The warmth of the South extends beyond the gorgeous 70-degree weather that welcomed us Sunday. Everyone we’ve met has been welcoming and friendly, from the folks at Habitat for Humanity to Pastor Edward Bolen, our host at the Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. We’re sleeping in the church’s community room, but Pastor Bolen invited us to use the gathering room, meeting rooms — for students who want a place to study, and even the sanctuary for those seeking tranquility. We also have the run of the church’s immense, restaurant-style kitchen. More on that later.

During Monday night’s reflection there was much discussion about the difference between the pace of life here and in Boston. Would we be friendlier to one another if we weren’t always rushing from one place to another? Here, we’re taking the time to chat with the cashier at the grocery store and the other people we meet. Clearly the Athens people are initiating conversations, as that appears to be the culture here, but we’re perhaps more responsive than we’d be at home.

On the job, we’re very fortunate to be working with Beau Harvey and Tom Strong, two men who have great patience as they teach construction skills to a group of novices. On Tuesday, it rained most of the day so we switched from the new-home site to an apartment building under renovation and spent the day indoors painting. It’s amazing how much can be done with 17 people sanding, edging, and rolling primer and paint.

The community also is helping to feed our group. On Monday we lunched on delicious burritos, chips and salsa from Moe’s Southwest Grille.  Later, under Ana’s tutelage, the group cooked up a dinner feast of chicken and potato taquitos, guacamole, black beans and, from Reycine, curried potatoes. There was chocolate cake for dessert (although we were all full) in celebration of Nicole’s and Andrew’s birthdays this week.

Thank you, Athens, for all your generosity.

–Nancy K