ArtWalk, Earth Day, Little Kids, and Free Food

What a busy time we are having in Memphis, y'all.  Here are a few highlights from the last time I posted a detailed description of the adventures of River 10...

Ducks hitting the red carpet

On the Wednesday 18th, we all went to volunteer at Memphis Center for Independent Living.  We did odds and ends jobs for the morning, but the exciting part was in the afternoon.  Our team was given free passes to the Stax Soul Music Museum.  We literally danced the entire way through the whole building.  It was a fun adventure for us all.  I now have a fond appreciation for Soul Music.  After the Stax Museum we went to the Peabody Hotel.  This hotel is world famous for you won't even guess what.  This place is world famous for their Mallard Ducks.  They have a fountain in the middle of the lobby with 5 Mallards.  There are 4 females and 1 male.  These ducks come out at 11am and go back to their penthouse suite on the top floor at 5pm.  The most amazing part about this and it is why we went to go see them is there is a duck march.  At 5pm the Duck Master comes to the lobby and rolls out a red carpet.  The ducks hear the music and get out of the fountain and WALK THE RED CARPET to the elevator to go to their suite.  No word of a lie on this one.  I was in heaven.  Kind of reminded me of Makeway for Ducklings which NOONE on my team has heard of.  Really showing my Boston on this one.  It was so awesome.

Thursday we put in more windows at First Congo, no big deal.  Just laid another 165 bricks and stuff.  We rock.  Friday the 19, we were on the GreenLine with VECA prepping for the ArtWalk that was Saturday.  The entire day of the ArtWalk was a huge success.  We all got to see different non-profits, artists, and a ton of kids.  We were thanked by a large amount of people for the work we are doing in Memphis.  It made us all feel really awesome and feel like we are doing a good amount of service in Memphis.  There was a kids corner at the ArtWalk where my Team Leader and Sam were in charge of face painting.  I decided that it would be in my best interest to let Beste paint whatever she wanted to my face.  Once she was finished and the looks and laughter subsided, I got to see that she painted me a full pirate face.  I embraced it in full effect and wore it to the bar that night.  Didn't even wash it in the shower.  You know what they say, you only live once.  And yes everyone at the bar, I do know my face is painted like a pirate.

Sunday was Earth Day and the whole weekend was Global Youth Service Weekend.  So, what do you think we did? Service, on our day off!  We were volunteering at Shelby Farms for a 5k road race.  Beste and I got to stand at mile 3 and tell the runners they had only a little to go and clap for about a good hour.  Our view was awesome, right on a lake.  Pretty beautiful way to celebrate Earth Day.

Monday was our first day off for the entire week.  I took it in for all it's worth.  I laid on my bed for about 6 hours straight uploading pictures to Facebook, if you are connected to this social media, check 'em out.  If you are not, well sorry, I suggest finding someone who is connected to the interweb in this way, or ask me to share some pics with you (dad).

Tuesday was more GreenLine clearing and using hard tools again that I can handle because of the muscle I am building up.

 

Me and the new members of River 10

 

River 10 females doing WORK.



Wednesday was really the day I was looking toward getting to on this here blog.  So Wednesday we started out at MCIL again, but really, we were doing NOTHING.  We were sitting being zero productive.  So Beste grabbed the bull by the horns and got us moved, great TL she is.  We got moved to the VECA community to a condemned home.  This home had a dilapidated garage in the back.  River 10 was assigned to demolish this large piece of beauty.  We attacked it at full force.  The 5 females on our team decided we would use the sledge hammer, the regular hammer, and our strong arms to really attack the whole garage while the boys did the picking up of the wood we were removing.  Girl Power.  Once we got the big pieces out of the way, we noticed that there were a lot more children around the neighborhood.  After a good 45 minutes of walking by us and just saying hi, one of them made it to the backyard where we were working.  Bo Bo was his name.  He decided he would be an honorary AmeriCorps member for the afternoon.  Why not! He then rounded up about eleven of his closest friends (all aged 5 and 6) to help us.  I was in my GLORY.  These kids had our hard hats on, gloves on, our safety goggles, and were using the wheel barrow.  It was honestly one of the best moments of the entire program.  I really felt like I was at my happiest because I saw children again.  It made me realize how much I miss my middle school students (especially those 8th graders) and my Bridgie at home.  One of them, Tevian, wore my hat, helped me rake, and became my little buddy for the afternoon until he had football practice.  These kids really turned our mood around for the day.  The 5 and 6 year old faces looking at us gave me a sense of hope that the work I am doing in this program is for all of the right reasons.  We were in their neighborhood helping one of their neighbors homes that was vacant for so long that it was creating an unsafe place for these little boys to play.  The reason I joined AmeriCorps is really because of children like Tevian, Bo Bo, and Little Mike.  I want to make a difference in lives, and on this day I really felt like I did.

