Back in Tampa

In the end it all came down to one thing, serving the community. After everything that happened over the past few days, even the past few months with this trip, I feel the final thought at the end is that we came together and really did something to make a difference for the community. I am really proud of my group. I know there were a lot of dynamic personalities and a lot of people had conflicts but that tends to happen within smaller groups. With friendships already having been in place before the trip started, things were bound to come up. I hope my group got as much out of this trip as I did. Thinking back, I really grew as a person. I know the type of person I want to be, the type of people I want to be around, and the type of people I look up to It is too bad we didn't meet the goal of the site after the week. Neither of the houses got finished completely but I do believe we made a great deal of progress. Hopefully we did not hinder the project too much. Even though the trip has ended I believe the bond I've created with my group will last. At least, that is what I truly hope. There were talks of future dinners and get together. I hope these really happen and if and when they do, I will be sure to post any updates on this blog. I can't wait until next spring break when I get to do this all over again. A part of me would like to do another Habitat for Humanity project, but that the same time I would like to tackle another project, see if I can grow as much as I did during this break. Only time will tell at this point. For now all I can say is the van has been returned, the doors locked and all I want to do now is take a shower and rest. For now, I bid all my followers adieu, until we meet again. I do hope everyone's spring break has been as amazing as mine was!

The Grand Finale

Today started out pretty much like any other. We woke up and got ready for another day of work. Today was a little different though, being our last day of work at the site in Biloxi. I was so tired and exhausted from the week I didn't wake up until 6:30 am (usually I am awake by 6 am). As I woke the others up I realized I was actually really sad to be starting the last day of work here in Mississippi. I have met so many random and amazing people through this trip, I didn't really know how I felt about leaving at all. One person we met through this trip was a USF Alumna! Talk about a small world. EJ apparently graduated way back in the 70's when USF was still a two year college. Apparently back then you could only attend after transferring your junior or senior year. I thought it was so amazing we had this rare opportunity to work with an alumna. I wish we had gotten a chance to really sit down and talk with her though. It was hard to get to know people because if you weren't working on the site it almost seemed like you were wasting time, not only your own time but the time of the other volunteers and carpenters. I'm glad we at least got to meet her. I think it'll be funny to see if we ever run into her again. Since I'm going to be starting work at an alumni call center at USF I may get a chance to call her for donations to the university. I think that would be pretty amazing and I am sure she'd donate to me after going through this experience with me. Today we worked with the interior of the home for the first half of the day. Brittney had us doing insulation, which is the most god awful, tedious work I've ever done. Let me just tell you, insulation is the last thing I ever want to do again. If I ever decide to work with Habitat for Humanity again I am going to request not to ever do insulation. I really wish Brittney had warned us the day before because that fiber glass definitely sucks to work with. After the first couple of hours I just felt itchy and uncomfortable. I don't know how people do this for a living, that can't be good to work with for a long period of time. After the lunch break we decided to ditch Brittney and work with Mike on the roof. Yes, I decided I was going to climb a roof. Initially I just made the commitment to shingle the roof on the scaffolds. When I first got on the scaffolds I was freaking out really badly. Every time the scaffold shook just a little I started to hyperventilate. After a