talk of the town

 Hey everyone,

The Blitz Build is only a few days away, and the town is buzzing. Check out the blurb below. If you look really hard 46 seconds in you can see me walk by :)
Have a lovely day!
- Liz


http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/586098/five-day-construction-crunch-underway-in-newburgh/

mama fraley

Today is my mama's birthday :) Happy birthday to the best mom a girl could ask for. Hope you are having a perfect day Mom! Love you!

My mama and I at my good friend Aubrey's wedding in Sept '11

farmer's tans and power tools

   Life has been so busy lately! Between morning PTs, long (but fun) days of physical labor, extra volunteering, cooking dinner for 10, keeping the house clean, attending team events, or simply just hanging out with my teammates, there is so little time for myself. Even when I start to read or do yoga upstairs, fits of laughter grab my attention and I have to go investigate. 

    So let me tell you a little bit about this spike round so far. If you have been following you’ll know that Moose 4 is currently working with Habitat for Humanity in Newburgh, NY. We have been here for just about a month. Newburgh is a historical town located right on the Hudson River overlooking beautiful “mountains” (as they call them here) …..but pick a street, any street, and take a walk down the block. You will inevitably wander past multiple rows of vacant decrepit buildings, a cracked-out individual aimlessly walking around, or people shouting about this or that. 

  Newburgh was rated the 12^th worst city in the U.S. and, at one point, was home to the most teenage pregnancies in America. Our third night, our van windows were smashed in and items stolen out of Tubby (the 15 passenger van). And I’ve woken up to gunshots down the street.

Talk about culture shock for this white suburban girl.

  Looking in from the outside, we are in the “hood,” the ghetto, that bad part of town. But living here for a month now, I’m starting to see this place in a totally different light. It may sounds crazy, but I’m falling in love with this worn-down town. The sense of community around these parts is so strong; most of the locals have embraced us with open arms. We have befriended quite a number of characters including Rodni and Chris, two old hippies who hang out by our favorite bar. Juanita, who is a beaming light of joy and love; they call her the unofficial mayor of Newburgh. Cerrone, who wakes up early to help facilitate some of our morning PTs. And the list goes on.

  As for our daily work with Habitat, I feel like a certified handy-man! I’m learning the process of how to build a home from the ground up. I’ve learned how to insulate the foundation of a house, install hardwood flooring, build a fence, “correctly” paint, apply sheathing, use big scary power tools, and my favorite…master the art of the bobcat. The days fly by when you are zooming about the construction site in your air-conditioned bobcat. 

  A week from Monday we are starting the “Blitz Build.” This is the reason our team is here and what we have been working so hard to prepare for. Talk about chaos, but we are building two houses in five days! The foundation of the home is done and the porch will be going on this week, but besides that every other aspect of these two houses will be completed from June 4^th through June 9^th. There are about 200 other volunteers and a handful of contractors to help us that week. I’m so excited for this week. I will make sure to take lots of pictures for you guys to see! Here are a few shots from Newburgh thus far.

Happy Memorial Day! A special thanks and extra love to my Bumpa this weekend :)

A hike with some Moose 4 ladies

Blitz Build site. This is what it looked like when we first started.

Every Wednesday and Saturday we have Coffee Break at a local church. It is always a happy, hopeful crowd of Habitaters.

Best part of my day :)

Courtney tarring the foundation

The "To-Do" list

The back of the warehouse

Some adorable Moose

Layla and I on the train to NYC

Our fearless leader, Casey

Sunshine.

Grand Central Station

Bryant Park! All I could think about was Project Runway. It is a beautiful place though

Lucas and "Courtnut" outside Central Park

Movie night. Watching Garden State with the Crew. Also, a picture of our lovely home.

Working on the fence and alley way at our Blitz Build houses

Basement is ready for sheathing

This is the start of the two houses we will be building in a week. Each door is the basement for house 45 and 47 Chambers St.

Casey :)

Front view of the houses

Looking left ...

and looking right down the street.

 Have a wonderful long weekend! 

- Liz

Meet Team Destruction aka Moose 4

Top row: Sarah, Dana, Courtney, Lucas - Bottom Row: Casey, Layla, Terrence, myself, Brittany, and Barry

Finally a decent picture of the team! Meet Moose 4.
These people are my teammates, my friends, my family, my co-workers, my roommates, and my peers all wrapped into one. They keep me sane, they drive me crazy, they make me laugh so hard I cry, they make me want to pull my hair out from frustration, they keep me soft at heart, they are the reason there are ALWAYS dirty dishes in the sink, and they allow me to completely be myself. At this point in my life, they are my everything. Not pictured is my good friend, Steve (the other redhead). He was chosen to become a Team Leader for one of the Fire Teams this round. He is up in Albany, NY where I was just a few weeks ago working at the Albany Pine Bush with his team. I promise to write an update about the work we have been doing for the past week at Habitat, but as for now, I am heading back. Just received a text...homemade pizzas await.
- Liz

peace train.

