Belated Posts for Week 1 and 2

Olivia Singleton

My start at SSP was really fun! At the start of the program I thought it would be boring.I never thought that the people  a part of SSP would be so nice and exciting. Being  a part of the Woodlawn Team, we got to explore our community this week. Living in Woodlawn, I never would have imagined that this community was filled with so many opportunities for the youth like gyms and swimming pools. The most fun thing we did this week was going to the Farmer's Market, trying NEW foods. I was most excited about trying 10 year old cheese and the different types of vegetables and strawberries. At the Farmer's Market, it was really hot and this lady wanted to spray people, but I didn't want to get sprayed. She started spraying everyone, luckily I ran away.I found that really funny. We went to many youth centers and churches that were really nice. Also, we visted a couple, Joyce and Rudy Nimocks, who were long time Woodlawn residents, 60 years to be exact.They told us how the Woodlawn Community was back years ago. They told us in the 1950's, most people wanted to live their because of its good housing and schools. They told us that later the Woodlawn area changed for the worse because of the gangs an violence. Now the Woodlawn community is getting better. They showed me that there is hope for our community. This week I saw that the Woodlawn community isn’t bad because it's not just filled with violence, and gangs.

This week I experienced a lot of vegan foods. Going to the Soul Vegetarian was a new experience.  I tried food with no dairy products, like milk and cheese,(which is really weird). I enjoyed the buffalo tofu and the almond cream. It was very different than normal food like chicken and ice cream. I did like the new experience. Later in the week, we went to a local Woodlawn vegan restaurant, BGabs Goodies. The owner was nice, but I didn't like the food. I had a Chipotle "Burger" , which did not taste anything like a burger. To me, it was plain nasty. Just the thought of a burger made out of seeds and nuts was gross. I didn't like that at all. But the strawberry smoothie was really good. I learned that being a vegan is not for me, but just trying the food was fun!