Hay friends! Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this, things have gotten insanely busy and I'm preparing for this whirlwind of an amazing adventure to unfortunately come to an end. I don't think I'm ready for all of that, and I have about 3 weeks to update you on, so I'll just worry about the past before thinking too hard about how soon I am leaving. So two weeks ago (July 6-12) we had a group of 79 which we all hosted together. They were all senior high (and some adults) from Grand Rapids Michigan, and they were PHENOMENAL!! I'm going to try to keep this brief because I have so much to say, so bear with me if the details are slim.
Sunday July 6:
We started off the week at Taste of India, and William and I rode in the mini bus together--our first time really working together. Things went especially well at dinner, and also during the prayer tour, which he navigated and I did the dialogue for. The kids and adults really seemed to enjoy it and to learn a lot about the city, which is certainly the goal for the tour. William and I also did lights out together, and since we're both such sticklers about the whole thing that went really well too.
Monday July 7:
Cade Vice is 8, and that makes me feel especially old:) But that's just a side note! We started off the morning making beds at Central Union Mission, a men's homeless shelter and rehab program that I've mentioned working at several times before. We also cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, literally scrubbed everything, and packed food bags to give out to the people coming in to worship. After that we had a tour of the mission where we met the pastor who runs the whole show, which was an amazing thing to see. He had an awesome story and an awesome vision for the mission which he implemented, and told us the details to how that worked out. We continued the day by going to lunch at Anacostia Park to stage for VBS and take a little break before starting it. I went back to Stoddard for VBS (the site I was at last week) and was VERY excited to see my favorite little boy Tajuan from the week before!! My VBS is team is the red team (the giant group is split into 3 smaller ones: red, white, and blue for VBS) and Katie and I are hosting them together. We had our usual dinner at Wok and Roll Chinese, and headed to the National Cathedral to debrief and end out the night. I'm getting a little homesick so I talked to my Dad and I really think he is planning a visit for the weekend!! We will see!
Tuesday July 8 2008:
The morning began at Food and Friends and I did deliveries with some great kids and a chaperone named Gail. The deliveries went smoothly and Gail treated us all to some Dunkin Donuts afterwards! FANTASTIC! Also I got an incredible surprise which proved the Lord is sovereign when I got back to Food and Friends and there was a youth group from Athens, GA there! I caused quite a scene when I heard they were from Athens, but it was so great to see them! It was just the little taste of home that I so desperately needed. I got the youth leader's card so I am going to email them and hopefully visit their church when I get back to school this fall!! Praise the Lord for providing me with that tiny piece of home that I needed! We were back at Anacostia Park at lunch, which has become a favorite napping spot for me and the other hosts, so we slept there on the concrete until VBS time:) VBS was much smoother today and a lot more organized, which made me, Pastor Terry (the lady in charge of it all), and the kids a lot happier. We headed to Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner, and one of their awesome male leaders bought all of us hosts Ben's famous milkshakes! They're really going to spoil us this week, I think. We debriefed for a short period at Rock Creek Park, and I really think the red team is starting to see what this is really all about. I'm praying that their eyes will continue to be opened throughout the rest of the week, because most of the things they'll be seeing are things they've never experienced before. I talked to my dad and he and Aunt April are for sure coming (YAY!) so I won't be homesick at all after the weekend!
Wednesday July 9 2008:
Hump Day! This morning Noel, CSM's president, arrived to check out how things are going and to meet with all of us on staff. My group and I went to work at Vision DC and basically did a lot of small, busy jobs. We cut fabric for distribution and also organized boxes. During all of that Noel stopped in to meet with me, and was most concerned with my future plans rather than what is going on now...unfortunately I don't know much about what those future plans are. We had lunch and a nap at the park again, which I am beginning to fall in love with. I'll miss my cat naps when I have to go back to the real world! The group introduced face paints at VBS, but the kids somehow turned them into full body paints instead:) I had paint EVERYWHERE and I'll have pictures to show you all of this when I get home...I was quite a disaster! I also managed to get paint on my red pants:( but it was ok, because the kids were happy. I don't wear them all that much anyway. We had dinner at Union Station which was a great break mid-week. Then, we all went over to the Jefferson Memorial and had debriefing. The red team is really getting it!! We had 3 kids who cried and couldn't even finish the stories they were telling because they felt so impacted. These guys are wonderful, and more importantly God is wonderful for helping them to see, feel, and learn all that they are doing! On a lighter note, on the way home I participated in my first Chinese Fire Drill! Not very safe, I know, but we were just in a small van rather than a mini bus so that made it at least a little better, right? Regardless it was a blast, and I absolutely love this group!!
Thursday July 10 2008:
5:00 am I woke up!! AHHHH! I had to work the 6:30am breakfast shift at S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat) and I have to say it was quite an experience!! Since I had to step back and let the kids do the serving, I just worked on refilling cups and cleaning in the womens dining area. I met this lady who looked a bit more like something out of a movie than someone in real life, though she was really entertaining to talk to. She told me that people who rode bikes were going to get shot in the head by guns from the sky, and that America had been warned but had done nothing about it. She asked how I felt about Iraq, Israel, and Afghanistan, but immediately turned to night club talk when I started talking. She asked where I went to church and when I told her I had visited a number of places since I'd been here she told me to tell whoever was trying to church me that it wasn't who I am. I told her that it was, and she got mad, said "whatever" and left. She was intriguing, but quite unsettling I thought. After leaving SOME we went to Downtown Cluster (an geriatric daycare facility for those living with alzheimers) and worked with some of the programs going on there. The kids in our group sang songs, played piano, and led games with the adults in the program. It was wonderful! They did such a good job! While that was happening I went for a meeting with Jason which was pretty uneventful, and then to Starbucks with Kristyn, one of the other hosts who was there with me. We had our usual lunch at Anacostia Park then, and of course, another nap:) At VBS there was more body painting, and though it isn't the most fun I've had in awhile, it was pretty enjoyable to see their faces light up. We had dinner at Mid-Atlantic Seafood, then a debrief at the Lincoln where we all shared experiences in which we had seen Christ's love today. It was awesome. Also, Dad and Aunt April are on their way!! I can't even believe it!
Friday July 11 2008:
Today is perhaps the most special day of my 2008, even more so than my 21st birthday...today is the day that I have been free from Chris's hold for one whole year! I have come so far and feel so blessed, I can hardly believe the point that I was at just one short year ago today. What a great God we serve who was able to pull me from the darkest points imaginable to the place that I am today! How can I not praise Him for all that He has done since? And even for the lessons He taught me during the year that I was with Chris. PRAISE THE LORD!!:) That's another story for another day, though, so I'll continue with my daily events. I did a Food and Friends delivery route with another of the amazing leaders from the group, Linda, whom I've gotten close to as the week has progressed. She took me out to lunch at Rex's sub shop across the street, and also to 7-11 because they give out free slurpees on July 11th! We took pictures to document this as my first experience there. I love Linda:) Today has already started out great, and I feel sure that it will only get better. We had lunch at Anacostia Park, and Dad and Aunt April met us there!! It was SO GOOD to see them!!! We hung out and talked until it was time for us to go to VBS and I can't wait to hang out with them again!! I can't believe they're here with me! VBS was a sort of field day where we just played games, and then gave the kids popsicles for snack. They loved it of course! I also spent a great deal of time with Mary, one of the volunteers with Kids Konnection (they run the VBS each week) and I'm glad that she has finally opened up enough to talk to Katie and I. I hope she continues to do so, because I feel like sometimes all she needs is a little coaxing and she'll come outside of her shell and be an awesome person to get to know. We had dinner at Pollo Granjero, and then headed to the Basilica for our final debrief. I love my red team!! We all talked about the week, had several criers, and I must admit I was one myself. How could I not cry on a wonderful day like today though? I love these kids and I am really going to miss them. They gave us cards and Maggie Moos giftcards at the end of the debrief too, to show their appreciation for all of our help. I was so touched! They really are going to spoil us though:) As the other groups were heading back to their buses the red team (myself included) snuck from above and bombed them with water balloons too! It was so much fun!! I love being included in the groups and doing fun things like that!! On the way home I led a dance party on our minibus because they were playing Hannah Montana music so I just had to:) We also did a giant Chinese Fire Drill and managed to successfully get 23 people out of a bus and back on it with time to spare! The red team=rock stars! I love these guys!! When we got back to Star my INCREDIBLE fellow hosts gave me sunflowers to commemorate the occasion of being without Chris for a whole year! That meant so much, they'll never even realize!! It's so nice to have friends like these who are so supportive and so loving regardless of the situation and those that I know, regardless of how far apart we may be, will ALWAYS be there for me. So if you guys read this (which I don't know if you will or not) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH and couldn't feel more blessed at this moment (even as I'm writing this 2 weeks later) On a much sadder note, however, I also received a call saying that Nanny had been admitted to hospital with a blood clot in her lung. She is ok now, but at the time I was very frantic, and again thankful for my supportive new friends. Please keep her in your prayers! We got our evaluations from the group as well, and they were all good, especially the one that said "give Hannah a raise!":) Overall it was a great day, and at the end of it I feel hardly anything but blessed. How great is our God!
Saturday July 12 2008:
I said goodbye to my group (SO SAD!) early and headed off with Dad and Aunt April. We went to Ben's for breakfast and it was SO good! I had only had their lunch/supper meals so I was glad for the change and to see that breakfast is so great. We walked around some of the monuments for awhile afterwards, and I was glad that I could be with Dad and Aunt April on their first trip here. I also got to show off some of my knowledge of the city, and that was pretty fun too. We went shopping at H&M and bought some teacher clothes, and I took them to Potbelly, a sandwich place similar to Quiznos. We wanted to do some more shopping afterwards so we took the Metro (basically a subway) to Georgetown to shop. By the end of all that though we were exhausted, so we weren't there very long before hailing a cab (also a fun, new experience) back to our car, and then going back to the hotel for a much needed nap. We got ready and dressed up for a nice dinner in Maryland, then headed to Target, and back to the hotel for bed. It was nice to spread out on a nice comfy bed and take a shower with no shoes, but I have to say I'd prefer Star to that hotel any day. It's crazy when you realize that sharing a small area in a church with 7 other people has become home:) Dad and Aunt April could hardly believe the area that I was living in and the conditions of Star, but they still seemed to understand why I felt so happy and at home here. I talked to Granny and PawPaw too, Granny of course thought I should just come on home (because the Lord would understand, she said), but I can't just walk away from this...not yet. Home is comfortable, but comfortable isn't always good, and I can't bear to leave here yet. Talking to them is always entertaining though, of course, so I enjoyed it even though I want to stay. It was another fantastic day, but I definitely passed out when my head hit the pillow. I think I could stay in DC as long as I could get visitors from home!:)
So that's it for the week! More to come later, but this typing is kind of exhausting too, and I really just want to go to bed:) I love you guys, and hope that I'll hear from you soon! Keep me and my Nanny in your prayers, and know that I'll be praying for you too!
