***
I decided to go to Alabama because I felt that my week long break should be spent doing something worthwhile, rather than sitting on the couch in my parent’s home. I had never been to the “true” South, because I feel that Disney World does not really count. Going into the trip, I had no idea what to expect or even what we were going to do while we were down there. The only details that I knew were that we were going to be helping Habitat for Humanity and that there was a possibility that we were going to be building a house.
After the week was over, I felt both physically and spiritually fulfilled. Throughout the week I swam in the Gulf of Mexico, completely remodeled a house, built a community garden, and met an entirely new group of friends. I also experienced a new culture. In Alabama, there is still the “Southern hospitality”, but there is a strong sense of privacy that you do not see in the Midwest. The majority of the houses had fences surrounding the homes with “Stay Out” signs attached.
In many ways, Alabama was still the same as Minnesota or Wisconsin. Ironically, southern hospitality is the same type of behavior found in the small towns of Wisconsin. Everyone knows everybody and everything about them. Even if they do not know someone, they are still treated with the same politeness as if they were part of your family. The standard of living was also similar to the Midwest. There were houses that were not up kept and there were houses that took your breath away. Overall, the way of life in Alabama was not far from the way of life in the small towns of the Midwest.
The only critique that I have of the trip was that we did not hear the stories of the people who were being helped by Habitat for Humanity. We were only given small amounts of information about the devastation of the storm and the overall poverty of Mobile. I feel that the trip would have been more enriching if we were immersed more into the community.
I decided to go to Alabama because I felt that my week long break should be spent doing something worthwhile, rather than sitting on the couch in my parent’s home. I had never been to the “true” South, because I feel that Disney World does not really count. Going into the trip, I had no idea what to expect or even what we were going to do while we were down there. The only details that I knew were that we were going to be helping Habitat for Humanity and that there was a possibility that we were going to be building a house.
After the week was over, I felt both physically and spiritually fulfilled. Throughout the week I swam in the Gulf of Mexico, completely remodeled a house, built a community garden, and met an entirely new group of friends. I also experienced a new culture. In Alabama, there is still the “Southern hospitality”, but there is a strong sense of privacy that you do not see in the Midwest. The majority of the houses had fences surrounding the homes with “Stay Out” signs attached.
In many ways, Alabama was still the same as Minnesota or Wisconsin. Ironically, southern hospitality is the same type of behavior found in the small towns of Wisconsin. Everyone knows everybody and everything about them. Even if they do not know someone, they are still treated with the same politeness as if they were part of your family. The standard of living was also similar to the Midwest. There were houses that were not up kept and there were houses that took your breath away. Overall, the way of life in Alabama was not far from the way of life in the small towns of the Midwest.
The only critique that I have of the trip was that we did not hear the stories of the people who were being helped by Habitat for Humanity. We were only given small amounts of information about the devastation of the storm and the overall poverty of Mobile. I feel that the trip would have been more enriching if we were immersed more into the community.
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