Jen vs America: November 2009

People keep asking me what it's like, but it's difficult to describe exactly how it feels, sitting here on my (uncomfortable) ACE mattress on my last evening here, having returned to Santa Cruz yesterday from my final project.

Yesterday, when we returned, ACE's head honcho Chris Baker appeared at the house having travelled all the way from Flagstaff (that's the main ACE base), and assembled all 22 of us volunteers to ask us about our views and experiences of ACE California. Upon reflection I found myself feeling indescribably happy to be done: to have finally completed my ten weeks of difficult, gruelling, often boring and sometimes thankless tasks that have constituted my "conservation" experience. I've struggled with the sometimes amateurish work of what you might ironically refer to as the ACE "organisation". I have felt so frustrated, thinking about what I would change about the projects and the way it's all done if only I were in charge.

But I can't deny that I have some brilliant memories, met some great people, seen some really very beautiful places, built up some good arm muscles, worked in some crazy situations, and generally feel that these past ten weeks have been well, well worth it. I wouldn't say that I'm exactly sad that to be leaving tomorrow - not yet, anyway - but I do suspect that getting back home (after my two-week roadtrip with cousins on the East) will be a bit of a strange experience.

I won't miss waking up in the dark at 6am to defrost the ice in the cooking pot in order to make coffee. I won't miss being yelled at by crazy Europeans for passing the logs down the human chain to the roadside too quickly. I won't miss finding cactus needles in my socks (the painful way) or being charged through the teeth for my swollen mosquito bites. I certainly won't miss the endless, mind-numbing monotony of repeating the same simple but physically demanding task over and over again for ten hours a day.

But I will miss being in California. I'll miss the crisp air of the mountains and the marine layer of mist that hangs over the Pacific in the morning. I'll miss being governed by the Terminator, and seeing all the weirdos inside and outside the 7-11 on the corner. I will miss the lovely people I've met from all over the world, whom in all likelihood - let's face it - I'll never see again, and the word games we played to keep our minds from imploding with boredom during the hardest days of project. I will miss the novelty of being the only English person around!

Would I recommend ACE to a friend? Well, cautiously, yes. I guess if I'd known what I was in for from the beginning I probably would have steered well clear, and I suppose that means I'm grateful for my ignorance, because I am so glad to have done it. I guess the toughest things turn out to be the really good things - the important things in life - and as a coward that means I have to not know in advance how tough they're going to be!

I'm not sure if I'll keep writing in this blog as I travel on the East. After all, I think I can say I've won already.

Thanks for following this blog. Unlike lots of people I've met here on ACE, I really do love my life back home, and it means a lot to me to feel like in some way my friends and family are here with me. I miss you lots, and am really looking forward to seeing everybody when I get back.

Until then... word.

p.s. anyone know of any fun job vacancies for December..?

So Daylight Savings Time is finally paying me back the one hour I invested back in March. I feel like I used to when I got back from my swimming lesson, put the key back in my locker, and suddenly had 20p in my hand, and thinking of all the things I could do with it.

Well, it looks like I'm spending my bonus time by writing in this blog. I'm pretty sure I'd be better off using it by sleeping in preparation for another week's hard work, but this seems more appealing right now.

Let me first say this: this project really does SUCK. All day, every day, we haul logs up a big bank to the roadside. And stack them. It's a lot like the Yosemite project only this time we're in a sizeable neighbourhood location (rather than in a meadow in a National Park), the logs are heavier, and the bank is steeper. Our supervisor, Kyle, is hard to please and during our work days seems to say nothing to encourage us and is quick to criticise even when everyone is sweating and aching from working so hard. We work from 7am on the dot til 5pm on the dot. Oh yeah, and instead of being too hot for little old English me, it's been freezing. Literally, every night (down to -11c), and some of the days. Three weeks before the ski season begins, and we're camping!

But secondly I'll say this: I love Lake Tahoe. My weekend off has been amazing. I've cycled miles, sorted a load of admin stuff for my post-ACE trip, walked around a lot, sat out by the campfire (in multiple layers of clothing of course), seen some incredible views, and enjoyed the new dynamic of a very different team. Within the crew we have three 18-year-old boys, whom I could very well imagine being some of "my kids" All Saints (except for their American/Dutch accents), as well as representatives from Spain, Italy, Korea and Germany too. Supervisor Kyle is surprisingly fun to hang out with outside of work time. I'm far from at the "core" of this group - there's not one person that I knew before I came out here, and many of them have already been on project together - but I'm very much happy with it being that way, just sitting back, watching, happy to hang out with one or two people or on my own.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days: