Hi blog,
After a long break from blogging (and writing in general), I’ve decided to come back for one final entry before officially signing off. I just had to share because we finally made it to my state: Virginia!
I had been looking forward to Virginia the entire trip. Visiting the people and places my teammates love over the past 10 weeks was incredibly rewarding, and I was excited to do the same for my own favorite spots. I was especially eager to pass through places I’d never been and revisit the ones I know well. I got to share some of my favorite places while also experiencing new ones alongside everyone else.
Our first stop in Virginia was Blacksburg. Despite it being home to Virginia Tech and several of my friends, I had never actually been there.
The ride into Blacksburg was exhausting, to say the least. I didn’t expect so many hills. They just kept coming, and with every new one, I cycled through a range of physical and emotional states like never before. There was exhaustion, defeat, fleeting moments of optimism, more defeat, and moments where I was on the brink of tears. Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful the scenery was and feeling grateful to be alive to experience it all.
To sum it up: I felt like crying the whole time, whether from joy or pain, I’m still not sure.
Blacksburg was wonderful in every sense of the word. Our hosts, the Dyes, were amazing. Ann and Charles (and their kids) welcomed us so warmly. Charles told us about the cool film classes he teaches at Tech (if you’re a student there, enroll in his class!), and Ann shared about her social justice work and her journey back to grad school. I finally got to eat at Mellow Mushroom again, and we all had a great time cosplaying as VT students. We met so many wonderful people, and I even caught up with some high school friends. We also had a calm teaching day in Shawsville. Our time in Blacksburg couldn’t have been better.
Next, we headed to Lexington, another college town. Unfortunately, our chronic inability to start biking early meant we didn’t have much time to explore. The downtown area looked cute as we rode through it, though. Our hosts, Christina and Dirk Van Assendelft, made us one of the most delicious dinners of the whole trip.
The next few days flew by. We hit Charlottesville and visited a bunch of presidential homes along the way. But everything was overshadowed by Richmond, one of my favorite cities. I’d been looking forward to Richmond the entire trip because my friends and family live there. We stayed with my childhood friend Rome, which was so special. Like many victims of Stanford’s quarter system, I rarely get to see my friends from home because our breaks don’t line up. Rome is one of those friends I usually only see once a year during winter break, so it was amazing to spend more time together.
By the time we got to Richmond, we were exhausted (but fueled by delicious food from Carytown), but the night wasn’t over yet. Ethan’s birthday was the next day, and we’d planned a little brunch for him, but we hadn’t bought any ingredients yet. So, Will and Eva made a late-night Kroger run for breakfast supplies.
We stayed up way later than we wanted, but it was worth it. Our first rest day in a while, and it was Ethan’s birthday! We spent the morning cooking every breakfast food we could think of. It was a full house! Rome’s friend, Zach, shared Ethan’s birthday, so he joined the celebration too.
The day’s itinerary was packed. After breakfast, we headed to the Science Museum of Virginia, where we made clocks and looked at trains. Then, we went to Belle Isle to hang out on the rocks with another friend of mine, Kylie! After some fun by the river, we had dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. We had the most amazing Thai food and ended the night watching an episode of The Bear, which is the best show ever. We also watched a disturbing episode of Mr. Meaty because no one understood my tapeworm jokes.
The next morning, we took our time leaving since we only had a short 55-mile ride to Fredericksburg. We said goodbye to Richmond and headed to our second-to-last destination. Once we arrived at our host Bruce’s house, we had a lot of full-circle moments. Our second night of the trip, we stayed with a Bruce who had seven cats. This Bruce had five cats, which was great for me but rough for the allergy-prone team members. Allergies aside, we had a great time in Fredericksburg as we geared up for our final day of biking. Many emotions were felt, some of them due to the cats.
For our last biking day, I had planned an itinerary of places to see: lunch in Occoquan by the river, gelato in Old Town Alexandria, and plane-watching at Gravelly Point. We managed to hit most of them, but once again, poor planning meant we were on a time crunch. By the time we reached the Washington Monument, the sun had already set. We took our victory photos in the dark anyway and celebrated the fact that we had finally finished our journey.
Before heading to Ethan’s aunt and uncle’s house, we stopped by Enjera, an Eritrean restaurant in Arlington. I ordered for the team and tried to teach them some Eritrean traditions. Unfortunately, there was only one feeble attempt at a gursha by Will and Ethan.
We ended the day late into the night and prepared for yet another early morning, as we had our last teaching session the next day.
Our final teaching session was probably the most meaningful. For the first time, we taught at a youth rehabilitation center. Leading up to the day, I wasn’t sure what to expect or how to tailor my lesson to be relevant to incarcerated youth. My reservations disappeared as soon as I met the group. So many friendly faces greeted us. I loved teaching my lesson and connecting with people who could be my peers about the environment and everything in between. Many of them had plans to go to college after release. I’m so grateful to have met them and heard their stories. Sometimes I wish Spokes workshops weren’t so temporary. I wish we could keep engaging with the communities and students we meet. This was definitely one of those interactions that made me feel that way.
I couldn’t have asked for a better final teaching site to wrap up Spokes. The future could be so bright for so many people if the resources were there. I envision a future version of Spokes where our impact is long-lasting and continuous. May future teams continue to deliver our mission and make it even better.
Bye,
Kawther :)