The Team Assembles

As I write this, I am sitting in the FexEx computer lab at the United Way headquarters for south west Louisiana. Today was a long day, I left San Francisco at 6:00 am, landing at Houston Intercontinental Airport just before noon (CT). It was there that I started to meet my fellow ASBers, as we converged on the designated meeting spot at terminal c from all directions.
Our next task would prove trying. The normal two hour trip between Houston, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, our spring break destination, was significantly delayed by a tractor-trailer wreck. We ended up hauling into the United Way center after spending five hours in the van. The upside of this setback was that my van had tons of time to bond and play “getting to know you” games like Two Truths and a Lie. Any ice that may have existed between us at the airport was shattered on this trip. We had great conversations, and the ride was actually kind of enjoyable.
The United Way headquarters reminds me of an elementary school, with a few large classrooms converted to dorm rooms. All the guys are in one large room packed with bunk beds, and down the hall is a similar configuration for the girls. In total, 120 college students will call these two rooms home for the next seven days. The complex also has a cafeteria where out meals will be prepared, this room also houses the internet cafe, which was specifically set up for us and features 25 new laptops with a high speed wireless connection, everything for the cafe was provided by FexEx, who is one of the major sponsors of ASB (Alternative Spring Break) 2007.
I was assigned to a work group which will support an ongoing Habitat for Humanity home construction project in the area. Tomorrow we will tour the site, and then on Monday morning we'll throw on our work clothes, pull out our hammers and tools, and start building. There are 12 volunteers in my group. Other groups are doing similar projects, and some groups are cleaning up a kids camp.
Its midnight here, and the staff just declared a full on knock out tournament in the gym, I'm there!