12 hours.
12 people.
5 states.
3 tanks of gas.
ONE DETROIT.
At 6 this morning we gathered behind the Student Center. A freshly awoken group of chilly college students set out to change the world in one week. We made a quick pit stop for the always-necessary caffeine at Starbucks and then began to venture onward.
About two hours into the trip we realized that our lovely GPS, which we call Garmin, had gone missing. Our first stop was at an Illinois gas station where we began the search for our dear direction giver. We realized that Garmin was not in tow. After a quick call to Starbucks on 9th Street in Columbia it became clear: Garmin was in CoMo.
The adventure continued while listening to Mandy Moore until we arrived in lovely Indianapolis, Indiana. Jake took us to visit with his family for lunch. His mom prepared noodles & chicken, penne pasta, green beans, mashed potatoes, fruit, vegetables and sugar cookies. We learned of Jake's Halloween costume (Girl Scout) and once spiked and frosted hair.
We chatted about "My Morning Jacket" while a few people jumped on the trampoline in the backyard. As we began to gather our things for the second half of the ride, Olivia (Jake's niece) distributed goodie bags she had prepared for each of us and we said our temporary good byes. Back on the road again, bellies full of mom-made food, we began the final stretch to Motown!
After a couple of quick restroom and gas stops we saw the "Michigan" sign! A final 48 miles brought us to the Detroit city limits. We saw the bridge to Canada (we aren't allowed to go!!), a 330-foot tall basketball, and pulled up to our new home – a former rectory just across the street from University of Detroit Mercy.
We're living on the first floor, while the second floor is currently occupied by Jesuit Volunteers from across the country. They're six recent college graduates, all serving a year in Detroit working at non-profit organizations. We'll be working our schedules around one another and hopefully our busy schedules will lend common time to explore Detroit together a bit.
Originally we had thought that there would be multiple showers, but of the two we were assigned one of them is missing a functional showerhead. Beth, one of the Jesuit Volunteers, and her boyfriend helped us construct a "bucket shower"—a bucket that you fill up with the water and a milk jug with the top cut off for pouring, and holes on the bottom for a shower-esque feel. She says that they've called their maintenance guy who will hopefully be able to get the shower to work, but until then we're down to one regular shower and one bucket shower.
After bringing in our bedding and duffle bags we went out in search of a quick meal. Before departing the house, the Jesuit volunteers informed us that we were in fact living on 6 Mile, only two away from the infamous 8 Mile famed by rapper Eminem. We decided this would be the perfect road for us to find our dinner. Separated into two van, we ended up losing each other while driving up and down 8 Mile and finally ended up back at the house where we got to know one another by giving out nicknames and telling stories. Finally, we settled down for bed around 12:30 – we're all sleeping in one huge room. Tomorrow's our free day, so we'll be exploring the and getting a feel for the city we'll be residing in for the next week!
From D-Town,
Alicia, Stephanie, Ro, Monica, Roze, Stephen, Jake, Paul, Taylor, Carol, Nick, and Michelle
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