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