The last of the Chattahoochee Pics

time for a cast dance party!

c'mon boys- you can do it!
Mary, Whitney and Jeremy with a future home owner!
Wouter, Kaleigh, Peter and Mitch- ready to caulk!

Me and my rockstar intern, Aoife, at the Chattahoochee River

Chattahoochee Wrap Up

A few highlights of Cast A 2007's week in the Chattahoochee Valley

• We had an AMAZING welcome with 3 police escorts and 2 planes flying overhead! Plus, Millard Fuller was there to welcome the cast and introduce them to the Fuller Center Project
• We helped build 4 houses for very deserving families here in the Valley
• We did "Stand for Peace" at 6 local elementary schools- when we performed our mini-show for the Chambers County kids, I have never heard kids scream so loud. They went crazy when the cast danced 'Power With'
• We had intense educational workshop- the Hunger Banquet. The cast was randomly divided up into 3 groups- low-income, middle and high and sat and were served food accordingly. Many people got very upset, it was very sad. What is sad to me is that we all know that these conditions exist in the world, but what are we doing about it? Our education manager, Chris, had a very good point at the end- that we cannot force anybody to do anything, we can only be the best we can be at what we are doing. So true!
• We got the chance in Chattahoochee to do 'Cast Appreciation' which is where we set up the stage as a surprise for the cast and put on a little show for them. I had fun doing my very first set-up and the show was hilarious- the girls doing the Haka and the guys wearing dresses doing "Swing". Great stuff.
• The show went well, we raised $14,000 for the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project and everyone had a great time!
• A great free day- brunch at Heart of the South, laying by the pool, getting my butt kicked in tennis and a great last meal with the host family, Aoife, Scott, Tina, Korey, Joern, Kristin and Madoka.
• Very sad, of course, to say goodbye to everyone on Sunday, but I will see them all again soon- in Thailand!!

More pictures from Chattahoochee

so I didn't realize until today that my house backs up to this little cemetery... good to know!

All the pictures below were taken at Ft. Tyler- which is where one of the last battles of the Civil War was fought- 7 days after Lee surrendered! It is about a block away from where I am staying.

Never Have I Ever

During our overnight in Van Horn, Texas a bunch of us girls decided to go all 8th grade and sit in a circle gossiping about boys, eating junk food and playing silly games like 'Truth or Dare' and 'Never Have I Ever'. It was pretty immature but so much fun. Anyway, that last game got me thinking that in this job I have a lot of those 'Never Have I Ever' moments. Each day is filled with new people, new experiences and things that I never thought I would ever see or do. For example, this weekend I am attending church and then having brunch with Millard Fuller- the founder of Habitat for Humanity. This is a man who pretty much revolutionized philanthropy and the non-profit industry. Wow. In this first week in Chattahoochee I have had many of these 'Never Have I Ever's:

Never have I ever (until now):

• had a tornado siren go off while I was at work and had to pile into the stairwell with a bunch of Senior Citizens :) This was a great audience (captive- literally) for my UWP spiel. Instead of calling it an Elevator Speech, we should change the name to Tornado Shelter Speech.
• had to have my Buick towed from Wal-Mart
  
• been called m'am so much in my life!
• Eaten Fried Green Tomatoes- yum!
• felt so welcome in a community- the people of Chattahoochee Valley are truly excited to have Up with People come to their town

• had my host mom make me my very own pound cake (mmmm)... I better watch out or the next post is going to be 'never have I ever gained so much weight in a one-month period'
• almost been ran over by a herd of deer walking home
  
• come home to this- fresh washed and folded clothes courtesy of the family maid!

I'm sure they'll be many more of these moments in the weeks and months to come. Especially when I go to Thailand! I love this job...