Rutgers University Alternative Breaks: Car Alarms and Magic Hands

Before I get to the first full day of our RUAB, I exercise full rights to roll over stuff that happened yesterday after blogging. Excited for what would happen today and slightly delirious from late night hours, we somehow transitioned from our True Colors activity to a full-on dance party, featuring our very own Phil as our personal dance instructor. Salsa! The Spongebob Shuffle! The Cupid Shuffle! Filipino Line Dancing set to "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire! How multitalented are we?

Afterwards, we went off to sleep in anticipation for a great day ahead...only to be awoken by a car alarm. Three times. But the morning was to be saved by a beautiful and unexpectedly plentiful continental breakfast thanks to our hostel! Yours truly enjoyed a peanut butter and banana sandwich, an apple and some vanilla chamomile tea. Fully fueled, we headed out for the day. Thanks to a ride on the L train and a Google Maps-guided walk, we passed by several community gardens before arriving at East New York Farms. What did we do at this beautiful garden you ask? Closing down operations for the winter, we harvested spinach, turnips, peppers and bok choy, dug up roots and cleaned out plant beds. Alongside our team of six were several individuals in high school and college volunteers. One student wanted to study culinary arts in college; another volunteered because of his deep connections to East Brooklyn. During our lunch break, we explored the farmer's market featuring all local products. Thanks to the predominantly Jamaican population, our group enjoyed jerk chicken, plantain chips and ginger basil juice in addition to the peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches that we'd packed for lunch. We nabbed some vegetables, too, for our dinner later on. In all, it was a beautiful thing to be able to serve and give back to the community with members of the community itself.

After a slightly extended but by no means bemoaned work day, we headed home with some small snags along the way (Phil and Alex didn't get off the subway train quickly enough and had a brief adventure and some stimulating conversation, apparently. No harm done, though, and it made for some good laughs during reflection!). We made it back safely to the hostel and, after a quick nap, gathered the remaining materials for dinner and got to work! Working all together to chop, boil and simmer, we mede a wonderful batch of whole wheat pasta with vegetable-laden marinara sauce. Around then, lots of hostel guests started to gather in the kitchen (today, we met a couple Austrians, some Spaniards, a Polish woman, and some Americans - something that's been relatively rare during our stay). Coincidence? I think not. I personally shot myself in the foot by chopping up FOUR WRINKLY, SPICY PEPPERS in my pasta, but that made for a memorable dinner with frantic "this is hot" hand gestures and frequent sips of orange juice. We headed upstairs for a great, engaging reflection session, going over our high points, low points and general expectations for the trip. After talking as a group tonight, I feel fortunate to be able to share this great experience with such a quality group of people all passionate about the same things. Indeed, whether it be for a few days or an entire week, any amount of time spent serving alongside these wonderful individuals would be too short. Tomorrow's our last day on the trip - keep checking back to see what we encounter in the fantastic city of Brooklyn!