snowman and service projects,,,

So it snowed for the first time since we've been here the other day... SO exciting. After much convincing, managed to round up a group of people to have a snowball fight, which was EPIC!! Had an enormous snowball fight with about 10-12 of us I think, and then started building the best snowman ever, who we named Jack Daniels.. not so sure why.. Then we dressed him in extra AmeriCorps uniforms (4x or something, cuz JD is kinda round lol). Took lots of pics, rolled down the snow-covered hills, made snow angels... it was really nice to see snow again, its been so long since I could do something like that. I almost forgot how much fun it was. JD may melt soon, but his legacy will live on forever! lol

We actually got to do some service work recently too, which was awesome. Since it is why we're here and all... The first project we did was all 250+ of us working at a local elementary and middle school. The main part of the project was building a track for the school, hauling hundreds upon hundreds of wheel barrels and buckets of gravel and dirt and spreading it out over the track, raking, shoveling, etc. Then we also redid the track at the elementary school, planted flowers and trees, etc. It was really cool too cuz the 8th graders worked alongside us for most of the day. So tired and sore, but it was way worth it. We were able to save the school $750,000 with the work that we did there, which was payback enough, just knowing that we really helped them out. On top of that though, we all went into the cafeteria afterwards to say goodbye to the 8th graders that helped us and got a standing ovation!! It was so cute and really touching, especially coming from the students.

Then the next day, on Saturday, we did another service project, our first ISP (independent service project) with our team, which I ended up organizing... We were working at this place called People House, a spiritual center/counseling center for people without insurance. Me, Claire, and Raz painted one of the counseling rooms all day, while other people painted other rooms, cleaned, did yard work, moved furniture, hung drywall, etc. It was awesome how much we were able to get done. It felt really good to get out there and do some service, after all that IS why we're all here...

Then when we got back Jamie, Mary, Katie, Chris and I went to a hookah bar called Gypsy House. Super chill place. The entire basement is filled with couches and pillows, the atmosphere was awesome. Got two hookahs, one strawberry/banana and one peach/vanilla, both of which were really good, plus some Gypsy House Special tea... Stayed til they closed and kicked us out, then headed to taco bell and a local park at like midnight and hung out on the playground. Really awesomely random night and really cool people = perfect saturday night...

thats all for now, will try to update again soon. thanks for looking.