I’ve said it before and I will say it again….traveling with a group of teenagers is like herding cats. It is always an adventure!
Last week, I and Donna Williams the Regional Director for AYUSA in Mississippi, took a group of 12 exchange students down to see our state Capitol and some of the other sights to be seen around Jackson. We left bright and early Tuesday morning and started picking up students. I had warned all the kids to pack light and only bring the necessary stuff . Just because I drive a 15 passenger van does not mean it has room for people AND luggage. It is sometimes an either/or situation.
At any rate we got everyone and their stuff into the van. The first little casualty of the trip happened down in Grenada. We had just picked up the last 6 kids and we stopped at a quick stop store for the last rest room break and for coffee. One of the girls, Julia, was sitting on the very back row and she decided to climb over the back of the seat and go out the rear door. IN the process of doing that her blue jeans ripped right in the rear seam. IT turned out that was the only pair of pants she had brought along on the one day trip. I told her we would just have to wait till we got to Jackson to purchase her some new jeans.
The trip down went pretty quickly. We had decided to spend the night in Canton because the rooms in the motel there were not as expensive as in Jackson and the budget was already tight. We arrived in Canton and checked into our rooms and we unpacked the van and everyone quickly got ready to go on to the Capitol to meet State Rep. Jim Beckett. Jim had a arranged a tour for us so we needed to get there quickly. But before we could go there was the matter of replacing those jeans. I was not about to let that child go into the Capitol with her a large portion of her leg hanging out.
Trying to find a Wal-Mart, when you aren’t looking for one, is nearly impossible. But I did find a Kohl’s. The second I pulled into the parking lot all the other girls shouted ‘SHOPPING’ and Donna and I were shouting NO! I got out with Julia and we headed into the store. I told her it would be a fast trip. I spied the jeans in the junior department and steered her in that direction. We found the one pair in her size, she tried them on, I approved of them, she paid for them and we were back out the door and in the van in 15 minutes.
Then we were going to grab a quick lunch and that was when Donna discovered that she had left her wallet back in Canton in the room. So we drove back to Canton to retrieve the money, Julia put on the new jeans and we raced to eat some lunch and then to the Capitol. After driving in circles for what seemed like forever, I finally found a space large enough to park the van in that was close to the Capitol building. We started walking and then everyone had to take pictures and more pictures and by the time we got inside we were late for our tour. We were beyond late actually and our tour guide was not a happy camper.
She warmed up after hearing the convoluted story of the ripped pants, search for a store, the hurried pants search and the forgotten money. She gave the kids a very good tour and they sat in the gallery of both the Senate and the House and they asked questions. I just took pictures to document the events and kept to the back of the line to make sure we didn’t lose anyone!
After we left the Capitol, we were invited to dinner at a friend’s home out in Brandon on the Ross Barnett Reservoir. I relied on the GPS to get me there with some directions and landmark advice from my friend. We found her home and the kids were treated to a beautiful view, some great food and Mardi Gras fun and a few games of billiards. The adults hung out in the kitchen discussing the joys of hosting international exchange students while watching kids from 9 nations talking and interacting.
After a great dinner we returned to our motel rooms and had a good nights rest and the next morning went to the Museum of Natural Science before heading back home. It was a quick trip and we wanted to do more but that will come another day. For the exchange students, their time here is rapidly coming to an end as most will start going home in May. Donna and I are already looking for family’s to host students for the 2010-2011 school year. If you have ever thought about hosting, now is the time to look. I am already looking forward to planning trips for next year’s group of kids.
Taking them places may be like herding cats, but it’s a fun thing to let the cats out of the bag as they learn what life is like for teenagers in Mississippi USA!
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