 







Me and my buddy Tevian



Thursday was our best day for team morale.  We were at our peak on this day.  We started the day with the rising sun for PT then found out at 7am when we were done running 2.4 miles and doing a large core workout that was awesome (because I made it up) that we didn't have to be at work until 10.  We took the next 3 hours to literally sit in the kitchen and bond.  We made breakfast for each other and just had a fun morning.  Unfortunately, the next two days at our location were kind of low in work so we felt useless.  But, it didn't change how we are now feeling about being a team.  We really are on the upswing as a team and we are all really happy to be with each other.

Adding to the happiness is free food.  We got an anonymous note on Scooter our van on Friday morning that read something along the lines of Please come to skunx.  Dinner on us :).  Skunx is come to find out one of the most amazing pizza joints ever.  We went to scope out the scene to see if the note and to see if the dinner on us part of the note was true.  IT WAS.  We got 5 free pizzas.  They. Were. Delicious.  HOWEVER, we used this pizza outing as a celebratory meal beacuse we found out our next spike location!  River 10 is heading to Lorton, Virginia and Hattiesburg, Mississippi!! Lorton, which is 18 miles outside of DC is going to be an exciting project.  We will be blazing a trail, literally, in this town.  There is a patch of wooded area that we are going to cut out to become and environmental trail.  Pretty cool.  In Hattiesburg, we are going to be doing construction on a disaster area.  Disaster relief it is! We will be finishing a home that houses volunteers that was started by another team this round.  This town is a 2 hour train ride to New Orleans where about 5 teams from our Corps will be located or close to.  A lot of my good friends from other teams will be there so it will be fun to see those people while we are on our trips.  It has been hard not seeing some friends, but only 2 more weeks until Vicksburg again.  We don't know too much yet, just where we are heading, but WE ARE PUMPED!!

Tomorrow we are going to construct a greenhouse at a community garden on our day off.  We are buuuuuuuuuuuusy!

That's all for now.  Until next time readers.  Stay classy y'all.





The 2 tiny reasons why I am here, Bo Bo and Tevian.

All shook up in Memphis

Here I am, still in Memphis ya'll.  Still loving everything, but hitting a little rut.  One of our teammates put it best, our honeymoon stage of each other is over, and we are all learning who everyone really is.  Every team goes through these feelings and they will pass.  Until then, here is what has been going on work wise in Memphis...



MLK's hotel room and cars



Last Monday we had our day off.  Our team decided, since we had visitors from campus, to go to the Civil Rights Museum.  It was one of the most amazing places I have ever been.  I felt like I was learning so much (things I already should have known, I know), but my eyes really opened.  The museum itself is located at Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and assassinated.  It really was an amazing place and we really enjoyed it.  After the museum, our team went to Central BBQ.  Southern BBQ, nothing like it.  My taste buds have really changed since I left home and I love spicy and BBQ so much now.  The pulled pork I got was out of this world. My mouth watered as I ate it.  I was a proud member of the Clean Plate Club on this day (Kristen you'd be proud).

Last Tuesday we worked on the Green Line with Kirbster.  He really loves us and we are so happy working with him.  Sam, Chris, and I got to paint about 14 signs that are going to be hung around the working area of the Green Walk which is April 21.  My paint skills really came in handy on this day, I really made the janitors of Burlington proud with the paint job I did.  We had a meeting with the Art Walk committee to get to know the details of the day we are pretty much in charge of this Saturday.  In the afternoon we did a lot of brush clearing and making the location of the Art Walk just simply beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Doing a lot of work
on the Green Line

Wednesday we were again, on the Green Line.  This Green Line is in the heart of Memphis and is a 1.7 mile stretch in the middle of Memphis.  We started at the end to work toward the beginning to clear brush, weed whack, power saw trees, and rake leaves.  I used a weed whacker for the first time and a really intense power saw.  My arms were killing me, but I powered through and chopped down unnecessary brush and whacked some weeds.  Pretty powerful tools, but since I am jacked I can control them. 

