umatilla, Florida

So my team, Delta 5, is in Umatilla, Florida. We are working with St. John's Water Management to try and restore the marshes back to there natural state with grass called Spartina so that this area can continue to have clean water. What we do is dig up half of the Spartina plant from a field where is grows plentifully and then replant it where is can flourish. It is the hardest work I've ever done and it's safe to say it is my least favorite job I've ever had but we are staying positive and convincing ourselves that this job will give us a great tan and get us in great shape! It has been hard since on our trip down here, Paige, Our team leader, had a death in her family and needed to fly home. So we have had an acting team leader, Lisa, who is a corps member like me. It's been a difficult transition for some, but most of us have been respecting of her leadership- but we are all ready for Paige to come back to make our team whole again.

but besides work, we've done a bit of playing too. Yesterday we spend the day at Wekiwa Springs. Which is a naturally occuring cold springs about an hour away from where we are staying. the water is crystal clear and Lisa and i spend most of the time there exploring the underwater caves with our goggles on! it was amazing. after the springs we got lunch at CHIPOTLE!!! yes, i finally found a chipotle and i had to beg the team to stop so i could get a delicious burrito bol! and it was definitely worth the detour because it was delicious!! We explored the town of Eustis (the closest "town" to our camp) and we found a great coffee shop, book store, and organic food store with great fresh ground peanut butter and local honey! when we got back to our camp site (did i mention we are staying at a baptist conference center?? we have 2 cabins and a kitchen and a dock just for us on Lake Yale) anyway, when we got back to the cabins Lisa and I swam for 2 hours in our gigantic Olympic size pool, then we went canoeing with the team, and then we played soccer ( i scored 3 goals!!! the score was 5-2, my team won!!). we had tilapia and some veggies for dinner and called it a night!

I'll have to post some pictures when i have better internet reception- but for now im going canoeing on the lake (where there are a bunch of alligators!)

LOVE FOREVER
Kari


PS,
new mailing address until September 24:

Kari Shields- class 17
Americorps NCCC
39034 CR 452
Leesburg, FL 34788