Build days in Maryville

Days 16-21: Maryville, TN (0 miles, thankfully!)
After 2 weeks of almost non-stop riding, we were able to catch our breath in Maryville for the past week. Originally, we were going to do a Blitz Build (where you build one house in a week from the foundation up) with the Habitat chapter here, but we ended up doing projects on already existing houses instead. True to my goals, I think I will be more handy after this trip! I have learned to build a shed door, put up soffeting, lay down floor boards that go under linoleum, build a porch/stairs to the porch, and put up shelves in closets! YAY! It's amazing how learning something once will make doing it again so much easier. (Like shelving has always been kind of a mystery to me, but now I think I can do it myself!) As trivial as it may seem, one of my biggest triumphs was learnig to hammer the nails that go into the porch/stairs. They were extremely pliable and would bend at the slightest off-square stroke. We ended up with a large nail graveyard on the porch, but the porch itself was beautiful, of course. :o)

Many of us also had the experience of working in Maryville's Habitat Re-store, which is a thrift store that is an important money maker for the Habitat here (it's grown from $30,000 to $330,000 in profits since 2003).

At the Habitat Re-store there were some amazing finds, including skirts (which all the girls have been craving!) and costumes. Here's me:

We thought I was the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood who ate grandma. But I think it was actually a mouse from Cinderella. You pick.

Here's Zack (the cow) and Vandy (the farmer):


In addition to builds, we've also had more time to delve into the issue of affordable housing. We have had an 'affordable housing curriculum' where a few of us are assigned to topics each week about different issues. We broached the history of affordable housing, as well as issues like race and housing and the history of Habitat for Humanity. I feel like I'm getting a better understanding for the issue and definitely for the organization that we're doing work for (Habitat).

In addition to the work we did, I was really thankful to have some downtime. I honestly expected that this summer would be relaxing, but I don't know how I came to that conclusion, even after knowing that we're biking or building almost every day! We usually keep a tight schedule, and on recent rides we have been coming into camp late (like 6pm or later) because of the mountains and high mileage. On many evenings in Maryville, I was able to just sit outside and enjoy the sunset, the hills, the greenery, the quiet... I love the peace that I felt.

At those times I was able to reflect a bit about the future, and decided that I really want to be able to reach the same kind of calm and peace, even when I'm busy in the depths of med school or internship or my career. The uncertainty about just how stressful things can be later is scary, but I guess I just have to accept it and try my best to remember how it feels to be ... in Maryville, Tennessee. (like the rhyme? =)

The view from outside the gymnasium at Camp Tipton, where I spent many an evening watching the sun go down.. And also a few thunderstorms!


Tomorrow we're taking off again to cover the rest of Tennessee! I think we're all PUMPED to get on our bikes again, now that our legs feel good again...and are super-toned from those mountains we went over!