First blog in the great state of SC and can I just say 'wow' already? There is so much history and beautiful sites to be seen. Hence half of my post's title. The other half, sweet tea. I knew I'd love it down here but the tea? Amazing. So much better than any Arizona tea I've ever consumed.
My parents and I began our journey at 4:30am on Monday, and arrived around 2:30pm to Florence where we would be staying. We would have gotten here about two hours earlier but we stopped at this huge discount store and then for lunch. I was thankful that we made it in one piece (and that I slept for probably 6 hours of the trip). My mom said I fell asleep before we hit the highway in PA. I can tell you that I missed Maryland, most of Virgina and North Carolina. Thank goodness for my dad is all I can say.
We went to Myrtle Beach on Tuesday which was wonderful. The water was warm and calm. It was definitely relaxing before the hustle and bustle I am about to experience. I sat down by the water for about 40 minutes and thought about how much I've dreamed about living near the ocean for so long that I cannot believe it is finally coming true. Will I miss PA? Absolutely. There are already tons of things down here that are way different than in PA. Today I heard a native say that they are just now opening a yoga studio down here. I think about how many yoga classes we had at the Y and cannot even imagine that they wouldn't have the same down here. They also have places called Bojangles (fried chicken joint -- and you better believe I will be trying it out) and Kangaroo (gas station), in addition to selling alcohol in just about every store you walk in. And while I grew up in a pretty rural area, Florence is such a different place. Everything is really spread apart. There is no way I will be walking to restaurants like I did in West Chester, which I will definitely miss.
Arriving to Francis Marion University (where we are staying until Sunday), has been quite the experience. It definitely reminds me of Jefferson Apts at Cal (I refuse to refer to them as their current name Vulcan Village). The furniture is the same but the sofas and such are definitely nicer than the ones I had at Cal. The smell as you enter the building even reminds me of Cal. It's not a smell I know how to describe but it's familar to me.
We had introductions and everything today with other corp members. There are 33 of us, which is small compared to most. I have the priviledge of being part of the first corp group to come out of South Carolina for Teach for America. I don't think I understood what being part of a Charter Corp meant until we visited the house (and by house, I mean MANSION) of Miss Darla Moore, a huge TFA advocate. Her place was beautiful and to say beautiful is definitely an understatement. She and other community leaders were so excited to have us here. They have been fighting for a reform in education in South Carolina and they think that we are the beginning of that reform. As much as we thanked them all for having us, they thanked us for being a part of the change. The weight of their words is indescribable. They believe so much in us and they don't even know who we are. That's some kind of faith. I can't even imagine letting them down.
I'll leave you with this: today we were asked why we joined TFA. I answered that I saw the other side of it with the after-school program. I saw the frustration, the understanding that young kids (as young as second and third graders) had of the differences between races and the priviledges that each had (or in most cases, didn't have). I want to be on the side of things that changes it all. I know that's ambitious and some will call me crazy but there are 32 other people staying in the same building as me right now that feel the same.
I do it for these kids in this picture and all those kids that will walk into my classroom in the fall and beyond.
five in the air for the teachers not scared to tell those kids that's living in the ghetto that [those] holding [them] back that the world is theirs.
-Lupe Fiasco The Show Goes On
Good night,
A