little while though I was alright. I just had to breathe and not look down. I did a great job nailing in the shingles and not look down. That's the key, don't look down. After doing a few rows of shingles I was almost forced to get on top of the roof. At first I was hesitant and I tried as much as I could to nail in the shingles without going on the roof but finally I gave in. Yes, yours truly sat on the roof. I actually stood up on it for a little while too! I was on the roof for a good hour or so shingling and nailing. I was very impressed with myself. I felt so liberated, the fear had vanished. At least until I had to get down. It was hard for me to figure out how to even get down at first. But once I did I owned that too. I feel like this experience has really helped me grow as a person. I have done so many things I never thought I would ever do in my life. I don't think even if I started volunteering with Habitat in Tampa I would get so much done. I don't think I would be able to get on the roof or climb on scaffolds or any of the other numerous things I've accomplished on this trip. I think this group really helped me too. It was interesting, at one of the breaks Emma mentioned something about how this ASB trip didn't really meet the expectations she had initially. This kind of upset me because I thought the trip was going really well. I thought we were bonding, getting through the initial conflicts we had. I guess my perspective wasn't really being shared by the group. I guess I can't really judge her though, this trip was a lot different than I thought it would be, but for me it was all positive differences. I experienced a lot more, changed a great deal, and got a lot out of this trip, a lot more than I ever expected. When we got back we took a little break and Antoine and I decided to finish the mural we started. It turned out really nicely. I am happy we decided to do it in the end, I feel like it really allowed me and Antoine to bond after all the stuff that's been going on. Tomorrow morning before we leave we area all going to sign our mural, leave our mark on Camp Victor. After we finished the mural we waited in line for dinner. I noticed that the chef puts together some really interesting menus. While most nights I am slightly disappointed with the food selection, tonight's dessert was amazing! It was a not so crispy apple crisp, but it was delicious! For the reflection tonight we did the Spiderweb of Friendship. Everyone passed a ball of yarn to another member of the group and discussed the positive aspects they saw in the other person. At the end some of us talked about the positive aspects of everyone. I decided to take the opportunity to express how much the trip and the group meant to me. I really do feel like the group is an amazing group. Even with the crazy dynamic we have, we come together when we have to. When shit hits the fan we really get things done and get to work. For example when we were putting up the wall or when we were all together on the roof I really felt like we were working together as a team for the same goal. My heart was really filled with joy as an advisor to see that. After our reflection we headed to Biloxi to go to the Hard Rock Casino. We ate dinner at the cafe, which was good although I was already full so I probably just wasted money. Oh well, I'm on vacation. We met up with some of Cristina's friends, who were pretty cool. We were trying to talk the group into going to New Orleans but it didn't really work out since it's such a long drive and we're trying to wake up early to drive back to Tampa tomorrow. I keep thinking to myself that this week was really long and fun but I realize it's almost over. In fact tomorrow it will be over and this makes me really sad! I don't want to leave and go back to the real world. I want to stay in Mississippi and work on houses, give my time to the community and spend time with people I enjoy being around. It's funny when you find that sense of friendship in people you've only known for a few days, but I really feel like I've found a good group of people and I honestly hope we all continue this friendship after this trip for more than a week. Tomorrow is going to be pretty sad, even if I will be happy to be leaving Jesus Camp!

