Intensive Learning @ MFS
The World At Your Fingertips
Our first service activity of the day was visiting a Creole Garden or “Jardin Créole”. We started by taking a tour of the area to learn about the different crops grown. Following this, we helped out by replanting crops, gathering turmeric, and picking up leaves. After an hour of service, we sat down for...
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By Courtney, Safia, & Jordan B Today we went to Villa Del Río in Vega Alta again, but this time we worked on Bolo’s home. We continued to make concrete and learned how to make columns. We had a group shoveling materials to make the concrete, a group shoveling the concrete into buckets, “cubos”...
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Today’s adventure took us to the Penn Museum. A museum archaeologist, Sarah Linn met us in one of the classrooms used by UPenn students, who study anthropology and archaeology right in the museum. She introduced us to the study of archaeology, and we talked a bit about how the work of archaeological conservators differs...
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Today we traveled to both the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Reading Terminal Market. While we were at the museum, we learned about early humans in Mesopotamia and other regions. We learned about how early human civilizations evolved and how their belief systems developed. For lunch, we went to the Reading Terminal Market. There...
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Today at Pine Island Cranberry Company, we saw many aspects and tools of how cranberries are produced and distributed to the world. For example, two employees (Matt and Mike) gave us an annual timeline of the stages of growing cranberries. Even though the sandy soil is not great for conventional crops (corn, wheat, etc),...
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The day began with a short bus ride to Newton Lake where we were met by Michael and Phil of the South Jersey Land and Water Trust. They explained the history of the river and the importance of keeping the lake clean. We were then given trash grabbers with the task to clean up...
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On our second day of Blacksmithing, we finally got to play with fire! After a LONG time struggling to light the fires, we were saved by Bruce. With much effort, the forges began to burn, growing stronger as more coal and more air were added. As we worked to maintain the blaze of the...
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Day 2 began with a taste test competition. Each team sent a representative to be blindfolded and taste the various ingredients, fruits, and vegetables. We then visited the India Bazaar in Voorhees. We split up into groups and took part in a store wide scavenger hunt. Each group had to find a unique item...
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After running down today’s schedule, we started the morning with an hour of yoga flow, using calming lavender scents on our wrists. New poses were introduced, such as Upward Dog, Pigeon, and balancing poses. Our healthy breakfast consisted of chia pudding, brown rice (with peanut butter as an option for mixing), fruits, and yogurt....
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By Rebecca, Sam, & Kat Today we started our day with a lovely breakfast at Big Yellow House. Afterwards, we loaded up the bus and headed for the worksite in Villa Del Rio. There, we met Noel, Angel and William, who led the project. Sonia (and Calvin) did an excellent job translating for us...
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This morning, we visited the Second Harvest Food Bank and collectively prepared about 8,000 meals during our shift. Some of us organized cinnamon apples, Life cereal, chicken meals, and strawberries. At the end of our service time we were able to check the “meals prepared” counter and see the impact we made. At night,...
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“Keeping the Rot at Bay” For our second day at the Bayshore Center, we tweaked our schedule a bit to be more efficient. We’d work straight through until a later lunchtime and then leave right after lunch. But the first order of business upon arriving was checking out Cashier, the sunken boat we’d seen...
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Today we took a walking tour around Athens and learned more about the history of the buildings. Our tour guide was very friendly and taught us about how the graffiti is a way for teenagers to express themselves toward the decisions adults have made regarding their country that are currently affecting them. Another interesting...
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This morning, we had a special guest, the “Beautiful” Jerry take us on a tour of Dublin. He’s a well known Irish author, actor, educator, and tour guide. We saw Phoenix Park, a Victorian garden, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Book of Kells at Trinity College. Then, we had lunch in the city. Afterwards,...
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We got off to an early start as we departed for the 1.5 hour commute to Blarney Castle. It was a beautiful day, and some people decided to traverse the narrow and winding staircase to the top of the castle and kiss the legendary Blarney Stone. Others chose to visit the sprawling grounds which...
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