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
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment