Throughout the round, my team lost a few members. One girl went home permanently for personal reasons, and we lost two other individuals because they were chosen for disaster relief in Georgia. Talk about a small team! Eleven teammates that quickly changes to eight teammates in a matter of days definitely gives the team a different feeling and overall dynamic. My team noticed right away just how comfortable it was to have to only sit two to a seat in the van instead of having to squeeze three. It felt like we were traveling in luxury!
For Halloween, a group of my teammates and I headed to the nearby town of Ocean Springs to meet up with another team for Halloween. I went to Walmart earlier that day and picked up a cheap "rock star" kit and a Miley Cryrus t-shirt so that I could turn myself into an "AmeriRocker". The rest of my teammates dressed up as a Pumpkin Fair, a Home Wrecker, a Scarecrow and a Weekend Warrior.
One weekend while living in Biloxi a group of us traveled to New Orleans for the weekend. We left early Saturday morning and once we arrived in NOLA, our first stop was Cafe Dumonde where we partook in hot coffee and their beignets which they are known for. Fun fact - while waiting in the take out line for our food, we saw Tom Hanks sitting and enjoying his breakfast at the cafe!! We were literally 5 feet away from him! Thankfully for me, I was the only brave one to actually take a picture of him! Throughout Saturday and Sunday I walked throughout the French Quarter and checked out the different shops and restaurants. It was quite entertaining to see all the live performers cluttering the streets throughout the day and night. Lucky for us, my team found a hotel to stay at that was located right around the corner from Bourbon street! Saturday night we spent all night walking around Bourbon street. Goodness Bourbon street was full of energy! I almost felt like that one night of celebration made up for all the nights I didn't go out back in college. I definitely enjoyed sightseeing around New Orleans. The people were wicked friendly and the architecture was beautiful!
On weekends that we stayed around Biloxi, my teammates and I would travel often to Ocean Springs. Ocean Springs has a really nice downtown area. The town reminds me a little bit of Holland, Michigan. There was a neat gelato place as well as a pottery painting place where a few of my teammates and I painted pottery. I ended up painting a mug that had peace signs carved into it. I painted it bright colors and wrote "peace begins with a smile" on it. It definitely made for a great hot chocolate mug! On Sundays, my teammate Becca and I traveled to the local non denominational church with one of our supervisors Jimmy and his wife. It was definitely a new and neat experience and I'm glad I made myself branch out!
For Thanksgiving, I traveled to Alabama with my teammate Becca. If I had it my way, I would have flown home for Thanksgiving.. especially since the whole family would have been together. Looking at plane tickets for Christmas break made me realize that I had to be realistic and choose a cheaper route for Thanksgiving. Lucky enough, I had the opportunity to Skype with my family on Thanksgiving. Goodness was it an enjoyable time. I wish I had the chance to Skype with them more often! Friday after Thanksgiving was the Iron Bowl football game which I guess is a very important game in the South. Being the nice person I am, I wore one an Auborn t-shirt and rooted for the team throughout the game. On Saturday I had the opportunity to partake in Becca's family tradition of cutting down their Christmas tree. After picking out the perfect tree, we brought it home and I helped Becca trim the tree with lights and family ornaments. Once the tree was decorated to our liking, Becca and I baked one of her traditional chocolate chip recipes and went out for a pedicure. Talk about one eventful day!! Sunday, before heading back to Biloxi, I went to church with Becca's family and sang in the choir with them. Becca lives in a small town where everyone is warm and welcoming :D Going to Alabama for Thanksgiving was definitely a good idea :D
After Thanksgiving I found myself getting into the habit of reading. It took me joining an organization where I am secluded from Internet, television and phones to finally understand why people enjoy reading. I can finally say that for once in my life I enjoy reading!! From Thanksgiving until the middle of December I read eight books! I was definitely on a role up until I left for Christmas break.
Overall my second round in Biloxi was an enlightening experience. Personally I was very happy that I had the opportunity to learn new interior construction skills and perfect the skills that i had learned prior to joining AmeriCorps. I am also thankful to have met Jimmy and his wife. I believe that the world would definitely be a better place if there were more people like Jimmy and his wife living on it.
The end of the round marks the half way point for my term in AmeriCorps. Time truly does fly by while you are participating in an activity that you whole heartedly enjoy. Week by week the project feels long, but as I look back on it month to month I realize just how quickly the days add up! I am so proud of myself for getting involved in AmeriCorps. It truly has been a challenging five months, but these past five months are a part of my life that I would never trade for anything. I feel like I've already grown and matured in the past five months which makes me very anxious to see where I will be after ten months.
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