Thanksgiving was a week ago, and when it was my turn to share what I’m thankful for, I gave the typical answer of family and friends. Although this is what most people say, it really is true of me. I was especially thankful for the Mitchell family for hosting me two years in a row. However, when our small group the other night was sharing what we were thankful for, the people who popped into my head were not those whom I know and love dearly, but the random strangers that I’ve met who have blessed me simply with a smile or some act of kindness that made my day. Here are a few of the people who I distinctly remember from the recent past, although there have been many more:
•The lady at Walgreens who sent me back to get a honey bottle three times as big as the one I was purchasing because it was cheaper and contained more.
•The lady at CVS who printed out six extra copies of Megan’s passport photos, giving her $30 worth of pictures for free.
•The woman who exchanged Megan’s glasses at Walmart without even asking how they were broken.
•JP, who gave us ten dollars off our Office Depot purchase even though the coupon was eight days expired and it didn’t even originally apply to our items.
•The girl at Sam’s (Wheaton’s coffee shop) who completed my caramel macchiato with a caramel smiley face instead of a caramel drizzle.
•My barista friend at Caribou who gave me a free hot spicy mocha because I hadn’t tried it before.
Most of these people I will never see again, but I am so thankful for them. They always inspire me to do something to make someone else’s day in the same way they touched mine.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Just Hungry
In my Intro to Sociology class, we have a final project in which we must research a social issue and present on it. My group chose to speak on homelessness. One of the girls in my group, Meredith, is involved with a student-led homeless ministry in downtown Chicago. Every week, 10-15 students from Wheaton meet up with students from other colleges like Moody and DePaul and pass out sandwiches and water to the homeless. Meredith invited us to come down with her to experience what urban homelessness truly looks like.
We arrived in Chicago at around four this afternoon, split up the sandwiches and water, chose our different routes, and headed off. My group was composed of me, a guy named Chris, and Morgan, a girl in my sociology group. Meredith led a different group since she regularly participates in the ministry. She wanted us to see the true face of homelessness, so she sent us to Lower Wacker Street. Lower Wacker is underground the main Chicago streets where not too many cars travel. There seemed to be just parking garages and storage on the dimly lit street. The first two men we came upon simply asked for two sandwiches each and then turned back over in their "beds". The next man, Brent, was more talkative and we had a chance to pray with him which was awesome. We invited him (and everyone we talked to) to a Bible study in Millennium Station that is done weekly by our group.
After we finished talking to Brent, we walked a long way without coming across anyone. Apparently, Lower Wacker is usually more crowded, but since it has been warmer lately, many people have moved up to the upper streets in order to take advantage of the warm sun. We eventually reached an intersection where three men and a woman were standing. The woman approached us and asked us where we were going and what we were doing. She wasn't exactly asking just to be nice if you know what I mean. We told her what we were doing and asked if they wanted any sandwiches. They gladly accepted them and chugged the water bottles we gave them. I can't remember the woman's name, but we talked to her and a man named Earl for quite a while. Earl loved sports and asked if we played any. Unfortunately, we weren't very up to date on the basketball teams he loves so we couldn't exactly talk with him about them, but he thanked us over and over again for what we were doing and wanted to know why we were doing it since we had plenty of other things we could be doing. When we invited them to the Bible study, however, they quickly refused, saying that if they even went into the station, the police would arrest them. We tried to convince them otherwise, but they wouldn't change their minds, so we told them goodbye and finished off the rest of Lower Wacker after talking with a few more men.
We were still a bit early for the Bible study, so we went above ground and walked along Michigan Ave. Our friend, Tom, also caught up with us. The first man we came across and talked to was really open and Tom stayed to talk with him for a while after we had given him sandwiches. The next guy, Myran, was reading "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel when we approached him. He was great and was really open to hearing what we had to say. He was Muslim and said a Christian friend had given him the book. Apparently he and his friend debate often about their religions but respect each others beliefs. We talked with him for quite a while and he was happy to share what he believed (that Jesus was a prophet but not God, the Bible is divinely inspired but so is the Koran, and Jesus is not the only way to heaven). I invited him to our Bible study and he seemed to honestly want to come. Tom again stayed to talk with him a bit more and we walked on after about twenty minutes.