XOXO,
Hannah
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A Week Alone with some Middle Schoolers!
Hay yall! This was my first group alone, and I spent it with 13 middle schoolers, 2 leaders, and one student leader who was 16. It was a good week, though somewhat stressful, so here come the details of the week!
Sunday: I didn't go to church, bad, I know, so I rested until ten. I took a walk around the block with Sarah, Katie, and Sarah's roommate from school Rebekah. I read the rest of the afternoon which was glorious, and then got ready for the staff meeting. Since this is my first group alone I freaked out and cried for about 20 minutes panicking about the week, and a combination of other things. My group arrived and we had supper at a Salvadoran restaurant called Pollo Granjero, and then did the prayer tour, which was considerably easier because the main leader and driver of the bus has been on 6 CSM trips here before.
Monday: We started with City Survey=2 hours of free time for me, with which I talked to my mom and read! We had lunch at Anacostia Park with the other groups, and then went to Kids Konnection for VBS orientation. Our VBS site was at Stoddard Park, where we had around 40-50 kids. It went well and the group was well prepared=minimal work for me. :) Supper was at Taste of India, then we had Baskin Robbins for dessert. We debriefed at Rock Creek Park, which went well but they had a hard time focusing and not giggling. Such is junior high school though, I guess. It cracks me up how similar they are to the way we were in junior high...not much has changed, they even still listen to Sadie Hawkins Dance by Relient K like we did! Also this girl just said the phrase "way back when there was a drink called Surge, I think it was a cross between soda and an energy drink." Wow I'm old, I remember Surge well, and I liked it. Makes me think of Haley Booth putting skittles in it at the studio...anyway. We got home around 8:30 and I got to talk to my Zeeland group--one of the first groups I had this summer! They were having a DC reunion so they called Sarah and I--it was fantastic! I went to bed around 9:30 (also fantastic) after talking to my parents.
Tuesday: We started off at a project called Unique Development, which is a gardening project started by Reverend Hackney in Anacostia. We weeded for a good 3 hours, then I took the students for lunch at Anacostia Park and I met with Jason. Back to VBS for the afternoon where I met a precious 9 year old named Taywan (spelling?). He was wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before, and was dirty from head to toe. The other guys were picking on him and trying to fight him, and I thought I was going to fight them because they wouldn't stay off of him. The other boys were 10-12 years old, I'd guess. When they wouldn't go away, he looked up at me with big tears in his eyes and said he wouldn't fight them because there were more important things in life. He and I then went to color a game board for crafts. He talked about being stupid because he wasn't very good at his multiplication tables. I told him that I'll be a senior in college but I wasn't very good at my multiplication tables either, but that made neither of us dumb or stupid, it just gave us a reason to work harder. He acted like that made him feel better, and I certainly hope it did. He said he had no friends and his face lit up when I said I wanted to be his friend. I told him about Jesus and that Jesus would always be his friend. We talked a long time and my heart is broken for this little guy. We ate at Old City and then debriefed at Meridian Park. There are feces smashed all over the downstairs bathroom and we suspect its the fault of my group because a few of them refer to themselves as "the Deuce Brothers" OH MY! This week is going to be interesting at best.
Wednesday: We started the day at St. Thomas More, a nursing home facility, where the students did room visits and I talked to Gabriel, whom you'd just have to meet, he's an interesting character. The first thing he said to me when he turned the corner and saw me sitting there was "Hannah, baby, I've been longing to see you!" Oh my...After that we headed to lunch at the Aquatic Gardens which consisted of a lot of reading on my part--I finished the last book in my series! We went back to VBS, another successful day, and then supper at Wok and Roll. We debriefed at the National Cathedral, where the group did a circle of affirmation and encouraged each other for a minute straight. They started with me, and they were so nice!! It definitely did what it was supposed to and made me feel better about the remainder of the week.
Thursday: We started with a delivery at Food and Friends, which was pretty long and went pretty well. We had some extra time so the youth leader bought the 4 of us in the car cokes and we went to a park and drank them and talked about my book. He lent me another book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne, which started out great. We went to the Basilica for lunch and the group did a tour while the youth leader and I talked about random stuff. It was kind of nice. After the tour we went outside and talked about Catholicism and how it differs from our views as Protestants. We went back to VBS and then had supper at Ben's, which was a good time as usual. We debriefed at Haines Point (a park, sort of, down past the monuments which juts out into the Potomac) and afterward all of the students jumped in the river. It was a lot of fun, and they were all super pumped. On the way home we had a dance party in the van with a lot of awkward middle school esque dancing. It was great, I must admit:) We got in bed late because they all had to shower before bed, but it was still fun.
Friday: Happy 4th! We started off at Food and Friends doing a delivery, and then headed back to Star for lunch. The group was supposed to have a free day because of the 4th, but they didn't want to, so we did an urban plunge. It was a different plunge than usual though, because I didn't get off for it like we normally do, I rode down to Dupont Circle with the youth leader. The kids walked down instead of taking the bus, so we basically stalked them all down the street until we got to the circle. I talked to Tiffany for awhile (which was great, because I miss her a ton) and then Chris, the youth leader, and I had Five Guys while waiting on the kids to finish. They didn't want to go down to the mall for the 4th celebration, so we rode around for awhile and ended up in Virginia to watch them from the other side of the river. It rained on us and was a big mess, but we ended up watching a few minutes of fireworks on a bridge. We missed a lot though, because the smoke from the fireworks blocked a lot from our view. On the way home the students seemed to be having some conflict and the older guys in the group wanted to settle them, so we pulled over in a church and us leaders went off to a 7-11 for cokes and snacks while they finished up their conversation. We brought back 12 packs of cokes and some bags of chips and when we got back they were all in tears. Things seemed to be resolved though, and us leaders had a really good time hanging out that night anyway. We got home and did evaluations (which were especially good) and then headed to bed.
Saturday: The group got up really early to clean up Star because they wanted to serve us as well, and then left out around 10:30. We then headed to Tasty Diner and Borders (a usual Saturday around here now) before coming back to Star to chill out. My chilling was interrupted though by my friends wanting me to ride a bicycle. We headed over to Rock Creek Park in one sexy looking bike helmet and I attempted to ride. I did ok, I rode alone for about 10 feet, but the seat caused me a fair amount of pain...I don't know how that happened and I really hope I was just doing something wrong. It was fun until I got really frustrated, so we went in. I took my second shower of the day, and then we all (minus Katie and Sarah) went to Jason (our boss)'s house for an Independence Day cookout. It was fun and the food was great, but it gave me a large amount of heart burn so I had to hurry up and go to bed when I got back. We also watched JCTV (Jesus Christ Television), and saw a Christian rapper named Tracy Edmond who said "People need Jesus like phrases need commas!" We thought it was hilarious, so I thought it was quotable here on my blog:) It was a good night overall, but I did go to bed asap!
Sunday: Cassie and I woke up early and went to National Community Church, which was a great service. They played Hosanna by Hillsong United, and since it's one of my favorites it kind of made my day. We talked about Christians being Doers of the Word instead of just hearers, and it was definitely a good lesson to hear. We came back and napped and then got up for the staff meeting that we just finished. I'm praying for a good group and good day:)
So that's it for this week, my favorite week since I've been here, though I am glad it's over with. Despite feeling slightly shafted from missing the fireworks on the mall, I had a great time. Also, the leader gave me the book he'd originally lent me, which I'm still reading and its awesome. I miss everyone a lot and it'd be great to hear from you! I love you guys!
XOXO,
Hannah
Sunday: I didn't go to church, bad, I know, so I rested until ten. I took a walk around the block with Sarah, Katie, and Sarah's roommate from school Rebekah. I read the rest of the afternoon which was glorious, and then got ready for the staff meeting. Since this is my first group alone I freaked out and cried for about 20 minutes panicking about the week, and a combination of other things. My group arrived and we had supper at a Salvadoran restaurant called Pollo Granjero, and then did the prayer tour, which was considerably easier because the main leader and driver of the bus has been on 6 CSM trips here before.
Monday: We started with City Survey=2 hours of free time for me, with which I talked to my mom and read! We had lunch at Anacostia Park with the other groups, and then went to Kids Konnection for VBS orientation. Our VBS site was at Stoddard Park, where we had around 40-50 kids. It went well and the group was well prepared=minimal work for me. :) Supper was at Taste of India, then we had Baskin Robbins for dessert. We debriefed at Rock Creek Park, which went well but they had a hard time focusing and not giggling. Such is junior high school though, I guess. It cracks me up how similar they are to the way we were in junior high...not much has changed, they even still listen to Sadie Hawkins Dance by Relient K like we did! Also this girl just said the phrase "way back when there was a drink called Surge, I think it was a cross between soda and an energy drink." Wow I'm old, I remember Surge well, and I liked it. Makes me think of Haley Booth putting skittles in it at the studio...anyway. We got home around 8:30 and I got to talk to my Zeeland group--one of the first groups I had this summer! They were having a DC reunion so they called Sarah and I--it was fantastic! I went to bed around 9:30 (also fantastic) after talking to my parents.
Tuesday: We started off at a project called Unique Development, which is a gardening project started by Reverend Hackney in Anacostia. We weeded for a good 3 hours, then I took the students for lunch at Anacostia Park and I met with Jason. Back to VBS for the afternoon where I met a precious 9 year old named Taywan (spelling?). He was wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before, and was dirty from head to toe. The other guys were picking on him and trying to fight him, and I thought I was going to fight them because they wouldn't stay off of him. The other boys were 10-12 years old, I'd guess. When they wouldn't go away, he looked up at me with big tears in his eyes and said he wouldn't fight them because there were more important things in life. He and I then went to color a game board for crafts. He talked about being stupid because he wasn't very good at his multiplication tables. I told him that I'll be a senior in college but I wasn't very good at my multiplication tables either, but that made neither of us dumb or stupid, it just gave us a reason to work harder. He acted like that made him feel better, and I certainly hope it did. He said he had no friends and his face lit up when I said I wanted to be his friend. I told him about Jesus and that Jesus would always be his friend. We talked a long time and my heart is broken for this little guy. We ate at Old City and then debriefed at Meridian Park. There are feces smashed all over the downstairs bathroom and we suspect its the fault of my group because a few of them refer to themselves as "the Deuce Brothers" OH MY! This week is going to be interesting at best.
