so I went to Appalachia...
I'm not really sure where to begin writing about this Virginia trip. I was kind of worried about it because I dislike rural things and animals and such. So here are events from Ivanhoe, VA '05:
*PSU was the last group there, not to mention the smallest (only 4 people), and when we walked in late, everyone laughed at us, lol. Boston College, Loyola Maryland, and Holy Cross were there. BC was the biggest group, they had about 19 people. We bonded with the Loyola kids mostly, they were also relatively small compared to the other two groups.
*Monday I helped a guy put up a new ceiling at a church. His name was Rocky, and he's a pastor. I think he's the only pastor who lives in Ivanhoe. The ceiling panels were made of fiberglass and that stuff kind of rained on us, so that was a little unpleasant. The people helping him that day were mostly girls, but one guy was there from BC, and if he hadn't been there I don't think any of us would have known what we were doing. We could have put up the whole ceiling in a day, but Rocky wanted to tell us stories, lol. He had a set of drums in the front of the church which he played for us, haha.
*Tuesday I was supposed to help in the kitchen. But the ladies made me leave because I kept sniffling. They were like, "That's it you gotta go lie down for an hour...or two...or three. We can tell you feel like crap." I didn't really need to lie down, but I admit that I couldn't breathe. Every time it gets cold...there go my nasal passages. I wanted to help though, so that was annoying.
*Wednesday I went to Marie's (an elderly lady's) house which apparently she had no cleaned in about...a long ass time. The problem was her family had been sick for a long time, and she had been sick too. Plus she has to work a lot. Apparently she buys things from stores, like clothes and things, and then resells them, so she had A LOT of stuff lying around. Also she is a major pack rat. When I clean I want to throw everything away, but she hardly let me throw anything out. A girl from BC and I were mostly in the bedroom cleaning stuff, and some of the Loyola girls had to sort through this HUGE closet of Christmas decorations.
*Thursday I helped paint some stuff at Mrs. Taylor's house. She bought paint from two different places though, so when we put a second coat of paint on one of the rooms, we realized that it was a different color. One of the girls I was working with from Holy Cross told me about a friend of hers who spoke in tongues--that was pretty hard to fathom. A good conversation though.
*Friday I went to the high school with Chris (our fearless leader) and the Loyola kids. We didn't do much there because everyone ended up leaving that afternoon. We did clean one of the athletic rooms though, and later I stood on the back of a pick up truck and stacked some old desks on the back of it so that the custodian guy could throw them away. We met a few of the kids there, and they seemed pretty nice. One of the volunteers at the school, Sam, gave me a huge lecture on smoking, and told me about how it gave him a few heart attacks--and how he had technically been "dead" for a few minutes during one of them.
*We did paper plate awards with the Loyola kids. Mine was "Best Person to Look At Stars With"--right before we did that I pointed out Orion's belt to the kid who ended up getting my name, lol. Orion's belt is pretty much the only constellation I can identify though--despite all of my astronomy cramming from last week. I made one called "Best Person to Sit By" for one of the girls, lol.
*Everyone had their sleeping bags on the floor of a fire house. My sleeping bag was warm, but the fire hall got drafty at night. The only good thing about sleeping there (other than the fact that my sleeping bag was really warm) was that I didn't wake up five times in the middle of the night. I think I actually slept for eight straight hours a few times.
*Culture Shock: Everyone there has a strong sense of community and belonging. They're proud to live where they live and do what they do. As one of the ladies told us, "I don't speak bad English, I speak Appalachian dialect. That's what my grandmother spoke, and that's what I speak." Also it's a very oral culture; I heard a lot of stories and fables this week. No one I met was individualistic or materialistic. We did a lot of reflecting on the idea of putting the individual before the group--we have to because if we don't, there is not really a safety net to catch us. In college, or in America as a whole, (at least from my experiences), I guess everyone has to construct their own safety net and try to balance time between doing things for themselves and trying to be a safety net for someone else. In Ivanhoe, everyone leans on one another, it seems.
*We had skit night. And may I just say: PSU really came through, I think. We all definitely screamed Livin on a Prayer in front of a bunch of people hahaha.
*Everyone there was pretty cool. Our group of four had virtually no chemistry, lol, but we had fun. I learned some stuff about myself, I think, and some things that I already knew were reinforced. I just wish I would stop taking everything to seriously.
