rain, rain go away

sunday afternoon.
some of us are congregated in the living room watching a movie because there is not much us to do when it has been raining the last 3 days! hurricane kyle has been moving up the northeast coast and dumping a bunch of rain on us. luckily with 13 other people around, it's not to hard to find things to entertain us.
we have been busy with training still. tuesday we went to chatham to learn about shellfish propagation at the chatham conservation department. me and 3 others (jessica, meg & greg) got to put on our waders and were taken out to the area in chatham bay where they "farm" (essentially) oysters. we raked up oysters and collected them in big buckets. i may have found my life calling! hah! by the end of the day we were all raking up the oysters 15 at a time. we also got to see the "upwells" which are essentially big buckets where they "grow" clams before they place them out into the bay. tuesday night was lisa's birthday, so a bunch of us went out to celebrate. wednesday was kind of a "free" day in that we didn't have to leave the house to go anywhere. we got assigned to our individual placements (or IPS) that morning. i was placed with the cape cod stranding network and will be working with them on tuesdays and thursdays starting on october 7th. i will be mostly helping to educate town officals on what to do if they come across a stranded dolphin, whale or seal. the part i am most excited about is helping with actual strandings if they occur. i will also get to help with the necropsies (autopsies) of the animals that we do not rescue in time.....MUCHO excited for that! that afternoon some of us went to head of the meadow beach on the atlantic coast to see some SEALS! when the tide is low, the seals come in and sun bathe on the sand bar. there were at least 50 seals and it was amazing how close they were to us! thursday was spent training for the Water Education Training (WET) Fest that we were doing on friday in Truro. the WET Fest is something we will be doing about once a month in the different schools all over the cape helping teach school kids about water quality. it is a joint effort with the other house in our program. because the town of truro is a few minutes north of us, the bourne house ended up staying with us on thursday night so they wouldn't have to drive over an hour friday morning. needless to say, our house was REALLY cramped on thursday nite with 26 people living there for the time being, but it was very amusing. we had people everywhere. trying to get into a bathroom on friday morning was also fun, but somehow we all ended up ready for the day and headed up to truro to educate the kids! i was stationed at the water cycle bracelet station and taught the kids about the water cycle (obviously). the kids are actually very smart...& it reminded me a lot of when i was a counselor out @ camp. friday night we went back to truro to hang out at a coast guard house where an americorps member from last year lives & works. we had members from both houses there and it was quite the party! saturday & sunday were spent running errands in the rain....which brings me to now. hope you all are enjoying your weekend

peace,
A.

alex & i @ our water cycle bracelet station...















the upwells @ the chatam conservation department...














some of the girls out for lisa's birthday.....














the seals sun bathing @ head of the meadows beach....

chore day.

well....it is monday, which equals chore day @ the house! i had the pleasure of cleaning the front bathroom and happened to find that the toilet seat was....BEMIS! it was nice to have a reminder of home. i hadn't been missing it at all, but this weekend my dear friend laura got married and i wasn't able to attend because i had some service work that i was doing....but i definately felt a little down on saturday nite knowing that all my friends back home were hanging out together, helping laura celebrate her new life. BUT....i am still havimg a fantastic time on the cape & this past weekend definately kept me busy. on thursday we spent all day at the WBNERR (pronounced web-ner) which is located in Falmouth (which is quite the drive from wellfleet) and stands for: Waquiot Bay National Estruarine Research Reserve. we had the opportunity to learn different methods for obtaining data about water quality, which i enjoyed because that is something i am specifically interested in. apparently there are 20 of these research reserves all over the country, and i am definately interested in looking more into them for future employment some day! friday was spent at meetinghouse farms in west barnstable. it is public land that has a greenhouse for public education and also trails to walk through the area. we had crash courses in power tools and loppering/invasive species identification/removal. we were using the power tools to construct some benches to be placed throughout the trails, and i am proud to say that my group got the furthest in the construction! in the afteroon we worked in a small area of the land removing invasive species with the lopers...which was pretty hard work! friday night began with some beers on the beach and then we headed to a "townie" bar called "the bomb shelter" and ended the night with some night swimming (which has become a house tradition) at a kettle pond right down the road from our house. saturday was a little slow-going, but in the afternoon i headed to the city of BOURNE with my fellow housemates: brian, greg & amie (a fellow wisconsin-ite!) to volunteer at the bourne scallop festival. i spent the evening helping people bring their food to their table.....not very exciting, but i got a free meal & a free shirt! that night a band called "entrain" played in the food tent and they were GREAT! i had been bumming about not having a lot of good live music on the cape, but they made my evening! sunday morning began VERY early (5:30 am) at the beach with our service partner, ethan. we got to help ethan with his fin fish study that he is doing for his PhD. we dragged a 250 ft. net out into the ocean and pulled it up on shore and then seperated the different species of sea life and measured them. we mostly captured a variety of small fish, crabs and squid. while throwing a squid back into the ocean, it slipped in my hand and bit me! it was not very pleasant....but overall it was a really great eperience! sunday afternoon the majority of the house drove up to truro (the town just north of us) for a wine tasting and some jazz music. it was a great way to end the weekend! so....now it's back to the grind....hope you are all enjoying the first day of fall!
much love.
A.




