“Everyone whom I have interacted with continuously works with passion, generosity, and kindness.” ASB Day 3: Paola Perez & Stephania Castro

Paola Perez

It was the third day of Alternative Spring Break in the Rockaways. It was a day full of energy, motivation, and fun. As we arrived to our site, we headed straight to the projects that we had been previously working. My partner and I immediately set out to finish working on the intricate and delicate piece of drywall from the day before and thankfully we finished the task successfully. Not only were we able to place it correctly on the first try this morning (after failing 3 times the day before), but we were further motivated to seek another task. I feel pleased to have me the residents of our site, but my heart grew fonder after the owner of the house brought us pizza as a gesture on his behalf. He does not expect a thank you, nor do we, but this highlighted the idea “actions speak louder than words.” Many times we can show someone we care by physically demonstrating it instead of using our words. I think that this trip epitomizes this quote because everyone whom I have interacted with continuously works with passion, generosity, and kindness. They do not expect any gratitude; instead they expect to see smiles and smiles. That is what we all strive for, and thankfully we have seen many smiles throughout this 3-day trip thus far.

Stephania Castro

This day was probably the most productive day for me. In the morning I was sanding and mudding the ceiling and it was on this day that I realized I am not good at mudding, at all. I also learned that sanding the ceiling makes your hair very dusty. Luckily I didn’t have to do this for long because Jeremiah sent me and another volunteer to work on the side entrance of the house. We sanded the entire room, then primed. The primer dried while we ate lunch and we painted the room right after. We had just gotten some wood for the floors, so I measured out the floor and got to use the power drill, which was pretty exciting. I measured out the wood and cut it, and then we brought it into the entrance. It took three people to bring it in because it was so big, and we realized that it was a little big so I had to cut it again. But at the end of the day the wood fit perfectly, and the room was primed and painted and almost finished.

Afterwards, we went to listen to Dan speak about his experience with the hurricane and he told us how it affected his business. He also had a very comfortable couch and I was really tired. For dinner, some of us went to get sushi at this really good place down the block and I had pink sushi and it was great!