A few photos from my much needed vaca. We had a long weekend and thanks to the wonderful planning of a few special men, I was able to hop on board and see the sites of DC. Rarely in AmeriCorps do we get such freedom as to do whatever we want, whenever we want. I wish I had more pictures to show for it, but none the less, the days were filled with sunshine, great company, interesting conversations, museums and monuments galore.

Happy May everybody.

The boys of DC

WWII Memorial

We met up with our friend Emily, Raven 3, for the night!

A peaceful break in the day. Photo props to Ben

Derek and I just outside our friend's house.

may the hours be ever in your favor...

 

Hi there!

So Moose 4 is now in Newburgh, NY for the next two months working with Habitat for Humanity. We start work tomorrow and before I get into detail about this town and the work we will be doing, I just had to post this video. While I was on Firefox 1, we all decided to test our acting skills and make a movie trailer relating to our AmeriCorps life. Ben has some major talent in the editing department, as you will see. We were able to show it at the Community Meeting last week for everyone, including our regional director!

Photos from my Spring Break in DC and Round 2, Newburgh to come. 

- Liz

"WHAT?! Seriously??"

   At the exact moment you feel adjusted to whatever “normal” you’ve come to except, the little chess piece known as your Ameri-life gets picked up and relocated, not only to a different square, but onto an entirely different game. It is a funny little world, this place, and that is part of the reason I like it. You truly never know what to expect. One day you are in Dover, Delaware and the next you are in Albany, New York with a completely different group of people and a completely different project. How does that happen you ask?

…..very, very fast.

   Last Monday my team leader pulled me aside at lunch and told me there was a chance I was going on a composite fire team… the very next day… in New York… for the rest of spike… sans all my teammates. WHAT?!

   Finally, an hour before the end of work on Tuesday, Casey gave me this all-knowing smile and I knew I was leaving Moose 4 until late April. I had until 7:30pm that night to pack up all my stuff, organize my red bag, and say goodbye to my teammates. My teammates were pretty shocked at my same day departure, especially since this composite team is the first of the year for our core. None-the-less, they sent me off with plenty of hugs and well-wishes.

    So that is the backstory to how I got to be in Albany, New York on a fire team. This team is known as FoxFire 1, and there are only four others in the crew. A nice break from the chaos of ten. 

   We are working for the Pine Bush Preserve outside the city helping them prep burn units for controlled burns. We had a few days under our belt at the Preserve and settling in nicely. Exploring Albany, eating copious amounts of NY pizza, and thrifting on the weekend.... lovely. A groggy Monday morning arrived, until about 7:20am that is. “Expect the Unexpected,” they tell you. Boy oh boy, do they mean it.

My roommate Maddi walks in the room from downstairs…

“Wildfire at Bear Mountain State Park! We’re going! Pack your red bag and all your fire stuff.”

My brain is suddenly awake. “WHAT!? Seriously?? We’re going? For how long? Where are we staying? Do I need my sleeping bag and shower stuff?”

“Not sure! We don’t know anything so pack everything.”

An hour later we are suited up in our Nomex and on the road.

What a crazy life.

   Working on the wildfire was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. I felt like I was walking into the Forbidden Forest that Harry knows all to well. There was a haze of smoke over all the trees and an intense smell of bonfire. It was a long day of hiking, digging and patrolling the line, watching for burning snags (dead trees) etc. But they feed you well and surprisingly there is a lot of downtime. This is mostly due to waiting around for your next instructions, new weather reports, or simply waiting to see what the fire is going to do. Below I found a video on youtube of a “firewhirl”. We got to see a few of these and because we worked until 11:30pm, they were best viewed at night. It was breathtaking. I'm sad to report that none of us had a camera that first night of the wildfire. The only pictures I have were taken from my teammates Ben's facebook. It was the second day when we snapped a few from the aftermath.

 

   Since my post-grad brain can’t handle this much typing, I’m going to wrap up this story. Maybe if I get ambitious, I’ll whip up another post before my time in Albany comes to an end. Firefox 1 will be returning to Perry Point, MD early this Thursday to reunite with all the 160 other corps members. Spike is almost over folks. One down, three to go.

If only I could foresee what they will look like, but where would the fun be in that? 

-  liz

Maddi lighting up our bonfire

A street in downtown Albany

Walk through the next day

Chandler, Maddi, me, Brooke, and Ben. Firefox 1 :)