Day 1: The Liquid Life Stage

After a wonderfully early wake-up call, the THT crew rendezvoused at La Plata Hall to begin our journey!

A quick reshuffling of groceries and group photo later, we were on our way. Armed with a bangin playlist, the THT vans zipped (traveled at a safe and reasonable speed) down I-95. The crew was lulled to sleep by the beautiful sounds of Hozier during the beginning of the journey. Along the way, Christine updated us on the status of the world's bugs, and told us why she didn't like butterflies: she doesn't trust anything with a liquid form life stage. I mean, I think that's pretty fair. It was a quiet ride to the North Carolina Welcome Center, where the THT fam consumed tasty yums in the presence of many, many dogs. We chatted about sandwich condiment preferences (jam and meat combo anyone?) and talked about bees - this, I assure you, will be a reoccurring theme on our experience. After a quick lunch, the team began the second leg of their journey, Oreos in hand. 

We arrived in Topsail at around 3:00pm and were absolutely shellshocked (sorry, had to) when we arrived at our house. We are so lucky to have such amazing accommodation during our experience - hopefully we can make the most of the restful sleep we get here! After getting settled, we drove to Publix to pick up some groceries. What a place. Everyone was so nice! Nicku and I made dinner tonight, and it felt like we were on a cooking show. Shout out to Alvin for the wonderful narration. The kitchen really got moving and grooving once we started playing Maluma - nothing like a little reggaeton to get people on their feet. 

There was a brief dance party in the living room and I was HERE for it. A few boxes of pasta, two bags of meatballs, and a baguette-turned-garlic bread-later, we were feasting on our first dinner of the experience.

It went swimmingly, if I do say so myself. First dinner was soon followed by first reflection, and sneeches was a really great way of setting the tone for our experience. It got a little emotional, but I think we got to know each other on a completely different level than we had known otherwise. All in all, it was a great night. We talked about how excited we are for volunteering tomorrow! The team is so excited to meet Jean, and I've been looking forward to this moment for a whole year. Much excite. Looking forward to updating everyone on the rest of the experience! We shell keep you posted (ok, promise I'm done now). 

Signing off, 
Donald