ASB... best week of my life

Hello all.... I know it has been two weeks, but I actually was in Mississippi last week with no Internet access or I would have blogged every day about how amazing my trip was. Last week I was given the opportunity (by the S.O.U.L.S (Suffolk's Organization for uplifting life's though service) office at no price to me. Amazing ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY) to go on Alternative Spring Break 2009... So I packed my bags and headed down to Starkville Mississippi to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. The series of events that we went through as a group brought me so close to the 19 other people on my trip that I could not imagine my life without this experience. (hint: this is my way of suggesting that you take advantage of this opportunity when you get to Suffolk... Or really any school that you go to because it was that amazing.)

So we got there late, lost someones luggage, and entered the wrong address into the GPS so we got unbelievably lost the first day on our two and a half hour drive from the airport, but my car was rocking out so much to the amazing tunes that I didn't really mind the drive. I had to be one of the van drivers because I was the only student on the trip over 21, and I was pretty nervous but managed to go the whole week with only one scary driving moment, which was on the way back to the airport. Anyway, we finally got to the church an hour late and I was kinda embarrassed because I felt like it was rude to walk in so late... but they were so welcoming and excited to see us that you would have thought that we were right on time. Southern hospitality is such an amazing thing. Sometimes I feel like we try to be so rushed and busy to feel as though we are doing something worthy that we forget how the simple things in life, like a genuine smile or welcoming hug, make bigger differences than most things we try to pre-occupy ourselves with.
After our dinner we moved to a cabin at a boy scout camp which was slightly under our expectations, but it was so nice to be in nature that I didn't really mind being there. By Wednesday we happen to find a cockroach and a dead mouse ( which were most likely products of our own stupidity... ie. leaving the door open when there was food in the cabin) and Thursday we had to move to a church basement, and Friday night we long hauled back to Jackson and camped out on the airport floor. It was a big mess trying to figure out where we were going to stay and what we were doing, and it was even harder having to stay up til 330 in the am, driving, after a long day on site, our last dinner with the other groups and then the two games of Bowling that we played at the Starkville lanes, but all these twisted events brought us all closer together.
On site we had quite the experiences also, between the other two groups, one a Catholic group from Mississippi State and the other a group from Plymouth State, and the Habitat volunteers from Startkville. We became really close to our three leaders on site, John, Pat and Dave, who do this everyday and are all amazing people. We even got Pat to create a Facebook account so that we could keep in touch with him! We had our fare share of crazy incidents on site too, like this guy Ty, who had several interesting life stories to tell us about, even if we were rather uninterested, and there was a time that a ten foot 2x4 nearly fell on my head, while I was helmet less, with two nails sticking out of it ( luckily I am speedy and alert so i Jumped out the way! haha). They really appreciate everything they have down there, Ty even told me he felt bad for me because I lived in an apartment in downtown Boston, and he had tons of land and a beautiful triple wide trailer, while my initial reaction was that he may be crazy, I realized that he had an appreciation for a life that I could never understand, and he is probably right to feel bad for me, not the other way around. We also got to experience all the different Churches from the neighborhoods coming out to feed us lunch on site. There was even one older woman who came down everyday with a fresh batch of sugar cookies for us! These moments were some of my favorites on the trip because they make you realize what you have, and to be thankful, also they teach you how much can happen when people come together to build a dream. We were in the poorest part of this town and there was no shortage of people willing to help, even if it was just a batch of cookies.
Then of course there are the moments that I spent with the 19 amazing individuals that took the journey to Starkville with me. Each and everyone of them are amazing people who touched my heart and changed my life. I was in a pretty rough time in life the week before we left and they all helped me laugh so hard that I forgot what was going on in life. The times in the cabin playing catch phrase or apples to apples, or doing our roses and thorns of the day were what was absolutely amazing... even waking up to Kelsey's "wouldn't it be nice" beach boys alarm every morning are all going to be memories I keep with me forever, not to mention our obscene number of trips to Sonic, and our minor food fighting incident at the first sonic visit. One of my favorite memories was our trip to Wal-Mart as a group where we nearly got kicked out for taking a picture. Apparently It is illegal to take photos in Wal-Mart and you must get corporate permission before doing so, so next time you hit a wal-mart, make sure your camera's are away! We got to do all sorts of fun experiences like go to a Mississippi State baseball game and ring the fan's cow bells! Even the fans at the game, that had no idea who we were let us ring their cow bells and told us all about Mississippi. We even got on the jumbo tron- (I got on Twice! Once was for the chicken dance! and we should have won except for this small boy won instead. whatever!). I really enjoyed every experience I got to have with these people and exploring the area.
Ok, so I most likely have written so much that you are board but I wanted to write down all my experiences and maybe inspire you to go to college (really anyone... but hopefully Suffolk!) and to get involved. Maybe you are into community service, maybe not, but getting involved helps you connect to people that share your interest and offer you true friendship. I know that these 19 people will be people that will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope to stay connected with all of them.