After a while we had to turn around and head back the way we came in order to get to the Bible study on time. Four homeless men came, and a girl who walked a different route read some verses and then talked about them. She also challenged all of us to memorize some Scripture (which she was challenged to do this week by N.T. Wright who visited our campus and spoke at chapel). After we prayed, we invited the men to come to the Thompson Center where Harvest Bible Chapel serves chili every Saturday. Quite a few men came, probably thirty or so altogether, but only one or two women came. We made conversation with them for a while and then headed back to Wheaton.
It was frustrating to see homeless people on our way to Tom's car that we hadn't reached that afternoon since we were out of sandwiches and had nothing to give them but a smile and a hello. I was reflecting a bit on the afternoon and just was thinking about how the homeless are viewed. Many people are scared of them and treat them as if they don't exist. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared on Lower Wacker when we were talking to Earl and the woman. Many believe that the homeless are too lazy to get a job and just depend on people's generosity instead of making the effort to support themselves. I confess that some of these thoughts crossed my mind when I saw the two-liter bottles that sat next to many beds and were filled with urine. It was hard for me to not judge the men who were simply lying and sleeping when they could be doing something more productive. It also rubbed me the wrong way when some grimaced and asked why we had the same bologna sandwiches every week or asked if we had any different types of chips. Shouldn't they just be grateful for what they're given?
Yet at the same time, men like Brent, Myran, Earl, and Terry(another man we met) blessed us for what we were doing and thanked us for acknowledging their need when many others ignored it. They really wanted to get out of their state and believed they could with God's help. All of the empty beds we came upon were neatly made and tidy-- these people do have dignity and are people just like us. It's easy to become cynical when you see the same people week after week, but the truth is, our society isn't exactly helping these people to get out of their tragic situations. Many of the shelters are loud and dirty so the homeless panhandle in order to get $30 just so they can stay a night in a hotel room in which they can get some peace and quiet.
I was struck for a moment while we were talking to Earl when I could see up some stairs to the street above in which well-dressed people were bustling about, oblivious to the people twenty feet below them who didn't know where they were getting their next meal or whether the police would find them and they'd have to move their belongings elsewhere. Tom, while talking to Myran, later told us that as he sat there, Myran was brought four meals and a brand new blanket. Myran told Tom that that had never happened before and only did because Tom was sitting there next to him. Why is it that we often only see those in need after we see someone else helping them? Why are we so quick to jump to the conclusion that the money we give them will only be spent on drugs and alcohol? Even if we don't want to give them money, the least we can do is acknowledge that these people are our fellow human beings and are loved by God. Even if we simply look them in the eye and say hello, we can restore these people's dignity and brighten their day.
We arrived in Chicago at around four this afternoon, split up the sandwiches and water, chose our different routes, and headed off. My group was composed of me, a guy named Chris, and Morgan, a girl in my sociology group. Meredith led a different group since she regularly participates in the ministry. She wanted us to see the true face of homelessness, so she sent us to Lower Wacker Street. Lower Wacker is underground the main Chicago streets where not too many cars travel. There seemed to be just parking garages and storage on the dimly lit street. The first two men we came upon simply asked for two sandwiches each and then turned back over in their "beds". The next man, Brent, was more talkative and we had a chance to pray with him which was awesome. We invited him (and everyone we talked to) to a Bible study in Millennium Station that is done weekly by our group.
After we finished talking to Brent, we walked a long way without coming across anyone. Apparently, Lower Wacker is usually more crowded, but since it has been warmer lately, many people have moved up to the upper streets in order to take advantage of the warm sun. We eventually reached an intersection where three men and a woman were standing. The woman approached us and asked us where we were going and what we were doing. She wasn't exactly asking just to be nice if you know what I mean. We told her what we were doing and asked if they wanted any sandwiches. They gladly accepted them and chugged the water bottles we gave them. I can't remember the woman's name, but we talked to her and a man named Earl for quite a while. Earl loved sports and asked if we played any. Unfortunately, we weren't very up to date on the basketball teams he loves so we couldn't exactly talk with him about them, but he thanked us over and over again for what we were doing and wanted to know why we were doing it since we had plenty of other things we could be doing. When we invited them to the Bible study, however, they quickly refused, saying that if they even went into the station, the police would arrest them. We tried to convince them otherwise, but they wouldn't change their minds, so we told them goodbye and finished off the rest of Lower Wacker after talking with a few more men.