Another Day in Good Ole Miss

Another day has come to an end here in Mississippi and I have to say a lot was accomplished. I'm proud of our group as a whole, we really came together in the past few days. We have had our issues but I think we've done a pretty good job of working most of them out. Last night we did our reflection at the pier. It proved to be a lot colder that anyone really anticipated. I do have to say though, it was pretty good exercise. The beach is about a mile from the camp we're staying at so we walked about 2 miles last night. The pier was amazing and I'm sure if it weren't so windy and cold it would have been a lot nicer. For our reflection we did the Human Knot exercise. It was fairly successful, however we kind of messed it up because Antoine, Shelly and I ended up in one mini circle while the others were in another mini circle. Obviously I did not explain the rules properly because people were holding hands with their neighbors, which wasn't supposed to happen. I was happy though because after the conflict situation we were able to use the exercise to emphasize the importance of communication within the group. I think that has been a big issue with us since Antoine is the only guy he is fairly separated from the group. As frustrating as this must be, I am proud that we came together as a group to talk about it and theoretically we over came it. In practice though this has yet to be seen. I guess we'll see in the next few days we have together whether this reflection and exercise really worked. After the reflection we came back to the camp and pretty much fell asleep. Some of the group went their way and played some phase 10. I definitely was tired from the day, the walk to and from the beach, and all the discussion we did. Sometimes I feel like half the time goes by in simply discussing things. Obviously it's important for groups like ours to discuss things together as a group but sometimes it really feels tedious and time consuming. These are the times when I'd rather be doing something instead of talking about doing something. This morning we all woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to work. We got to breakfast on time, packed our lunches, and were ready to start another day of work on the houses. It's impressive how we've really began to take pride in our work and look forward to each day. Sadly we didn't start work until a quarter till 10 because of the weather. The previous night it was raining non-stop so we had to postpone the start of the work day until the wood on the houses were dry enough to work with. While we were waiting, Antoine and I decided we were going to start on our mural rather than go back to sleep like the others. I'm really excited about the mural. It is an image of the state of Florida with the USF Bulls logo where Tampa would be geographically. Then we are going to all sign within the state of Florida and have the words "Bull pride travels nationwide" written where the Gulf of Mexico would be geographically. Shelly and I decided we're going to put our hand prints in the state and sign them. I feel like that makes the mural even more personal. We've been working on it a decent portion of the day and it's turning out really nicely. I can't wait to have the finished product and show these camp-mates what we're made of! When we finally made it to the work site we did the usual. Well, not really since we were a tad bit late. We missed devotional and prayer but we got started as soon as we got there. My mini-team worked inside the house this time. I was really happy about this. We put up kitchen blocking for when the kitchen cabinets are to be placed in the kitchen. At one point Brittney called me out to do some work on the scaffold which I really tried to do with all my heart, however the Fear got hold of me and I couldn't do it for too long. It's ok, I am proud of the fact that I was standing on top of that scaffold for as long as I was (even if it was only for 5 minutes). Most of the day we were in the kitchen working. At one point Spikes called us out to hoist up a wall. Yes, I said it. We hoisted up a wall! I am so proud of my team! We came together and really did some manual labor. Not that it should be assumed that any previous work was not manual labor, but I really feel this was more visible. We could really see the work that we did. I mean, we put up a freaking wall! I don't know how many people can really say that they put up a wall. I don't know, I am just really excited about the idea that I can say that I helped put up a wall for a house that a family is going to live in one day. Maybe next time I'm in the area I'll drive by and see how the house is doing. I hope that wouldn't be stalkerish?! The craziest part about putting up a wall is when the wind catches the wall there is nothing you can really do but either hold on or let go! Thank goodness the wind wasn't too strong to pull the wall too much. There were definitely a couple of points where I thought I was going to loose the wall. I already made a plan that if I thought the wall was going to fall I wasn't even going to try and hold on. I was going to let it go. I figured, the wall could be rebuilt but my bones could not. I know technically my bones could have been fixed up and I would have been fine, but if I had fallen off an 8 foot high platform I am pretty sure I would not have been completely back to normal. I don't even want to think about the pain I would have been in either. After the wall was raised there wasn't really much to do but clean up. That was definitely the high point of the work day. While we were cleaning up the girls decided to ask some of our coworkers if they'd want to come and eat dinner with us. It brought up some more drama but in the end we all agreed that it would be fun to get to know some of our coworkers outside of the job site. We went and ate at Mellow Mushroom, one of my favorite pizza places EVER! We had a good time getting to know some of the coworkers. Specifically I got to know this man, Mike. He is slightly awkward but he is amazingly smart. A real genius. He wants to pursue medicine and get his PhD in biochemistry. We were talking and Steph was asking about biochemistry and he definitely almost drew out Glycolosis for us! I don't really know that many people who can do that, in fact I know only one other person who could do that and I don't even think he really would. He was telling us about the research he wanted to do and I have no doubt in my mind that this man is going to one day cure cancer. He seems so very passionate about what he wants to do in life, there is no way anything or anyone is going to stop him. He is really smart too, with an amazing MCAT score with barely any studying, I was just plain dumbfounded. I guess with people like him in the world, there is hope for us yet! I guess I'd have to say the only think I was really bummed about today was the fact that I left my leftover pizza at Mellow Mushroom! It sucks because I always seem to do that with leftovers. I get so freaking excited about it, that I'll have food for the next day, but somehow I always forget it. Ugh!