This was a really long entry, and I'm sure I am forgetting a lot. But I'm glad I went on this trip. It was a good experience. Much better than going home.
*PSU was the last group there, not to mention the smallest (only 4 people), and when we walked in late, everyone laughed at us, lol. Boston College, Loyola Maryland, and Holy Cross were there. BC was the biggest group, they had about 19 people. We bonded with the Loyola kids mostly, they were also relatively small compared to the other two groups.
*Monday I helped a guy put up a new ceiling at a church. His name was Rocky, and he's a pastor. I think he's the only pastor who lives in Ivanhoe. The ceiling panels were made of fiberglass and that stuff kind of rained on us, so that was a little unpleasant. The people helping him that day were mostly girls, but one guy was there from BC, and if he hadn't been there I don't think any of us would have known what we were doing. We could have put up the whole ceiling in a day, but Rocky wanted to tell us stories, lol. He had a set of drums in the front of the church which he played for us, haha.
*Tuesday I was supposed to help in the kitchen. But the ladies made me leave because I kept sniffling. They were like, "That's it you gotta go lie down for an hour...or two...or three. We can tell you feel like crap." I didn't really need to lie down, but I admit that I couldn't breathe. Every time it gets cold...there go my nasal passages. I wanted to help though, so that was annoying.
*Wednesday I went to Marie's (an elderly lady's) house which apparently she had no cleaned in about...a long ass time. The problem was her family had been sick for a long time, and she had been sick too. Plus she has to work a lot. Apparently she buys things from stores, like clothes and things, and then resells them, so she had A LOT of stuff lying around. Also she is a major pack rat. When I clean I want to throw everything away, but she hardly let me throw anything out. A girl from BC and I were mostly in the bedroom cleaning stuff, and some of the Loyola girls had to sort through this HUGE closet of Christmas decorations.
*Thursday I helped paint some stuff at Mrs. Taylor's house. She bought paint from two different places though, so when we put a second coat of paint on one of the rooms, we realized that it was a different color. One of the girls I was working with from Holy Cross told me about a friend of hers who spoke in tongues--that was pretty hard to fathom. A good conversation though.
*Friday I went to the high school with Chris (our fearless leader) and the Loyola kids. We didn't do much there because everyone ended up leaving that afternoon. We did clean one of the athletic rooms though, and later I stood on the back of a pick up truck and stacked some old desks on the back of it so that the custodian guy could throw them away. We met a few of the kids there, and they seemed pretty nice. One of the volunteers at the school, Sam, gave me a huge lecture on smoking, and told me about how it gave him a few heart attacks--and how he had technically been "dead" for a few minutes during one of them.
*We did paper plate awards with the Loyola kids. Mine was "Best Person to Look At Stars With"--right before we did that I pointed out Orion's belt to the kid who ended up getting my name, lol. Orion's belt is pretty much the only constellation I can identify though--despite all of my astronomy cramming from last week. I made one called "Best Person to Sit By" for one of the girls, lol.
*Everyone had their sleeping bags on the floor of a fire house. My sleeping bag was warm, but the fire hall got drafty at night. The only good thing about sleeping there (other than the fact that my sleeping bag was really warm) was that I didn't wake up five times in the middle of the night. I think I actually slept for eight straight hours a few times.
*Culture Shock: Everyone there has a strong sense of community and belonging. They're proud to live where they live and do what they do. As one of the ladies told us, "I don't speak bad English, I speak Appalachian dialect. That's what my grandmother spoke, and that's what I speak." Also it's a very oral culture; I heard a lot of stories and fables this week. No one I met was individualistic or materialistic. We did a lot of reflecting on the idea of putting the individual before the group--we have to because if we don't, there is not really a safety net to catch us. In college, or in America as a whole, (at least from my experiences), I guess everyone has to construct their own safety net and try to balance time between doing things for themselves and trying to be a safety net for someone else. In Ivanhoe, everyone leans on one another, it seems.
*We had skit night. And may I just say: PSU really came through, I think. We all definitely screamed Livin on a Prayer in front of a bunch of people hahaha.
*Everyone there was pretty cool. Our group of four had virtually no chemistry, lol, but we had fun. I learned some stuff about myself, I think, and some things that I already knew were reinforced. I just wish I would stop taking everything to seriously.
This was a really long entry, and I'm sure I am forgetting a lot. But I'm glad I went on this trip. It was a good experience. Much better than going home.