Thursday we were back to doing one of our most favorite activities thus far, glass brick laying!  This day we put together 3 and 3/4 windows.  We are pretty much the best team ever.  Sam and I took on a window together and got it complete, so complete that Marky Mark, our site supervisor said it looked flawless.  Would you expect anything less?  This part of the projects we are involved with really seems to bring out the little kid in our team and we seem to always enjoy each other on these days.  We, per usual, ended up throwing mortar at each other instead of laying bricks at times, but we really got things done on this day.



River 10 with Sledge Hammer



Friday may have been the most boring day, but we really helped out people in need.  We were at Memphis Center for Independent Living.  Last Saturday we spent the morning with Sledge, aka Sledge Hammer our site supervisor, here planting flowers for their patio and making the entire place look more beautiful for a big event.  This is the project I was most excited about because we would be interacting with individuals with disabilities.  This particular day was their Spring Fling.  They had about 80 individuals come to this event.  We were in charge of cooking and interacting with the individuals.  Even though the day did not involve physical labor, we really felt like it was our lowest day.  I felt somewhat useless until a woman asked me to assist her in the bathroom and then I felt like I had a real need.  I got to talking to this woman who is 62 and completely paralyzed on her left side from a stroke/car accident.  She told me I was good at what I am doing and the most beautiful girls she has seen.  She told me that God has a plan for everyone and I was sent to her on this day to be her angel.  Yeah, I got a little emotional, but she was the sweetest woman ever.  For our lunch break we went to the VECA office and had a little seminar with a professor from Rhodes College, a college in Memphis.  We had a discussion on the study of the history of words, etmology if you will.  It was one of the most engaging conversations I have had since coming here and, I'll admit it, it made me miss college.  At night there was an event in downtown Memphis that some of the team went to.  We ran into Kirbster while there and he told us about a great pizza place on the street.  He then handed us 50 dollars and told us to enjoy ourselves.  He really is a saint.  Gotta love the Dr. Fertman look alike.



Me and "Elvis"



Saturday was spent doing literally all day ISP's.  I need at least 80 hours of Individual Service Projects and Saturday alone was 12 hours.  For part of it we got to help out at a Farmer's Market.  And by help out I mean we put up a few tents and then sampled every bit of food available.  (Something may be coming to 10 Thomas for Dad-Z in the near future)  The market was unbelievable.  The other part of the day was spent painting a stair case the leads to the Global Goods Fair Trade store located in our hostel.  The directions we received were "make it colorful and do what you want."  We did just that.  We did a base of blues for the ocean, pained the globe, then put our hands in every color paint and threw it at the wall trying to represent splatter paint.  It was awesome.  As I type there are purples, yellows, and greens on my hands still.  So clean.  Saturday night a few of us went to Beal Street.  I found an Elvis impersonator and got a picture, heard some real blues music, and enjoyed cheap 32 ouncers, which were literally called "Big A** Beers."  Really fun night.  Some of us finished up painting all day yesterday on a nice Sunday from 11am-1:45am today.  We took a break here and there to eat, but really all together these two days we got 21 hours plus of ISP.  That brings my total to about 45.5 hours of Individual Service.  Awesome.  Here are a few pictures from our ISP...

 

Today is a day off and we are going to finish the staircase.  I wish I was in Boston for the one of my favorite days of the year today.  But I know what I am doing will benefit me in the long run and there will be a Marathon every year.  I miss everyone a lot and hope everyone is doing well. 

Until next time...keep it classy.  LET'S GO BRUINS!

Glass bricks, Green Line, 2 ER trips, and one full week of work!

 

