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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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