Charity Weekend (AIB)

This weekend was AIB charity weekend! On Saturday we met at AIB and got into our groups for The Big Event. My group went to a center for adults with mental disabilities and worked with the tenants to make the garden and grounds around the apartments look nice for spring. It was really rewarding to get to help out this way and I think the gardening experience was as enjoyable for the tenants as the actual garden will be. I wished I could have communicated with them better, but only one of them spoke English. I had a great time with the other students while we gardened and everyone at the center was really grateful to have us there. I am so proud that I got to be part of the International Big Event!

Sunday was the Bonn Marathon! I was so pumped to run in a marathon for the first time ever and my excitement gave me a lot of much needed energy. Our tram stopped before crossing the Rhine because the half marathon had already started, and we speed walked to old AIB to meet up with everyone running the first leg of the relay (which is what I was doing). I’m really glad I got to be the start of the relay because I actually got to begin at the starting line where they played pump up music and counted down to the beginning of the run. It was so exciting! I ran with Robert and Coach Ritter, which was nice because we talked the whole way and encouraged each other. I was so thrilled when we reached the end of our portion and I saw Aaron waiting to run our second leg. After running we went to old AIB where Frederike was making waffles for us! After hanging out there for a little while, I went to where the relay teams change runners to cheer for the people finishing the third portion of the marathon and for the people starting the fourth. People cheering for me on the sidelines while I ran kept me going and made it exciting, and I wanted to give that to the other runners. When the marathon was almost over, the people who had already run waited half a kilometer away from the finish line for the last runner on the team and joined them when they came by so we could all finish the race together. My team ran that last bit of the race as quickly as we could so we could be going fast when we all crossed the finish line together. The run gave me such a feeling of accomplishment and it felt good to get so much exercise. The medal I got to wear around my neck was a nice reward too. :)