Wednesday: We started the day at St. Thomas More, a nursing home facility, where the students did room visits and I talked to Gabriel, whom you'd just have to meet, he's an interesting character. The first thing he said to me when he turned the corner and saw me sitting there was "Hannah, baby, I've been longing to see you!" Oh my...After that we headed to lunch at the Aquatic Gardens which consisted of a lot of reading on my part--I finished the last book in my series! We went back to VBS, another successful day, and then supper at Wok and Roll. We debriefed at the National Cathedral, where the group did a circle of affirmation and encouraged each other for a minute straight. They started with me, and they were so nice!! It definitely did what it was supposed to and made me feel better about the remainder of the week.
Thursday: We started with a delivery at Food and Friends, which was pretty long and went pretty well. We had some extra time so the youth leader bought the 4 of us in the car cokes and we went to a park and drank them and talked about my book. He lent me another book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne, which started out great. We went to the Basilica for lunch and the group did a tour while the youth leader and I talked about random stuff. It was kind of nice. After the tour we went outside and talked about Catholicism and how it differs from our views as Protestants. We went back to VBS and then had supper at Ben's, which was a good time as usual. We debriefed at Haines Point (a park, sort of, down past the monuments which juts out into the Potomac) and afterward all of the students jumped in the river. It was a lot of fun, and they were all super pumped. On the way home we had a dance party in the van with a lot of awkward middle school esque dancing. It was great, I must admit:) We got in bed late because they all had to shower before bed, but it was still fun.
Friday: Happy 4th! We started off at Food and Friends doing a delivery, and then headed back to Star for lunch. The group was supposed to have a free day because of the 4th, but they didn't want to, so we did an urban plunge. It was a different plunge than usual though, because I didn't get off for it like we normally do, I rode down to Dupont Circle with the youth leader. The kids walked down instead of taking the bus, so we basically stalked them all down the street until we got to the circle. I talked to Tiffany for awhile (which was great, because I miss her a ton) and then Chris, the youth leader, and I had Five Guys while waiting on the kids to finish. They didn't want to go down to the mall for the 4th celebration, so we rode around for awhile and ended up in Virginia to watch them from the other side of the river. It rained on us and was a big mess, but we ended up watching a few minutes of fireworks on a bridge. We missed a lot though, because the smoke from the fireworks blocked a lot from our view. On the way home the students seemed to be having some conflict and the older guys in the group wanted to settle them, so we pulled over in a church and us leaders went off to a 7-11 for cokes and snacks while they finished up their conversation. We brought back 12 packs of cokes and some bags of chips and when we got back they were all in tears. Things seemed to be resolved though, and us leaders had a really good time hanging out that night anyway. We got home and did evaluations (which were especially good) and then headed to bed.
Saturday: The group got up really early to clean up Star because they wanted to serve us as well, and then left out around 10:30. We then headed to Tasty Diner and Borders (a usual Saturday around here now) before coming back to Star to chill out. My chilling was interrupted though by my friends wanting me to ride a bicycle. We headed over to Rock Creek Park in one sexy looking bike helmet and I attempted to ride. I did ok, I rode alone for about 10 feet, but the seat caused me a fair amount of pain...I don't know how that happened and I really hope I was just doing something wrong. It was fun until I got really frustrated, so we went in. I took my second shower of the day, and then we all (minus Katie and Sarah) went to Jason (our boss)'s house for an Independence Day cookout. It was fun and the food was great, but it gave me a large amount of heart burn so I had to hurry up and go to bed when I got back. We also watched JCTV (Jesus Christ Television), and saw a Christian rapper named Tracy Edmond who said "People need Jesus like phrases need commas!" We thought it was hilarious, so I thought it was quotable here on my blog:) It was a good night overall, but I did go to bed asap!
Sunday: Cassie and I woke up early and went to National Community Church, which was a great service. They played Hosanna by Hillsong United, and since it's one of my favorites it kind of made my day. We talked about Christians being Doers of the Word instead of just hearers, and it was definitely a good lesson to hear. We came back and napped and then got up for the staff meeting that we just finished. I'm praying for a good group and good day:)
So that's it for this week, my favorite week since I've been here, though I am glad it's over with. Despite feeling slightly shafted from missing the fireworks on the mall, I had a great time. Also, the leader gave me the book he'd originally lent me, which I'm still reading and its awesome. I miss everyone a lot and it'd be great to hear from you! I love you guys!
XOXO,
Hannah
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Another week in the life....
Hay friends, I just wanted to write again and update you on yet another week here in D.C. Last week was not necessarily as good as weeks past, so please forgive me for the bitter undertone that may or may not appear in the following:)
Sunday: I started out the day at Capitol Hill Baptist Church w/ Kristyn, Arthur, and Greg (the aforementioned VP of CSM). It was a great service, very similar to Spring Place, and our message was the first in a 4 part on Job. It was phenomenal! Afterwards we went to Bread and Chocolate for lunch and it was amazing not only because of the food, but also because it was free!:) We had a staff meeting at 2:30 and I was especially excited because my group was coming from Atlanta--the Atlanta Chinese Christian Church. I also hosted with Cassie, which was better than great. I love her! Our group was late because they hit traffic, so while we were waiting Cassie and I met with Greg. We talked to him about the possibility of starting CSM Atlanta, because Cassie is going to Emory in the fall, so he got our emails in case that ever happens. He also remembered Alan Ridley, Bryan's dad who took us on our CSM trip to Philly in 2004. I thought that was pretty cool. I read a lot after that, and our group arrived around 8. 10 high schoolers and 2 leaders plus Cassie and I went to Old City to eat, and then to Northwest Community Church, our alternate/overflow housing site. That's surely the worst part of my week. At Northwest we slept on airbeds and in a room with a half door, which was directly connected to the girls' room. Fortunately the bathrooms are one-seaters so that's all private, plus we have central heating and air there.
Monday: We started the day off at Matha's Table, a soup kitchen of sorts, where we sorted groceries and made sack lunches. It was pretty good, and while I was there I got mail--a card from my Aunt Sue:) That definitely made my day and reading it was also a nice break from the kitchen. We had lunch at Anacostia Park and our students played with some of the kids who were hanging out at the park. After lunch we headed over to Children of Mine, an after school program, and helped the owner Ms. Hannah Hawkins, clean the center, cook for the kids, and help them on school practice work. We had supper at Ben's Chili Bowl and I had my first ever veggie burger and liked it so much that I think I could be a vegetarian. Afterwards we did the prayer tour, since we couldn't the night before, and I think it was quite a success. It ended with a cold rain shower at the National Cathedral and after dropping students off at NWCC, Cassie and I went to Star for food. We went to bed fairly early, but were unfortunately kept awake by screaming students and the air mattresses made it even worse. I might've slept 2 hours.
Tuesday: I feel terrible, like I've never been so tired in all my life. Sleeping was rough and the noise issues made it even worse. We went to Vision DC with Ms. Azi, and organized vests and boxes. Luckily Jason picked me up for our meeting and I got coffee to revitalize me a bit...not very successful. We had lunch at the Basilica where Cassie and I had some awesome conversation about our families and our futures and such. She may be the most encouraging person I have ever met and I consider myself endlessly blessed to have met her. We then went back to Children of Mine and had dinner at Tropicana Jamaican. We debriefed at a park, and attempted (unsuccessfully) to get in bed early.
Wednesday: No rest for the weary, more noise and a bad mattress made for another sleepless night. We went to Food and Friends and I did a ton of deliveries, I'd say twice as many as usual, and when we got back we marinated fish in the kitchen until time to go. We headed back to Northwest for lunch because the group wanted a free afternoon (thank you Lord!) Cassie and I took naps, then we had dinner at the Tasty Diner w/ Kristyn and Arthur since their group had urban plunge. Cassie and I went to Borders afterward to get the 2nd book in the series I'm reading. I feel bad because I'm extremely irritable due to lack of sleep and I think I'm nearly impossible to be around. I'm trying to be positive thought and Christ-like, but its really hard. We got back to Star and started some laundry and our new books. Mine took a sad turn and left me in tears though, so I had to stop for a bit. My dad called then and it turns out he's coming to visit me on the 5th-next weekend!! I'm pretty excited, because I'm a tad homesick (more for Star than my actual home in GA) but it'll be good to see him. We went back to Northwest with our group around 9 and read til 11 or so. I talked to my parents and Drew and attempted to sleep for the night.
Thursday: Capitol Area Food Bank=gross and I'm still exhausted from little sleep. We sorted through cages of "pantry goods"--cake mix, olive oil, popcorn, bacon bits, etc. and put them into boxes for people to pick up or deliver. most of the stuff was covered in rodent poop, but fortunately we didn't run into the actual rodents. We did do a lot of gagging though. For lunch we went to the FDR Memorial and I enjoyed the best rest of my week under a tree by the Potomac River. It was phenomenal!! After lunch we went back to Children of Mine to play with kids, tutor them and prepare dinner. We had dinner at Mid-Atlantic Seafood where I had black-eyed peas (a new favorite), mac and cheese and potato salad with a Dr. Pepper (yay for that!) We're debriefing at Rock Creek Park and hoping, again, for an early night. Also, Cassie just informed me that I'm going to learn to ride a bike on Saturday, too...scary.
Friday: Morning at Food and Friends again where we packed bags, sorted old food, and colored cards and happy birthday bags. We left early and headed to the monuments for lunch. Cassie and I read for 2 hours under another tree at the FDR while the group looked around and such. We were back at Children of Mine playing with kids and planning tonight's final debrief. We're heading to Taste of India for supper then hopefully debriefing at the Lincoln/WWI. We'll be back at the church to do t-shirts and evaluations, and then hopefully have an early night. They're supposed to leave at 8am, which really means 8:30 to them.
Saturday: The group left at 8:45ish and by 9 we were back at home--yay! I finished my book and everybody minus William had breakfast at Tasty Diner (its turning into a tradition) and then Cassie, Arthur, and I went to Borders and American Apparel. We hung out at Star for awhile after that and watched Across the Universe (the Beatles musical), then went to Giant, Target, and Barnes and Noble to get dinner and the last book in the series I'm reading (at least til August, when the newest one comes back). That night we cooked spaghetti and had a dance party, then Cassie, Kristyn, and I spent some time on the roof talking, which was great. I've missed some good girl talk! We headed to bed around 1!
That's it for this week. I'll be working on the next asap, and I'm sorry that it goes back and forth between past and present tense, I've been keeping a journal and I'm just copying it on here. I miss you guys, and would love to hear from you!!
