What's more obnoxious than a hummingbird?
GOD DAMNIT. I had a huge LJ update started about my trip to Atlanta and then I accidentally closed the tab while I was typing. Arghd,sjsk. Starting over.
I'l skip over the beginning of the trip which involved a car ride that was entirely too long followed by a fucking Michael W. Smith concert.
So, Monday:
My group, which consisted of Darham, Steven, Ben, Sarah, and I, along with another group went to an emergency shelter for single mothers in Decatur and we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Not the most fun job, but one that definitely need doing. Vacuum cleaners do not suck up dirty q-tips, as much as I wish they would. And then there was the task of draining the 'reflection pond', which consisted of pulling a stick out of the hole and apparently required at least 5 people. Anyway, we finished around noon and went to Jake's, a little chain in Georgia with the best ice cream ever. We only had $12 so we split 3 pints among ten or so people. The Brown Shugah Vanilla is amaaaaazing. Mmmmmmm.
Tuesday:
We went to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which was one of the first in the country and it was huge. We inspected food and then it was sorted and boxed. I really admired how organized they had everything there. And the break room was really nice. After that we went to Project Open Hand and prepared meals to be delivered to people who are homebound. They had a machine that you put the trays af food in and
it seals the plastic over them and it was awesome. Toward the end of the afternoon we didn't have much work to do and my fever came back so it kind of sucked. I didn't have to help my group prepare dinner, though.
Wednesday:
We worked at Community Fellowship, which is a summer camp type thing for neighborhood kids. Sarah and I got to help out with the youngest class and the kids were adorable. I played Chutes and Ladders with a little boy named Desmond and he cheated the entire time. The kids colored and read and stuff, and in the afternoon we were supposed to go the Centennial Park, but the entire thing had been reserved. Later we found out it had been rented out by Bill Gates for some party (he wasn't actually there, though).
We went to the mall in the evening, though we didn't get nearly enough time there. All I bought was a shirt from Urban Outfitters.
Thursday
Sigh. The work day was so awesome. We went to Cafe 458, which is like a soup kitchen with a more upscale atmosphere. The customers have a menu to choose from and waiters and everything. The guys who work there were awesome. And cute. The food was really good, especially the pineapple upside down cake. Yum.
In the afternoon we had to clean the bathrooms which is when Steven spilled mop water all over Sarah's and some of my stuff. When we moved our cots of the puddle, someone put my water bottle on my cot, not realizing it was open, so all my bedding ended up getting wet as well. After this water-related trauma, we headed to Centennial Park for a picnic with fried chicken and we played in the fountains a bit. It was fun.
On Friday we left Atlanta, and stayed in a Motel 6, where I took a much needed shower the second we arrived. Then we drove to Great Wolf Lodge, and had lots of fun in the water park, although there weren't as many hot lifeguards as last time. But at least there was that incredibly gorgeous guy I saw while riding on the MARTA Wednesday night. And Jonas and Mike from the cafe. Mmm.
That was really a dull, emotionless summary of my week, but I felt guilty because I haven't updated since May. But it's difficult to describe all the emotional undercurrents of living with 60 other people and doing service work and seeing homeless people sleeping on the stoops of the building you're living in. Suffice it to say, there were ups and downs, and in-betweens that will probably soon be forgotten. There was a time on Monday when I lied wrapped up in my sleeping bag, shivering while my skin was burning up, and I wanted nothing more than to go home. And then on Thursday as I walked out of Cafe 458, I felt my heart swell and I almost couldn't bear to leave. During senior recognition, I sniffled as everyone brought up their favorite mission trip memories. Minutes later I laughed with these same people over stupid jokes while playing Apples to Apples (Example:'Bangkok' won for 'easy', because as Devin said, "what's easier than banging cock?"). I'm already thinking about my senior trip, both looking forward to it and dreading it. Sarah, you better promise that if you move, you come on trips anyway. I can't imagine doing my senior recognition without you.
