Two weeks, and not too much to show for it.

With the first real week of service behind me, I'm finally getting a feel for this town. There are a few dynasties--those families who everyone is related to somehow. There are the Davenports, the Duffys, and a few others. This is a weird phenomenon, and as I meet new people, I'm mentally putting them within this web. Everyone is someone's cousin. People I meet at the school are the same people I see in the courthouse or on the square, or I've met their kids. Really with only 1,213 people, I should have expected this.

One of the main goals of my service, in my opinion, is to connect people to their local food economies. Growing food, understanding the work that goes into it, learning how to cook what they've just harvested, it's a pretty neat cycle. Being in Arkansas, I'm in the homeland of Walmart. The company was founded in Northwest Arkansas, and it seems like every town has a Walmart and a Sonic Drive-In.  I have always tried to avoid Walmart, because I don't agree with their labor practices. It's hard to do though, when it's the best stocked grocery store within like 100 miles. I did go to the Walmart pharmacy the other day in Flippin (best town name ever?) Yellville used to have 3 pharmacies, but now they only have one. I chose to go to Flippin to get a prescription filled for two reasons: I get cell phone reception in Flippin (so frustrating! it's only 6 miles away, and equally small, so T-Mobile, You suck!), so I could talk to family, and because it was simpler to have my prescription transferred there than the small backwater pharmacy and I was in a hurry. We'll see if convenience trumps local very often.

I try to keep as much of my spending power in the local economy, because it really does make a difference. Harps, the local grocery store is actually pretty neat. It's employee owned, and it has pretty much the same stuff as a Vons or an Albertsons. So far, the things I haven't been able to buy there are super foofy California type things. They don't have coconut milk flavored creamer (Why do I need that? I blame Jacey) They don't have flavored sparkling water, like they do at Trader Joe's. None of these things are basic staple grocery items, so I don't fault them for not carrying them.

There are no bars in Yellville. There's a liquor store and a beer barn, which I've heard cover all the bases. I was hoping for a bar, because that seemed like an obvious place to meet the younger crowd. However, I did help Lyn (the really awesome fifth generation local who I'm staying with) bottle his first batch of home brew last weekend! It was an IPA, so hopefully it will turn out tasting great. I was excited to realize that homebrewing is pretty much everywhere.

Yesterday I started lots of seeds and built a rain water harvesting system! We'll eventually have two set up down by our outdoor classroom. I'll have more pictures as soon as more projects get finished.