Healthy Heath

AmeriCorps Conference ’11 February 21, 2011

Over the last few days, I’ve been partaking in a giant conference for the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps, of which I am a member. Decidedly good fun, 300+ volunteers from across the United States get together in the middle of their service year to hear about what is happening at different sites.

Of course, Boulder is the best, but other sites that are well represented are Apopka, FL, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Seattle, Phoenix, Wilmington, DE and a bunch of others. It is great to hear about the different people we serve, the stories people have to share and the workshops that help with training for our sites. It is definitely a great experience, and makes for a nice break in the middle of the year.

This year, I’ve found that the key-note speakers are interesting. They have an overarching theme to their speeches and have engaging topics. Meeting people from a variety of sites has led to several though provoking conversations. We are a group of passionate, involved and engaged people with incredible talents and so much to offer.

My favorite part has definitely been the story telling sessions from each site. For our group, we Boulderites did a telenovella/glee style skit full of tacky accents, overacting and rocking dance routine. Not to toot our group’s horn, but we did get a standing ovation. So well worth all the practice!

Since this is a food blog, I suppose I should try to comment on… the food.  Sadly, there is not much to report. The hotel is very nice, and everything is much nicer than last year, but when it comes to the food there is always a little something that’s lacking. For breakfast the offer a buffet. We have had egg and cheese on croissant/biscuit, but I am here to tell you that three containers with the same food does not a buffet make. For lunch we had a salad, but it wasn’t quite big enough and didn’t have enough variety to be satisfying. The dinner was lasagna, but it needed a little something more to make it a good meal. Perhaps a few more veggies, a little bread, and something a little chocolatey for dessert. I appreciate that they cook vegetables properly, but I am constantly unsatisfied with the food throughout the day. Weight Watchers would disapprove! Really, it just means that I am all the more excited to have good, home cooked meals from my mom on Wednesday!