There and back again

Well, we're on our way back to MA today. We left the hostel a little after 6 this morning in order to beat the rush of people coming to DC for the marathon and march. Now, we are sitting in Union Station waiting for our amtrak to come.

This week has been an amazing experience! We left Boston on Monday as strangers, and we came back friends. Everyone worked really well together and took care of each other. It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time.

It all started on Monday morning, waiting for the amtrak in South Station. I had a bagel fron Au Bon Pain. It was a delicious start to a great week.

Tuesday, Terrence and I worked with Justin to finish putting up insulation in one of the houses. We had to measure the yellow fiberglass insulation and cut it down to size. It was itchy at times, but that's all part of the job! We had to get creative to work around all sorts of pipes and tubes, shaving off layers of fiberglass and adding more in. Towards the end of the day we got to use a spray foam insulation. It comes in what looks like a spray paint can; you spray it through a small tube and it expands to fill in small gaps between the framework and the windows and doors. Later that night we went out to eat. By the end of the day, everyone was super tired.

For the next three days, I painted with Randy, Julie, Sarah, Rocco, and Nick. Randy was a great teacher! He made sure that we all understood what we were doing, and he made it wicked fun :-) I did mainly cutting, which consists of painting in the corners with a smaller brush. Later I got to do some rolling. We primed and painted the top coat on the walls and ceilings. Working fast, we were able to complete our floor with time to spare yesterday! Some of us sat outside in the sun; the weather was so beautiful :-)

On my travels this week, I have met 3 interesting strangers. They were all interested in history, just like I am! On Monday I sat next to an interesting lady from Arizona who talked about traveling around the world and going to graduate school. Later, I met a man who really appreciated DC for the history and suggested taking tours of other historical sites around the country in order to understand DC better. Then last night I sat next to a woman from MA on the metro. She had also been a history major in undergrad! It's amazing how many interesting conversations you can have by just talking to the person next to you.

So as I sit here in Union Station with my Au Bon Pain bagel for the second time this week, I think about going home to sleep in my own bed again, but also about remembering the wonderful time I had on my ASB trip to DC this week :-)

- Laura