Day 2 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Last night we decided to hit up some local cuisine, The Shed. That's right, yours truly, the only vegetarian of the group, went to a BBQ joint. Apparently this Shed is nationally renown, having been on the Food Network twice. I thought it was pretty cool, the atmosphere was pretty nice, typical local place. I didn't have much to eat, just some mac salad and bread, but what I did eat was amazing. They also had sweet tea to die for! Definitely drank my money's worth. Around the restaurant there were dollar bills with messages from the patrons. Looking around we noticed there seemed to be a bit of pride for the Gators. As Bulls we definitely wanted to show a little bit of our own pride so we decided to show the Gators what we were made of. The night went by pretty fast. After dinner we went to Wal*Mart for some necessities. Before we left for dinner I noticed our group really became a group. I suppose we always were a group technically, but we bonded. We had a great conversation about politics, religion, abortion, homosexuality, and it was very respectful and intellectual. I am very impressed with the level of maturity in this group. At many points in this trip I found myself forgetting I was older than the volunteers, it felt like we were really on the same level. After we got back from Wal*Mart a few of the volunteers played Phase 10. I'm not really sure what that game entails but it looked intense. I tried to go to bed relatively early but I found I couldn't sleep at all. I kept waking up in a panic, not really sure where it was coming from. At some point I did eventually sleep but only for a few hours. I think tonight I'm going to have to go to bed as soon as the lights are out so I can get some rest. Today's work was very intense. Today we worked more on the porch (at least our group did with Brittney). I am happy to report I did not let the fear completely take over this time around. I did a great deal or work both on the porch and on the ground. I helped nail things up, hold boards, as well as with cutting and measuring. There was a tremendous about of climbing on my part. The house next to the one we were working on is turning out quite nicely. It is starting to look more and more like a home. The sidings are pretty much finished, I think the majority of the work left is interior work. I think by the time our group leaves that house will be done and the house my group was working on should be in its final stages if not complete. I'm really glad we got to work a full day today. As hard as it was and as tiring as it was, I feel like I really made some sort of impact on that house our group was working on. I can finally say I feel like I did something during this trip. On the ride to the site this morning we were discussing our goals for the day and mine was to get more dirt under my nails, figuratively. I wanted to put more work into this project and not let the fear trap me. I think I accomplished my goal for the day, I definitely did more work than yesterday and I'm proud of myself for that. Emma was saying how she was initially not very happy about coming to Mississippi, that like me she would've rather been in a bigger city like D.C. or New York. After experiencing Mississippi though, she told us that she changed her mind, that she was actually very happy in the end because she got to learn and experience new things. I completely agree with her. Sure, at the beginning of this trip I thought to myself I wish I was in D.C. working with HIV/AIDs patients or doing something in New York. However, after really experiencing Mississippi, even for just the past couple of days, I am happy with this decision. I think it's good for me because those other cities would have simply been more big cities, I wouldn't have really learned anything new. Here in Mississippi I am learning about different people and a different lifestyle. I am interacting with people I probably would not interact with on a daily basis. I am learning about how a tragedy such as Katrina or Rita is still effecting the community here in Ocean Springs and Biloxi. If I had been in D.C. or in New York, sure I would have learned about statistics of HIV/AIDs cases or about how hunger still plagues cities today, but that's all information I could have read in a text book or gotten from the daily news. I think this truly was a trip I gained something from. I understand how much something so small as time can really help and build a community. I understand now how something that happens only once and impact people for years or centuries to come. I think in the end, this was a great trip for me to go on. It truly opened my eyes not only to other areas within the U.S. but also to other people. The group I've come here with are a mixed group. Some of these individuals I don't think I would've really thought to get to know, but after being on this trip and being forced to get to know one another, I realize that these are people I am HAPPY I got to know. I am really lucky to have been given this opportunity because I am getting to know some amazing people who will surely go on to do some amazing things, even more amazing than building houses together. I really feel like I am apart of something great. For tonight's reflection we're doing The Human Knot. It is definitely one of my favorite team building activities and it's something I've done before with other groups. I think it'll be fun and hopefully the group will get something out of it.