We were still a bit early for the Bible study, so we went above ground and walked along Michigan Ave. Our friend, Tom, also caught up with us. The first man we came across and talked to was really open and Tom stayed to talk with him for a while after we had given him sandwiches. The next guy, Myran, was reading "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel when we approached him. He was great and was really open to hearing what we had to say. He was Muslim and said a Christian friend had given him the book. Apparently he and his friend debate often about their religions but respect each others beliefs. We talked with him for quite a while and he was happy to share what he believed (that Jesus was a prophet but not God, the Bible is divinely inspired but so is the Koran, and Jesus is not the only way to heaven). I invited him to our Bible study and he seemed to honestly want to come. Tom again stayed to talk with him a bit more and we walked on after about twenty minutes.
After a while we had to turn around and head back the way we came in order to get to the Bible study on time. Four homeless men came, and a girl who walked a different route read some verses and then talked about them. She also challenged all of us to memorize some Scripture (which she was challenged to do this week by N.T. Wright who visited our campus and spoke at chapel). After we prayed, we invited the men to come to the Thompson Center where Harvest Bible Chapel serves chili every Saturday. Quite a few men came, probably thirty or so altogether, but only one or two women came. We made conversation with them for a while and then headed back to Wheaton.
It was frustrating to see homeless people on our way to Tom's car that we hadn't reached that afternoon since we were out of sandwiches and had nothing to give them but a smile and a hello. I was reflecting a bit on the afternoon and just was thinking about how the homeless are viewed. Many people are scared of them and treat them as if they don't exist. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared on Lower Wacker when we were talking to Earl and the woman. Many believe that the homeless are too lazy to get a job and just depend on people's generosity instead of making the effort to support themselves. I confess that some of these thoughts crossed my mind when I saw the two-liter bottles that sat next to many beds and were filled with urine. It was hard for me to not judge the men who were simply lying and sleeping when they could be doing something more productive. It also rubbed me the wrong way when some grimaced and asked why we had the same bologna sandwiches every week or asked if we had any different types of chips. Shouldn't they just be grateful for what they're given?
Yet at the same time, men like Brent, Myran, Earl, and Terry(another man we met) blessed us for what we were doing and thanked us for acknowledging their need when many others ignored it. They really wanted to get out of their state and believed they could with God's help. All of the empty beds we came upon were neatly made and tidy-- these people do have dignity and are people just like us. It's easy to become cynical when you see the same people week after week, but the truth is, our society isn't exactly helping these people to get out of their tragic situations. Many of the shelters are loud and dirty so the homeless panhandle in order to get $30 just so they can stay a night in a hotel room in which they can get some peace and quiet.
I was struck for a moment while we were talking to Earl when I could see up some stairs to the street above in which well-dressed people were bustling about, oblivious to the people twenty feet below them who didn't know where they were getting their next meal or whether the police would find them and they'd have to move their belongings elsewhere. Tom, while talking to Myran, later told us that as he sat there, Myran was brought four meals and a brand new blanket. Myran told Tom that that had never happened before and only did because Tom was sitting there next to him. Why is it that we often only see those in need after we see someone else helping them? Why are we so quick to jump to the conclusion that the money we give them will only be spent on drugs and alcohol? Even if we don't want to give them money, the least we can do is acknowledge that these people are our fellow human beings and are loved by God. Even if we simply look them in the eye and say hello, we can restore these people's dignity and brighten their day.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving break!
Because Costa Rica is a little far to fly to for Thanksgiving, my amazing roommate invited me to her house for the six day break. We left Wheaton at 8:40 Tuesday morning (yes, we may have skipped our classes) and arrived in Kansas City at 4:30. Megan and I drove with another girl on our hall, Holly, her brother, and two other guys. I'm also really good friends with Holly, so the plan was for me to stay with Megan until Thursday afternoon, and then go to Holly's house for the remainder of break.
However, this morning I woke up with the chills, a tight chest, coughing, sore throat, and a fever. Not the most fun way to spend Thanksgiving Day. However, I am so grateful that I am at a home instead of a dorm while being sick. I'm also extremely grateful for Megan's family. I basically have a small pharmacy on my bedside table, as well as hot tea, and a delicious looking breakfast that I wasn't able to eat.