XOXO,
Hannah
Wednesday: No rest for the weary, more noise and a bad mattress made for another sleepless night. We went to Food and Friends and I did a ton of deliveries, I'd say twice as many as usual, and when we got back we marinated fish in the kitchen until time to go. We headed back to Northwest for lunch because the group wanted a free afternoon (thank you Lord!) Cassie and I took naps, then we had dinner at the Tasty Diner w/ Kristyn and Arthur since their group had urban plunge. Cassie and I went to Borders afterward to get the 2nd book in the series I'm reading. I feel bad because I'm extremely irritable due to lack of sleep and I think I'm nearly impossible to be around. I'm trying to be positive thought and Christ-like, but its really hard. We got back to Star and started some laundry and our new books. Mine took a sad turn and left me in tears though, so I had to stop for a bit. My dad called then and it turns out he's coming to visit me on the 5th-next weekend!! I'm pretty excited, because I'm a tad homesick (more for Star than my actual home in GA) but it'll be good to see him. We went back to Northwest with our group around 9 and read til 11 or so. I talked to my parents and Drew and attempted to sleep for the night.
Thursday: Capitol Area Food Bank=gross and I'm still exhausted from little sleep. We sorted through cages of "pantry goods"--cake mix, olive oil, popcorn, bacon bits, etc. and put them into boxes for people to pick up or deliver. most of the stuff was covered in rodent poop, but fortunately we didn't run into the actual rodents. We did do a lot of gagging though. For lunch we went to the FDR Memorial and I enjoyed the best rest of my week under a tree by the Potomac River. It was phenomenal!! After lunch we went back to Children of Mine to play with kids, tutor them and prepare dinner. We had dinner at Mid-Atlantic Seafood where I had black-eyed peas (a new favorite), mac and cheese and potato salad with a Dr. Pepper (yay for that!) We're debriefing at Rock Creek Park and hoping, again, for an early night. Also, Cassie just informed me that I'm going to learn to ride a bike on Saturday, too...scary.
Friday: Morning at Food and Friends again where we packed bags, sorted old food, and colored cards and happy birthday bags. We left early and headed to the monuments for lunch. Cassie and I read for 2 hours under another tree at the FDR while the group looked around and such. We were back at Children of Mine playing with kids and planning tonight's final debrief. We're heading to Taste of India for supper then hopefully debriefing at the Lincoln/WWI. We'll be back at the church to do t-shirts and evaluations, and then hopefully have an early night. They're supposed to leave at 8am, which really means 8:30 to them.
Saturday: The group left at 8:45ish and by 9 we were back at home--yay! I finished my book and everybody minus William had breakfast at Tasty Diner (its turning into a tradition) and then Cassie, Arthur, and I went to Borders and American Apparel. We hung out at Star for awhile after that and watched Across the Universe (the Beatles musical), then went to Giant, Target, and Barnes and Noble to get dinner and the last book in the series I'm reading (at least til August, when the newest one comes back). That night we cooked spaghetti and had a dance party, then Cassie, Kristyn, and I spent some time on the roof talking, which was great. I've missed some good girl talk! We headed to bed around 1!
That's it for this week. I'll be working on the next asap, and I'm sorry that it goes back and forth between past and present tense, I've been keeping a journal and I'm just copying it on here. I miss you guys, and would love to hear from you!!
XOXO,
Hannah
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Last Week, mainly for Staci
So I'm sorry I'm sketchy and hardly write on here anymore, but I have gotten caught up in some really good novels, as well as being busy with groups, so I'm doing the best I can. Luckily Staci has been checking it everyday and since she misses me and my filthiness I thought I'd write for her.
Monday: I took the group that had come in from Austin, TX to Central Union Mission. In the group there were 31 students/adults total, but they were split into two groups and Kristyn (my lovely co-host) took 1/2 as did I. At Central Union we unloaded two trucks of chairs--all kinds, rolling chairs, hi-backed chairs, etc.--then we put some in their basement, some in the sanctuary, and others on another truck to be sent elsewhere. In the afternoon we went to VBS at Star, where there were about a million kids and very few adults. It's an all-day camp like thing there, so when we got there it was playtime and we went to Rock Creek Park to play with them. We had dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl and then did a short debriefing at the Lincoln where one of the leaders shared his testimony--a good way to kick off the week.
Tuesday: We went to Food and Friends in the morning and I was in charge of one of the delivery routes with David, the youth leader. It was pretty uneventful. We ate lunch at the Basilica, but it was a very short break, and then had Star VBS again. For dinner we did an Ethnic Plunge, which is where we give everyone $9, drop them off in Adams Morgan (a neighborhood with a ton of ethnic restaurants) and force them to eat at one. Kristyn and I went to the Diner (where I celebrated my 21st!) and had omelets instead of ethnic. After that the group debriefed at Haines Point, but we weren't exactly invited so we walked an hour and a half back to Star! It sounds a lot worse than it actually was, because the weather was great and we actually enjoyed the walk. I went to bed early, but while I was sleeping one of the girls in our group had a seizure and ended up heading to the hospital in an ambulance! The whole group (except me, the worst host ever) was up until about 6:30am when she got back home. She's ok, and she's had seizures before, they just had to take her in as a precaution since her parents weren't there.
Wednesday: We got the morning off because the group went on a tour of the White House! I slept in until 9:30 and then just sat around reading. It was glorious! We had lunch at Star and did VBS there again. You know VBS is positive when the leader is wearing a Tupac shirt...He yelled at me for serving beans to the kids for lunch, but let me serve hotdogs and donuts. We had dinner at Mid-Atlantic Seafood, then debriefed at Star.
Thursday: We went to Vision DC, and sorted clothes from the Dress Barn into size piles, and the guys cut fabric into shapes for the teacher supply room. I had a meeting with The Boss then, so I missed a lot, but when I got back I helped the guys with the fabric because they weren't being very successful. We had lunch at the Basilica again, because they really liked it, and went back to Star VBS again, back to the playground. Ryan, one of the guys in my group, taught a bunch of little kids to do the Gator chomp, and they harassed me with it all day long. It was obnoxious but also incredibly cute so I got a few pictures of it too. The little girls taught us a hand clapping game somewhat similar to the ones I did back in the day, only a little more ghetto. It was called "yo, peace out!" We had dinner at Taste of India and afterward we all went out for ice cream on David, their leader. It was phenomenal, mainly because it was FREE. Kristyn and I walked home again (about an hour and a half again) and the group went to debrief. I love walks with Kristyn because we have awesome chats all the way home. We always run into a big sewer drain covered with cockroaches though and it makes me gag a bit. Sick.
Friday: We went to DC Central Kitchen that morning and I spent it opening tomato paste and sauce and adding them to a giant vat of sloppy joe mix. I cut onions and added them too, along with parsley and other random things. It smelled A LOT better than it sounds and I kind of wanted to jump into it. They fed us lunch at the kitchen and afterwards we headed back to Star VBS again. We watched the kids practice for a talent show they were having that night before heading back to the playground. There were dancers and cheerleaders and singers and overall it was just pretty frightening. I was kind of glad I had no part in choreographing any of those routines. At the park Kristyn and I chased around a little guy who didn't talk and we conveniently nicknamed "silent Bob." This child was always wondering towards the road or the woods by himself trying to escape. I ran from Ryan and his little gang of Gator chompers all afternoon, but again, they were cute enough that I didn't care. We had dinner at the Union Station food court (I dont know how that qualifies as ethnic at all) and then went back to Star to debrief and do evaluations. Ours were good--yay! The girls were complaining about bug bites though, and after a trip to their room our worst fears were confirmed: bed bugs. There were blood spots on the sheets and we saw them in the beds too, so now we have to do something about it. I'm just praying they dont jump over to the staff housing.
Saturday: My group left at 6:30 which got us up just as early, but we decided to stay up afterward anyway. Kristyn, Arthur, Melissa, and I went to breakfast at the Tasty Diner--basically an upscale Waffle House--and then walked around Silver Spring, Maryland, for awhile. We ended up in Borders and I gave into the trend and bought the novel Twilight. I had heard it was awesome, and now that I'm addicted to the trilogy too I have to say that everyone who told me that was correct. We came back and rested (and read) until about 6 when Arthur made us pasta for supper. It was great, I have to admit I was quite impressed. We went to hang out in Adams Morgan afterward until about 10. Greg, the Vice President of CSM, was in town and stayed up talking to us that night when we got in, and he's a pretty cool guy to talk to. We went to bed fairly early though.
So that was my week with Texas. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but I will say I learned a lot. The importance of defining roles has never been clearer, and since one of their high schoolers was a girl with Down's Syndrome, I learned a lot about people who have that and how to relate and talk to them. She was wonderful and seeing her interact with the kids was the coolest thing I've seen in awhile. Anyways, that's the week in a nut shell, and hopefully I will get this weeks happenings up soon, too. Especially so that I can keep Staci updated on my life. I miss you guys as always, and it'd be great to here from you!
XOXO,
Hannah
Monday: I took the group that had come in from Austin, TX to Central Union Mission. In the group there were 31 students/adults total, but they were split into two groups and Kristyn (my lovely co-host) took 1/2 as did I. At Central Union we unloaded two trucks of chairs--all kinds, rolling chairs, hi-backed chairs, etc.--then we put some in their basement, some in the sanctuary, and others on another truck to be sent elsewhere. In the afternoon we went to VBS at Star, where there were about a million kids and very few adults. It's an all-day camp like thing there, so when we got there it was playtime and we went to Rock Creek Park to play with them. We had dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl and then did a short debriefing at the Lincoln where one of the leaders shared his testimony--a good way to kick off the week.
Tuesday: We went to Food and Friends in the morning and I was in charge of one of the delivery routes with David, the youth leader. It was pretty uneventful. We ate lunch at the Basilica, but it was a very short break, and then had Star VBS again. For dinner we did an Ethnic Plunge, which is where we give everyone $9, drop them off in Adams Morgan (a neighborhood with a ton of ethnic restaurants) and force them to eat at one. Kristyn and I went to the Diner (where I celebrated my 21st!) and had omelets instead of ethnic. After that the group debriefed at Haines Point, but we weren't exactly invited so we walked an hour and a half back to Star! It sounds a lot worse than it actually was, because the weather was great and we actually enjoyed the walk. I went to bed early, but while I was sleeping one of the girls in our group had a seizure and ended up heading to the hospital in an ambulance! The whole group (except me, the worst host ever) was up until about 6:30am when she got back home. She's ok, and she's had seizures before, they just had to take her in as a precaution since her parents weren't there.
Wednesday: We got the morning off because the group went on a tour of the White House! I slept in until 9:30 and then just sat around reading. It was glorious! We had lunch at Star and did VBS there again. You know VBS is positive when the leader is wearing a Tupac shirt...He yelled at me for serving beans to the kids for lunch, but let me serve hotdogs and donuts. We had dinner at Mid-Atlantic Seafood, then debriefed at Star.