First Day at Habitat for Humanity

Our exploration of Ocean Springs ended today when we started our first day at our Habitat for Humanity site. Our site is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, which is about a 15 minute drive from where we are staying now. It's right in the middle of casinos and clubs, which was refreshing after being in Ocean Springs, a smaller town. I suppose I should mention every morning we have devotional before breakfast. Yeah, that means a prayer. Today one of the fellow workers read a part of the scripture, after which he asked us to meet someone new and offer to pray for them. Lucky for me, I met a fellow named Eric and he offered to pray for me. Sweet! Someone is praying for me. After breakfast we had to make our own sack lunch. Awesome. I made myself a sweet cheese sandwich complete with mayo and mustard. I'm happy though, they had tons of fresh fruit so I could get my health on. When we reached the site it was slightly intimidating because we could tell a lot of work was already done yet there was so much left to do. We are working on three houses all together. One of the houses is still in the beginning stages while the other two are complete in terms of the framework. We're putting the finishing touches on those two houses and then we're going to do the internal components and put up the walls etc. Lucky for us we got another devotional before the building work began. It is kind of interesting how religious this area is. I'm not sure if it's the area or the people or what but it seems that the work being done here has a certain Holy air. Our groups were divided and put to work right away. Cristina, Stephanie, Shelly, and I were put to work nailing wood to specific parts of the wall. It's hard to describe exactly what we were doing because there was such technical labeling of the parts used. Our group climbed up scaffolding, yes, we climbed up scaffolding to the porch in order to do our work. I was impressed at how easily I was able to overcome my fear of heights. Obviously I felt the initial twinge of fear and it definitely stayed with me for a good portion of the time I was working. I was, however, able to climb up and down the scaffolding by the end of the work day without any hesitation. Our work day was cut short, very short. By noon we were sent home due to impending weather conditions. I was really upset by this, I was hoping to get more hands on work done. Most of the day I was really just holding ladders for Cristina or Shelly while they were hammering in the nails. Initially I climbed a ladder and started to do real work but my fear of heights got the best of me and I let it pretty much take over. I promise myself that tomorrow I am going to do real work, hammer in some nails and climb some more scaffolding. I don't want to go home knowing I didn't put as much into this project as I could have. I really do believe I am doing something worth doing. I really felt the comradeship at the building site. Even though I'm sure some of the people thought I was an idiot or some kind of princess who didn't really want to work, I felt like I made some kind of a different. I mean, I did help a little by making sure Cristina's ladder was safe and I also helped clean up. Ok, in retrospect it looks like I really didn't do that much at all. I guess that's where the rest of the week comes into play. I've been exposed to what I'm going to do. The trick is not to let the fear get you. That's what I did the first day and it pretty much killed me. Fear is that handicap, it won't let you do anything you want to do. You watch everything happen with this sense of restraint, that you can't do anything because you're too scared. I can't let myself feel like that again. It's not fair to me nor is it fair to any of the other workers at the site. Even though I may not be doing exactly what I would've liked to do or I didn't get a service trip I would've liked to get, I still think I made a good decision in committing to go. I've gotten to know some pretty awesome people and I hope to say I've gained some good friends along the way. We did a reflection when we returned from our day of work. Today's reflection involved everyone telling their first impressions or current impressions about one another. We wrote our names on a piece of paper and passed it around. These are the first impressions I gave off to my group:
-Down to Earth
-I thought that you are the first Indian person I interacted with, you changed my views of Indians
-Hopefully you don't take this the wrong way but SARCASTIC at every comment which makes you EXTREMELY funny. Very cool to be around
-Word! Funny and laid back
-Opinionated yet extremely easy going personality...you adapt easily. Great advisor.
-Strong personality
-Straight forward, doesn't care what people think, paranoid, cool

I get the paranoid thing since I lock up my computer in my suitcase whenever we're not in the campsite. Thanks Shelly!

Tonight we're going out to dinner, hopefully something good. There was talk of a local BBQ joint, which would be cool. It'll be nice to get out of the camp area and eat out, even if it is BBQ. Hopefully the locals have something for vegetarians. I did spot a Mellow Mushroom on the way back from the work site, maybe I can convince my group to pass on the BBQ for tonight and make a trip to the shroom??? We'll see though. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but quiet time starts at 10pm. Yeah, that means at 10pm the lights go off and we are quiet. That's not necessarily a curfew, but we have to be quiet for those people that are sleeping. Sadly, a lot of people go to sleep at 10pm. Yes, I was one of them. Oh well. I guess I'm going to fit in quite nicely around here.

