Hey it's Elena! Today we traveled back downtown to the Kingdom House. However, instead of volunteering directly within the Kingdom House, we were taken on a tour of the Peabody-Clinton neighborhood. Peabody-Clinton is governmentally owned public housing. While we were being educated on the community we were also passing out "Care Fair" flyers, an event that will provide the community with free healthcare at the Kingdom House. One interesting aspect of learning about the prominently low-income neighborhood was that right across Truman street was a very high-income neighborhood called Lafayette Square. This situation is otherwise known as the Truman Divide. It was shocking to physically see that on one side of the road there were mansions, yoga shops, and police stations, while on the other side of the fence there were run down apartments, small playgrounds, and the lowest ranking school in St. Louis. It was like walking into a completely different world. The community of Lafayette all but shuts out the entire community across the street. In reality, its rags and riches, and neither of them coincide with the other. It was physically, mentally, socio-economically, and racially divided. This educationally experience was surreal and emotional for everyone involved. Even though we had served the urban area directly and indirectly all week this was the first time that we saw exactly why we needed to be here and helping this community. We all discussed that it was something that will forever stay in our minds and affect the decisions we will make in the days to come.
Hey wassup hello, this is Christi! After our tour we had the opportunity for on one night on the town while here in St. Louis! We all were very excited to finally be able to see some of the downtown city life! We walked around until we made our way to the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch! It was an absolutely gorgeous day out and we took advantage of the sunlight to take some pics in front of the Arch! Afterwards we headed across the street to the City Hall Museum. We ended our night with some St. Louis style pizza! St. Louis pizza is different than any other pizza because it is very thin crust with a special, select variety of cheeses! We went restaurant that we had heard so many good things about from the locals, called Imo's! It was a great time just to sit down and chow down! Ending the night we had an activity about personal identity and it truly touched everyone in the room. This activity lead to a great reflection about our experiences at Kingdom House along with all the other places we have visited in the past few days. (Sometimes after reflection we have a few minutes before bed where we can just chat and play games together! This is some serious bonding time and involves various card games to Heads Up!) Truly a great, great day of walking around seeing all different parts of St. Louis and also learning more about our trip's theme- Urban Youth Development!
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