Tuesday March 20, 2012

On Tuesday Melissa and Faith joined Mike, Steph and I at the site we had been working on on Monday.  The 5 of us along with a few of the Kansas University kids helped to start to build a shed and help to build and install interior walls. The house we're working on is really coming together - it's only been in progress for a few weeks, but generally Habitat houses are finished between 8 and 12 weeks. There was a lot of extra people at the site today - Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are local volunteer days, so there was a bunch of extra guys at our site. They were all older men who came from the same church, who were sponsoring this particular build. They were all really nice, and would joke around a lot with us and each other.

Although there was a lot to get done on the site, we (the student volunteers) only helped with so much. The experienced guys really got into working, and took complete control. We were helpful, but not critical on the build - but this was good because it allowed more time to talk to others on the site. We were able to have conversations with either other students or the other older volunteers while helping out with the work.  That's what I love about things like this spring break - you're able to talk and connect with people you otherwise wouldn't. I got talking to one of the oldest men at my job site and we talked about everything from how he became an engineer to what book he was currently reading. He asked me about my plans after college, and encouraged me to join the Peace Corp saying "you want to see as much of the world as you can!". It's great to talk to people who come from a different background, and even a different generation - you can only continue learning.

After we got off work, we rushed back to the church to beat the Kansas University group to the showers. After we had cleaned up, the girls headed off to find the movie theater that is down the street from our church. The Hunger Games movie premiers on Thursday night at midnight, and the KU group all decided to buy tickets - so we decided to too :) Melissa read the Hunger Games on the 16 hour drive down, and Faith, Steph, and I have all read the books.  Mike is currently being forced to read as much as he can before the movie, and so far he likes it! After we bought our tickets, it was time for dinner back at the church.

Every Tuesday, the church that we're staying at hosts a dinner. Volunteers prepare the food and set up the gym to serve up to 250 people - and it's not simply tables and chairs but tablecloths, centerpieces, and silverware on every table. At 5pm they open the doors to the community and anyone who wants a hot meal is welcome.  Faith, Melissa, and I sat with a group of 4 older regulars to the Tuesday night dinners.  One women in particular was hilarious - she kept telling us how if we wanted to keep any of our fried chicken 'for a snack later' we could just go back to the kitchen and grab sandwich bags. We just talked about our trip and asked questions about how everyone had settled into Maryville, because not everyone was originally from Tennessee.  Following dinner all of the volunteers helped to clean up the gym by wiping down tables, stacking chairs, and rolling up the tablecloths. It was fun to be around different people, and to see the community coming together as a whole. We'll be attending another dinner at a different church on Thursday night.