a good time with them. They struggled but worked their issues out; they frustrated me, but also made me proud and smile. It was our first week together, but from then on I knew we’d have a good year together.
Images below: my team at the country store eating ice cream (note the flannel; many of us bought flannel shirts and wore them almost every day); me and the 4 other corps members who didn’t shower for a week; the creek nearby; hiking the base of Stone Mtn; top of Stone Mtn.; me at the top of Stone Mtn.
Temporarily Local 