Thursday: We went to Vision DC, and sorted clothes from the Dress Barn into size piles, and the guys cut fabric into shapes for the teacher supply room. I had a meeting with The Boss then, so I missed a lot, but when I got back I helped the guys with the fabric because they weren't being very successful. We had lunch at the Basilica again, because they really liked it, and went back to Star VBS again, back to the playground. Ryan, one of the guys in my group, taught a bunch of little kids to do the Gator chomp, and they harassed me with it all day long. It was obnoxious but also incredibly cute so I got a few pictures of it too. The little girls taught us a hand clapping game somewhat similar to the ones I did back in the day, only a little more ghetto. It was called "yo, peace out!" We had dinner at Taste of India and afterward we all went out for ice cream on David, their leader. It was phenomenal, mainly because it was FREE. Kristyn and I walked home again (about an hour and a half again) and the group went to debrief. I love walks with Kristyn because we have awesome chats all the way home. We always run into a big sewer drain covered with cockroaches though and it makes me gag a bit. Sick.
Friday: We went to DC Central Kitchen that morning and I spent it opening tomato paste and sauce and adding them to a giant vat of sloppy joe mix. I cut onions and added them too, along with parsley and other random things. It smelled A LOT better than it sounds and I kind of wanted to jump into it. They fed us lunch at the kitchen and afterwards we headed back to Star VBS again. We watched the kids practice for a talent show they were having that night before heading back to the playground. There were dancers and cheerleaders and singers and overall it was just pretty frightening. I was kind of glad I had no part in choreographing any of those routines. At the park Kristyn and I chased around a little guy who didn't talk and we conveniently nicknamed "silent Bob." This child was always wondering towards the road or the woods by himself trying to escape. I ran from Ryan and his little gang of Gator chompers all afternoon, but again, they were cute enough that I didn't care. We had dinner at the Union Station food court (I dont know how that qualifies as ethnic at all) and then went back to Star to debrief and do evaluations. Ours were good--yay! The girls were complaining about bug bites though, and after a trip to their room our worst fears were confirmed: bed bugs. There were blood spots on the sheets and we saw them in the beds too, so now we have to do something about it. I'm just praying they dont jump over to the staff housing.
Saturday: My group left at 6:30 which got us up just as early, but we decided to stay up afterward anyway. Kristyn, Arthur, Melissa, and I went to breakfast at the Tasty Diner--basically an upscale Waffle House--and then walked around Silver Spring, Maryland, for awhile. We ended up in Borders and I gave into the trend and bought the novel Twilight. I had heard it was awesome, and now that I'm addicted to the trilogy too I have to say that everyone who told me that was correct. We came back and rested (and read) until about 6 when Arthur made us pasta for supper. It was great, I have to admit I was quite impressed. We went to hang out in Adams Morgan afterward until about 10. Greg, the Vice President of CSM, was in town and stayed up talking to us that night when we got in, and he's a pretty cool guy to talk to. We went to bed fairly early though.
So that was my week with Texas. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but I will say I learned a lot. The importance of defining roles has never been clearer, and since one of their high schoolers was a girl with Down's Syndrome, I learned a lot about people who have that and how to relate and talk to them. She was wonderful and seeing her interact with the kids was the coolest thing I've seen in awhile. Anyways, that's the week in a nut shell, and hopefully I will get this weeks happenings up soon, too. Especially so that I can keep Staci updated on my life. I miss you guys as always, and it'd be great to here from you!
XOXO,
Hannah
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Better Late Than Never...
Hay all, sorry this post has been a long time coming, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless. Last week was nothing short of INCREDIBLE, and I am glad I can share it with you on here:)
Sunday: I was hosting with my friend Sarah, and our group arrived from Michigan as 7 high school students, 2 adult leaders, and 1 junior leader who was 18. Everything went well through orientation and the leaders meeting, however Sunday night at dinner things got funny as we were getting to know the students a little better. We went to a restaurant called Taste of India, and for an appetizer we get what is called a Samosa. A samosa is basically a triangle of fried potato, carrots, peas, and other veggies. Well Derek (rising senior) asked what was in it and when I answered peas he immediately questioned me asking if I had said penis. AWKWARD. I didn't expect that to come out at dinner at all, but especially not on the first night of a mission trip. After a good bit of blushing and explaining that it was in fact just peas and not male sex organs, he ate it and all was well. We did the prayer tour afterward, which went well until Michelle (rising junior) had to go to the bathroom. We typically do not stop on the prayer tour for bathroom breaks, but she started to cry so we tried to find bathrooms at the National Cathedral--our last stop. We couldn't, but she went to try and go behind a fence (she wasn't able to) and in the process of trying to make this happen, we managed to leave the 2 guys (both seniors) and the junior leader (his nickname is Skinny, so that's what I'll be calling him throughout the rest of this) at the cathedral. After circling and calling we got them picked back up, but it's safe to say that as long as I'm friends with either of them I'll never live that down.
Monday: We started Monday off at Food and Friends, and in my group we packed bags for distribution, put stickers on other bags, and listened to some awesome music--they played Tiny Dancer which is my all-time favorite, and Teardrops on my Guitar! After we finish at Food and Friends on a typical day, Les (the head guy over expediting) let's us go into the freezer and get extra food that may be left over for lunch. This group completely took free food to the extreme and over loaded themselves with it!! We were so embarassed!! As if that wasn't enough, they came out of the freezer asking for mayonnaise, plastic flatware, and a microwave!! After that scene was over though we were able to leave and go eat our lunch that we'd just confiscated at the Basilica/The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It was beautiful as expected, though we did have to coax the students to stop lying on the floor and looking at the ceiling when it was time to go. For our afternoon site we went to Montello Child Development Center only to find out we were there about an hour before the kids were so we had to sit around and wait. Fortunately though when the kids did come our students were VERY eager to serve and play with them, and we were quite proud of them and very appreciative of their patience. The kids at Montello were precious, but it was sad to work with them because we all knew they were getting very little attention at home when that was all they really wanted. I read with a few, and played some games, but we were all definitely ready to leave when 5:00 came around. For supper we headed to Wok N Roll, which everyone seemed to really enjoy. We encouraged Derek (rising senior from the penis story above) to pack up the leftovers and offer them to a homeless person, and after a bit of arguing and being incredibly reluctant, he did. The man was very appreciative of the food, and we were all proud of Derek for taking a step out of his comfort zone like that.
Tuesday: Tuesday started at the DC Central Kitchen, which I would say rivals as my favorite mission site, and I spent the morning cutting/chopping vegetables for a lady named Ms. Dot. Ms. Dot has been working at DC Central for 13 years, and is a graduate from their culinary arts program. She is quite the fiesty lady, and runs that kitchen exactly how she wants to. I imagine my own Ms. Dot (who also doubles as my Nanny) would run her kitchen in a very similar way! If you cut something wrong she just says "WRONG!" then takes the knife away and shows you again. Despite her hard front she's very patient, and the students always love her. We ate lunch there at the DC Central Kitchen, then headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for the remainder of our lunch break. We met back up with Sarah there, who had been having her meeting w/ Jason, and I got 2 packages!! A shirt from my Mom that I loved, and a card from Kym! They definitely made my day!! After that we were back to Montello Child Development Center, and I spent most of the day reading to kids. Sarah told me that she wanted me to read to her kids one day and that she thought I would be a good mom!! That's a compliment I could never hear too much, since my friends back home always say that I'm awkward with children. We started dancing to Soulja Boi (I may or may not have spelled that right), because music was the only way we were able to connect w/ a junior high girl named Joy. Sarah is awesomely terribly at dancing, but it is fantastic! I will probably laugh at her dancing when I'm 80 years old, just looking back on it. She has a blast though, and so does anyone who might be watching. We went to Old City (Jerusalem food) for supper, which is always good, and I got a free Dr. Pepper, because they are starting to recognize the CSM hosts in there. Yay for perks!:) We debriefed on the mall underneath the Washington Monument, and all shared about compassion. We recognized and prayed for some of the people we had met throughout the day and thought could use some compassion. I prayed for Joy, since she always seemed to be so unhappy until we took the time to relate to what she was interested in--music, and bridge that gap. That night after the students had lights out, I made Sarah show the staff/our roommates her sweet dancing skills, and then we all ended up dancing. We had the best time!! I think because we quit caring what each other thought, and just really enjoyed laughing and doing whatever we felt like. I've never danced like that before, I usually just stick to the choreography, but it just might be my favorite way!
Wednesday: We went to Vision DC that morning and sorted through some clothes with Ms. Azi. I had a lunch meeting with Jason, and afterward I met the group at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. It's one of the saddest things I've ever walked through for 2 hours, however I do encourage everyone to try and go. On the flip side, though, I came out feeling like it was as unreal as ever, since it is very hard for me to believe that something so terrible could have really happened. I can't even fathom anything that may or may not have gone on in Adolf Hitler's mind. After lunch we were back at Montello, and we read, did puzzles, and played on the playground. Playing with those kids is the best workout I've ever had, especially these who are so desperate for attention. I never thought I would enjoy feeling like a human jungle gym, but it might just be the best ever. I was sore the next day, especially my back, but I don't regret playing with those kids and letting them hang all over me, even the little (or not so little) boys. We had supper at Ben's Chili Bowl and met up with Anna (the youth leader)'s brother who lives in the city. Somehow I mentioned that I liked to eat ice, but since they're from Michigan the way I said ice sounded a lot more like a certain 3 letter cuss word. Of course they made me say it about a million times after that, but it was all in good fun. Sarah and I got to go back to Star early because the group was debriefing with Anna's brother, so we enjoyed a nice night off. It was faaabulous! The kids got back around 10 and we had a little dance party with them in the food room before bed, since it was there last night here in Star.
Thursday: In the morning we went to the Central Union Mission, and cleaned out a storage building full of old food and other random things like hair dye and stuffed animals. Random, I told you. We then took a tour of the mission and met a guy named David who is living at the shelter at only 22 years old. He shared his story with us, how ended up homeless after years of drug and alcohol addiction, and how he finally came to Christ who brought him out of it. This story had a HUGE impact on our group. We had lunch at Star so the group could pack up to go home, and we had a small debriefing there. We asked them how we could pray for them the rest of the summer and this upcoming year, but we got little response. Afterwards, we went back to Montello which was pretty similar to the past 3 days that we had spent there. Tropicana was for supper, and they all really seemed to enjoy it. We went to Rita's on our way out of town (to a church-wide block party at Jason's church in Maryland) and had a request for a debrief in the van on the way. We decided the best thing to do with that was to share our own stories/testimonies. Sarah went first and I closed up, and by the end of everyone sharing we were all in tears. Though the girls in the group referred to each other as best friends, I really think this was the first time they had ever been fully honest with each other. We got to the church still crying, and definitely not wanting to go to the block party, but we did anyway. Thank God we did too! At the end of the concert at the block party they did a sort of alter call (the raise-your-hand-if-you-said-that-prayer-with-me kind) and FOUR out of SEVEN of our students accepted Christ!! FOUR! It turned into an incredible night of commitments, prayers, hugs, and tears, and even though we had to say goodbye at the end, it was all still wonderful. I feel incredibly blessed to have gotten to know these students, and share in the most important night of 4 of their lives! We're still keeping in touch with them via text messaging and facebook, and they all seem to be doing really well still almost a week later. Please pray for them!
