Tweets from the Road
A week of volunteerism, in words and pics
In the slide show above, view photos from Alternative Spring Breaks trips, coast to coast, with captions just as they were tweeted. And see more twitpics and tag your friends on BU Today’s Facebook page.
Students on Alternative Spring Breaks will make their way back to Boston University this weekend, but their volunteer work will leave lasting contributions all over the country.
Since Saturday, when 35 groups fanned out nationwide to work at sites urban and rural, people have been checking in via Twitter to get live updates of the groups’ work.
Besides volunteering, some have been busy playing the party game Mafia, while others have had the chance to hang at the beach or even visit the San Francisco home featured in Full House.
BU Today monitored and collected tweets from north, south, east, and west, updating the ASB conversation, offering highlights. To follow the conversation live, search Twitter for the hashtag #BUASB10 and keep following @butoday.
Below are tweet highlights from the last day or so, as people settle into their work and their adopted communities, added to earlier entries. Jump to Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, Louisburg, Greenville, San Juan, Tulsa, New Orleans, Omaha, Springfield, or New York City.
And then jump back, because by Sunday, everyone will be back in Boston.
Nashville, Tennessee
Volunteers are working with United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee, an organization aiming to advance the citizenship and full independence of people with disabilities, to install wheelchair ramps on homes around the city.
@LPWK: We just saw Dennis Quaid!! Crazy!!! Scavenger hunt here we come!
@LPWK: Building a wheelchair ramp for a 5yr old today…then wheelchair basketball tonight! So very excited…Love it!
Atlanta, Georgia
Volunteers are working with refugee and immigrant populations in Atlanta, including tutoring students and helping set up new apartments.
@dbradley628: We’ve named our van Mumtaz Marie. The story is too long to explain. Let’s just say we’re in Georgia. Hotlanta IRC.
@dbradley628: I’m sleeping on a giant stuffed dog while others sleep on odd tan bean bags that don’t change shape. Too funny!
@dbradley628: Taught women from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Ethiopia about interview etiquette and Boston/ American life. Loving it!
Washington, D.C.
Volunteers are working with the group Food and Friends to prepare, package, and deliver meals and groceries to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses throughout the greater Washington, D.C., area, which has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
@Zacsteele: Just unpackaged and packaged those raisins at food and friends. And packaged about 200 meals. DC is on the roll people.
@Zacsteele: ASB DC just walked through the Holocaust Museum. It is truly a moving experience and really makes you think.
San Francisco, California
Volunteers are working with Girls, Inc., an organization that encourages girl empowerment and self-esteem.
@mmorales9: Loving these girls. Girls Inc is giving them such a positive experience and it’s amazing to be a part of it.
@sdowson: ASB San Fran just sat on the Full House stoop!
Check out the twitpic.
@mmorales9: Spoke with one of the Tanner family’s neighbors. We’re best friends now. Be jealous, DJ.
@MelissaStraz: Day two with the girls of girls inc. They wanted to learn how to speak with a boston accent.
Seattle, Washington
Volunteers are working with Habitat for Humanity, a housing organization that works to build and renovate affordable housing.
@katielann: A Habitat home is completed ever 21 minutes. So excited to get started on site tomorrow (and equally excited to finally shower)
@katielann: Bonding with University of Montana Western students over snacks and Shakira songs
@katielann: First shower pratically brings tears of joy for the #BUASB10 Seattle crew. Oh, and day one of site was lovely, too.
Detroit, Michigan
Volunteers are helping the Triangle Foundation organize and coordinate the event Safe School’s Lobbying Day, where students from all over Michigan advocate for their right not to be bullied at school because of their sexual orientation. Volunteers are also working to connect various GLBT groups and give them a sense of empowerment in their community.
@zsbarnard: BU ASB DETROIT!! Manual bed pumps and a segregated dormitory style convent, and we’re in Detroit!
@zacbrokenrope: spent the morning listening to public hearings on HIV testing with @triangle_lgbt on Detroit.
@ShannonJPittman: Oh hey Asb’ers look at our view from the House of Reps room in the Detroit capitol.
Check out the twitpic.
@ShannonJPittman: Justmade a huge difference at the Ruth Ellis Center. We created a girlsroom for the lesbian and bisexual women. Great feeling.
