Flexible, From the F to the E

So after the crazy end to last week, things have mostly settled back to normal. Saturday we had a pretty lazy day, since we were still recuperating from setting up the shelter on Thursday night. Sunday morning we went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, because Christina’s dad had been nice enough to get us passes. I admit that I was a bit skeptical about a desert museum, but it actually turned out to be really awesome. Our tour guide taught us all kinds of interesting things about the plant life of the desert—what different plants are called, how they’re able to survive with so little water, what they can be used for, and other fun and useful facts. And we saw lots of adorable animals. My personal favorite was the javelinas, because we don’t have those in MA. The weather was wonderful too, which is always a plus.

Today we experienced our first Mobile VITA site. We all went together to the Villa Maria Care Center, along with Cheyenne, and set up and ran the site. It was a little crazy…we forgot the back-up power cords to the computers, only five of the fifteen clients who’d signed up actually came, and space was a little cramped. But, we helped out those five people, we got to see how a mobile site works, and we learned a lot, so in the end I’d definitely call it a successful day. We had thought we would be doing mobile sites all of this week, however the tax prep software VITA uses is experiencing some sort of problem—so tax prep is on hold until they get that fixed, which ought to be next week. So, for the rest of this week, we’re keeping busy with community outreach instead, getting the word out about VITA to various neighborhoods. We’ll also have time to start planning our Day of Service which should be fun.

Way back during CTI, I remember being told several times during various meetings/trainings that one of the most essential qualities for Corps Members is “Being Flexible, from the F to E.” It’s definitely been true, throughout the program, but I think Water 4 has really had to embrace that over the past week or so. And I must say, we’ve been doing a pretty fantastic job! It definitely keeps life interesting.

~Jo