Yesterday was also a lot of fun. Megan's family has three horses, so we went riding for a few hours yesterday with Maddi, Megan's sister, and two of their guy friends, Zach and Jeremy. That afternoon, I baked my family's traditional corn casserole while Megan learned how to make stuffing. After they came out of the oven looking delicious, Megan and I went to a shopping center and looked around for a bit ( I got some cute gloves and a shirt!), and then went to Blue Chip Cookie, a store that sells ice cream and cookies. It was delicious =) We then went to a party for one of Megan's friends and I got to meet a lot of them. Actually, one fifth of the party attendees were Wheaties that I knew, so it was fun. We finished off the night with a few hours in the hot tub-- it felt so good!
However, this morning I woke up with the chills, a tight chest, coughing, sore throat, and a fever. Not the most fun way to spend Thanksgiving Day. However, I am so grateful that I am at a home instead of a dorm while being sick. I'm also extremely grateful for Megan's family. I basically have a small pharmacy on my bedside table, as well as hot tea, and a delicious looking breakfast that I wasn't able to eat.
Yesterday was also a lot of fun. Megan's family has three horses, so we went riding for a few hours yesterday with Maddi, Megan's sister, and two of their guy friends, Zach and Jeremy. That afternoon, I baked my family's traditional corn casserole while Megan learned how to make stuffing. After they came out of the oven looking delicious, Megan and I went to a shopping center and looked around for a bit ( I got some cute gloves and a shirt!), and then went to Blue Chip Cookie, a store that sells ice cream and cookies. It was delicious =) We then went to a party for one of Megan's friends and I got to meet a lot of them. Actually, one fifth of the party attendees were Wheaties that I knew, so it was fun. We finished off the night with a few hours in the hot tub-- it felt so good!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wheaton A-Quad
I am currently sitting in the Chicago O’Hare airport waiting for my flight home to North Carolina for fall break. It’s hard to believe that I’m already done with a quarter of my freshman year—the weeks go by so fast! I am officially done with A-Quad and my first two classes- Intro to Music and Intro to Spiritual Formation. Next Quad, I will continue with Biology and Chemistry, as well as Bible and Theology (BITH) and Wellness. In the past eight weeks I have:
· Gone to Chicago twice
· Hosted a friend from Costa Rica
· Gone to a friend’s house for the weekend 
· Been raided by our brother floor
· Raided our brother and sister floors
I first went to Chicago with my Big Sib group- a group of 7 freshmen led by two sophomores during orientation. We went to Millennium Park, saw the Bean, and went to Pizano's pizza for deep dish pizza--delicious! When we got off the train back in Wheaton, upperclassmen were waiting with water balloons. Luckily, I was able to make it back to my room with minor water damage.
A few weeks later, Megan and I went with Matthew and a few of his friends to the Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park. The music was awesome, and I was able to review it for a music assignment at the same time!
Morgan Sharpe, a friend from Costa Rica who now lives in Nicaragua, is a junior in high school and was checking out Wheaton in September. Megan and I hosted her in our dorm room for the night, showed her around a bit, and basically told her why she needed to come to Wheaton. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with Morgan, but here is a picture of my room.
Jesse, one of the girls in my Passage group, invited me and another 
girl in our group to come to her house for the weekend a couple weeks ago. She only lives about an hour away, so we took the train to Chicago, and then another train into Lake Forest, where she lives. It was so nice to get off campus and be in a home again, even though her parents weren’t there. We made cookies ( although we liked the dough better!), watched movies, and Jesse showed us around her little town. It was a lot like Matthews, NC only bigger—so cute!
A raid is an event that each floor is required to do at least once a semester. There are two types of raids: silent and loud. A silent raid is performed by sneaking into your brother/sister floor, and decorating it while everybody is asleep. A loud raid is one in which you develop a theme and go all out in dressing up and decorating. Between 12 and 12:30
in the morning, the whole floor that is raiding runs screaming down the halls and banging on the doors of the brother and/or sister floor(s) that are being raided. Ideally, you have no idea you’re being raided, but sometimes people tell which is no fun. Our brother floor (4 East) loud raided us first three weeks ago. Their theme was church history, which was a lot funnier than it sounds, trust me. Our theme was Veggie Tales! We dressed up as little kids or VeggieTales characters, and decorated the large gathering room with scribbled Veggie Tales coloring pages. Because Big Idea and Veggie Tales were recently sold to another company, our whole theme was based on a made-up organization called S.T.A.R.V.E.—Students Take Action Regarding Vegetable Endangerment. We had everything from VeggieTales trivia to Silly Songs with Larry interpretive dancing. It was a lot of fun, and I think our brother and sister floor really enjoyed it! 