VECA Green Line

Today marks one week of being in Memphis doing work.  It has been a real exciting one.  We decided, per request of TL Beste, to do 10 push-ups on the hour, every hour while we are working.  Once 10 gets to be enough, we will move up to 15 and so on.  Also, if you swear while wearing our "A" you need to do 20 push-ups on the spot.  Friday was our first day of real work.  On this day we reported to the Green Line which works with VECA.  Our site supervisor is Dr. Kirby, Kirbster, who was a professor at a local university in Memphis.  He is a spitting image of Dr. Fertman, my orthodontist.  Our team is planning their annual Art Walk and we will be pretty much running the day for VECA.  We are pretty much a big deal.  3 teammates and I mapped out a large green space we are going to utilize for the event where we are going to put booths, vendors, and a huge table where another team member and I get to put our CAPping skills to use.  CAP stands for Cops Ambassador Person aka we like to do public speaking roles.  Also a big deal.  After dodging the rain, we successfully mapped out the green space.  In the afternoon we got to go into a community garden in Memphis.  This garden is in a rough neighborhood and it is used so that the people of the neighborhood can plant their own fruits and veggies.  Sam, Jamie and I got to plant a tree!  It may sound dumb, but it was hard work man.  I was sweating like a pig and had a GREAT hair day that day.  I felt so accomplished after digging a large hole and planting a tree that is going to bloom with flowers.  Kirbster loved it.  One of my team members, Dave, used a chainsaw and cut down a huge tree.  It was an overall awesome day.  125 push-ups later.



Jamie, Sam, and I with our tree.





Saturday we got to work with a new supervisor on renovating apartments that are going to be for rent for low-income families.  They are small, but if a family needs a home for cheap, they will take it.  I prepped a room to be painted, took me back to my painting days as a janitor.  Some of my other teammates painted the outside of the house while others did some landscaping.  In the afternoon, Dave and I went to an apartment to stain the porch.  I wish of all the times I saw Dad-Z staining that I jumped in to help.  It is harder and more tiring than it looks.  Wearing the coveralls is a pain, but at least my awesome khaki and gray didn't get stained.  Hard work and sweat always leads to a good night.  That night some of us went for Mexican food and drinks Mexicans drink.  Then we moseyed on down the street to an Irish bar.  Just exploring all heritages.  About 150 push-ups later.



Sunday and Monday are our weekends because we work Tuesday-Saturday.  Sunday was a relaxing day.  I spent it with Jamie walking to CVS, getting Starbucks, and relaxing.  Sunday night Sam and I made dinner until she sliced her finger on the can of peas.  ER trip #1 on the round/year.  She is fine, just a nasty cut.  Monday some of us got up early and went to the Midtown Food Bank for an ISP.  This was an eye opening experience.  We learned how many people are actually hungry in the 31 counties this food bank serves.  We got to organize a ton of bread to pass out and boxed up rice to ship to families.  When we were there, we found out that there is another non-profit inside the food bank called Kids Cafe.  This Cafe is open on Tuesday-Thursday and it is where kids can go to eat dinner with other children.  The woman explained it as the one meal where the children who come get to sit and eat.  Jamie and I took it upon ourselves to contact this woman about wanting to volunteer with the kids.  She told us that I can teach a nutrition class and Jamie can serve as someone they can talk to.  We are starting this next week! 0 push-ups day off.



Little circle saw action.



Monday night brought ER trip #2, this time for me.  I had something real painful in my eye and come to find out I have conjunctivitis!  Fun times.  Tuesday was a sick day for this corps member, unfortunately.  It was my first time since February 27 I was alone for a long period of time and BOY did I hate that.  I was so happy when my team came home.  Wednesday we worked at the First Congo doing projects for our sponsors who got us the hostel and housing.  We split up and the part of my team I was working with knocked out windows that were flooded and we got to replace them.  We didn't replace them with ordinary windows.  No, we got to lay down glass bricks using mortar, aka butter.  We called the cement butter because we had to spread it over the brick and lay them out.  Our supervisor, Mark, had a lot of fun with us.  We laid bricks pretty much all day and it was awesome.  The morning was used to prep the windows by taking the old windows out using tools.  I got to operate the circle power saw.  I felt like the absolute woman.  It was awesome.  The best part of the day was when we decided to have a nice butter fight.  We were throwing cement at each other and having a really good time as a team.  It was a really good day. A lot of push-ups.



We don't have fun.



Zero fun.



Today was a little different.  It rained, then was sunny, then rained, and then was sunny.  Weird Memphis weather.  We were supposed to continue laying bricks, but then all Hell rained down on us.  We got to do things inside.  We put some shelves together for the food bank that comes to donate food to the church for a day called Helping Feed the Homeless.  We then organized a real messy room.  It was doing busy work that is totally necessary for our First Congo to operate at it's finest.  Today it was counted that including PT, we did close to 200 push-ups for the day.



Very productive.



Overall, minus the junk in my eye, this week was awesome.  Memphis and all of the work we are doing is going really well.  River 10 is getting things done for America for sure.  Still loving being down south, y'all!