from the top.......some of us @ the vineyard in truro, loppering @ meetinghouse farm & the contents of one of the nets we dragged in.

the past week....

WELL...it has been awhile! i am busy enjoying my time here on the cape. last thursday a bunch of us all went out to eat @ MOBY DICK'S, which is just right up the road from the house. i thought i would celebrate my arrival to the cape with a lobster dinner -- delicious! the restaurant was BYOB, which we thought was unusual...but that didn't stop us from going to grab some beer before our dinner came! we also hit up a bar "downtown" after that actually had people under the age of 40 there! on friday we spent the day getting certified in first aid and cpr and celebrated our first week of training by heading up to Provincetown for......DRAG QUEEN KARAOKE...& we had a blast! we sang a (horrible) rendition of "bohemian rhapsody" and then later "no rain" and brian & greg ended the whole night with "puff the magic dragon" !!! it was quite the bonding experience with everyone. saturday some of us headed back up to "P-town" and hit up the farmer's market and checked out the "main drag" which was lined with really cute shops. that afternoon EVERYONE headed to Coast Guard Beach on the national sea shore to stay @ the NEED building for a retreat until tuesday morning. we did a lot of team building exercises with the other house and got a chance to tell everyone why we were here, in cape cod, committing a year to environmental community service. we also got a chance to talk to some alumni from the program and two of them actually did a year of service after Cape Cod for the St. Louis Emergency Response Team, which I was also accepted to. I inquired about their year in St. Louis and they both told me that I made the right decision coming to the Cape and that the St. Louis program was very unorganized and this was probably the last year that they were going to do it. It was such a relief to hear that, because all I could think about before I got here was if I made the right decision and that just confirmed that I did. So....I am here and excited and can't wait to learn more about the area and what I will be doing for the next 11 months! Thanks for the comments and the e-mails....keep 'em coming!

peace/love ABBEY

the NEED house that we stayed @ on the beach....


myself, korinda & meg sitting in the lifeguard chair @ coast guard beach...

most of "the house" @ drag queen karaoke!

coast guard beach in eastham....

cape pictures!

this is a picture of the outside of my house...."Le Hac" in wellfleet


& here is my room......TOP BUNK is me !!!

roadtrip pix.

meghan & i in the boston gardens!

