Hotlanta, or Mildlanta?

Last Friday I woke up at 4:30 am to take a brisk walk over to Hansen, spend 11 hours on a bus, and bunk in a church in Atlanta when not volunteering during the day.  Despite its reputation, the temperature did not rise above 65 all week, and in fact was rather cold on some days.  That, and the fact that I did NOT eat at a Waffle House, are the two biggest disappointments of my week.  Otherwise it was generally better than expected.

Tourist-y wise, I saw Martin Luther King Jr's birth home and tomb, went to the Coke Museum and tasted probably 25 international products, Olympic Park, and Underground Atlanta (also a huge disappointment).  The volunteer projects we got werrrrre okay?  I'm pretty sure I only met like 3 people who actually live in Atlanta, which is a bummer since the point of the trip is to meet, connect with, and understand the community.  I was expecting to see firsthand effects of flooding and poverty and hear personal stories and actually feel like I impacted someone directly.  I was expecting it to be more like Hurricane Katrina relief.  In actuality, we did a lot of warehouse work and a bit of construction.  But even though I didn't get much from it, it still made someone's life easier.  So that's good.  I also got to plant trees, named Elmer and Prickly.

And I made friends :)  Which is always nice.  The best part was that even though I was crammed in a tiny room with 90 girls in bunk beds and had to shower in a trailer, I didn't fucking hate my life every night, which I thought I would.  Pleasant surprises. 

And a final note, Shamrock shakes in the south are NOT as good as the ones by Chicago.