Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 7

January 11, 2014

AND WE DEPART. Just as we came, we piled our stuff in the car (the windows are not frozen on the inside this time), and headed out. We took a breakfast stop at Biscuit World, where we ate what were quite possibly the fluffiest, thickest, butteriest biscuits to ever exist. We had a couple minutes to slouch comatose in the trucks afterwards before stopping by the New River Gorge Bridge visitor center. After learning some things, we started the real trek back to Jersey.

Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 6

January 10, 2014

Last day. 

What with the warmer weather and end of our trip, we all decided we wanted to explore West Virginia in its raw form. First, we worked in the morning. We finished up working as much as possible in each of the three areas (wifi café, niches, gymnasium). We also cut and nailed (NAILED IT) wood to make wooden letters for our RUTGERS memorial. Explanation: There have been previous RU Alternative Breaks that have been to West VA to work with SALS, and a tradition has been for each group to make a wooden letter that would contribute to spelling out RUTGERS. Can't beat RU school pride. 

Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 5

January 9, 2014

Thursday. January 9^th. So close to the end, how did the time fly?!

So much progress doe. After the slightly heavier mood of yesterday, we were anxious to get going and accomplish some major projects today … and we did work! 

Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 4

January 8, 2014

Today's Wednesday - first things first. Click here. 

Today, we started our day with a breakfast for kings. We had fresh chocolate chip pancakes (with a liberal sprinkling of chocolate chips, obviously), waffles, and fresh sausage. It was good we had such a hearty meal, because today we did a lot of work. 

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.

Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 2

January 6, 2014

There was ice not only on the cars this morning, but inside on the windows, as well. We were supposed to stay in an abandoned church, but the broken heating system, and below freezing temperatures drove us toward Oak Hills, a nearby more established town. 

Nailed It! [West VA] - Day 1

January 5^th, 2014

Do you see the fog?!

Our West Virginia trip began at 9am, from the Rutgers Student Center. We ate bagels, loaded our luggage into the black trucks with tinted windows, and drove Secret Service style down the highway. The weather began as icy and transitioned from cold to sunny to rainy to windy over the course of the 8 hours we drove.

Nailed It! [West VA] - Introduction

Before you read about the awesome adventures we had in West Virginia, here's a little introduction to all of us: (we range from first-years to graduate students) 

The girls first! 

Top: (starting at left) Heidi, JoAnn, Nikita, Bridget, Megan 

Bottom: Marta, Yatee (myself), Diana, Morgan 

Then, the guys: 

Rico, Van, Dan, Travis

Nailed It! [West VA] - pre-trip

AND SO BEGINS THE JOURNEY.

Well, not quite yet. Thirteen (sleepy) Rutgers students still need to make it to the Rutgers Student Center bright and early at 6 am on Sunday, January 5th to depart south, towards Beards Fork, West Virginia! 

There, our group will explore issues concerning poverty and housing, particularly involving the surrounding area. Although once very active as a coal mining site, there is no longer any mining activity in Beards Fork. 

We don't know exactly what to expect upon our arrival, but boy oh boy are we excited to make a difference! And hopefully not freeze ... okay, definitely not freeze. The recent descent of Hercules has us preparing for the worst. Personally, I have conceded to the fact that I will resemble the Michelin Man for the majority of the trip.

The picture below shows some of us from the RUAB Kickoff Dinner in early December! 

See our RUAB t-shirts on the table?!

And this picture shows us thinking hard at our last pre-trip meeting.

Soon enough, we'll all be bonding during the 8-hour drive down and gearing up to make a difference in a community while learning about (and from) it at the same time!