Thursday, February 27, 2014

Orientation 2/27

It is begun. About 25 of us gathered at a Camp Fire Girl's camp in Long Beach for two days of orientation. Others will arrive tomorrow and Saturday when we begin the March with 20 mile day.

Wouldn't you know, California's terrible drought is being broken these 3 days by the biggest rainstorms in over 2 years. Four inches expected tonight & tomorrow. My tent is dry, but others not so well off.

Morale is great and everyone is excited, having fun, and pitching in. Lots of the logistics are being solved on the fly. My Peace Corps experience and necessity for flexibility and adapting to change is certainly useful.

Orientation includes some excellent presenters - top notch professionals dedicated to helping us succeed. Topics today:
-Non-violent communication
-Cooperative decision making
-Peer support methods (I'm one of the facilitators for that)
-America's metaphors (how to talk to people in familiar language that they easily "get.")

It is all going well and so far the food is great!

The rain will put a damper on the extensive kickoff agenda that the Southern CA Climate Collective has planned for Saturday, but the rain is desperately needed. Some areas are preparing for mud slides, but not where we'll be.

Campfire and guitars and singing tonight. I'm happy!



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