Why did I come back?

Seriously. Although the weather has been nothing shy of perfection, I came back from one of the most wonderful weeks ever to: pollution, cars, trash, the Phillies..etc. Thankfully I am still surrounded by my 28 new friends on a regular basis, so being in Quaker quarters really isn't all that bad, I guess.

It was my third time down in the Appalachian region and although I was extremely happy to be getting away from papers, tests, drinking..etc, I was seriously shaking with fear that something was going to go wrong. I mean my co-leader and I were responsible for 27 people down in an area that most of them have never been to before. When I say I was shaking, I literally mean that. My internal organs were moving so much that it caused my entire body to shiver because all I could think about leading up to this trip was, APPALACHIA. I woke up with night sweats from it, I had nightmares about things going horribly wrong, I had headaches due to the lack of sleep and probably because my brain was just wired to think about one thing for far too long.

After a week of cramming for tests, papers, things I should have done weeks prior...etc Friday, March 2nd was finally here, the night myself and a few other Kentucky groups would be traveling to god-knows-where northern Virginia to stay overnight at a church. Well, worst case scenario happened, it was RAINING. Oh, perfect I thought. I have three, 12 passenger vans that I cannot operate all at the same time and I have to give the keys to three of my kids. Thankfully, my co-leader chose to drive one, he's a big guy, he could handle to roads. These vans have a serious high center of gravity making them very possible to flip over should one make to much of a turn. That is the image that would burn through my brain as we trekked off to Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, VA. After about 3.5 hours of driving and a pit stop in Delaware, we made it! Without any accidents!

This place was HUGE, of course the boys and girls were separated into two different rooms, on two opposite sides of the building. It was more than just a church it was like a center for activities of some sort, I'm going to guess religious ones. I am not the holiest so being reverend was very difficult, I was a little intimidated by a some-what southern Catholic institution but when I saw this biblical quote over a changing table in the ladies restroom:

"We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed"

I knew that they must know how to party here, I felt a little more at ease. Then it was time to go to sleep, it is hard enough to do that when you are on a floor, surrounded by mostly strangers in an unfamiliar place. Try doing that when the lights won't turn off. Yup. I went around that room flipping switches only to see that every switch I flipped just turned other lights on. Apparently, two or three lights in the girls room are meant to stay on. Why? I DO NOT KNOW. We were told we can go sleep in the actual church, LOL we did.

I know to most it would seem irreverent but really, what's more sanctifying than sleeping on a pew while the statue of Jesus stares down at you? I tried that for maybe 30 minutes, the pew was only wide enough to fit one of my butt cheeks on so i decided for the floor. The lights, though dim, were of course on in the church, so I put my head under the pew, which was only about 11 inches off the ground. I was realllly not feeling any of the hospitality being offered at this moment but shut my eyes to get as much sleep as possible before we hit the road to Kentucky.

For the sake of space, lets jump to arriving in McCarr, Kentucky! The roads and streets down there are more confusing than walking the streets of Beijing, without knowing any Chinese. So, we got a little lost, more than once, but we made it! We arrived at the center and while everyone could go hang out, it was my job along with my fearless leader's, to make a menu for the week. Yes, we would be cooking for ourselves and making our own breakfasts and lunches out of cereal and PB and J. It seems easy, until you have a budget presented in front of you. So, I took my money-holding adult facilitator/friend to the grocery store and we proceeded to shop for two nights of dinner and breakfast and lunch. The local grocery store is obviously not used to people filling their carts up with "Best Choice" everything slash about 8 pounds of ground meat for taco salad. We got a few stares but because we were with Phelps Habitat for Humanity we also got a 10% discount :).

Of course my group was up first to make dinner so we did, Taco Salad. For the rest of the week the meals went like this :pasta with garlic bread, brinner (breakfast for dinner), take-out pizza, burgers and fries and BEANS, grilled cheese/tomato soup, and something else I cant think of, all gourmet of course ;)
After mass at this cute little church in West Virginia on Sunday morning, we headed back to that beautiful place, Breaks Interstate Park. Although last time I was there it was about 30 degrees warmer! We still managed to overlook beauty. The weather is always funny down there so at one point the sun was out --->

some of my kids sitting on a cliff at Breaks

And then the clouds came in and it started snowing. However, it made for a gorgeous background for any photo:



Clouds rolling on the mountains at Breaks. oh HI Connor :)

After an awesome day at Breaks, where we did happen to see about four other SJU APEX groups!!! we headed back to our home base to hang out and wait for the next meal to be cooked. the next day was quickly approaching, Monday. Some people rarely look forward to Mondays but for us, Monday was going to be a day of nailing, hammering, digging, just getting dirty, we couldn't wait....then this happened:


okay, I did not take this picture.

So no, that is not exactly what happened but definitely something like it. My fearless leader and I woke up extra early Monday morning to check out the working conditions and they went something like the picture above: snow and nothing else. Our two contractors, who work for the Phelps Area Habitat for Humanity, Ronny and Archie, basically told us that both work sites were messy and that working in the snow was just not that much of an option. So it was time, time for team bonding. We did that, ALL DAY. A picture of what went down that day: people reading The Hunger Games, various card games such as but not limited to, Spit, Solitaire, Poker, Egyptian Rat Screw, and Pinochle ( I bought that by mistake). We also enjoyed a friendly yet insanely competitive game of MadGab. After this very LONG day of getting to know each other on personal and unnecessarily close levels, it was time for bed and time for Tuesday, the working day.


