Orientation and Friends

Well it has been a busy week.  I was able to catch that ferry last Sunday, which saved me a parking ticket!  In an effort to keep you reading, I am hoping a few highlights, rather than a day to day recap will suffice. 

Sunday - all the fellows got together at Waterworks for dinner and drinks to kick-off the much awaited orientation week, which thanks to a great cohort of fellows, really wasn’t all that bad.

 

Monday (this may be a longer one because it was so fun) - A "scavenger hunt" helped us become acquainted with the Institute staff followed by a team building session.  A nice competitive game of scrabble, which was won (I think) by Amanda, Hope, Kate and Alex (Hodges) despite their questionable words choices :P.  After that, we had to work together to relocate 18 of us (distributed among 4 platforms) from one platform to another.  Strategic planning and a little bit of trust led to successful transportation of all but one person.  Jen’s flight was a little off target and as I reached for her and grabbed the rope, I fell in the “ocean”.  Our next exercise/activity was one that I always wanted to take part of, HIGH ROPES COURSE!!!  Slightly ironic given my fear of falling, but, again, with a little bit (ok a lot) of trust in our hardware and teammates, I was able to tackle the 30ft rope walk.  The purpose of the ropes course was extrinsic as well as intrinsic.  We had to trust our teammates, understand that no part is too small, and challenge ourselves beyond our normal comfort zone.  Having said that, I changed my mind and scaled the tree and walked across the cable 50ft off the ground.  After all that, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Moody’s and an early night.

Tuesday - Lessons on running effective meetings and facilitating was taught by Ron Beard at the Comfort Inn in Ellsworth.  After that we went to 3Tides for some drinks before Aldin and Annie (I think was her name) joined us for dinner at Darby's.  Many thanks to them for some insight into island life.

Wednesday - A later start time Thursday morning motivated most of us to push through the day with smiles on our faces.  We went to Herring Gut Learning Center where Alex works and saw the aquaponics system we heard so much about leading up to the visit.  A little break from things at the Marshall Point Lighthouse was well spent before the Phil's presentation about the Island Institute’s formation.  A Mexican dinner in Rockland, a Dark and Stormy (with next to no ginger beer), and  quality time at the Time Out Pub provided for great memories with some great people.  

Thursday - Our advisors came out and went through the AmeriCorps aspect/expectations of the program, which of course was soooo fun. Haha.  Being ahead of schedule, as usual, allowed most people to go home that night.  I was still lacking a fingerprint card so I stayed behind and took care of that along with some other things. 

Friday (today) - I caught the 8:45 ferry and with the hour and fifteen minute ride, I couldn't help but think of how much fun was had this week getting to know a great group of new friends.  I am actually looking forward to our retreats and AmeriCorps training throughout the year.  I spent a lot of time today exploring the parks on the island and getting more pictures!  Speaking of which... here is the view from my porch...