PHEEEEEW! What a crazy 7 weeks!

HEEEELLLLOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m back from Detroit and so happy to be blogging again! I can’t believe I went so long, but it’s hard when you have no computer or internet. Anyways, so that means this will probably be a pretty long entry, but that’s ok cause I know all of you are just dieing to know what sort of shenanigans I got into and probably would rather spend hours reading about me than doing anything else anyways… right?

So taxes, taxes, taxes…. That’s was interesting. Our team got pretty good at them. I got to the point where I memorized my interview paper so as soon as a client sat down I was like did you purchase a brand new vehicle in 2009? Did you get a Michigan state tax refund last year; did you itemize your deductions? What was your annual heating cost from November 2008 to October 2009? Did you have any wages, tip income, interest from checking or savings accounts, sales from stocks or bonds? Did you have any charitable contributions? Haha, the people we helped were all low income which meant we met the most interesting characters. I seem to have got the only people who were not mentally stable and usually resulted in them screaming and having to be escorted out by security. There were also those who we knew were on drugs or made their living as a prostitute or drug dealer. At first, we didn’t know what to think of them, but then we started to hear their stories and it was amazing what every single person has gone through. One man who flipped out on me was so angry because he swore I stole his ID (he threatened to call Obama on me). It turns out he had Schizophrenia. He was being taken care of by someone and on medication, but come to find out, the government cut his funding so he was forced to live on the streets. It was really sad to see that this was a common pattern. However, my favorite people were the super religious old ladies who would grab your hand without warning and start praying over you. They might have the easiest taxes, but if you got them any money back, they would start with the Hallelujah’s and the bless you child’s and the PRAISE JESUS, GOD ALMIGHTY, HE IS GOOD! They always made my day. Once in a while someone would get that family who has just been through it all. No house, eight people living together, no heat, no jobs, etc. We would get them maybe $500 in returns and they would start bawling and hugging everyone. Those were the days that made everyone feel really good about what we were doing and we didn’t care that we were working long hours or dealing with difficult people.

The house we were staying in was awesome. Lots of room so no one felt crowded and we could always find alone time somewhere. However, my roommate Anne and I had the worst luck with our bedroom.
1. We are pretty sure the Devil lived in our radiator. Every morning at 5:00 am sharp we would hear this mwahahahaaaaaaa! Then… WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! BAM BAM BAM! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS POW!
2. Our room was right next to a club music recording studio! Maestro next door thought it would be awesome to also start mixing at 5:00 am… why oh why could we have not lived next to a yoga music recording studio??? But at least our radiator demon had something to listen to.
3. Then there was the family of squirrels in our walls. And if they were not fighting all morning, they were getting it on. Probably to the awesome mood music provided from next door. Hahaha, but at least it was not mice so I’m happy.

The organization we were working for provided us with a TON of free stuff. Besides bags, hats, and pens, we got tickets to Red Wing and Pistons games. I love hockey now by the way, that was so much fun to go see. Each ticket was for super good seats too! Also, we got tickets to the Henry Ford museum which was awesome! I thought it was only going to be just a bunch of cars but I got to sit on Rosa Park’s bus in her seat (she didn’t mind, I just asked her to move…ooooh just kidding!) and I saw the chair Lincoln was shot in. But most importantly, I saw the original Oscar Mayer Wienermobile! I mean, come on, it doesn’t get better than that!

While in Detroit, I applied and got accepted into this internship with Camp Adventure. I am not the biggest fan of wikipedia, but you can check it out on their site if you want: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Adventure). I’ll leave for this a couple weeks after I am done with AmeriCorps in August and work until December 18th. I do not know where they are sending me, but it will either be to Italy, Germany, Belgium, England, Hawaii, or Key West. I am so excited!!!!!!

Other than that, my team pretty much sat around and watched LOST. I got them all into it so we have been watching it almost everyday from the beginning. We are on season 3 right now! I think we found that we have spent about 2,040 minutes of our time so far watching that show but I don’t care! Well worth it I think.

Detroit ended up being way cooler than I ever thought it could be. I met the nicest people and saw things I don’t think I ever would have been able to if it wasn’t for AmeriCorps. I’m back in Iowa right now for transition, but in a few days, my team is driving to Mobile, Alabama to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. I’m so excited to not only learn construction, but to be able to work with this organization that does so much good and I get to be in the south! I have never been before so YAY! Sunshine, porch swings, and sweet tea….aaaaaaaaah yes. :)