@zsbarnard: ASB lasts 1 week. This is the magic. This is the love. This is it. Savor it, because never again will this be.
Volunteers are working with staff at Terrell Lane Middle School to tutor students, help coach after-school sports, and create a mural for a school building.
@Jlynnshaw: Great first day in louisburg!! After a homemade pizza dinner, mafia, bananagrams and the oscars, I’m now retiring to my room with chinchillas and classical music :) ASB2010 LOVE.
@Jlynnshaw: Tour of louisburg done! Adorable little town, hanging out at the house now, food shopping, and slambooking!
@Djessrow: Hair is brushed. Lunches are packed. Ready for our first day of school!
Check out the twitpic.
@Djessrow: Just got back from our first day of tutoring. Had an amazing time, the kids were polite and happy to see us!
@Jlynnshaw: Zach tutoring someone today during #buasb10.Playing soccer with the kids now with david and zach n’s over withbaseball! Spelling bee finishing touches are happening inside with therest of the gang and tonight dinner at the church followed up withINTENSE mafia. LOVE ASB!
Check out the twitpic.
@Djessrow: Made major progress tutoring Frankie today. We made index cards and his vocab test score went up 20% from his average!!
@Djessrow: All my kids seem excited for the dance Friday… Except Joey, who has to figure out how to balance 12 girlfriends at one dance.
Greenville, South Carolina – Central Community Ministries
Volunteers are working with Central Community Ministries and Hands On Greenville through the “Paint the Town” campaign, which includes painting and repairing homes for low-income families, visiting local nursing homes, and working at a soup kitchen.
@DanChiz: Up and ready to start our first day of service! Soup kitchen then playing with some kiddies!
@DanChiz: Hard days work complete. The die down from the rush.
Check out the twitpic.
@anjpatel17: Serving salad to the homeless and teaching a little girl to read, just another day of service on ASB
@DanChiz: Playing shark and minos with the kiddies.
Check out the twitpic.
@DanChiz: Greenville spells out ASB!
Check out the twitpic.
@anjpatel17: Last meal served in God’s Kitchen. I’ll miss you Project Host
@DanChiz: The kids went around the circle and said their favorite part of the week. They said we were their favorite part! AWWWW!
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Volunteers are working with Iniciativa Comunitaria, an organization educating the San Juan community on the importance of safe living habits, including HIV/AIDS awareness, homelessness and housing, drug awareness, and gender issues.
@Joisabelgarcia: Sooo we have a new member to our group… Juan the pigeon… There was a random pigeon in gate 7 in jfk.
Check out the twitpic.
@Joisabelgarcia: Puerto Rico trip has just landed!! WEEEPPPAAA.
Check out the twitpic.
@Qdubs: We ran over our first iguana!
@Joisabelgarcia: ASB Puerto Rico packaging medical supplies for Haiti.
Check out the twitpic.
@BrLawrenceLC: Surf’s up for #BUASB10 Puerto Rico!
Check out the twitpic.
@Joisabelgarcia: The needle exchange vending machine at punto fijo
Check out the twitpic.
@Qdubs: Our chef istelling us about how he ran the Boston Marathon a few times. He saysthat running through BU, “is always the craziest crowd!”
@Qdubs: “I was adreamer…” Dr. Jose Vargas Vidot describes his vision for IniciativaComunitaria as a place that prescribes love first.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Volunteers are working with the Open Arms Youth Project, a center for GLBT youth to promote mentoring programs, HIV/AIDS awareness education, and help with repairs around the center.
@kudosforfrank: Officially 1 full hour in! Only 26 to go! Almost there Tulsa!
@prenolis: Team Tulsa struggling for warmth at Niagara. We bumped into team Chicago too!
Check out the twitpic.
@kudosforfrank: PARTY’S HERE!!! TEAM TULSA HAS ARRIVED!
@kudosforfrank: Day one of work – freshly painted walls!
Check out the twitpic.
@kudosforfrank: ASB has officially left its mark on Oklahoma :)
Check out the twitpic.
@kudosforfrank: Beautiful artwork courtesy of Team Tulsa
Check out the twitpic.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Volunteers are aiding Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO), an organization dedicated to the rescue and aid of abandoned and homeless animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
@mng610: is in Tennessee on route to a 24 hour Sonic. Still going strong, 20 hours without sleep. Bring on the sleep deprivation.
