Week 1

Hey all.  So our first week in the neighborhoods of Mobile and Prichard started this Monday.  We were divided up into partners and sent out into the neighborhoods to recruit participants.  It was my partner's first day and she wasn't able to get trained until the next day so I was really nervous about showing her the ropes.  That really put a lot of pressure on me because I definitely had to be on my game and not mess up while still making sure that I was completely aware of my surroundings and staying away from dangerous situations or things that made us feel uneasy.  Being aware of your surroundings and what is going on around you is the best advice we received when walking around these neighborhoods.  They're not neighborhoods where you see kids running through sprinklers, riding bikes, or anyone electing to walk around without a purpose.  They're the kind of neighborhoods where most of the people hang around in their homes because being out isn't safe.  So when anyone saw the two of us white girls on the street they asked us why we were here and told us it wasn't safe and that we should probably leave.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened that day.  Monday really did serve as a glimpse into our future in this heat though.  It's unbearable.  Walking door to door in the hot and humid Alabama summer is really more difficult that I ever thought it would be.  I am literally drenched in sweat from the moment I step outside until I get back to the office.  And it's not even the 'oh I'm sweaty' feeling, it's the feeling when you leave the gym or an exercise class after sweating the whole time and you have sweat dripping everywhere... but imagine that in 100+ degree weather and not just for a moment until you cool off or take a shower... but from 9am-5pm.  It's an experience.  And I'm not complaining.  I'm honestly getting acclimated to it, but I just have never experienced it before.  My partner on Tuesday actually got heat exhaustion and started really not feeling very well-- and she's from North Carolina.  Even people that are from the South have never experienced such intense heat and humidity before.

Tuesday was a little more interesting.  We were out recruiting again in the same neighborhood.  I had a different partner, but still the same addresses that I didn't get to the day before.  Some houses that we knock on are home to the nicest people in the entire world.  They're the kind of people that would literally give you the shirt off their back.  They welcome us in and give us water or a cold drink.  Multiple families have sat us down in their best chair and will move the fan facing us so that we feel comfortable.  They seriously go way out of their way.  It's just an absolute awesome feeling-- these families literally have close to nothing and go out of their way to show kindness to us and share their resources with us, and we're complete strangers.  It's just something that doesn't happen often and I really am appreciating it.

We do meet some interesting people walking around the streets.  These neighborhoods do have increased rates of violence and drug and alcohol abuse, so meeting people under the influence isn't out of the ordinary.  A group of us were yelled and screamed at by this lady down the street who had supposedly been following the other members in our group all day.  She was definitely intoxicated and/or under the influence of some sort of drug.  She wanted to sign her kids up, but the other members of the neighborhood kept telling us that she didn't have any kids and that she was crazy.  She kept telling us that she lived in that house... but the house she pointed to changed every time.  She looked really disheveled with tight jeans on over men's gym shorts and a t-shirt on backwards.  It was just really sad, but at the same time made us really feel uneasy.  The other group had to deal with her the rest of the day.   Being followed can get really scary and uncomfortable.

Today was the first time I really felt uncomfortable.  Me and two other girls were recruiting and revisiting houses in a fairly rundown public housing neighborhood.  There was garbage everywhere, half of the housing units were vacant and boarded up, and it just didn't seem very welcoming.  It was definitely the most rundown neighborhood I've seen.  We noticed a large group of men in their twenties hanging out on a porch down the street that we had to go on... and I was just thinking to myself that I really hope that's not the house we have to go to.  Of course it was.  The men were fairly friendly, but there was a car in front of the house that was idle, black, and had tinted windows.  I could see that there were guys in it and one man on the porch kept going back and forth to the car and the porch.  I don't know what he was doing, but it seemed really sketchy and made me feel really uneasy.  I'm pretty sure the guys were all smoking weed and I couldn't tell if that car was selling them drugs but it really seemed that that was the case.  I was just really uncomfortable because the people in the car could see me, but I couldn't see them and there were 3 white girls among 10 men from the hood.  One of the interns was asked to come inside to get a consent form and she asked me if I wanted to come with her.  I didn't want to leave the other intern outside alone with the men and I also didn't want all of us to go inside because that really didn't seem like a smart idea either.  I don't know what the best decision would have been, but I stayed outside with the other intern and then the 3 of us booked it as fast as we could as soon as we could.  It was the first time I really wasn't comfortable being in a neighborhood.

Working in these neighborhoods is beyond a reality check.  These  people don't want a pity party and don't want to be a charity case.  They want respect and I really do respect them.  Growing up in these neighborhoods is difficult and the challenges that these people face day to day we take for granted.  We worry about stupid things while 10 year olds have to worry about things that hopefully we will never have to.  But, just because these people live in rundown neighborhoods or public housing units doesn't mean they're awful.  Most of them are beyond amazing.  They have manners.  They are hospitable. And they genuinely care about us and our wellbeing.  It's just absolutely amazing.  Just think about how many times you walk by someone on the street and not say 'hi.'  That doesn't happen down here... everyone says hi and asks how your day is and sometimes they'll get into an extended conversation with you... and they're strangers.  Sometimes you just don't notice how backwards your way of life and thinking are until you get a reality check from the people who sometimes are looked at in the public's eye as negative or less well-off.  But really we're all pretty poor in different areas that they are more richer in than we may ever be.  That's all from 3 days of work so far, I can't wait to see what 7 weeks will bring.