Birmingham 2 - Habitat for Humanity

Day Three

Today started off very similar to yesterday-breakfast, pack lunch, and head to the work site. Before we left, our fearless leaders, Patrick and Hailey gave us a few challenges and some things to think about as we worked today. The first one stemmed from ASB's motto "Pocco A Pocco" (Sorry if I spelled that wrong, I've taken 6 years of French, not Spanish) Basically, Patrick and Hailey wanted us to remember that our work here, will happen little by little. They also challenged us to work harder and to really go the extra mile when working today. We were also encouraged to "unplug" from our cell phones and leave the world of social media behind for the day.

When we got to our site this morning, we returned to the crawl space under the house to continue painting, laying tarp, and placing large sheets of Styrofoam on the walls. We made it our goal to get as much done before Greg and Mary came by. With this mentality in mind, we worked as a team and got quite a bit accomplished in a short amount of time.

Several of us got to experience "little by little" today as we laid and patched the tarp, time and time again. We would measure, cut, tape, plaster with the grey gunk and then have to do it again because it just wasn't working. Despite the fact that we were tired and annoyed, we knew we couldn't just skip a step in the process of building someone's house. It was beyond frustrating, but we stuck with it and completed laying the tarp. Even though we felt like we didn't do much, we took a step back and realized that when we started, this crawl space wasn't painted, had sand for the ground and wasn't insulated. In finishing the crawlspace today, we realized how important the little tasks are and how much it matters to pay attention the little things in life

Other members of the group literally got to experience "working harder" as they helped Greg lay stones. Sounds simple right? Think again. These "stones" were 200-pound slabs that required everyone to help left and put into place. This was definitely a struggle…Patrick turned red like a tomato, Drew almost slammed his fingers on multiple occasions and Claire was disappointed that she couldn't pick up the stone because it weighed 200 ponds. But with a team-like mentality, the stones were laid and the family moving in now has a fabulous walkway to their new house. We essentially finished this house today, which was really exciting for us as this was the house that a Mizzou Alternative Winter Break trip started in December.

After we finished at the house, the plan was to have dinner at Teressa's church and to watch the Easter Drama that her church was putting on. We left on time (kind of a first out our group), only to get completely turned around because someone…(Patrick) took a wrong turn. White chocolate, one of our cars, almost ran out of gas and we almost died. Okay, that is a major exaggeration. All in all, we got turned around and made it to the church with plenty of time to spare. We were again greeted with wonderful, southern hospitality and fed a delicious dinner. I'm beginning to think these people think we don't eat in Missouri or something! After a delicious meal, we watched the Easter Drama. We didn't know quite what to expect. Let's just say that is was a new experience for many members of our group and a night that we will never forget. We ended the night by playing a game similar to charades.

We're headed to Tuscaloosa tomorrow with Teressa and her family-Roll Tide!

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