We woke up at 7 AM, took a lukewarm shower, and headed to breakfast. For breakfast, we drove to the headquarters of Independence First, where we ate at their kitchen. The meal was great, there was a ton of fruit, and some granola and yogurt, the perfect fix for a parfait.
After the light breakfast turned heavy, we went to an underprivileged elementary school in the city of Milwaukee. We performed our Kids on the Block puppet show for over 200 children. We then walked to the nearby park with a few kids. To get the kids get excited about their “field trips,” they ride in “cars,” or cut out cardboard boxes. They were quite a tight squeeze on me.
After the steady walk, we went to a playground and campground specifically designed for people with disabilities. At the camp, we were given cold-cut Subway subs and chips. After lunch, we hung out with the campers, splashing around in the 10 inch deep waiting pool, and swinging on the swing set. This one camper kept calling me Michael Jordan, probably because of my height.
We then drove to the mall, where we had a few hours to hang out, and relax from the busy days. We windowed shopped a little bit, but by the end of time, most of us were craving a nap and were about to collapse in the chairs at Barnes and Nobles.
At around 5, we were to have dinner with a few middle school girls with disabilities. My van was paired with a girl named Kate. She had a disorder similar to CP, meaning she was not intellectually disabled, but couldn’t talk and had trouble expressing emotions. We had dinner at Five Guys Burgers, which was surprisingly good and pretty greasy. After gobbling down the burger and fries, we headed to Build-a-Bear Workshop, where we made Kate a stuffed Monkey. You could tell that she loved every moment of it. Once we were finished, we took a couple elevator rides, and we went back to show the rest of the group our new monkey friend. The sponsors loved the idea, and the other vans were definitely jealous but adored it.
We then headed back to the vans where we experienced Milwaukee rush hour traffic at its finest. Not too long after, we arrived at a school, where we got to play wheelchair basketball for 10 minutes and beeping baseball for an hour. Wheelchair basketball is basically, just as it sounds, and was a blast. I was pretty mobile on the wheelchair but struggled with the shooting aspects. I met a few of the guys that played regularly and they were intense, to say the least. I also played with a kid named Andrea who had a really sad story. He basically goes to this school that only has 20 students, and being a person with disabilities, he gets picked on by his classmates. He said to me, “I hate my friends, because they pick on me nonstop.” He asked for advice and I really didn’t know what to tell him, I felt so sad for him.
After basketball, we headed to the park outside, where we played beeping baseball. Basically, the pitcher (who can see) throws a ball that constantly beeps, and the batter (who is blind or blindfolded) hits the ball and runs to two poles (stationed at 1st base and 3rd base in traditional baseball). If the ball is closest to the 1st base pole (that beeps), the batter would run to that pole and score a point. If the ball is closest to the 3rd base pole (that beeps), the batter would run to that pole and likewise, score a point. However, if the infield (who is blind or blindfolded) finds the ball before the batter runs to a pole, than no point is awarded. After all players have batted, the opposing team gets to bat. It sounds a little confusing, but is not as complicated once it is seen.
I have pretty bad hearing, so I struggled. At bat, I came close to hitting the ball, but missed all 5 attempts. I then hit the ball off a T. Running to the closest pole was a lot tougher than I thought, and ended up not getting a point. When I was in the infield, I had trouble finding the ball, and at one point, ran into the batter. Needless to say, this was not an easy sport. I met this one guy, named Chuck, who was in his 70’s and was blind and had pretty bad hearing. However, he just loved to play and be out there, and you could tell he was having the time of his life. He apparently works for Independence First, which I thought was pretty neat.
After being annihilated by mosquitoes, we called it a night once it got too dark, and we headed back to lodging, where I took a nice shower and got ready for bed. After another long but fun day of programming, I was wiped and ready to sleep.
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