The first update from the Detroit trip! My name is Mia, and I am one of the student leaders on the trip and I will be sharing a little about our first full day experiencing Detroit. On Monday, we started our day reflecting on the travel experience and creating affirmation bags for everyone. Affirmation bags are one of my favorite ABST activities, where throughout the week, everyone writes positive and thoughtful words to other members of the group and places them in the bags to be opened at the end of the week. We spent the rest of the morning visiting Belle Isle where we saw beaches, monuments, a historic aquarium and casino. Everyone really enjoyed exploring the nature center and observing the wildlife as well. We spent some time downtown for lunch where we saw the Detroit Tigers stadium and Eminem’s restaurant, Mom’s Spaghetti. 

Monday afternoon, we were able to get our first hands-on experience with urban farming where we are staying at Ohana Gardens. After some intentional time connecting our minds and spirits with the earth, we weeded garlic beds and learned some natural methods to maintain good soil. 

To round out the very fulfilling day, we enjoyed learning some cooking skills from our host Diane, and shared a meal around the fire. Our evening reflection included s’mores and a thoughtful discussion on sustainability.