Ricky

Today, we all woke up at separate times, from about 7:30 to 10:30am.

Taylor and Sara went on an adventure around Welch early, checking out the closed stores fronts and the mural in the front of the town. They discovered that Welch had major floods in 2001 and 2002, in which 85% of the town was destroyed. This accounted for the lack of businesses in town. They also meandered into a mysterious building and discovered it was inhabitated by inmates. Sarah tried to become friends.

When they returned, the majority of the group was awake and ready to rock. While some went to the church's service, (also broadcasting live on the radio), Jem Cara and I went exploring on our own as well. I cannot account for those who did not go to service, nor explored with us, as I didn't hear about it. It was probably boring.

After making our lunches, we boarded the 12-seater van and headed off to Mullens, WVa. The drive took about an hour, and nothing spectacular was seen. Well, except for a house that had burned down overnight, and there was an emu in a cage. Yes, an emu. Not even an ostrich. (The house on fire and the emu were not together)

As we arrived to Mullens, I found it funny that the Mullens was named after a guy named Mullins. Yes, that's right. They just forgot to dot the i, and so it became Mullens with an e. Great introduction to the town. Following this, a local named Ricky approached the group, and started to talk to us about the work we were doing. Several of us were confused, because his accent was strong. He toured Lien around the police station for a bit, pointing out trash and describing the infrastructure of the building. He claimed to never have heard of Arnie, the guy we were working with at the foodbank. This got us worried for a little bit.

About ten minutes later, Arnie Simmons and his wife Kathy arrived. Ricky greeted them heartily as long-lost friends. Arnie led us into the foodbank and took some time to describe the situation in Appalachia. Kathy and Arnie lived in Hyattsville, MD (Go MD!) for 30 years raising their kids, and then moved out to WVa to volunteer. Arnie highlighted the main issues of the area- the only industry was coal, education is not a high priority, drug abuse is common, and the depletion of the middle class. However, he also focused on the great parts of the area. The people are very religious and family oriented, and always have time to talk, even to strangers.

After a rundown of the area's strengths and weaknesses, Arnie and Lien assigned jobs around the foodbank. Taylor, Cara and Jheeyae(maybe?) filled in holes in the walls with cement, Lien, Jem, Vanessa (and some others) painted walls. Sorry, I don't know what everyone did, I was busy focusing on my work. But I can guarantee that we were all very productive. Clare and I painted the two bathrooms, changing the walls from a bright yellow to an..indescribable..whitish, yellowy, purple, creamish color? The lighting made it difficult to determine. At the end of our work, we took time to talk with Kathy and Arnie about the area. Jem and Cara got the numbers and addresses for the foodbank with the plans of setting up a donation site back in UMD.  Arnie also noted that the running water may not be potable. This raised some concerns.

After working at the foodbank for roughly four hours, we headed out to the vans again. Not without taking a picture in front of a mural! (WVa-ers must love murals) Back on the road, we once again saw a burned down house. The emu was still safe. We checked to see if bowling was an option for the night, but it was closed. We stopped at an Exxon to pick up some gallons of water to drink.

Erica and Cara made baked ziti and garlic bread. Meanwhile, others showered and napped. We all gathered for dinner, and enjoyed the scrumptious meal. The conversation during dinner went through many topics- from the poverty of the area to Harry Potter, to waterparks, to teleportation/other superpowers, the existence of aliens, how Lien is scared of the dark, ghost stories, and finally ending on 'scary murder stories that we know'. We promptly finished dinner and cleaned up.

Back upstairs, we met for reflection. We drew pictures (primarily stick-figures) showing the highlights of our day. A recurrent theme was Ricky. We then ran through the itinerary for tomorrow. We're all excited to go the school tomorrow!

Everyone is bonding well, and enjoying each others company. I can't really describe the whole camaraderie thing, since its quite an abstract concept, but it's present. So that's good. It's about 11:30, and we have to get up early. So...I'm going to stop writing. Goodnight!

Mark, the manliest of men on this trip. Don't believe me? Check the beard.
(PS- Don't tell Taylor)