Sunday, May 2, 2010
We had an off day today in Little Rock. Unfortunately, because little rock is located in the “Bible Belt,” a lot of places were closed. But that still didn’t stop us from enjoying our day of relaxation.
When I think of a rest day, I usually think of relaxing in my comfortable bed and sleeping in at least a little (and preferable, a lot). Unfortunately, such a thing does not exist on this ride. Even though we had a day off today, we were still awoken at 7:00am when a group of men came in to the parish center to begin preparing breakfast for the congregation. Awesome. I also was not sleeping in a comfortable bed, but was instead sleeping on my camping mat. Even better. At least we were invited to a free breakfast, which made the early morning much more bearable.
We headed back down in to Little Rock for the early afternoon.
After being in a large group for over five weeks, we all thought it might be best for our collective sanity if we split up a bit. I wandered around the river district of Little Rock by myself, taking in the sites. 
I eventually found myself sitting on a park bench reading my book/drifting off for a while. It was great to have some alone time to feel like I could really “regain” myself. I know this sounds strange, but when you are constantly surrounded by 21 other people every single day for 5 weeks, you start to go a little crazy.
Eventually I met back up with Maggie, Jenn, and Sarah and we went to visit Heifer Village.
Heifer Village is the main campus for an organization called Heifer International. This is an incredible organization. Basically, what they do is provide livestock to families in developing countries, with the ultimate purpose of alleviating/eradicating hunger and poverty around the world. With the supply of these livestock (heifers, goats, chickens, and sheep) to impoverished families, Heifer International is providing these families not only with food, but also with a means of profit. 
The only requirement is that each family pass on one of their offspring to another family, in an effort to keep the program going. It really is amazing. We also learned about some of the other organizations that are working in developing countries. 
It really is inspiring to see what other people are doing and how they are trying to make a different in small, but meaningful, ways.
We came back to the parish center around mid-afternoon. Team Blueberry was in charge of making dinner, since we didn’t have to make dinner yesterday. We had fun in the kitchen. Now we are all relaxing, getting ready for our (early) morning tomorrow and yet another century.
End of the thirty-second day. And it was inspiring.
We had an off day today in Little Rock. Unfortunately, because little rock is located in the “Bible Belt,” a lot of places were closed. But that still didn’t stop us from enjoying our day of relaxation.
When I think of a rest day, I usually think of relaxing in my comfortable bed and sleeping in at least a little (and preferable, a lot). Unfortunately, such a thing does not exist on this ride. Even though we had a day off today, we were still awoken at 7:00am when a group of men came in to the parish center to begin preparing breakfast for the congregation. Awesome. I also was not sleeping in a comfortable bed, but was instead sleeping on my camping mat. Even better. At least we were invited to a free breakfast, which made the early morning much more bearable.
We headed back down in to Little Rock for the early afternoon.
After being in a large group for over five weeks, we all thought it might be best for our collective sanity if we split up a bit. I wandered around the river district of Little Rock by myself, taking in the sites. I eventually found myself sitting on a park bench reading my book/drifting off for a while. It was great to have some alone time to feel like I could really “regain” myself. I know this sounds strange, but when you are constantly surrounded by 21 other people every single day for 5 weeks, you start to go a little crazy.Eventually I met back up with Maggie, Jenn, and Sarah and we went to visit Heifer Village.
Heifer Village is the main campus for an organization called Heifer International. This is an incredible organization. Basically, what they do is provide livestock to families in developing countries, with the ultimate purpose of alleviating/eradicating hunger and poverty around the world. With the supply of these livestock (heifers, goats, chickens, and sheep) to impoverished families, Heifer International is providing these families not only with food, but also with a means of profit. The only requirement is that each family pass on one of their offspring to another family, in an effort to keep the program going. It really is amazing. We also learned about some of the other organizations that are working in developing countries. It really is inspiring to see what other people are doing and how they are trying to make a different in small, but meaningful, ways.We came back to the parish center around mid-afternoon. Team Blueberry was in charge of making dinner, since we didn’t have to make dinner yesterday. We had fun in the kitchen. Now we are all relaxing, getting ready for our (early) morning tomorrow and yet another century.
End of the thirty-second day. And it was inspiring.
Hi Libby,
ReplyDeleteI work for Heifer International, and I'm always amazed that people from all over find their way to Heifer Village. Thanks for sharing your photos from your visit to Little Rock, and good luck to you and your fellow riders on your cross-country trip.
Casey