Thursday, August 27, 2009
3:30 AM + Fire Alarm = A bad way to start the morning
As most of you probably know even though I haven't updated in a while, I am currently at Wheaton College! I got here last Thursday after spending the previous 18 days at Wheaton Passage- a trip for incoming freshman. That deserves a whole other post, but I wanted to write about the fun (not) experience we had this morning.
I had gone to bed at about 12:30 and was dead asleep when the blaring fire alarm went off at 3:30 am. Our RA had warned us that Fischer (my dorm) fire alarms are very sensitive so we end up having a lot of evacuations due to little things like steam coming from the shower. Anyway, Megan, my roommate, and I threw on jackets and headed downstairs to the main floor. It was pouring rain, but luckily my suitemate, Julie, had told us to grab an umbrella so we stayed pretty dry unlike everybody else who only had jackets on. Fischer has 5 floors of people, so hundreds of us were outside in the rain being herded to the SRC (Sports and Recreation Center). Typically we just stand outside for about 15 minutes and then go back in, but we noticed a fire truck and a few police cars so we were pretty sure it wasn't just another drill. As we waited in the SRC Gym, we had to make sure our roommate and suitemates were in the gym too and hadn't been left behind. We waited for 30 minutes before we were allowed to go back to bed-- by this time it was 4:00 am. As we were walking back we could see smoke still coming out of Fischer on the left side. We weren't told what had happened until this morning when we all got an email. Apparently the steam valve on the water heater in the boiler room blew off, releasing billows of steam. There was so much steam that even the fire department thought it was smoke from a fire.
I'm sure that we'll enjoy stuff like this even more when it's 10 degrees outside and snowing!
I had gone to bed at about 12:30 and was dead asleep when the blaring fire alarm went off at 3:30 am. Our RA had warned us that Fischer (my dorm) fire alarms are very sensitive so we end up having a lot of evacuations due to little things like steam coming from the shower. Anyway, Megan, my roommate, and I threw on jackets and headed downstairs to the main floor. It was pouring rain, but luckily my suitemate, Julie, had told us to grab an umbrella so we stayed pretty dry unlike everybody else who only had jackets on. Fischer has 5 floors of people, so hundreds of us were outside in the rain being herded to the SRC (Sports and Recreation Center). Typically we just stand outside for about 15 minutes and then go back in, but we noticed a fire truck and a few police cars so we were pretty sure it wasn't just another drill. As we waited in the SRC Gym, we had to make sure our roommate and suitemates were in the gym too and hadn't been left behind. We waited for 30 minutes before we were allowed to go back to bed-- by this time it was 4:00 am. As we were walking back we could see smoke still coming out of Fischer on the left side. We weren't told what had happened until this morning when we all got an email. Apparently the steam valve on the water heater in the boiler room blew off, releasing billows of steam. There was so much steam that even the fire department thought it was smoke from a fire.
I'm sure that we'll enjoy stuff like this even more when it's 10 degrees outside and snowing!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Daily Happenings
The last two weeks have been pretty much the same in regards to what I usually do during the week. Just in case you wanted to know, my week typically looks like this:
Last Saturday, for the fourth, I went with the Lewis Fam to one of their friend's houses that was having a birthday party for their daughter/ Fourth of July party. About 6 families came, and we enjoyed swimming, jumping on the trampoline, eating some amazing food, and just being with each other from 4-9. On the drive home we were able to enjoy some fireworks, and then we arrived home to find the Lewis's neighbors were shooting some off as well. We ended up staying up til 10:30 enjoying the show they put on right in front of
us!
Monday- Breakfast at 6:30 AM with teams, unload the food shipment for the week, do odd jobs/office work/ work in the warehouse, eat lunch, work in the warehouse, take off at about 4:00 PM to go to the gym, eat dinner with the teams at 6:30 PM, hang out with them after the evening program
Tuesday- Sleep in! Catch up on email and just chill, leave at about 1:00 PM to go to the gym, go to staff meeting at 3:00PM, eat and hang out with teams
Wednesday- Breakfast at 6:30 with teams, work in the warehouse, lunch, work in the warehouse, leave at 4:00ish for the gym, eat dinner with the teams at 6:30 PM and hang out with them after the evening program. I love the program this night because teams share what they've experienced so far since they've come.