Friday & Saturday: Friday was all travel, and I was an hour late to a wedding rehearsal, but otherwise it was great. I got to hang out with Mom, which was awesome,and we spent the night in Athens. I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way Athens, GA has become home and I got an overwhelming sense of calm when we pulled into my apartment complex that I've not had in almost 2 months. Not that I don't love Chatsworth and DC, but I guess Athens is just where most of my stuff and friends are, so it's now home. It was so good to be there, no matter how much I love DC there's no place like home. Yes, I'm corny and just quoted the Wizard of Oz!:) Saturday was a wedding all day and more Mom time, and when we got back in town we had Mexicali for the first time in FOREVER!! It was fantastic! I hung out w/ my favorite member of the Geek Squad for a little bit after that, and then went to bed too late.
Sunday: Mom started the day off perfect by making me pancakes! Unfortunately though, after that we were late to the airport where they couldn't find my reservation, then I got behind a guy with a fake id at security, ran up the escalator with all my bags, and reached my 9:55 plane at 9:46!!!! I was shaking and breathing hard and really glad I had an hour and a half to calm down before The Boss picked me up in Baltimore. We had lunch and then came back to Star to prepare for another crazy and fabulous week in the life:)
So that's all for last week really, I figured I could write a week at a time since I can't write daily, so bear with me when these get way too long!! I miss everyone and it would seriously be great to hear from you! I LOVE YOU!
XOXO,
Hannah
Sunday: I was hosting with my friend Sarah, and our group arrived from Michigan as 7 high school students, 2 adult leaders, and 1 junior leader who was 18. Everything went well through orientation and the leaders meeting, however Sunday night at dinner things got funny as we were getting to know the students a little better. We went to a restaurant called Taste of India, and for an appetizer we get what is called a Samosa. A samosa is basically a triangle of fried potato, carrots, peas, and other veggies. Well Derek (rising senior) asked what was in it and when I answered peas he immediately questioned me asking if I had said penis. AWKWARD. I didn't expect that to come out at dinner at all, but especially not on the first night of a mission trip. After a good bit of blushing and explaining that it was in fact just peas and not male sex organs, he ate it and all was well. We did the prayer tour afterward, which went well until Michelle (rising junior) had to go to the bathroom. We typically do not stop on the prayer tour for bathroom breaks, but she started to cry so we tried to find bathrooms at the National Cathedral--our last stop. We couldn't, but she went to try and go behind a fence (she wasn't able to) and in the process of trying to make this happen, we managed to leave the 2 guys (both seniors) and the junior leader (his nickname is Skinny, so that's what I'll be calling him throughout the rest of this) at the cathedral. After circling and calling we got them picked back up, but it's safe to say that as long as I'm friends with either of them I'll never live that down.
Monday: We started Monday off at Food and Friends, and in my group we packed bags for distribution, put stickers on other bags, and listened to some awesome music--they played Tiny Dancer which is my all-time favorite, and Teardrops on my Guitar! After we finish at Food and Friends on a typical day, Les (the head guy over expediting) let's us go into the freezer and get extra food that may be left over for lunch. This group completely took free food to the extreme and over loaded themselves with it!! We were so embarassed!! As if that wasn't enough, they came out of the freezer asking for mayonnaise, plastic flatware, and a microwave!! After that scene was over though we were able to leave and go eat our lunch that we'd just confiscated at the Basilica/The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It was beautiful as expected, though we did have to coax the students to stop lying on the floor and looking at the ceiling when it was time to go. For our afternoon site we went to Montello Child Development Center only to find out we were there about an hour before the kids were so we had to sit around and wait. Fortunately though when the kids did come our students were VERY eager to serve and play with them, and we were quite proud of them and very appreciative of their patience. The kids at Montello were precious, but it was sad to work with them because we all knew they were getting very little attention at home when that was all they really wanted. I read with a few, and played some games, but we were all definitely ready to leave when 5:00 came around. For supper we headed to Wok N Roll, which everyone seemed to really enjoy. We encouraged Derek (rising senior from the penis story above) to pack up the leftovers and offer them to a homeless person, and after a bit of arguing and being incredibly reluctant, he did. The man was very appreciative of the food, and we were all proud of Derek for taking a step out of his comfort zone like that.
Tuesday: Tuesday started at the DC Central Kitchen, which I would say rivals as my favorite mission site, and I spent the morning cutting/chopping vegetables for a lady named Ms. Dot. Ms. Dot has been working at DC Central for 13 years, and is a graduate from their culinary arts program. She is quite the fiesty lady, and runs that kitchen exactly how she wants to. I imagine my own Ms. Dot (who also doubles as my Nanny) would run her kitchen in a very similar way! If you cut something wrong she just says "WRONG!" then takes the knife away and shows you again. Despite her hard front she's very patient, and the students always love her. We ate lunch there at the DC Central Kitchen, then headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for the remainder of our lunch break. We met back up with Sarah there, who had been having her meeting w/ Jason, and I got 2 packages!! A shirt from my Mom that I loved, and a card from Kym! They definitely made my day!! After that we were back to Montello Child Development Center, and I spent most of the day reading to kids. Sarah told me that she wanted me to read to her kids one day and that she thought I would be a good mom!! That's a compliment I could never hear too much, since my friends back home always say that I'm awkward with children. We started dancing to Soulja Boi (I may or may not have spelled that right), because music was the only way we were able to connect w/ a junior high girl named Joy. Sarah is awesomely terribly at dancing, but it is fantastic! I will probably laugh at her dancing when I'm 80 years old, just looking back on it. She has a blast though, and so does anyone who might be watching. We went to Old City (Jerusalem food) for supper, which is always good, and I got a free Dr. Pepper, because they are starting to recognize the CSM hosts in there. Yay for perks!:) We debriefed on the mall underneath the Washington Monument, and all shared about compassion. We recognized and prayed for some of the people we had met throughout the day and thought could use some compassion. I prayed for Joy, since she always seemed to be so unhappy until we took the time to relate to what she was interested in--music, and bridge that gap. That night after the students had lights out, I made Sarah show the staff/our roommates her sweet dancing skills, and then we all ended up dancing. We had the best time!! I think because we quit caring what each other thought, and just really enjoyed laughing and doing whatever we felt like. I've never danced like that before, I usually just stick to the choreography, but it just might be my favorite way!
Wednesday: We went to Vision DC that morning and sorted through some clothes with Ms. Azi. I had a lunch meeting with Jason, and afterward I met the group at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. It's one of the saddest things I've ever walked through for 2 hours, however I do encourage everyone to try and go. On the flip side, though, I came out feeling like it was as unreal as ever, since it is very hard for me to believe that something so terrible could have really happened. I can't even fathom anything that may or may not have gone on in Adolf Hitler's mind. After lunch we were back at Montello, and we read, did puzzles, and played on the playground. Playing with those kids is the best workout I've ever had, especially these who are so desperate for attention. I never thought I would enjoy feeling like a human jungle gym, but it might just be the best ever. I was sore the next day, especially my back, but I don't regret playing with those kids and letting them hang all over me, even the little (or not so little) boys. We had supper at Ben's Chili Bowl and met up with Anna (the youth leader)'s brother who lives in the city. Somehow I mentioned that I liked to eat ice, but since they're from Michigan the way I said ice sounded a lot more like a certain 3 letter cuss word. Of course they made me say it about a million times after that, but it was all in good fun. Sarah and I got to go back to Star early because the group was debriefing with Anna's brother, so we enjoyed a nice night off. It was faaabulous! The kids got back around 10 and we had a little dance party with them in the food room before bed, since it was there last night here in Star.
Thursday: In the morning we went to the Central Union Mission, and cleaned out a storage building full of old food and other random things like hair dye and stuffed animals. Random, I told you. We then took a tour of the mission and met a guy named David who is living at the shelter at only 22 years old. He shared his story with us, how ended up homeless after years of drug and alcohol addiction, and how he finally came to Christ who brought him out of it. This story had a HUGE impact on our group. We had lunch at Star so the group could pack up to go home, and we had a small debriefing there. We asked them how we could pray for them the rest of the summer and this upcoming year, but we got little response. Afterwards, we went back to Montello which was pretty similar to the past 3 days that we had spent there. Tropicana was for supper, and they all really seemed to enjoy it. We went to Rita's on our way out of town (to a church-wide block party at Jason's church in Maryland) and had a request for a debrief in the van on the way. We decided the best thing to do with that was to share our own stories/testimonies. Sarah went first and I closed up, and by the end of everyone sharing we were all in tears. Though the girls in the group referred to each other as best friends, I really think this was the first time they had ever been fully honest with each other. We got to the church still crying, and definitely not wanting to go to the block party, but we did anyway. Thank God we did too! At the end of the concert at the block party they did a sort of alter call (the raise-your-hand-if-you-said-that-prayer-with-me kind) and FOUR out of SEVEN of our students accepted Christ!! FOUR! It turned into an incredible night of commitments, prayers, hugs, and tears, and even though we had to say goodbye at the end, it was all still wonderful. I feel incredibly blessed to have gotten to know these students, and share in the most important night of 4 of their lives! We're still keeping in touch with them via text messaging and facebook, and they all seem to be doing really well still almost a week later. Please pray for them!
Friday & Saturday: Friday was all travel, and I was an hour late to a wedding rehearsal, but otherwise it was great. I got to hang out with Mom, which was awesome,and we spent the night in Athens. I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way Athens, GA has become home and I got an overwhelming sense of calm when we pulled into my apartment complex that I've not had in almost 2 months. Not that I don't love Chatsworth and DC, but I guess Athens is just where most of my stuff and friends are, so it's now home. It was so good to be there, no matter how much I love DC there's no place like home. Yes, I'm corny and just quoted the Wizard of Oz!:) Saturday was a wedding all day and more Mom time, and when we got back in town we had Mexicali for the first time in FOREVER!! It was fantastic! I hung out w/ my favorite member of the Geek Squad for a little bit after that, and then went to bed too late.
