Stuffed Crust and Jesus Stickers

There have been two things in particular that have stuck with me (and I think some of the rest of the gang, too) from the last couple of days. Both of which have been encounters with the children from the neighborhood. The entire time I've been here I've struggled with why I personally feel uncomfortable around them. Especially as a student whose going back for her fifth year to get her masters in art education, children making me feel uncomfortable is kind of problematic.

After Renga Saturday night, we all got washed up and began getting ready for a barbecue. A couple of the kids from the neighborhood headed over to hang out with us. Wendy went over to the three girls and began talking to them. After watching her interact with them for a few moments, I also went over to talk to them. Wendy began asking them if they sang at all and what songs they sang. Within a matter of minutes she had gotten each girl to sing whichever song she wanted. Watching the three girls be so full of life and Wendy be able to bring that out of three pretty quiet, shy girls was all incredible. It was one of my favorite moments from our barbecue.

Yesterday, Sunday, one of the boys from across the street came over while we were making lunch. Nate began asking him if he had been anywhere outside of Greensboro, like up to Tuscaloosa or Birmingham. He said he hadn't. Then Nate asked if he had an interest in going anywhere outside of here or Alabama. (like New York or Paris or Australia or anywhere) He quickly responded no to all of them. He did mention that he wanted to go to Chicago because that's where his family was originally from. This conversation just stuck with me. It was hard for me to wrap my head around not being curious about being anywhere or going anywhere outside of Greensboro, Alabama. I didn't see his point of view as wrong, at all. I know lots of people are content where they are. It was just hard for me to understand. I wondered why? Why was their no curiousity. Did he really just like Greensboro that much, or was it that he didn't ever see himself being able to travel outside of here?

After lunch on Sunday, we went to Selma. We walked around downtown and saw the Pettus Bridge. In 1965, 4,000 people began marching over that bridge to Montgomery to take their request for voting rights directly to Governor Wallace. They were lead by Dr. Martin Luther King. By the time they reached the State Capital they had reached 25,000 in number. As always, we all ate up Selma and took a ton of pictures of the bridge and the town.

The highlight of the trip, however, was dinner. We first attempted to stop at the 'All in One' Diner but it was closed. Then we needed to decide if it was the Steak Pit or Pizza Hut. Much to Carni's (Ellen's) dismay, the vegetarians won out, and Pizza Hut it was. It was an experience and I can almost (maybe?) say the stuffed crust and the Jesus stickers in the 50 cent machines by the door made it worth it.