Thursday- Breakfast at 6:30 with teams, go out with a team to the city all day, block party (community outreach) from 5:30-7:30 at one of the worksites in the city
Friday- Breakfast at 6:30 with teams, debrief teams, work in the warehouse til lunch, done for the week!
Saturday- Day off! Unless a team comes in...
Sunday- Church, meet and greet incoming teams, finalize details for the week
Last Saturday, for the fourth, I went with the Lewis Fam to one of their friend's houses that was having a birthday party for their daughter/ Fourth of July party. About 6 families came, and we enjoyed swimming, jumping on the trampoline, eating some amazing food, and just being with each other from 4-9. On the drive home we were able to enjoy some fireworks, and then we arrived home to find the Lewis's neighbors were shooting some off as well. We ended up staying up til 10:30 enjoying the show they put on right in front of
us!I have loved getting to know all the teams that have come through, but this past week was 
probably my favorite. The team that came in was from Maryland, and was the only team we had that week whereas we usually have at least 2 teams. Although they had 38 people, I got to know most of them really well because I didn't have to worry about spreading my time between teams. By the end of the week I was totally exhausted because I ended up playing games and hanging out every night until after 10 PM, but it was definitely worth it. Because teams have a half day of work on Friday, they invited us to 
come to dinner with them in the city. We went to a place called Mulate's, a restaurant that is set up as a long hall and has dancing every night. Katie and I shared red beans and rice and corn and shrimp chowder--it was delicious!
probably my favorite. The team that came in was from Maryland, and was the only team we had that week whereas we usually have at least 2 teams. Although they had 38 people, I got to know most of them really well because I didn't have to worry about spreading my time between teams. By the end of the week I was totally exhausted because I ended up playing games and hanging out every night until after 10 PM, but it was definitely worth it. Because teams have a half day of work on Friday, they invited us to 
come to dinner with them in the city. We went to a place called Mulate's, a restaurant that is set up as a long hall and has dancing every night. Katie and I shared red beans and rice and corn and shrimp chowder--it was delicious!Tuesday, July 7, 2009
CAC Costa Rica Mission Trip!
I haven't written in forever, so this post and my next few may be a little long!
On Tuesday we finished sanding, and we were able to paint the rafters by lunchtime! After lunch at the church, we went to the orphanage and played with the kids there all afternoon. I expected a run down building filled with kids, but instead we arrived at a small building with a beautiful outdoor playground and a huge toy room with only 12 kids. 2 of the kids were teeny babies, one was a year old, one was 2 years old, and the rest were between 3 and 8 years old. They LOVED our cameras and didn't want to give them back =) When we got back to the hotel, we found out that the outreach at the church (game night) was again canceled because of low attendance. After showers and dinner, however, Cali, one of the Tico leaders of the trip, called and told us that there were 15 people at the church! 20 of us volunteered to
go, and we had a ton of fun playing jumprope and double dutch with the few Ticos that were there, as well as some Taps and Wah!
I left New Orleans on June 18th, and flew to Charlotte to spend the night. The next day I left with 50 other teens and leaders from Church at Charlotte and headed to Costa Rica! I was originally asked to come as a leader, but I ended up being just another one of the youth. We arrived on the 19th and drove 3 hours to Ciudad Quesada in the San Carlos region where we worked for the remainder of the week.
On Saturday morning, we headed to the church we were parterned with and then split into groups going door to door, asking youth around the community to come to the worship time we were having that night. The church we were working with just moved to a different building after being kicked out of their previous building, so the main goal of our week was to raise awareness of the church and what they're about. Unfortunately, there weren't too many youth around, so after about 45 minutes, we headed to a soccer field where we played against some Ticos (Costa Ricans). Most of our girls didn't play, but there were some kids at the field, and we played a mini soccer game with them-- they were still better than us! That afternoon, we went to a different soccer field, but it started to pour (it IS rainy season!) so we ended up just playing group games in a little pavillion and at the church. Saturday night, we had a worhip time with bands from 3 or 4 different churches. That night was one of my favorites because the songs we sang were able to be sung in both Spanish and English. It was so cool to see everybody worshipping the same God in different languages. The only downside to the night was that we didn't eat until 9:00, so we were all a little bit hungry.