My co-leader and I split the groups up, splitting up any seemingly cliquey bonds that were already happening. We would split ourselves up as well so each site could have one leader. I, thankfully, went to the site that was right around the corner, Gabe (my co-leader) and his group, went up a mountain. HA! little did I know that my site, was going to be overwhelmingly muddy. By the end of the week though, I was happy that this was my site as I heard that math was being done at the other site. My instructions through out the week were simple, dig, mix, cut, pour, lay, level..etc. Do not give me fractions and I will give you a smile  :). Where Gabe was, they had a foundation already set up to be an extension of a house, they would start to actually build the house by putting down a floor and framing. We, on the other hand, needed to dig, a lot, in mud, and break through rocks, so we could lay the foundation down for the extension of home.

we started by doing this, digging a hole 16 inches wide and about 18 inches deep, in LOTS of mud.

In four days ( record time ), that image above turned into this:

foundation and the beginning of a floor!!! so proud :)

Not before hanging out with this:


brand new puppies!!!!!!!

The other group made INSANE amounts of progress, of course they weren't falling over in mud every day but still a great accomplishment none the less.


a floor, four walls, and the beginning of a roof!! AMAZING.

Friday was more bitter than sweet for everyone. Yes, we were going to be home in Philadelphia within the next 24 hours but that means we had to leave our comfort zone of being dirty, seeing each other every day for all hours of the day, and sleeping in semi-comfortable bunk beds. This year meant so much to me. Being a leader is way different from being a participant. As a leader, I actually had to be the first out of bed instead of the last, I had to plan meals, make sure everything was going smoothly, taking care of injured and sick people, basically I had to be responsible for everything. This scared the shit out of me. After this week, however, I knew exactly why I was chosen to lead a group of some of the most wonderful people at my school. I was not meant to go down to Cancun or Punta Cana, to not remember mostly any of the week ( no offense to my friends who ruined their reputation and their bank accounts down in the Caribbean). Our amazing group loved this trip the same way I have loved it. They embraced it and let themselves experience it for all it's worth and then some. Seeing them get along and wanting to get to know the people and culture around them was enough reward for me. Although it was nice that we we got back they did this for us:

A framed picture and a signed card oh and of course, Whitney <3

This year has reaffirmed why I choose to spend my Spring Break this way. Thank you, Appalachian Experience for giving me a renewed sense of hope in humanity every year I go back to the mountains. <3

Country Roads, Take me home...

Everyone knows that John Denver song which begins with, "Almost Heaven, West Virginia..". Well did you know that there is an actual Almost Heaven in West Virginia? I didn't think so. Like my Dad, you probably thought that it was just an endearing name for the place John Denver calls home. Well it is an endearing place but the legendary country-rock singer isn't the only one who can go there to lie his head down at night.

Almost Heaven, WV is just one of the many places that are considered part of the Appalachian region of America. This area is literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited during my 22 years of life. Oh, you didn't think a broad from the big city would be caught dead putting her flannel on and heading to the mountains? Yeah, a couple years ago, I would have thought the exact same thing. I really never enjoyed hot weather or the outdoors or swimming in a lake at girl scout camp or anything about a place that doesn't have cell phone service 24/7.

BUTTTT that all changed when I decided to join the Appalachian Experience at my school, Saint Joseph's University in my sophmore year. APEX is an immersion trip based across three stated, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, where students go down and work with others of the community to help those less fortunate (building homes, improving homes, hiking, making friends..etc) My deciding factor was really that I had no money and I had absolutely no desire to go home for a week and deal with the insane amounts of trivial drama that would come my way. With my best friend moving back to the other side of the country for good, I decided it would be best if I left the North East all together, well at least for a week anyway.

I was nervous, of course, I only knew a few people in my group of 42 students and adult facilitators. One of my leaders happened to be a friend of mine but as the trip came closer, I was freaking the eff out. Like what do I bring? what don't I bring? I am usually prepared to pack a month's worth of clothing when I am only going somewhere for a weekend so what do I do now? I'm going somewhere for a week, and I am only allowed to bring..... ONE bag. UGH Yonkers, NY was seeming a lot more appealing and to top it off, the day we were leaving was the day after my friend was going home to San Fran (Insert hysterical crying here).

Had I been aware that this was going to be how my trip was, pretty much the whole week:

This beauty is Breaks Interstate Park in KY/VA, the other beauty is of course, Moi :)

I would have had ZERO hesitations about this trip. From the lady who gave us homemade jam, to the man who gave us homemade cornbread, to the people we helped, the relationships we built, to the bad weather, the good weather, the in-between weather, this trip was nothing I expected which affirmed that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life and probably will remain that way for the rest of my human existence.

Now, I am a senior and I have been chosen to be a leader. Myself along with my friend Gabe, will lead almost 30 people back down to Kentucky to live and learn all over again. It is my 3rd and final year on this life-changing trip and I couldn't be happier that I  decided not to go to Cancun, Punta Cana, Florida..etc. This trip has given me purpose and a real sense of the type of person that I am and who I want to be. Corny? yes. But its true, without this experience, my time at SJU would have been most unfortunately, wasted(literally/figuratively).

Today is the day we will embark on our journey back down to the south. Although we will not be eating some awesome meals ( even though the wonderful lady we helped last year gave us homemade chili and bbq pulled pork (insert drooling and tears of pure jubilation). We will be living simply to help others simply live. I cannot wait for more of this !!!!!!---->

Breaks Interstate Park, KY/VA

I am going to try to keep up with this blog through out the week with pictures and videos from the mountains, hopefully I get some form of internet service. You really can't understand how it is down there unless you go but here is a music video of an artist who is from easter Kentucky and her band who's mission is to spread good music and spread awareness about stopping the horrible and life-taking process that is mountain-top removal.

"Stream of Conscience"-2/3 Goat