Well the first full day of training is complete.

Let's back up for a second.

-Day One:
Because of the bus schedule it ended up that it made the most sense to drive.   It was about a five hour drive. Not too many problems.  Not too bad of a drive.  I had a little trouble finding the hotel, but once I got there I was surprised at how fancy dancy it was.  I'm talking doormen, valet parking, bathrobe in the bathroom, ten dollar a day internet, but no chocolates on the pillow.  In other words a lot fancier than I'm used to. Its good, though, to experience new places and venues.  (PS - The food is to DIE FOR here.)

Since everyone was arriving throughout the day, the festivities didn't begin until 6:30.  Mostly we were welcomed several times, and then given a history of the Americorps group. 

After that I went back to my room and slept in my outstandingly wonderful bed.

-Day Two:

This was our first introduction into the nitty gritty of what VISTA is all about.  Put simply: VISTA is working to eliminate poverty in America.

The idea of poverty was then broken down and discussed in groups lead by highly qualified facilitators and trainers. (I say highly qualified because they know their audience.  They provided play-doh to give us something to do with our hands.)

The first question we were asked to think about was "What is Poverty?"
 - The group agreed that poverty was essentially the lack of basic life-needs, whether that means food, shelter, support, or any sort of stability.

We were then asked to consider what the causes of poverty were.  There were many responses, but none of them were the sole cause of poverty.  Some of the responses that were tossed out included:
- lack of opportunities
- job loss
- socio-economic standards
- cost of living
- physical/mental health status
- Race (though this was heavily debated as to whether it was a cause or a correlation, or if it was even relevant at all.)

While discussing poverty, we talked about the different types of poverty.
-Situational: Living in poverty for a short time
-Generational: Two or more generations of one family living in poverty
 (The majority of people living in poverty are generational.)

Poverty is also defined as a lack of resources.  These resources include Mental, Financial, Emotional, Social, and Role models.

Our discussion ended on an unfinished note that will be continued tomorrow.

Until then!