We went to church on Sunday which was a lot like the night before in regards to worship. I was able to meet a few of the Ticas who came, including the wife of one of our translators. She was so sweet and invited us to come to her house anytime. She had an adorable daughter named Valerie who distracted 
quite a lot of us during the service with her cute smile and babbling. We ate around 1:00 and just hung around the church playing games during the afternoon. One of the things our youth group is good at is keeping occupied during periods of waiting by playing group games like "WAH!" and Signs. The outreach activity we had planned for Sunday was a Battle of the Bands, and it was supposed to start at 4 in the afternoon-- that definitely was not set according to Tico time. I left at 4:45 and no one had even showed up at the church yet =). One of the girls on our team, Brittany, got sick, and had to go home to NC. Because she couldn't get a flight until the next day, she and I were driven by George (a translator) 2.5 hours to my house to spend the night since it is much closer to the airport. It was good to see my mom and brother again (Anna was at a friend's house and my dad was already in the States), and Brittany and I had fun talking on the trip back and getting to know each other better.
quite a lot of us during the service with her cute smile and babbling. We ate around 1:00 and just hung around the church playing games during the afternoon. One of the things our youth group is good at is keeping occupied during periods of waiting by playing group games like "WAH!" and Signs. The outreach activity we had planned for Sunday was a Battle of the Bands, and it was supposed to start at 4 in the afternoon-- that definitely was not set according to Tico time. I left at 4:45 and no one had even showed up at the church yet =). One of the girls on our team, Brittany, got sick, and had to go home to NC. Because she couldn't get a flight until the next day, she and I were driven by George (a translator) 2.5 hours to my house to spend the night since it is much closer to the airport. It was good to see my mom and brother again (Anna was at a friend's house and my dad was already in the States), and Brittany and I had fun talking on the trip back and getting to know each other better. I wasn't able to get back to San Carlos until about 4:00 PM on Monday because I hitched a ride with one of our Tica friends, Ana, whose husband was helping facilitate our trip. After a quick cafecito (afternoon coffee time!), Tony (Ana's husband) took me to where one of our groups was 
working-- a small elemantary school. The school director had asked us to sand the rust off some rafters and repaint them-- very dusty work! We were supposed to have a movie night at the church starting at 6, but no one showed up so we simply headed back to the hotel for dinner. Another one of my favorite things about the trip was the debriefing time we had every night after showers. Each group shared about what they had done during the day, showed some pictures, and told about any God sightings they had experienced. One of our teams was working at a special needs school, one was fixing up and repainting a park, and our team was at the elementary school. Each team was also able to visit a nearby orphanage and just love on the kids there.
working-- a small elemantary school. The school director had asked us to sand the rust off some rafters and repaint them-- very dusty work! We were supposed to have a movie night at the church starting at 6, but no one showed up so we simply headed back to the hotel for dinner. Another one of my favorite things about the trip was the debriefing time we had every night after showers. Each group shared about what they had done during the day, showed some pictures, and told about any God sightings they had experienced. One of our teams was working at a special needs school, one was fixing up and repainting a park, and our team was at the elementary school. Each team was also able to visit a nearby orphanage and just love on the kids there.