Sunday: Mom started the day off perfect by making me pancakes! Unfortunately though, after that we were late to the airport where they couldn't find my reservation, then I got behind a guy with a fake id at security, ran up the escalator with all my bags, and reached my 9:55 plane at 9:46!!!! I was shaking and breathing hard and really glad I had an hour and a half to calm down before The Boss picked me up in Baltimore. We had lunch and then came back to Star to prepare for another crazy and fabulous week in the life:)
So that's all for last week really, I figured I could write a week at a time since I can't write daily, so bear with me when these get way too long!! I miss everyone and it would seriously be great to hear from you! I LOVE YOU!
XOXO,
Hannah
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Tuesday-Sunday, I'll Try Not to Miss Anything!
Hay friends, so due to the fact that my computer decided to die on me (for good, not just run out of power) I haven't been able to write until now. I don't know how frequently I'll be able to from now on either, because of this disaster. But I'll do what I can:)
Tuesday: The group was split into two, and part of them went to S.O.M.E.(So Others Might Eat), and my group went to the D.C. Central Kitchen. It was fun, and we spent the day preparing food for the kitchen, which is distributed to tons of different people and shelters and things around town. I made english muffin ham and cheese sandwiches all day, and I must say I'm pretty darn good at it:) After preparing food, we ate some for lunch that had been previously prepared. DC Central Kitchen is unique in that it not only serves homeless people, but also provides them with opportunities to advance in life. They have a 12 week culinary arts program in which participants learn the trade and become chefs, and are usually hired by restaurants or hotels or other establishments that use chefs. I think it is completely awesome, that the kitchen is able to help these people in more than one way, and give them endless opportunities with a new career. After this, the group I was with went back to Allen Chapel, where we went on Monday afternoon, and then to Tropicana, a Jamaican restaurant, for dinner. Afterward, we went to the Lincoln Memorial and got caught up in the rain. Though it was kind of a mess, it was a lot of fun and incredibly beautiful in the rain. The opposite group was quite unhappy that they were unable to see the memorial though, making debriefing a little less fun when we got back to Star.
Wednesday: Wednesday morning a group of students plus Arthur, Cassie, and I went to Wheeler Elementary School to work with Pastor Bob Matheiu. They have a free for all teacher supply center there, as well as a parent resource center, and the group moved things around and helped organize them to make it more accessible for members of the community. I had to meet with my boss, Jason, during this time though, so I missed almost everything. For lunch everyone came back to Star and made sandwiches before the groups headed out to do Urban Plunge (an activity the staff did last week, so it's explained above) and we had the afternoon off! It came an unbelievable storm though, we almost lost power a few times, and the group was pretty mad about being stuck in a storm...course the point is to be able to understand what it's like to be homeless, so I think it enhanced the experience a bit. After Urban Plunge, the group decided they wanted to debrief at the Lincoln regardless, so we headed in that direction. We went and the bottom fell out of the sky!! It was a little bit horrifying, and absolutely gorgeous all at the same time. We couldn't hear much of what was going on, but it was neat to be able to debrief inside the monument anyway. We then went and explored the Vietnam Memorial as well before heading back to the vans and back to Star.
Thursday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERI ENSLEY!:) I didn't get to call her because we were so busy, but I did think of her! The group split into two that morning, and half went to DC Central Kitchen, and the rest of us went to a geriatric daycare center called Downtown Cluster. I worked with alzheimer's patients who were doing art therapy together. While most of the participants were drawing houses, I was paired with a lady who was "too busy taking care of the baby." She had a plastic doll whom she thought was real. This broke my heart, but I just played along, and helped her to take care of it. She kept telling it how beautiful it was and stroking its face and such. So sad, but taking care of that doll made her day. When we left there we went to lunch and then back to Allen Chapel to play with students there again. For dinner we met back up with the other group and had Mid-Atlantic Seafood, which is basically soul food. It's awesome, but way too much and you eat and eat and eat and never see the bottom!! We went to the Basilica to debrief, and pray with the group, as they were spending most of Friday touring and then were going to head out that night--earlier than we had expected. Thursday night we also got our evaluations from them, some good and some bad, but since there had been a significant amount of conflict early in the week and the group had some unrealistic expectations of both the staff, and the trip as a whole, so we expected the comments that we got. We said our goodbyes, sold some t-shirts, and then headed to bed.
Friday: We went to Food and Friends because they were expecting the group and we felt that we should serve even though they had decided to tour and go home. After this we were free for the day, and most of us took naps:) That was glorious for sure. At 6 we met Jason and Chris in Maryland to go to dinner and see Indiana Jones. It was pretty fun and a good bonding experience for us all, I think. Indiana Jones was pretty good too, though not as good as the previous ones. When we got home we went and sat on the roof of the church for awhile, which was pretty, but not as quiet and serene as we had expected, so we just went to bed.
Saturday: Sarah, Katie, and I went into Fairfax, VA to hang out with some of Sarah's friends from school, and to go to church at Fairfax Community. Her friends were awesome, and so was church, and it was quite nice to be able to be out of the city and into a suburb for a bit. We hung out for a bit and then headed back into DC. When we got home the rest of our roommates were watching a movie, which I finished with them, and then called my parents before going to bed. It was a great day overall, and certainly a nice break from the city.
Sunday/Today: Today I slept in since I went to church yesterday, and that was pretty awesome. I liked having one day to sleep in, since we usually won't. Since then I've just been showering and getting ready for our next group which will be coming in soon! Sarah and I re-stocked the fridge full of water, re-stocked the cereal containers, and the shelves with bread for sandwiches. We have a staff meeting at 3, which is when we'll get our actual schedules and plan out what we will need to do for the group. We will probably set plans for my departure on Friday when I head to Atlanta for Erin's wedding on Saturday(EXCITING!)
So that's basically my week in a nutshell! I'll try to be better and write more smaller posts this week, rather than a long giant one, but I make no promises with my incapacitated computer. Please be in prayer for all of us, the city, and the groups this week, and know that I miss you all! Thank you for your prayers, and as always, it would be phenomenal to hear from you!! hannah87@uga.edu!!!
XOXO,
Hannah
Wednesday: Wednesday morning a group of students plus Arthur, Cassie, and I went to Wheeler Elementary School to work with Pastor Bob Matheiu. They have a free for all teacher supply center there, as well as a parent resource center, and the group moved things around and helped organize them to make it more accessible for members of the community. I had to meet with my boss, Jason, during this time though, so I missed almost everything. For lunch everyone came back to Star and made sandwiches before the groups headed out to do Urban Plunge (an activity the staff did last week, so it's explained above) and we had the afternoon off! It came an unbelievable storm though, we almost lost power a few times, and the group was pretty mad about being stuck in a storm...course the point is to be able to understand what it's like to be homeless, so I think it enhanced the experience a bit. After Urban Plunge, the group decided they wanted to debrief at the Lincoln regardless, so we headed in that direction. We went and the bottom fell out of the sky!! It was a little bit horrifying, and absolutely gorgeous all at the same time. We couldn't hear much of what was going on, but it was neat to be able to debrief inside the monument anyway. We then went and explored the Vietnam Memorial as well before heading back to the vans and back to Star.
Thursday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERI ENSLEY!:) I didn't get to call her because we were so busy, but I did think of her! The group split into two that morning, and half went to DC Central Kitchen, and the rest of us went to a geriatric daycare center called Downtown Cluster. I worked with alzheimer's patients who were doing art therapy together. While most of the participants were drawing houses, I was paired with a lady who was "too busy taking care of the baby." She had a plastic doll whom she thought was real. This broke my heart, but I just played along, and helped her to take care of it. She kept telling it how beautiful it was and stroking its face and such. So sad, but taking care of that doll made her day. When we left there we went to lunch and then back to Allen Chapel to play with students there again. For dinner we met back up with the other group and had Mid-Atlantic Seafood, which is basically soul food. It's awesome, but way too much and you eat and eat and eat and never see the bottom!! We went to the Basilica to debrief, and pray with the group, as they were spending most of Friday touring and then were going to head out that night--earlier than we had expected. Thursday night we also got our evaluations from them, some good and some bad, but since there had been a significant amount of conflict early in the week and the group had some unrealistic expectations of both the staff, and the trip as a whole, so we expected the comments that we got. We said our goodbyes, sold some t-shirts, and then headed to bed.
Friday: We went to Food and Friends because they were expecting the group and we felt that we should serve even though they had decided to tour and go home. After this we were free for the day, and most of us took naps:) That was glorious for sure. At 6 we met Jason and Chris in Maryland to go to dinner and see Indiana Jones. It was pretty fun and a good bonding experience for us all, I think. Indiana Jones was pretty good too, though not as good as the previous ones. When we got home we went and sat on the roof of the church for awhile, which was pretty, but not as quiet and serene as we had expected, so we just went to bed.
Saturday: Sarah, Katie, and I went into Fairfax, VA to hang out with some of Sarah's friends from school, and to go to church at Fairfax Community. Her friends were awesome, and so was church, and it was quite nice to be able to be out of the city and into a suburb for a bit. We hung out for a bit and then headed back into DC. When we got home the rest of our roommates were watching a movie, which I finished with them, and then called my parents before going to bed. It was a great day overall, and certainly a nice break from the city.
Sunday/Today: Today I slept in since I went to church yesterday, and that was pretty awesome. I liked having one day to sleep in, since we usually won't. Since then I've just been showering and getting ready for our next group which will be coming in soon! Sarah and I re-stocked the fridge full of water, re-stocked the cereal containers, and the shelves with bread for sandwiches. We have a staff meeting at 3, which is when we'll get our actual schedules and plan out what we will need to do for the group. We will probably set plans for my departure on Friday when I head to Atlanta for Erin's wedding on Saturday(EXCITING!)
So that's basically my week in a nutshell! I'll try to be better and write more smaller posts this week, rather than a long giant one, but I make no promises with my incapacitated computer. Please be in prayer for all of us, the city, and the groups this week, and know that I miss you all! Thank you for your prayers, and as always, it would be phenomenal to hear from you!! hannah87@uga.edu!!!
XOXO,
Hannah
Monday, June 2, 2008
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...My Amazing Race!
Hello all, sorry it has been awhile since I've written, I was at home all weekend, so I was quite busy. I'm going to start going day by day on this, so I guess Friday where we left off would be best...
