Did anyone do anything new or different for spring break? Did anyone just stay at home playing video games? (That's probably what my brothers wish they could do during spring break.) Were you with your family? Were you traveling?
The cool thing about being in college is that there are lots and lots of choices for you to do during spring break. Some students go to Florida or Mexico to relax on the beach with their friends. Some students travel to other countries to see and learn new things. Some students travel to visit their friends. Many simply go home to spend time with their families in Indiana or other states.
I like to do something different with my spring break. I spend my week serving others on a mission trip. My first spring break, I traveled to Oklahoma and met all kinds of Native American people living in the area. I worked on a house, ran an after-school program, and fixed lunch for a soup kitchen. Last year, I went to Boston and served homeless people in many ways. I really got to learn about all types of people by participating in these mission trips. They're really fun. I always get close to the group I am with, and we become good friends after spending a week together.
This year, I went with my group to Mississippi. We went to finish a house on the coast of the Mississippi Sound as part of the continuing Hurrcan Katrina relief effort. I'm guessing that none of you remember Hurricane Katrina and the damage it caused in Mississippi and Louisiana. Many people lost their homes and everything in them. Even after five years, houses still need to be rebuilt. This picture is of me sitting on the steps of what is left of a house near the beach.After a 14-hour drive to Mississippi, my group got a day off to relax, walk around, and wa
lk on the beach. The next morning, I woke up early to walk to the beach to see the sunrise. Even though we were all the way in Mississippi, it was still freezing! I couldn't even stay in the water for very long. When I got back, I had just enough time to pack a lunch, grab breakfast, and head to our work site. Every day, my group worked on the house from 8-4. We painted, cleaned, and did lots of other things like tiling and insulating. Since some of the ceilings were tall, we had to work on scaffolding. This is a picture of my brother Justin painting on some scaffolding. He's scared of heights, so he's holding on to the railing pretty tightly! (He says it's because he's so tall. It puts him that much further from the ground. Haha!)
lk on the beach. The next morning, I woke up early to walk to the beach to see the sunrise. Even though we were all the way in Mississippi, it was still freezing! I couldn't even stay in the water for very long. When I got back, I had just enough time to pack a lunch, grab breakfast, and head to our work site. Every day, my group worked on the house from 8-4. We painted, cleaned, and did lots of other things like tiling and insulating. Since some of the ceilings were tall, we had to work on scaffolding. This is a picture of my brother Justin painting on some scaffolding. He's scared of heights, so he's holding on to the railing pretty tightly! (He says it's because he's so tall. It puts him that much further from the ground. Haha!)All week, we worked with an architect named Leah and three students from Virginia Tech University. The students spend one semester with Leah instead of going to school. They work on finishing a house that other students have designed, and then they design their own house for the next semester's students to finish building. Since Leah only has three students this semester, they all live together in the same house and studio. Leah's parents and brother also live nearby and help out a lot. Wednesday night, we had dinner with Leah, the Virginia Tech students, Leah's parents and brother, and the couple who took care of the house we were staying in. To celebrate our work in Mississippi, we had a crawfish boil. Have any of you ever seen crawfish living in creeks? The
y are little brown bug-looking things. That's why their nickname is "mudbug." They boiled the crawfish in a big pot with a bunch of vegetables and then set out the food in huge pans in the middle of the table. Everyone sat around the table and grabbed crawfish and veggies with their hands. They had to teach us how to eat crawfish since none of us had ever eaten them before. You have to pinch the tails off and carefully suck out the meat in the tail. And then you can do fun things with the hollow heads like put them on your fingers. It's incredibly messy, but it's lots of fun! These are my crawfish. They were delicious!