On Tuesday we finished sanding, and we were able to paint the rafters by lunchtime! After lunch at the church, we went to the orphanage and played with the kids there all afternoon. I expected a run down building filled with kids, but instead we arrived at a small building with a beautiful outdoor playground and a huge toy room with only 12 kids. 2 of the kids were teeny babies, one was a year old, one was 2 years old, and the rest were between 3 and 8 years old. They LOVED our cameras and didn't want to give them back =) When we got back to the hotel, we found out that the outreach at the church (game night) was again canceled because of low attendance. After showers and dinner, however, Cali, one of the Tico leaders of the trip, called and told us that there were 15 people at the church! 20 of us volunteered to
go, and we had a ton of fun playing jumprope and double dutch with the few Ticos that were there, as well as some Taps and Wah! On Wendesday morning, we headed back to the school and very quickly sanded and repainted a whole different set of rafters. It was a little different because the teachers were having teacher enrichment day, so there weren't many kids at the school, only ones who knew we were working and who wanted to see us. As were packing up to leave for lunch, the director asked us to come into the dining hall. She thanked us multiple times for coming, and offered us traditional pico de gallo, a tortilla filled with a potato mixture, sweet plaintains, and some horchata to drink. Horchata, as someone described it, is like the milk leftover after you eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We asked her if there was anything else we could do at the school since we had the whole afternoon open, and she said that we could paint the dining hall and kitchen. So, after lunch and armed with rollers and paintbrushes, we tackled the rooms and were able to finish them by 4:00ish. As we were painting, some kids were having band class (the only class that was held that day), and the band director invited us to come to his band practice that afternoon at the local high school. We told him we'd love to, and started washing out the paintbrushes and rollers we had used. The director again told us she would like to meet with us, so right before we left we went to her office. She came out and thanked us with tears in her eyes, saying she had never seen anybody voluntarily come from so far away to help their small, poor school. She then proceded to give us beautiful bookmarks, asking us to remember her and the school everytime 
we used them. She was so nice, and continued to thank us until we left. When we arrived at the high school, there were only 8 people from the band present, but they played for us until we had to leave. They were amazing and so nice! After dinner and debriefing, our whole team headed to an indoor soccer stadium that we were told was a popular hang out place on Wednesday night. Teams of 6 were formed, and we had a tournament with the Ticos who were there. My team lost our first game and was eliminated, but it was a lot of fun! My friend Hannah and I noticed a young Tica girl sitting by herself, so we went over and started to talk to her. Her friend came over as 
well and we learned that their names were Gretchel and Francis. They were so much fun to talk to, and they just babbled on about where they lived and where we lived, where they went to school and how many siblings they had. Then, out of the blue, they asked us to sing! Hannah and I sang "Lean on Me" and they loved it! They sang us a song in Spanish and then asked us to sing "Lean on Me" twice more. We asked them to teach us a song, and somehow we figured out that we all knew "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in our own languages. They taught us how to sing it in Spanish, and we taught them to sing it in English. We took a ton of pictures with them and were so sad when we had to leave.
we used them. She was so nice, and continued to thank us until we left. When we arrived at the high school, there were only 8 people from the band present, but they played for us until we had to leave. They were amazing and so nice! After dinner and debriefing, our whole team headed to an indoor soccer stadium that we were told was a popular hang out place on Wednesday night. Teams of 6 were formed, and we had a tournament with the Ticos who were there. My team lost our first game and was eliminated, but it was a lot of fun! My friend Hannah and I noticed a young Tica girl sitting by herself, so we went over and started to talk to her. Her friend came over as 
well and we learned that their names were Gretchel and Francis. They were so much fun to talk to, and they just babbled on about where they lived and where we lived, where they went to school and how many siblings they had. Then, out of the blue, they asked us to sing! Hannah and I sang "Lean on Me" and they loved it! They sang us a song in Spanish and then asked us to sing "Lean on Me" twice more. We asked them to teach us a song, and somehow we figured out that we all knew "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in our own languages. They taught us how to sing it in Spanish, and we taught them to sing it in English. We took a ton of pictures with them and were so sad when we had to leave.
Thursday was our "Fun Day" and we traveled to town called La Fortuna,
about an hour away, where we ziplined, rode horses, and visted an indigenous tribe's village. We were also able to pick up a few souvenirs when we finally ate lunch at 4:30 PM. We headed back to the hotel at 5:30 PM, had dinner and debriefing, and said goodbye to all the Ticos from the church that had come to say goodbye.
about an hour away, where we ziplined, rode horses, and visted an indigenous tribe's village. We were also able to pick up a few souvenirs when we finally ate lunch at 4:30 PM. We headed back to the hotel at 5:30 PM, had dinner and debriefing, and said goodbye to all the Ticos from the church that had come to say goodbye. We left to back to NC on Friday at 8 AM and made good time to the airport, arriving at about 11:00 AM. I got to see my mom, brother, and sister there as well because they had all of our passports for safekeeping. We finally got back to Charlotte at 9:15 PM, and my dad was there to meet me along with half of Church at Charlotte.
All in all it was a great trip. I feel like we made a tangible impact in the San Carlos community, and it was so much fun to go on a trip with some of my best friends. Most of all, God worked through us and showed people that we were different because we were living for Him. Doors have been opened that future teams can now walk through and carry on the work that we have started!
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