Friday: 4:00 am I woke up, wide awake. I had to be up at 4:30 anyway, and I guess I was paranoid about being late, so I was up at the crack of dawn. Correction, long before the crack of dawn. At 5:30 we all left to go to a place called Charlie's Place, where breakfast is served to the homeless. At Charlie's Place, there is also a clothes closet where men and women can get clothes on Tuesdays & Fridays, as well as a registered nurse who provides them with a bit of medical care on these days. I worked in the closet mainly, sorting and folding and finding all sorts of interesting items, and then matching them with those who would seem to most benefit from having them. It's pretty amazing to see a grown man grin and change clothes immediately when you can give him something better to wear. They also did what they call a sock lottery on Friday, and I can honestly say few things have touched me and broken my heart more. Each person at the breakfast gets a number and at the end a drawing is held (a few drawings really, around 6, I think) to see who wins the socks. The best part I saw was a man giving up his winning ticket to another man who had no socks at all. I was absolutely broken to see these people getting so excited over a pair of socks. How can I watch this, and be ok with the $600+ that I spend EACH YEAR just to dance? It was one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced, and wish that each of you could have shared this with me.
After leaving, we split into groups and did what CSM calls a City Survey. Basically, we had to find people around the mall from various walks of life and ask them for their opinions on homelessness in the DC area, what they think the government should do about it (if anything), and questions such as those. We asked a police man, a Smithsonian guard, a DC native, some tourists, and a street vendor. I clammed up and was the last to approach someone, for reasons unknown. However, the man I approached was a street vendor from West Africa, and was one of the most interesting people I have ever had a conversation with. He talked of how America differed from his home country, and how there people care about each other so much that homelessness does not exist. He thinks that is what is missing here in this country--we don't care enough for one another. He told us (Cassie was with me) that if we were friends with him and needed a place to stay, he would take us in. He spoke about some other things for awhile, and finally ended up saying that he basically thought it was Oprah's responsibility:).
When City Survey was done, we came back to Star to get some lunch, and waited on the exterminator and his dog to come, because we thought we had bed bugs! We dont--YAY!! I think most of what was wrong with us was paranoia, because Star has had a problem with these pests before. We then went to our alternate housing site, another local church, and met the pastor there. It's a BEAUTIFUL church, and if I ever get married, I envision my wedding to be in a church similar to that one. The stained glass windows were gorgeous, and it was just small enough to have only one center aisle. I love it. We then came back to Star and got some quick naps in!
After the naps, our evening plans began, and we had a picnic in the park followed by the Shakespeare Theatre Company's performance of Hamlet. It was incredible, though I would've enjoyed it more had I not been so tired. At 11 pm we were headed back to Star for a goodnight's rest, followed by an early morning.
Saturday: Not much happened on Saturday, except I flew back home to the big state of Georgia! Home Sweet Home! Tiffany picked me up from the airport with a birthday gift and an extremely good plate of brownies (compliments of her grandmother), and we went home to Chatsworth. That night we went to eat with my family (Mom's side) where I rambled for far too long about my trip and the goings on here in DC. I love it though, and its just all I can talk about! After that we took Granny & PawPaw their graduation tickets, and spent about an hour cracking up at Granny, and watching Paw shake his head at her:) Tiffany was cracked up! Granny, I know you'll be reading this and I just want you to know I've still not found a husband, but I'm not a nun. I'll let you know if anything changes! And PawPaw, I gave my friends thier crosses and they loved them! They said thanks, and we are all keeping them in our binders that we have to carry everywhere with us. It's an encouragement everytime we see it. I love yall! We also went to WalMart that night, and went to bed ASAP.
Sunday: Church! We went to Sunday School with Mom in Eloise's class (where she informed me that even though she hates blogs she's reading mine--I feel special, Eloise, thanks!), and had a great message. Sunday morning service was good too, and it was great to get to see everybody. That afternoon my baby brother became an official graduate of Murray County High School, and I officially felt old. I'm proud though, just don't tell him:) After Tiffany left, I went to see my Dad, which was great as well. We had some good conversations about life and lessons and such, and I learned what goes into his favorite spinach dip! He took me home, and I packed up my things to come back to DC.
Monday: I woke up at 3:30, making this the official longest day of my life. Nanny and Mom took me to the airport, and Nanny was wide awake, since that's about the time she usually gets up in the morning--bless her. I'm kidding, I love you Nanny, even if you do wake up in the middle of the night on an everyday basis! I did manage to sleep on the way to the airport, but none since then. I rode in Mom's car to the airport, a plane to Baltimore, and a train into DC (hence the title of this blog), and I honestly felt like a contestant on the Amazing Race. Sarah and Kristyn picked me up at Union Station, and I hung out with the group in town for the rest of the day. We went to a place called Allen's Chapel to help move and to hang out with kids, and most of them got quite a good time out of making fun of my accent. One girl tried to talk like me for the rest of the day, and it was quite ridiculous. She was absolutely precious though, as were the rest of the kids. I think I'm starting to like kids a lot more than I used to, and William made fun of my "mommy instinct" since it was coming out. After Allen Chapel, we went to eat at Wok N Roll (Chinese, obviously) which was pretty good, and classic Chinese food. On our way out we met an interesting character who challenged our beliefs on the war and was a complete jerk about it (I can't even explain, honestly), but he said only scumbags were serving in Iraq and we all got pretty offended, since we all know people there who can certainly not be classified as such. The man was drunk though, and we finally got away, heading home for the evening. I have now unpacked my stuff and done two loads of laundry, and will be calling my Mom in approximately 3 minutes to say goodnight. I miss you guys, and it would be great to hear from you! I love you!
XOXO,
Hannah
Friday: 4:00 am I woke up, wide awake. I had to be up at 4:30 anyway, and I guess I was paranoid about being late, so I was up at the crack of dawn. Correction, long before the crack of dawn. At 5:30 we all left to go to a place called Charlie's Place, where breakfast is served to the homeless. At Charlie's Place, there is also a clothes closet where men and women can get clothes on Tuesdays & Fridays, as well as a registered nurse who provides them with a bit of medical care on these days. I worked in the closet mainly, sorting and folding and finding all sorts of interesting items, and then matching them with those who would seem to most benefit from having them. It's pretty amazing to see a grown man grin and change clothes immediately when you can give him something better to wear. They also did what they call a sock lottery on Friday, and I can honestly say few things have touched me and broken my heart more. Each person at the breakfast gets a number and at the end a drawing is held (a few drawings really, around 6, I think) to see who wins the socks. The best part I saw was a man giving up his winning ticket to another man who had no socks at all. I was absolutely broken to see these people getting so excited over a pair of socks. How can I watch this, and be ok with the $600+ that I spend EACH YEAR just to dance? It was one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced, and wish that each of you could have shared this with me.
After leaving, we split into groups and did what CSM calls a City Survey. Basically, we had to find people around the mall from various walks of life and ask them for their opinions on homelessness in the DC area, what they think the government should do about it (if anything), and questions such as those. We asked a police man, a Smithsonian guard, a DC native, some tourists, and a street vendor. I clammed up and was the last to approach someone, for reasons unknown. However, the man I approached was a street vendor from West Africa, and was one of the most interesting people I have ever had a conversation with. He talked of how America differed from his home country, and how there people care about each other so much that homelessness does not exist. He thinks that is what is missing here in this country--we don't care enough for one another. He told us (Cassie was with me) that if we were friends with him and needed a place to stay, he would take us in. He spoke about some other things for awhile, and finally ended up saying that he basically thought it was Oprah's responsibility:).
When City Survey was done, we came back to Star to get some lunch, and waited on the exterminator and his dog to come, because we thought we had bed bugs! We dont--YAY!! I think most of what was wrong with us was paranoia, because Star has had a problem with these pests before. We then went to our alternate housing site, another local church, and met the pastor there. It's a BEAUTIFUL church, and if I ever get married, I envision my wedding to be in a church similar to that one. The stained glass windows were gorgeous, and it was just small enough to have only one center aisle. I love it. We then came back to Star and got some quick naps in!
After the naps, our evening plans began, and we had a picnic in the park followed by the Shakespeare Theatre Company's performance of Hamlet. It was incredible, though I would've enjoyed it more had I not been so tired. At 11 pm we were headed back to Star for a goodnight's rest, followed by an early morning.
Saturday: Not much happened on Saturday, except I flew back home to the big state of Georgia! Home Sweet Home! Tiffany picked me up from the airport with a birthday gift and an extremely good plate of brownies (compliments of her grandmother), and we went home to Chatsworth. That night we went to eat with my family (Mom's side) where I rambled for far too long about my trip and the goings on here in DC. I love it though, and its just all I can talk about! After that we took Granny & PawPaw their graduation tickets, and spent about an hour cracking up at Granny, and watching Paw shake his head at her:) Tiffany was cracked up! Granny, I know you'll be reading this and I just want you to know I've still not found a husband, but I'm not a nun. I'll let you know if anything changes! And PawPaw, I gave my friends thier crosses and they loved them! They said thanks, and we are all keeping them in our binders that we have to carry everywhere with us. It's an encouragement everytime we see it. I love yall! We also went to WalMart that night, and went to bed ASAP.
Sunday: Church! We went to Sunday School with Mom in Eloise's class (where she informed me that even though she hates blogs she's reading mine--I feel special, Eloise, thanks!), and had a great message. Sunday morning service was good too, and it was great to get to see everybody. That afternoon my baby brother became an official graduate of Murray County High School, and I officially felt old. I'm proud though, just don't tell him:) After Tiffany left, I went to see my Dad, which was great as well. We had some good conversations about life and lessons and such, and I learned what goes into his favorite spinach dip! He took me home, and I packed up my things to come back to DC.
Monday: I woke up at 3:30, making this the official longest day of my life. Nanny and Mom took me to the airport, and Nanny was wide awake, since that's about the time she usually gets up in the morning--bless her. I'm kidding, I love you Nanny, even if you do wake up in the middle of the night on an everyday basis! I did manage to sleep on the way to the airport, but none since then. I rode in Mom's car to the airport, a plane to Baltimore, and a train into DC (hence the title of this blog), and I honestly felt like a contestant on the Amazing Race. Sarah and Kristyn picked me up at Union Station, and I hung out with the group in town for the rest of the day. We went to a place called Allen's Chapel to help move and to hang out with kids, and most of them got quite a good time out of making fun of my accent. One girl tried to talk like me for the rest of the day, and it was quite ridiculous. She was absolutely precious though, as were the rest of the kids. I think I'm starting to like kids a lot more than I used to, and William made fun of my "mommy instinct" since it was coming out. After Allen Chapel, we went to eat at Wok N Roll (Chinese, obviously) which was pretty good, and classic Chinese food. On our way out we met an interesting character who challenged our beliefs on the war and was a complete jerk about it (I can't even explain, honestly), but he said only scumbags were serving in Iraq and we all got pretty offended, since we all know people there who can certainly not be classified as such. The man was drunk though, and we finally got away, heading home for the evening. I have now unpacked my stuff and done two loads of laundry, and will be calling my Mom in approximately 3 minutes to say goodnight. I miss you guys, and it would be great to hear from you! I love you!
XOXO,
Hannah
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