Week One of Camp Fire Alaska Rural Program training complete!!
To recap, I arrived in Anchorage at 11:00pm on Saturday June 2nd. A group of us were picked up from the parking lot and delivered to our staff housing for the first two weeks of training. I believe we must definitely be a part of secretly recorded MTV show such as Real World as there are 23 people living in a house in the suburbs of Anchorage! :)
More people continued to arrive on Sunday. Sunday was a free day of which I spent unpacking, resting, and taking two hikes at the local park. Very lucky that there is such a great trail system next door! Great to see so many people in the park hiking and/or running. It seems as if everyone has a dog, and a bear bell. Some dogs even have bear bells, too. The sun never really "sets" here. It is hard to rewire my internal clock. I am still amazed that, on a clear day, midnight looks the same as high noon. Also, there is still snow on the mountains, and even a few piles off to the side of the trails. I've been cold since I arrived, though I do hope that I will acclimate sometime in the near future. My appetite is growing by the day. I think it is a combination of the cold weather and all of the exercise (hikes and game playing). The mosquitoes are big here and travel in large groups.
Monday: Day One of training! Our day consisted of a number of icebreakers to help us get to know each other. There are 23 people from all of the states- OK, CA, HI, UT, AZ, IN, MO, NY, AR, VA, MA and two from out of country- Australia and Ireland. We took a tour of the Camp Fire offices, had a paperwork party, and spent the afternoon at the Campbell Creek Science Center for an interpretive walk, outdoor education ideas, and bear training.
Tuesday: More icebreakers. Father Michael Oleska gave an excellent talk on cultural competency. We spent the afternoon working on team building/facilitation, i.e. playing games! :)
Wednesday: Icebreakers. Tour of the Native Medical Center. Food service training certification which will allow us to distribute lunch and dinner to the rural children.
Thursday: More games at the park. Discussion on community events as we will be putting together a number of pot lucks, dance parties, arts and craft shows, etc. for the communities. In the afternoon we were exposed to the food items that would be in our boxes at each community for our own personal breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Looks like good back packing food! Looks as if we will be using a single burner electric stove to cook our meals. For practice, we were grouped into teams and had an Iron Chef Cook Off! At the end of the day, our teams were unveiled. I am scheduled to work with NYC for the six weeks of camp and we will be traveling to two rural communities. Our first stop is Bethel for three weeks. Our second stop is Chuathbaluk for three weeks. More details to follow. However, I do know that we will be staying in some type of rustic log cabin (no kitchen or showers in house) for the first stay, and the teen center for the second.
It's been a crazy fun adventure this first week. I'm getting comfortable being uncomfortable (i.e. dancing, singing, and playing games with other adults). I can't believe I'm getting paid to play tag! :) I do believe we are part of some social experiment, cramming 23 people into one house. Breakfasts in the kitchen are busy. Group dinners each night are fun. We take turns cooking and cleaning, and sit down to a full meal together each night. I'm bunking with three other ladies in one room. It's a beautiful house and it's wonderful to start out with hot showers, a stocked kitchen, and a bunk to sleep in.
We have Friday and Saturday off. I am hoping to get into town, though it is difficult as we have no real means of transportation and the bus stop is a long walk from the house. I do look forward to sleeping in, as we have been keeping a rather full schedule this week. Sunday morning we are packing up the house and moving down to Camp K on the Kenai Peninsula for two nights. We will be performing more icebreakers and team building exercises, as well as fire making, and receiving cold water safety training (Kids Don't Float). Stopping at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on our way to Camp. On Tuesday morning we will return to the suburban MTV house for the rest of the week. Excited to visit the Native Heritage Center on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night we will be given a "last supper" at the Moose's Tooth (pizza!!!). Departing for Bethel on Saturday. Lots of planning time in between as we must contact the rural community leaders to arrange our pick ups, housing, community events, etc.. Exciting adventure. More to follow in the near future. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you! <3
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