And because I'm running out of things to say and I've got other just-got-back-in-town things to do, this is it, I guess. I'll try to update more often.
I'l skip over the beginning of the trip which involved a car ride that was entirely too long followed by a fucking Michael W. Smith concert.
So, Monday:
My group, which consisted of Darham, Steven, Ben, Sarah, and I, along with another group went to an emergency shelter for single mothers in Decatur and we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. Not the most fun job, but one that definitely need doing. Vacuum cleaners do not suck up dirty q-tips, as much as I wish they would. And then there was the task of draining the 'reflection pond', which consisted of pulling a stick out of the hole and apparently required at least 5 people. Anyway, we finished around noon and went to Jake's, a little chain in Georgia with the best ice cream ever. We only had $12 so we split 3 pints among ten or so people. The Brown Shugah Vanilla is amaaaaazing. Mmmmmmm.
Tuesday:
We went to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which was one of the first in the country and it was huge. We inspected food and then it was sorted and boxed. I really admired how organized they had everything there. And the break room was really nice. After that we went to Project Open Hand and prepared meals to be delivered to people who are homebound. They had a machine that you put the trays af food in and
it seals the plastic over them and it was awesome. Toward the end of the afternoon we didn't have much work to do and my fever came back so it kind of sucked. I didn't have to help my group prepare dinner, though.
Wednesday:
We worked at Community Fellowship, which is a summer camp type thing for neighborhood kids. Sarah and I got to help out with the youngest class and the kids were adorable. I played Chutes and Ladders with a little boy named Desmond and he cheated the entire time. The kids colored and read and stuff, and in the afternoon we were supposed to go the Centennial Park, but the entire thing had been reserved. Later we found out it had been rented out by Bill Gates for some party (he wasn't actually there, though).
We went to the mall in the evening, though we didn't get nearly enough time there. All I bought was a shirt from Urban Outfitters.
Thursday
Sigh. The work day was so awesome. We went to Cafe 458, which is like a soup kitchen with a more upscale atmosphere. The customers have a menu to choose from and waiters and everything. The guys who work there were awesome. And cute. The food was really good, especially the pineapple upside down cake. Yum.
In the afternoon we had to clean the bathrooms which is when Steven spilled mop water all over Sarah's and some of my stuff. When we moved our cots of the puddle, someone put my water bottle on my cot, not realizing it was open, so all my bedding ended up getting wet as well. After this water-related trauma, we headed to Centennial Park for a picnic with fried chicken and we played in the fountains a bit. It was fun.
On Friday we left Atlanta, and stayed in a Motel 6, where I took a much needed shower the second we arrived. Then we drove to Great Wolf Lodge, and had lots of fun in the water park, although there weren't as many hot lifeguards as last time. But at least there was that incredibly gorgeous guy I saw while riding on the MARTA Wednesday night. And Jonas and Mike from the cafe. Mmm.
That was really a dull, emotionless summary of my week, but I felt guilty because I haven't updated since May. But it's difficult to describe all the emotional undercurrents of living with 60 other people and doing service work and seeing homeless people sleeping on the stoops of the building you're living in. Suffice it to say, there were ups and downs, and in-betweens that will probably soon be forgotten. There was a time on Monday when I lied wrapped up in my sleeping bag, shivering while my skin was burning up, and I wanted nothing more than to go home. And then on Thursday as I walked out of Cafe 458, I felt my heart swell and I almost couldn't bear to leave. During senior recognition, I sniffled as everyone brought up their favorite mission trip memories. Minutes later I laughed with these same people over stupid jokes while playing Apples to Apples (Example:'Bangkok' won for 'easy', because as Devin said, "what's easier than banging cock?"). I'm already thinking about my senior trip, both looking forward to it and dreading it. Sarah, you better promise that if you move, you come on trips anyway. I can't imagine doing my senior recognition without you.
And because I'm running out of things to say and I've got other just-got-back-in-town things to do, this is it, I guess. I'll try to update more often.