Happy Halloween (3 Days ago)

Happy Halloween!

Like Daverd said, sorry I don't ever post.  Basically this is what's been going on: 

• I've been assigned to a permanent team with 10 others, who are awesome people and are all interestingly enough from the Midwest.
• I graduated Corps Training Institute (CTI) on Oct. 31 and left the next day for my first project.
• I am currently in Austin, TX after a 3 day road trip from Sacramento.  We left at 6 am Saturday morning and have spent the last 3 days driving down California, through Arizona, New Mexico, and half of Texas.
• You're probably wondering what I'm doing in Austin.  My team's first project is a joint effort with FEMA where we'll be traveling through affected communities in Texas's gulf region (i.e. Galveston, Beaumont, etc.).  Although most of the details are still uncertain (FEMA hasn't proven to be the most reliable agency...), we will probably be working with Disaster Relief Centers (DRCs) doing a variety of tasks like damage assessment, surveys, etc.  I'm currently in Austin for two days of training with FEMA and then we ship out for our next destination on Wednesday.  My campus in Sacramento currently has 16 teams down here, and the other campuses like Denver have even more.
  

So that's what's been going on in my life.  It was pretty sad leaving Sacramento on Saturday - I made a lot of great friends there and probably won't see them again until late spring, but that's life in Americorps, for better or for worse.  Sacramento's been good to me; we stayed in the lovely North Highlands area, renowned for its shady Russian storefronts, gang presence, and fine Thai dining.  I had a lot of great times there but It's been great getting out on the road and getting my project started.  As far as I'm concerned, my year begins now.  I'll try and be better with updates but as I won't be staying in any one place for any longer than a week or so, it might be a little hard.  PEACE.