Hey all - hope you are well. I will get right into my week. Monday all 80+ members took off to southern Illinois in a 9 vehicle caravan to begin "Quest". We were split up into teams of 15 and my group had 2 leaders. The leaders were there just in case of an emergency - the team was given maps and compasses and thus began are mission to find locations in the woods and get to out campsite. We each had packs of about 30 pounds. Our group was pretty good at orienteering and so we found the locations fairly quickly. There is a girl named Whitney in my group from Oklahoma - and is one of the funniest people I've ever met - she kept morale up. I also spoke a lot with a guy named Jon - who is very musical and eerily enough shares the same sentiments on almost every issue as I do. We found a cemetary in the middle of some dense woods, which was pretty cool - stumbling upon it around 9:00 p.m. We got into camp around 10:00 p.m. and slept under a rock ledge - being that our campsite was in a very cavernous, rocky area. The next day we hiked for a while and canoed out. The rest of the week we were at a Lutheran camp - just for use of their bunkhouses, mess halls and cooking. We learned about the CCC and how Americorps started intersperced with some activities - skits, a talent show in which Amy my musically talented roommate (she has a cd) and another guy named Jon sang a Shins song and Jon and I sang the sweater song. On thursday we split up into 2 groups: one painted and the other did various jobs with the park service near by. My group moved rocks from a river bed to the slope nearby to stop erosion - I don't have to tell you it was hard work, but our group worked really, really well together. On friday we had a stick ceremony - everyone found a stick which represented them: past, present or future. It got long, but it was a great way for people to vent emotions about their hopes this yr. and their struggles pre-Americorps. The couple who run the show: Kathleen and Bruce Bailey are very cool. I got a chance to talk to Kathleen one on one and she weaved her way into discerning my past - a very perceptive woman. She's done so much and has committed her life to helping St. Louis. We had a party at the Mardel house on friday, which went pretty well...I was sleeping (I have been taking Benedryl for my poison ivy which I have all over my arms, legs, back and some on my face and it makes me quite drowsy) but our neighbor to the left called the police with a noise complaint and the party ended without a bit of drama I heard. Yesterday, some friends and I went to the Science Center - we got lost along the way and didn't know it ended at 4:30 - we arrived at 4:15. Luckily, there was a hot-air balloon launching in a park near the center so we walked over there and saw about 25 take off - it was slightly magical seeing all of them riding the wind toward the arch. I've also been reading a fair bit - "the omnivore's dilemma" which is really good and the last temptation of christ. This next week we will be getting some CPR and emergency first respondent training. I will speak with you soon. Also in case anyone wants it, my number is 320-237-2956, call anytime.

till then, peace, Kevin