Finally Arrived!!!!

So, after about 10 hours of driving in a crazy packed bus, we finally made it. We had some issues with some cops through Alabama. Apparently the cops there like being foolish. After two cops passed us with the lights on and then just turned off the lights we decided we were pretty happy not to be at a site in Alabama. The drive went by pretty fast, at least my part did. That might have been due to the fact that I was driving at almost 90 miles per hour. Don't judge me, I wanted to get my part of the drive over with. We stopped in Tallahassee to eat some Shooneys, definitely not the worst breakfast buffet I've ever had. After that it was time to hit the road again. We stopped again after a few minutes, just a quick break nothing crazy. We were supposed to stop in mobile but decided it was best to keep pushing forward. Lucky for us since right after we decided not to stop all the madness with the cops went down. We finally entered Mississippi and were happily surprised. The site looks pretty nice, obviously nothing extravagant but a lot better than I suppose some other trips have. We are staying in a hostel type place with heaps of bunk beds in each room. Poor Antoine has to stay in a different room since he's got the XY chromosome. Sucks for him I guess. Too bad there are no locks on the doors to the dorms nor are there any big lockers. Not really sure what I'm going to do with my laptop. Hopefully there are some hidden lockers somewhere in this crazy building. We have orientation at 5pm then dinner. I don't know how much I'm looking forward to dinner. As a vegetarian, I am slightly hesitant when it comes to eating at religious type places. You never know what they're going to feed you. Funny story, I definitely dropped the F bomb entering this religious institution. I got some funny looks but mostly people just laughed. I think that's a good indication of things to come, hopefully.

All in all I'd say the trip went better than expected. The group is a lot more open to me than I thought they'd be. I'm glad I was able to fit in well enough. It seems that we may get along quite well. I just have to keep my mind sound and not let little things get to me on this trip. I have to keep reminding myself of the bigger picture. I am doing something for the community.

Night of Preparation!!!!

In just a few hours I'll be on my way to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. We had a last pow wow with the site leaders. It looks like the week is going to go pretty smoothly. The weather doesn't look very good from Monday to Wednesday. I hope the weather forecast is wrong though. I'm starting to pack my things, yes STARTING. I'm freaking out a little bit. The closer it gets to departure time the more excited I get. I have to shower before I go to sleep so I don't have to worry about showering tomorrow. I keep thinking about how much fun this should be. I'm glad I got to take my HPM exam this morning so I don't have that lingering while I'm on my trip. Hopefully the drive goes smoothly. We've planned out the reflections and all the debriefings for each day. I'm hoping that everything goes as planned, although you never know how these kinds of trips are going to go. I know this is short but I'll be posting each night after each reflection. Hopefully I'll have pictures to add as well, not just the ones I can google.

Housing Arrangments

Lucky for me some of the volunteers on the trip are interested in their housing arrangements. I got an email with the website with detailed information about our housing arrangements. Yippee!

Camp Victor was built by volunteers, for volunteers. We have 6 air conditioned/heated dorms, 3 male and 3 female, giving us the capacity to house 220 volunteers weekly. The camp has shower and bathroom facilities, a large dining hall area for meals and orientation, a lounge for relaxing and spending time with other volunteers, and a chapel for prayer or meetings. We are located in the heart of art influenced Ocean Springs, MS which is home to over 100 restaurants, shops and activities. The beach is roughly 1 mile from camp and the neighborhood scenery makes for great running.

Dining Hall

All volunteer meals, orientation and camp prayer services are held in the Camp Victor dining hall. Three meals are provided daily for our volunteers; a hot breakfast and dinner and bag lunches are made by each volunteer in the morning before leaving for the work site. Volunteers often use the dining hall as a lounge area to play cards or talk after dinner.

Lounge

Our lounge has four computers with internet access, cable TV, games, books and a soda machine. We also provide wireless internet throughout the building and lockers in the dorms for those wishing to bring laptops. The lounge, as with all common areas in camp, closes at 10 pm for lights out.

