Hi gannon family!
My name is Diya Joshi, I am from Nepal. I am a social work major and psychology minor. This is my first ABST, and I am excited to be serving at Beth El ministry in Ruskin, Fla. I am looking forward to learning about new culture and forming new friendships on the trip.
On day three of the trip we left for Tampa at around 10 a.m. We went to the Manatee Viewing Center, which is a free natural preserve where manatee’s gather from Tampa’s big bend power station from Nov. 1 to April 15. We saw different types of fish and a few manatees in the water. We also had the chance to touch stingrays and the texture of their skin felt weird, but it was a fun experience.
After visting the Manetee Viewing Center, we went to grab lunch at Banh Mi Factory, a Vietnamese restaurant. Most of us got banh mi and two of us got pho. Everyone was starving so, we enjoyed the delicious food.
After refueling ourselves, we headed towards the Lettuce Lake Park, which is a wildlife exploration park. They had snakes, alligators, different breeds and colors of birds. We decided to go on color hunting so everyone picked a color and took pictures of it, which was put into a collage at the end of the day. The Lettuce Lake Park had the most peaceful environment, so we sat in the shade a few minutes and soaked it all in. Before leaving, we went to the conservatory and got a chance to hold a baby snake, which was a courageous move but a thrilling experience. At the park, we could hear the birds chirping, the sound of insects, and the bright sun with some cool breeze made it just the perfect place, It felt like a break from reality.
After enjoying the scenic peaceful place, we headed towards the Contemporary Art Museum at the University of South Florida. It was odd how their spring break had not started yet while we visited their campus. They had a huge campus and also an art museum. I love going to the museum and adoring art pieces. They had different styles of art ranging from graphics, and paintings, to photography and sculpture. I loved the art piece by Brian Mcguire, which is named La Grande Illusion. From the art pieces that I saw, I believe it depicted the struggles of minority and the effect that events like war, class segregation, and other social events have on people.
After touring the art museum, we left for Ybor City, which is a district in Tampa, Fla., also known as the cigar capital of the world. We had ice cream and a good walk around the city. There were many chicken walking on the streets and crossing the road, which was funny to watch. We took the trolly back to our van and ended the day at golden hour.
After a long tiring day, we all wanted to go to bed. But we planned to grill for dinner tonight so we pulled out rotisserie chicken we got from Walmart and grilled some veggies, made some rice in the microwave and enjoyed the meal with everyone. We all shared duties to prepare, cook and clean-up after finishing dinner. Then it was reflection time. We had a fun activity of drawing a pig where how we draw the pig told something about our personality. Some of us agreed with the result while some disagreed. The reflection was a valuable time spent with the group filled with laughter, understanding and bonding.
