Highlights from training so far

Welcome to my second blog post! It will probably be a pretty general overview of the things I’ve done so far since I’ve done a bunch of different things so far and I won’t be able to cover all of it. So like I said in my first post we’ve been doing trainings in the few weeks since I’ve been here, everything from learning to use tools, GPS mapping training, learning about ticks, CPR and first aid, shellfishing, and today we did carpentry training. We also have already had a day where we go into an elementary school and have a kind of fair with a bunch of activities to teach the kids about the importance of taking care of the groundwater, so we had a day of training for that and then the next day we actually went to the school. We’ll be doing those throughout the year, which I don’t think will be my favorite thing to do since I’m not that into teaching but it should be kind of fun. The kids are pretty entertaining at least haha.

One of my favorite days of training so far was the day we got to do shellfishing. I had never done it before so it was something completely new and it was really fun. We learned all about the process of aquaculture and how they grow the shellfish initially in the nurseries, and then the part of the process we got to help with was after they reach a certain size, they are put out into the ocean to grow more. What we had to do was go out into a tidal area where the water was shallow and clear out an area where we placed nets that would go over the shellfish. Then we pulled the nets back and spread the shellfish out underneath them and then replaced the nets to protect the shellfish from predators and to keep them from washing away. In the spring we might to get to help harvest them again which would be fun. Another fun part of that day was that we got to wear our waders, which are basically waterproof overalls so we could walk around in the water as much as we wanted and still stay dry.

Here’s a picture of all of us in our waders the first time we wore them when we tested them for holes.

Here’s another group picture in our waders, this one is from the day we did shellfishing.

On that day we also pulled some oysters out of the ocean where we were working and opened them and ate them. I was a little skeptical at first but I ended up eating one. In this picture you can see me as I was contemplating the oyster right before I ate it. It was slimy and kind of salty but not as bad as I thought it would be. I think I could probably get used to eating them if I had more of them.

Other than training we’ve also gotten to explore the Cape a little bit. A few weeks ago we had a retreat with all of the AmeriCorps members (meaning everyone in my house, everyone in the house in Bourne, and 4 guys from another house in Wellfleet who are part of the fire crew that works on firefighting and controlled burns as far as I know about their job). During that retreat one activity I did was go on a dune hike which was really cool. Here are a few pictures of that.

We’ve also done some non-AmeriCorps related things, like going to a vineyard in Truro. They were having a wine festival and a bunch of us went and brought some cheese and sat on the grass and had some wine. There was also a barrel with grapes in it that we got to walk around in a crush up the grapes. It felt a little weird and it was cold, but it was fun too.

I guess that’s it for now, I will try to write as much as I can when exciting things happen. Next week is when our training will be over and we will get into more of a routine with group projects and days at our IP (or Individual Placement) so I’ll write more about that next time.