y are little brown bug-looking things. That's why their nickname is "mudbug." They boiled the crawfish in a big pot with a bunch of vegetables and then set out the food in huge pans in the middle of the table. Everyone sat around the table and grabbed crawfish and veggies with their hands. They had to teach us how to eat crawfish since none of us had ever eaten them before. You have to pinch the tails off and carefully suck out the meat in the tail. And then you can do fun things with the hollow heads like put them on your fingers. It's incredibly messy, but it's lots of fun! These are my crawfish. They were delicious!On Thursday, we got a half day off to have some fun. Our group took a road trip to nearby New Orleans in Louisiana. Have you heard about New Orleans before? It's famous for jazz music, art, history, Cajun and Creole cuisine, and one of the largest parades in the world. We spent the afternoon in the French Quarter, one of the more historical areas of New Orleans. We saw
lots of jazz bands playing in the streets. My favorite band was playing "Back Home Again in Indiana" in one of the squares. We also saw many artists painting near the square. As we walked down the streets, we saw several little interesting shops selling all kinds of things like wooden toys, Mardi Gras masks, beads, knickknacks, and candy. My friend and I bought masks in one store as a souvenir. We also stopped in a famous outdoor cafe called Caffe du Monde where we bought cafe au lait (coffee and milk) and French doughnuts called beignets (pronounced ben-yays). That evening, we went to a restaurant in Mississippi. I had crawfish etoufee (eh-too-fay) and shrimp creole. The owner of the restaurant drew pictures on everyone's cups. He was an interesting guy, for sure. These are my friends Hannah and Kaileigh sitting by one of the smaller fountains in New Orleans.
lots of jazz bands playing in the streets. My favorite band was playing "Back Home Again in Indiana" in one of the squares. We also saw many artists painting near the square. As we walked down the streets, we saw several little interesting shops selling all kinds of things like wooden toys, Mardi Gras masks, beads, knickknacks, and candy. My friend and I bought masks in one store as a souvenir. We also stopped in a famous outdoor cafe called Caffe du Monde where we bought cafe au lait (coffee and milk) and French doughnuts called beignets (pronounced ben-yays). That evening, we went to a restaurant in Mississippi. I had crawfish etoufee (eh-too-fay) and shrimp creole. The owner of the restaurant drew pictures on everyone's cups. He was an interesting guy, for sure. These are my friends Hannah and Kaileigh sitting by one of the smaller fountains in New Orleans.Friday, we spent half of our day working at the house and half of it working at the house where Leah and the Virg
inia Tech students lived. We helped them make a fire pit, planted herbs, pulled up brush, and dug up the sidewalk in front of their house. Why were we digging up a sidewalk? When the hurricane came through, it left all kinds of dirt and debris across the lot where the house sits. They had to bring in a truck of sod (dirt) to make a new front yard for the house. When that happened, though, the sidewalks were completely covered up. In our digging, we found lots of fun things like giant grubs and a lizard that liked to run up pants. This picture is of Leah pretending to eat one of the grubs. We named it Gertie and left it in a jar on a desk as a present for one of the students. Friday night, we went back to Leah's house for a bonfire. It was a great end to our week! Saturday morning, we left and headed back to Indiana for the rest of the semester.
inia Tech students lived. We helped them make a fire pit, planted herbs, pulled up brush, and dug up the sidewalk in front of their house. Why were we digging up a sidewalk? When the hurricane came through, it left all kinds of dirt and debris across the lot where the house sits. They had to bring in a truck of sod (dirt) to make a new front yard for the house. When that happened, though, the sidewalks were completely covered up. In our digging, we found lots of fun things like giant grubs and a lizard that liked to run up pants. This picture is of Leah pretending to eat one of the grubs. We named it Gertie and left it in a jar on a desk as a present for one of the students. Friday night, we went back to Leah's house for a bonfire. It was a great end to our week! Saturday morning, we left and headed back to Indiana for the rest of the semester.What do you think about my spring break? Did it sound like fun to you?
This is the group I traveled with to Mississippi. Pictured from left to right are: Keeley, Rene, Justin (my brother), me, Rod, Shawn, Ryan, Hannah, Kaileigh, and Bailey.
