Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 3

January 7, 2014

The third day, we started off with a hearty breakfast and a strong collective urge to start doing some serious volunteer work. We were joined by a Global Volunteer group, who took up the gymnasium work, so we couldn’t continue our work on the ceiling. Also unfortunately, the weather continued to be uncooperative, leading to a school closure. However, we did all get to venture out onto the second floor of the building and start remodeling a room.

Daniel is the name of the person who introduced us to our task, as well as a new perspective of people involved with SALS. He began with pouring what was essentially opaque colorless goo onto a floor that had been already stripped of carpet. This room was destined to be a wifi café for students upon completion. The carpet glue had to be removed off the floor first, though, with scrapers. Baby steps.

Whitish part = untreated floor .. you can see the hardwood peeking through the goop!

So there we were, spreading out this goop to start eating away at the thick layer of dried carpet glue, and Daniel started asking us about ourselves. What did we major in, where were we all from, did we play sports or any musical instruments? And although this may sound like the annoying small talk we all try to avoid in a receptionist office while waiting for the doctor or with an acquaintance in an elevator, there was no forced nature to this conversation. Daniel’s genuine interest made for easy back and forth discussion, and he quickly opened up to us about how he has traveled to many places around the world – Sweden, Africa, Peru, and Jamaica, with the latter being his favorite.

Daniel! on the left

This was a point brought up later during reflection in the evening. We were discussing the significance of service, and how some people question how service could even be carried out in West Virginia. I mentioned how quick people are to underestimate people who are involved with service or people in areas that are not as fortunate as areas we may be in.

Many of the people associated with SALS that we worked with opened up to us about their stories. It was so uplifting to hear about their experiences, whether positive or negative, and still see the positivity with which they lived life. All of them just kind of got things done – no matter if we started late, or had to bet five dollars that our main supervisor, Terry, couldn’t find more insulation in the basement (he did – we lost). And we could see that although there may not always be a concrete, detailed plan, these little things would one day result in completion of an entire room, entire floor, and eventually, entire school.

Lunch was quesadillas with leftover taco meat and cheese, plus PBJ’s. After lunch, some people finished up removing the carpet glue (while simultaneously trying not to inhale the heavy fumes – do what you gotta do) and another small group gathered all the insulation we could find to layer in niches in the walls that previously held lockers. For those who don’t know, insulation is made of paper and fluffy yellow stuff. You’ve seen it before. What you may not have known (I learned this today, too) is that fluffy stuff, which looks so huggable and cozy, is actually made of spun glass. Which means, those fluffy pieces that break off and fly in the air? They’re actually little missiles of sharp broken fiberglass just waiting to settle on and penetrate any bare skin possible.

In less dramatic terms, insulation can be a little dangerous. We wore masks, goggles, gloves, and long sleeves. Do we look professional?

Pro-tip: when working with insulation, shower afterwards with cold water. Cold water shrinks pore size, and prevents any stray glass from poking too badly into your skin.

Dinner was a wonderful feast of salad, garlic bread, pasta, tomato sauce, and turkey meatballs – otherwise known as Bridget’s Balls, because Bridget was cooking ‘em! They were DELICIOUS. After cleaning up dinner, we had reflection and discussed some of the topics mentioned above. We each got quotes on service, and had some time to connect the meaning of those quotes with our experience on the Alternative Break (or past community service) so far.

“Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.”

-- Albert Einstein

They were mind-opening, and a great conversation followed of our thoughts and comments. We all trudged to our respective beds looking forward to an earlier start the next day and some back-breaking work.

Yatee