My new boyfriend, the "A" (plus address update)

Hello again! Its been one whole week here, bah! Got a chance to get into the computer room so I can catch everyone up on whats been going on in this exciting town of Vinton. Speaking of Vinton, I found out some nifty info about this town so I thought I would share some fun facts with you all. Have you guys heard of Laura Ingalls Wilder? She is the author of Little House on the Prairie. Anyhoo, you know how there is a blind chick in the books/show? That character is based off her sister who is blind and who, in the early 1800's, attended the blind school that I currently live at. Isn't that so exciting guys?! Wow. But wait, there is more! Vinton was also the birthplace of American artist Everett Warner who designed camouflage! Aaaaaaaaaand, scenes from the smash 1996 blockbuster Michael were filmed in Vinton. How can 4.3 square miles host so much thrilling details? How I ask? And now its home to me. Awesome.



Ok, 'nuff of that. Moving on... today we had PT which stands for Physical Training. It was the day where ex army guys get to relive their glory days by making us count off and right face. They then test us some more to see our physical skill level by making us run a mile and do push-ups and sit-ups and then place us into groups with others in the same skill level. We had to do five laps around the track. I got to about 4........ steps. My body protested and threatened me with embarrassing sweat and a funny running style. Think Pheobe from friends and let that picture just sink into your minds for a while. By the time I finished the first lap, I was not only passed by the guy with the injured leg, but I'm pretty sure I saw a line of ants pass by me. When I finished though, I was greeted by a very good looking water bottle and a bombardment of high fives from my team and then just random people. That's the cool thing about this campus, everyone is so supportive of you no matter what. I'm excited to see how much I improve in the next ten months. I feel that the worse you do sets you up to have the most improvement.


So yesterday, they brought a guy named John Craigie to do a concert for us. He is a folk singer from California and was awesome! He sang combinations of sad and funny songs, but what made him so great was that he would tell stores between his songs and he had us rolling with laughter. I know he goes to Washington a lot so if anyone has a chance to see him, do so! One story he told was about his experience with a hippie from Bellingham. I laughed so hard. Anyways, he also had an entire song about Chuck Norris. Its not his usual thing to sing about things like Mr. Norris, but I guess it was requested of him to write one so he did. For those of you who were at Ocean Shores this past Sept, you should find it on youtube. He also has a song called Tacoma. Its kind of sad, but really good. I highly suggest you look into him if you are into the folk music genre.


So we have this new rule that if we are caught swearing while in uniform, we have to kiss the "A" that is printed on our sleeve. Well, with PT and other training that requires me to run and duties like cleaning the knives, I now have an ongoing relationship with my sleeve. Lets just say, the "A" owes me a dinner.

Ok, address update. My team name is "Cedar 3". Add that to the address I posted earlier after "AmeriCorps*NCCC" on the same line.

Ok, I got to get back to things. MUCH LOVE FROM IOWA!