Our week in review
We'd all created a few classes that we wanted to teach, and the first one—a cooking class—was scheduled for Monday morning. Lydia and Polly organized a cooking-on-a-budget class and taught it in the morning, and they had a really successful class. The rest of us spent a lot of the day planning our classes for the rest of the week and completing little tasks that helped the center out. The weather was beautiful, so we spent a lot of time outside working. There was a knitting class in the afternoon that some of us attended as well. Sara was able to help teach both women at the center and some of our own participants how to knit. Afterwards, we ate dinner and built a bonfire outside. We ate smores and had reflection before tucking in for the night.
Sorry that we haven't posted anything yet—it kind of slipped our minds! The past few days have been really great. We left Columbia on Friday to start our 17-hour journey to Anthony, NM. We stopped in Oklahoma City Friday night and woke up early Saturday morning to finish our drive. We drove almost all day Saturday, but the beautiful scenery made the drive much more bearable.
We arrived in Anthony on Saturday night and went to the grocery store to get food for the week. We were all pretty tired from the long drive, though, so after putting our groceries away and showering, we went to bed.
Sunday
After a good—and much needed—night's sleep, we woke up Sunday and got ready for our free day. We drove on over to Texas—which is about 5 minutes away from our site—and hit up the outlet malls there. After we shopped for a little, we hopped back in the car and drove about an hour and a half to the White Sands National Monument.
Because our site leaders rock, we had coordinated outfits, and we were all dressed in fancy black clothes. Not tryin' to brag or anything, but we looked awesome on the white sands. We took a lot of great pictures and soaked up the view for a while before realizing how hungry we were.
Around 5 p.m., we got back in the car and drove to a Mexican restaurant about 15 minutes away called Margo's. We were all ravenous by the time we got there, and we went through multiple orders of chips in a solid 5 minutes. An hour later, we walked out of Margo's with full belies (thanks to Catelyne accidentally ordering a round of sopapillas, much to Lydia's horror) and headed back to our housing in Anthony. It was a perfect day, but we were all exhausted. We sat around and talked for a little bit before heading off to bed. 
Monday
We're staying in a small house next door to our service site—the Women's Intercultural Center. The center provides a number of classes to women in the area, including workout classes, resume-building classes, knitting classes, U.S. citizenship classes and more.
Tuesday
Tuesday was a lot like Monday, with a few classes and small projects sprinkled in her and there. Ariel and Sara had spent much of the day Monday planning an awesome Identity Empowerment class, but it unfortunately got cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for Friday. We got a few new projects assigned to us, including decorating eggs and making a promotional video to help fundraise for the center, so we started in on those projects.
In between working, we made a total of five trips to Dollar General, which is just a few minutes away, and we now greet the workers by name. Later that night, Sara made a delicious beef and pasta casserole, and we ate it on the roof, which has a spectacular view of the mountains. We made cookies later that night and watched a movie and then went to bed.
Wednesday
Some of us got an early start Wednesday morning. We woke up around 6:30 a.m. to drink coffee on the roof and watch the sun rise. It was a little chilly, but the coffee kept us warm and the sunrise was beautiful.
After the sunrise, Andy and Lydia decided to surprise everyone with Krispy Kreme. The few of us who were awake drove to Krispy Kreme and got two dozen donuts, and then proceeded to blast loud music and bang on pots and pans to wake everyone else up. After breakfast, the day got busier.
Meghan, Mayme and Andy taught a safe sex class that was very successful. Some of us put together Easter baskets for the center while others worked on organizing citizenship binders. Meghan, Ariel and Catelyne worked on the promotional video for the center (and got What-a-Burger and Starbucks--still bitter). Polly and Sara used their amazing Spanish skills to translate Spanish documents to English, and Kelsey and Andy worked on sewing a teddy bear. We all worked on a lot of different projects and had a really productive day. Later, we made tacos for dinner and then had a short reflection. A lot of us were pretty tired, though, so we turned in early for the night.
We've had a great week so far. We're all getting to know each other, and we're making some of the greatest memories. We can't wait to see what these last few days in Anthony will hold for us. We'll be sure to let you know how it all goes!
Yours truly,
MAB Anthony
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