We Don't Even Have to Try

It's gonna be alright
We don't even have to try
It's always a good time

Doesn't matter when
It's always a good time then
Doesn't matter where
It's always a good time there

It's been 12 days since I left home. It has also been 12 days since the TLs started spending every hour of every day together. We spend about 15 hours together and do at least 2 ice breakers a day, which means we have got to know each other pretty freakin' well. Literally 24 people together... 24 hours a day. And let me tell you, you really get to know someone by yelling at them to "work through the pain" in 35 degree weather at 6am PT on a Monday.
Basically, I am trying to convey that Taylor Swift's semi-creepy friend, OwlCity, has it right when he says "We don't even have to try, it's always a good time." Allow me to paint you a word picture: 24 very sleep deprived FEMA Corps team leaders sit in an extremely secure government facility breakroom. After attempting to take an online exam and eventually giving up and getting the answers from the facilitator, four of us sat around on the floor of a cubicle and stared at each other before I finally announced "LIFE STORY TIME!" which was soon followed by Andrea saying "THEN WE'LL DO HOT SEAT QUESTIONS!" Keep in mind that we were whisper-yelling because the Unit leaders told us to "act like kids in a library" i.e. keep our voices to a light hush, don't go in restricted areas, and NEVER rough house or run in the corridors... Guys, we are all over 20, relax.
So the game went on. Now, at 11 am on a Saturday morning in a government facility with confidential equipment all around, one would think we quietly kept to ourselves, but we are all hilarious and awesome, so that really didn't happen. Besides, like OwlCity says, "Doesn't matter where, doesn't matter when, it's always a good time." What did transpire was some pretty funny and amazing conversations about life experiences. Allow me to now give you further insight into some of the stories I heard. I learned that Amber grew up in Billerica (Yes, Billerica... SO WEIRD, I KNOW, RIGHT!?!) and she used to play 'librarian' as a child; she would make her friends be quiet and reprimand them if they talked too much. I also learned she was a member of the Walking Club in middle school. Legit a club where they would just walk around with no destination. Side note: Okay, they once walked from Billerica to Concord, which is actually really cool. Next up, I learned that Andrea is originally from Indiana, but moved to Pennsylvania when she was pretty young, but still has a strong connection to Indiana. She also was in charge of THON at Penn State which is an 46 HOUR DANCE PARTY that raises money and awareness for some cause or non-profit that I don't remember (sorry!!) Andrea also was really into imaginary friends for a while. She had 4 at once. Like, super intense imaginary friendships. Her parents went along with it and everything. Finally, I learned that Allison is from Golden, Colorado. "It's like the best place to live. It's close to the mountains AND Boulder AND Denver, AND there's tons of hiking trails AND it's sunny over 300 days a year. Golden, Colorado: Where The West Lives." Apparently it is a great place to live (not 23rd in the nation though... shout out to Chelmsford) but in high school, Allison took a 'senior seminar' class where she got to travel all over the country doing activities like rafting and camping with 25 of her classmates. After a while, more people started sharing stories about their lives and it really helped us all bond. It's so cool to see our similarities, life parallels, and differences, not to mention it helped the 10 hours in that building pass by quicker.
Later that night, we went to an improv show in Sacramento because one of the AmeriCorps staff was a member in the group. It was pretty funny; not the funniest but I would give it a B+ overall. The group asked the audience a bunch of questions and then acted out scenarios about the answers they were given. Sunday we woke up and decided to enjoy the beautiful weather. We loaded into a van and drove to what we expected to be a lovely walk through the woods, lead by walking champion Amber, of course. It was not. We drove for 45 minutes on the highway then another 20 minutes on a gravel road that had a cliff on one side and no guard rail. Kudos to the girl driving because she didn't seem half as terrified as the 4 of us in the very VERY back. Eventually we came to a bridge and decided to just park and walk along the road, which was still nice. We had fun, which is really all that matters and is the whole point of this post!

Left to Right Top Row: Me, Amanda, Dana, Amber, Allison, Liz
Left to Right Bottom: Bethany, Chris, Andrea

Sorry I have been slacking on the pictures...I don't have my own computer and I don't think I am really allowed to hook my phone up to this PC. I'm trying my best though!!