The town of Osage was nicer than we expected. There were a lot of wealthier homes, but certainly pockets of impoverished areas. When you drove into the impoverished areas all the businesses were abandoned, as a result of the coal business leaving the area. Once a thriving city, the rundown buildings still stand along side mom N pop businesses still trying to maintain a purpose and identity like Al's Shoe Repair ( who kindly shined two pairs of boots today free of charge)...Sarah and Cara's hey that rhymes...hope they have better luck finding love now hehe! While one group was getting a tour the other was back in the food pantry moving food off the shelves preparing to paint them.
"Yeah I wish I had more paint so you guys could paint the whole room" ..(awkward stares but smiles)..of course we would have been willing but we just stuck to the shelves...tomorrow maybe ?? Heavy loading back and forth moving many piles of canned food..yea we're all superheroes now! Paint job began while the cooking for Luncheon with the elderly members of the community took place in the nearby rm..shooutouts to Mark for holding down the fly swatting position while the smoke alarm continuously went off. With one shelf completed and the tour group returned it was time for the luncheon.
As the elderly community members arrived Sarah welcomed them and began chatting right away (she is a big fan of the senior citizens!) There was tons of food...homemade chili, mac and cheese (great, but not better than noodles), fried chicken, and lots more. The food was delicious even though the smoke alarm was going off during preparation! During the luncheon we met Al who had great stories about the history of Osage and serenaded us with his beautiful voice (Mark we are disappointed with your lack of participation...no star for you!!!) After the luncheon we cleaned up and it was back to touring and painting with full stomachs...don't feed the volunteers...after that good food we wanted to nap! The groups switched jobs, one heading off for their tour and the other starting to get their Picasso on!
After a full day of work it was time for a night out on the town! We ventured to Morgantown for some Dairy Queen! The icecream was delicious, but it definitely was not the best part of the night. Riding the WVU personal rapid transit was of course the highlight of the evening...so much better than shuttleUM...especially when we aren't even sure if we paid for it..Thanks Taylor (that's what you get for hiding the fruit snacks!!) After our full loop on the transit we explored the town. During this exploration Taylor came up with a new idea...HANDS UP!!!!...we had to walk through Morgantown with your hands in the air to make sure we were all fully participating in family time. As if WVU didn't like us Terps already...we had to make it VERY clear that we were outsiders! We had some extra time to kill so we went to Barnes and Noble...not Nobles...we are very educational savvy...some books were actually purchased!!
During our reflection we did an activity that required you to take a step forward everytime you agreed with a statement (ex. take a step forward if you had someone to care for you after school). The activity really made us realize how our homelife, race and, SES affects our progress in life. We also had a discussion on affirmative action and whether or not it was beneficial or staggering. Following that intense convo we played a quick round of Taboo (Vanessa needs to improve on her Taboo skills, but we still love her :)...and maybe her showering skills according to Taylor).
Alright well now it is time to shower and get ready for our big sleepover!
~Erica (the girl who still wants McDonalds!!)
++**Christina not MIA typing++**
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