emily & i @ niagara falls, onatario and then acorn alley in boston, which is the smallest road in the US....or something like that.....& it still has the originial cobblestone! (it hurts in sandals)

day two/three

yesterday we met the "other house" -- BOURNE. they all seem like really cool people. we did a couple ice breaker games and A LOT of paperwork. snore, but necessary. some of us decided to take a bike ride in the afternoon in the sprinkling rain & ended up @ the same beach again (on accident), which led to us jumping into the ocean with our clothes on & trying to body surf in the choppy waves. quite the experience. we had a great taco/burrito dinner with brownies & ice cream for dessert & then watched some arrested development! great way to end the evening. this morning we had "orientation" about the Cape, basically to learn where grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals & dunkin donuts are (east coasters LOVE their DD)....& of course where the few bars that stay open year round are! after that we had a little "scavenger hunt" which was really just following a map to where certain things were on our side of the Cape. we had lunch at this fantastic place called Gray's Beach. you walk out onto this long boardwalk over marshy land and it was just very scenic. we also got to make a quick stop @ the grocery store -- stop & shop! -- and learned that there is a trader joe's in hyannis! sadly, it's about an hour away....but close to our headquarters, so i will eventually get there some day! back at the house we got outfitted with some awesome orange raincoats and pants and then went to the beach to test out our waders! (mine don't leak -- awesome!) we also fit another mini bike ride in there somewhere....in which we finally headed "downtown" wellfleet to check it out! lots of cute shops and galleries...& very "hippie-esque", so i am pretty sure that i am going to like it! tonight is another family dinner and then a house meeting, which will be the norm now every wednesday nite. we are doing a program retreat this weekend from saturday-tuesday...so i am looking forward to that! i guess that's it for now.....take care....& thanks for the calls/texts/fbook messages! i promise i will get back to you all soon....just busy getting to know the house & everyone still. peace!



view from Gray's Beach all of us trying out our waders in Cape Cod Bay....

I'M HERE.

I am writing this entry from my top bunk bed (yes) in Cape Cod! It's still surreal to be here. All summer I have been trying to picture myself at the house with my housemates and really had no clue what to think.....but so far it's been great! Let's start from the beginning....
Em & I left Sheboygan early Thursday morning (in the rain) & hit rush hour traffic in MKE & Chicago.....for those who know me well, this could have been a disater given my driving anxiety, but I was surprisingly calm. We spent the night in Hamilton, Ontario....my 1st time in Canada! Friday morning we stopped at Niagara Falls for about 15 minutes.....sadly, we weren't that impressed. Oh well. We continued on our journey without incident until hitting the great state of Massachusetts...where we encountered some crazy drivers and have since learned that they are referred to as "Mass-holes" (very appropriate. they are worse than FIBS!) Got lost on our way into Boston, but arrived safely at my cousin, Meghan's apartment. Spent the weekend in Boston, touring some art museums, eating some good food (& gelato!), walking around....typical touristy things. Em flew back to Wisco on Sunday afternoon and I departed late this morning for the Cape!
So now I am here and pretty much settled in. The house is OLD and is lovingly (??) referred to as a tinder box (we have already done a mock fire drill). I am in a double room...in bunk beds....it makes me feel like I'm @ camp! My roommate actually did the program last year, so I am hoping that she can help show me the ropes a bit. I am pretty sure that I am the oldest one here besides our house supervisor (kind of like an RA) and I am definately the tallest....MAYBE 2 guys are the same height...but that is irrelevant. After I got my things unpacked...some of us headed to the "bay side" of the Cape and hit the beach for a bit. When we got there we were greeted by an old man who looked similar to Santa, & was wearing a turquiose STRING BIKINI speedo. Apparently there is a lot of that around here. Thank buddha it's almost fall! We all played some frisbee....while treading water....interesting, but a good time! Headed back to the house and had a "family" dinner of pizza and also met the director of the program, Darlene. She started this Cape Cod program 10 years ago and is really excited for this milestone year.....she even made us give her all hugs, which was awkward....but nice in a way, I guess. We tried to venture around the land after dinner, but it was getting dark....so we all just hung out and got more situated in our new surroundings. One of the girls in the house is actually from Minoqua, so she put the Packer game on right away...& I will admit that I watched some of it (for you, Dad!).
So...my 1st day is now over and I must say that I have enjoyed it. Tomorrow we are meeting the members of the other house....so I am looking forward to that! I also have taken some pictures, which I will post soon, so you can see where I am living!

will write again soon......good nite!