@_KiMB0: New Orleans is enjoying a beautiful sunrise over Alabama.
@_KiMB0: New Orleans is rockin out to acapella in georgia.
@rabehari: It is GORGEOUS in Mississippi! Windows are down, spirits are up, New Orleans is an hour and a half away!
@mng610: NOLA just crossed into Louisiana! Heading to the Big Easy with an empty highway and sunshine ahead!
@rabehari: I love that #BUASB10 is playing Mafia across the country/ everyone in my group hates each other now.
@ljflores: I got attacked by 9 little puppies today after cleaning their pen and washing them up. It was great!
@sstaceface: My first tweet, a picture of #BUASB10 with the Boston terrier. Not quite as ferocious as the bu terrier!
Check out the twitpic.
@sstaceface: @deanelmore, can we keep her please? We need a real life mascot! From #BUASB10 New Orleans.
Check out the twitpic.
Omaha, Nebraska
Volunteers are helping out with Rebuilding Together, an affordable housing program that builds homes for the elderly, people with disabilities, and low-income families with children.
@Mikebruffee: And my chaperone Brent nearly ran over a couple of shoppers and their carts in bklyn.
@Mikebruffee: An Omaha volunteer getting much-needed nap in.
Check out the twitpic.
@Mikebruffee: Tweeting at 5 am? Only on #buasb10!! We made it into Iowa!
@enowsh: ASB work day #1. Ran two miles this morning, full continental breakfast, and heading to the work site now.
Springfield, Missouri
Volunteers are working with Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, a nonprofit that teaches sports and life skills to people with disabilities. BU Today reporter Vicky Waltz is on this trip.
@vickywaltz: Gah! Remembered 7 extra sleeping bags and 2 extra rain jackets for my #BUASB10 group, but forgot to bring myself a pillow. I’m super cool.
@vickywaltz: #BUASB10 Missouri stopped at the house of the Jersey Shore cast!
Check out the twitpic.
@vickywaltz: Slight #BUASB10 detour to Kettering, Ohio, to repair van. Erin and I on way to mechanic’s. Everyone else is eating breakfast with my mom!
@vickywaltz: 35 miles to Springfield! We’re giddy with fatigue; legs feel as though they’ve been crammed into a van for two days. Oh, wait…
@vickywaltz: Broomball on #BUASB10 Missouri! I’ve taken so many falls!
Check out the twitpic.
@vickywaltz: Holy crap! A server threw a roll at my head while I was tweeting!
@vickywaltz: Nap/homework time for the #BUASB10 Missouri volunteers. Me? I’m editing audio/photos and transcribing interviews for @butoday.
New York City, New York
Volunteers are working with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the largest and oldest AIDS service organization in the country, putting together various information packets, serving food in the meal program, and making safe sex packs and needle syringe packs, as well as sitting down and talking to clients to learn about their experiences in a day-to-day situation. BU Today reporter Leslie Friday is on this trip.
@lesliefriday: Pitstop @ Arby’s. 12 girls, 2 stalls and 10 mins. Not pretty. Sometimes it would be better being a boy.
@lesliefriday: Supportin’ our BU peeps by going to their production, Diventare at New World Stage. Go BU.
@lesliefriday: Waiting for work to begin @ the Bronx. Let us in! We’re cold!
Check out the twitpic.
@lesliefriday: Putting together packets for AIDS walk. Never a dull moment.
Check out the twitpic.
@lesliefriday: Shocking stat: HIV hitting women aged 14-24 the hardest. That’s you, protect yourself!
@lesliefriday: Minutes to Wicked, eat your heart out other ASBers!
Check out the twitpic.
Amy Laskowski can be reached at amlaskow@bu.edu; follow her on Twitter @amlaskow. Nathaniel Boyle can be reached at nboyle@bu.edu; follow him on Twitter @nathanielboyle.
This Series
Also in
Alternative Spring Breaks
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March 19, 2014
Alternative Spring Breaks: Nashville, Tennessee
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March 18, 2014
Alternative Spring Breaks: Natchez, Mississippi
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March 17, 2014
Alternative Spring Breaks: Staten Island, New York
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