Dormitories

Bunk beds with mattresses line the walls and center aisle of the dorm rooms. Each volunteer is asked to bring sheets, pillow and blankets for their bunk. Outlets can be found in every room and arrangements can be made for people needing the use of an outlet at night. Food and drinks are not allowed in the dorm rooms.

Location, location, location

Looks like Ocean Springs is the place to be come Monday. We ship out 4 am Monday morning. Something to look forward to :) That and the 8 to 10 hour drive.

Some more details

I got some more details about the trip. The more I read about it the more excited I get, which is good for me. I have to remember to bring a lock now.


Living - What type of living are we going to be place? Will it be four to a room? We only have one boy in our group, will he be house with other boys from different teams or in a room by himself? The dormitories sleep 20-40 or so people each. The one boy will be in a boy’s dorm room with other male Habitat volunteers.

Door locks - Will we have keys to the room to lock any personal items? Lockers are available in the dorm rooms. Volunteers can bring their own locks or rent a lock for the week for a $3 deposit. The dorm rooms do not lock. We recommend only bringing any valuables absolutely necessary on your trip.

Type of work - what type of work we will be doing? I don’t have next week’s schedule yet, but you will get your site information and assignment on Tuesday morning.

City Life - How far is the city life from Camp Victor? is it walking distance? What is the shopping plaza or street name of the shopping plaza? Camp Victor is located in downtown Ocean Springs, which is kind of an old-fashioned downtown area. It has shops and restaurants. Major shopping would probably require a vehicle.
Breakfast/lunch/ Dinner - I have a submit an itinerary to my director. Do you have the times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Will lunch and dinner be provide on Monday 3/8 (check in day)? Breakfast is daily at 7AM, lunches are packed in the morning and taken to site with you, and dinner is served at 6PM. On Monday, only dinner will be provided.

Money Request In!!!

I've sent in the request for the $350 for the trip! Another thing I can cross off the list. I guess I'm a little more organized than I thought I was. Now I just have to wait for Melissa to get back to me about the departure time and she also needs to get me all the information for the group. Hopefully everyone paid their second payment by now, though it was due on the 19th. I guess an extension was given for the trips since apparently a lot of people weren't paying on time. They had to do the same thing for the first deposit. Thank goodness I only had to pay once! I don't have any money right now so I couldn't afford to pay a second payment even if I had to. Sucks to not have a job...

Countdown: 7 days :)

Itinerary finalized!

Well it looks like the group finalized the itinerary. That's one thing I can cross off the list. Now I just have to get the group's information which should be given to me by Melissa. Then I have to make those bloody business cards. I might just email them out and if the individuals want to print them they can. I don't know yet, we'll have to play that by ear.

Itinerary:

Monday March 8

Arrive – by 4:30pm

Orientation – 5:00pm

Relax/Team meeting – after Orientation

Tuesday March 9

Morning Call/Breakfast - 7:00am

Work start- 8am

Lunch –

Work –

Work End – 4:30pm

Debriefing -

Dinner –

Relax –

Reflection -

Team Activity - Play by ear

Wednesday March 10

Morning Call/Breakfast - 7:00am

Work start- 8am

Lunch –

Work –

Work End – 4:30pm

Debriefing -

Dinner –

Relax –

Reflection -

Team Activity - Play by ear

Thursday March 11

Morning Call/Breakfast - 7:00am

Debriefing -

Work start- 8am

Lunch –

Work –

Work End – 4:30pm

Dinner –

Relax –

Reflection -

Team Activity - Play by ear

Friday March 12

Morning Call/Breakfast - 7:00am

Debriefing -

Work start- 8am

Lunch –

Work –

Work End – 4:30pm

Debriefing -

Dinner –

Relax –

Reflection -

Team Activity – New Orleans? - Play by ear

Saturday March 13

Departure Mississippi

· Loading/ breakfast - 7:00am

· Departure at 8:00am

· Rest/ Bathroom break 15 min

· 1^st Break – 45min Arrive in Mobile - Lunch

· Rest/ Bathroom break 15

· 2^nd Break -45min Arrive in Tallahassee Exit 199

Arrive in Tampa