Bay Saint Louis - Habitat

Day 5

Another day, another dollar in Bay Saint Louis Mississippi. We awoke today as a group bright and early to a sunny bayside morning. We strode to the cafeteria and came to a delicious bounty set before us. Our breakfast consisted of poached eggs, sausage, and monumental heaps of glistening hash browns. After indulging ourselves for the first time of the day, we walked back to the dorms and prepared for our day of labor. Our group yet again split into two. Three lovely ladies were left behind to continue the daunting task of painting shutters. After our group's meiosis, the second group ventured onward to the future home of our now dear friend Amelia, nay future diva of soul Amelia (stage name Missy Milly.) We began by painting the house's siding with Van Gogh-esque brush strokes, some of us preferring the more Matisse like style of painting. The crafty members of the group quickly found spots painting in the shaded areas. It is safe to say in the process of natural selection, this group will not die of skin cancer. After painting the ENTIRE HOUSE (fueled only by the a cappela verses of Missy Milly,) the group disembarked on our own specific tasks. Some of us built staircases, not to heaven mind you, but to the front porch. These stairway workers were quite proud of the work they accomplished, seriously who has built a staircase before? Other members of the group painted trim and various bits of siding around the house. Shutters were painted a new shade of deep crimson, and the house was cleaned and vacuumed for our friend Amelia to swiftly move into. We enjoyed a brief interlude consisting of banana popsicles, which at first sounded rather appalling, but upon consumption riveted the taste buds of all included. The work day was filled with hard labor, fits of laughter, group love, and a brief twitter turf war with ASB Dallas (who seriously needs to pull it together.)

After our long day of work, the group reconvened at the dormitories, where we met with the three lovely ladies who were rather bitter after spending their entire day painting shutters (which were only meant to take an hour.) We briskly showered and attempted to scrub the paint from our weary bodies, some more successful than others, and embarked again on another adventure! We pursued our invitation to the lovely Gulfport, to enjoy a crawfish feast. We soon found out that the meal was fit for a king! (Or lesser monarch, or morbidly obese, yet tasteful, southerner) We drove what seemed to be an endless length to arrive at our destination. We twisted our route around a blocked off train track to finally arrive at the crate and barrel-esque abode of our dear friend Mike Hutchinson. By dear friend, I mean a man that four members of our group met for a brief time the day prior. Upon entering his humble abode we were greeted with novelties from foreign lands. The dining room table had been dressed in the most luxurious of dinnerware. The walls were hung with tapestries, paintings, and golden plates that shone like the noon-day sun. We were immediately ushered into a sitting room where we were served delectable appetizers, which would only turn out to be the mere first course of our feast. After filling our plates with exotic dishes, we traveled to the backyard to experience the ambience that is a night in Gulfport, Mississippi. We were then given the trophy of the night. We were handed a cauldron filled with freshly boiled crawfish. We brought these supple crustaceans to our eager tongues, only to have our lips resonate with the stings from the Cajun spices. We were in utter shock of the southern hospitality we were being shown, and at the deliciousness of the creatures. After snacking on bread and barbecued shrimp we entered the home to be seated for our dinner. We were served creole, rice, and fried eggplant. We then learned that our host was a truly fascinating human being, and connoisseur of all things classy and southern. In short, he has lived all over the world, worked in West Africa with hopes to return in the near future, and does non –profit work assisting struggling skill-based organizations via churches. Our minds were greatly expanded with conversation of geography, culture, and the incredibly complex race relations of the state of Mississippi. As our minds continued to be titillated, we were served the most delicious Moroccan coffee and Chicory (a common coffee and plant based southern beverage.) The tones of lavender and cumin accompanied the equally tasteful and stimulating conversation. As a group we were made aware of how different life actually is in the south, in comparison to what you learn in Northern history classes. In short, laws have changed, but some minds remain stagnant. We were all sad when it came time for us to leave. We felt that we could have talked to him for hours. On the ride back we all dreamed of returning to stay in the offered guest bedrooms of the Hutchinson home. Now we are in the present, a time when we are only going to embark on the adventures in our dreams. Gluttons tonight, but men and women of sacrifice tomorrow.