My Journey

I created this blog to update my friends and family on my 10 month journey in AmeriCorps NCCC. AmeriCorps is a full-time, team-based residential program for men and women ages 18-24. The mission of AmeriCorps is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service. I am excited for this experience and hope that all of you follow me on my journey!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Thanksgiving

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving was very eventful to say the least; but turned out to be a really great Thanksgiving with good friends, good food, and good stories that made me laugh so hard that I cried. It was definitely a new experience being away from home for Thanksgiving. I had traveled to Colorado a few times to be with family out there, but never in a new place, with new people that weren't blood related.

Most of my team had stayed in San Francisco for Thanksgiving, but there were only about five, including me,  that were around Thanksgiving day. Three went back to Sacramento to eat their feast on campus. My Team Leader, and two others from my team had family in San Francisco that they had their dinner with. Thanksgiving morning (6:00 am) me and two other girls from my team went to an event on Alcatraz. It's called Unthanksgiving Day. It's an event held on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, to honor the indigenous peoples of America and promote their rights. Several groups dance before sunrise, to honor their ancestors; others demonstrate the beauty of their cultures in other ways, and speak out for the rights of their people. It was a really fun event to go to! It was also neat to get to go to Alcatraz, although they had most of it blocked off. Below are a few pictures from my trip!
 On the ferry on the way to Alcatraz. The Golden Gate Bridge is in the background.
 Erin, Noor, and Me
 One of the Indian dancers. Their headdresses were beautiful with all the feathers.
Me, with the Alcatraz sign!

After coming back from Alcatraz we started to cook our dinner. We put our turkey in the oven at 6'o clock....and it ended up taking till midnight that night to get done! Now, I know what you're thinking; was the oven on? Yes, it was. Was the temperature set higher than 150? Yes, it was. I think the oven was off on temperature. It's an older building so I guess thats to be expected. The only thing we didn't have was a thermometer! That might have helped just a little. Everything worked out in the end though! We ended up eating our dinner in rounds! First round consisted of mashed potaotes, green bean casserol, stuffing, cornbread and corn; basically everything that was done on time! Round two was the turkey and the two desserts that I made; apple crisp and pumpkin pie. Those were both gone vey fast! I had a great Thanksgiving although, it wasn't like home; but that's all apart of the adventure, right?

 Me cooking stuffing.
 Ready to eat!
Dishing up!



I will update again soon!
♥ Kristen