New friends

Yesterday we spent the day with Open Table, a homeless ministry that was created about a year ago in response to the flood here. We started by splitting into four groups and going on an urban scavenger hunt in downtown Nashville, where we had to do things like talk to local businesses, churches and police officers about homelessness, hand out water, find legal places to sit or sleep and eat lunch with a homeless person. We all had a great experience, and we especially enjoyed getting to have good conversations with our new friends.

After the scavenger hunt, we split into two groups. One group went back to paint a trailer at the halfway house. They use the trailer to move donated furniture into people’s apartments when they transition out of homelessness.

The other group went with two interns to an encampment where people were living. When we got there, we realized they had been evicted a few weeks ago from the spot they had been living for years. The law says that they should get 30 days notice, but they were given less than 24 hours. On top of that, the police took all of their belongings, including the tents that they were living in. Now they are living on a broken bridge with no shelter other than trees. We handed out water, bug spray and a meal and talked to them about their lives and how they got to where they were.

We went to dinner, ice cream and then Harry Potter, which is all mostly a blur because I was halfway asleep the whole time. But there were plenty of giggles and chatting to last us till 4am, which is what time we got back. Today, it’s Nashville Shores for all the water fun we can handle.

See everyone tomorrow!

Work, work, work

Today was a very opposite experience from yesterday. We spent the morning at Thistle Farms, a recovery program for prostitutes and addicted women. It was a cool ministry, and we got to spend some time with a few of the women there. A woman named Stephanie gave us a tour of the facility and showed us the soaps, candles and lotions that they make and sell from thistles. Then we went into the paper making room and got to see how they make thistle paper from mostly trash. We spent a few hours helping them make decorations for their annual fundraising dinner, which was not exactly riveting work. However, the interns there were so impressed with how our group worked and were so complimentary of how efficient and articulate the youth were. Awesome!

After lunch, we went to Room in the Inn, a hotel-like building whee homeless people can go to classes, shower, use computers, live, sleep, and have community. It was a well oiled machine, with people everywhere doing everything from laughing yoga, studying for the GED, doing laundry and making mosaics. After a pretty lengthy tour, we were given the task of alphabetizing the entire library, which we did as a team in about an hour and a half. So, although our work was not exactly on the thrilling side, we completely mastered it.

After a delicious dinner prepared by Mitzi, watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, we are calling it an early night to prepare for our very long day tomorrow.

Dark, damp and dingy.

We had a great day. We returned to YES today to work with the kids, who were much more comfortable with us today. All of the boys went with Neil and the all of the older boys from YES for a few hours of intense sports and games. The girls and little kids went with all of our girls to do makeovers, play a few games and make necklaces and bracelets. All of the youth enjoyed being able to get to know the kids more today, which made for a good, long conversation this evening. One of the little kids, Joey (7 years old), became our little buddy. We spent all of yesterday afternoon meeting his imaginary friends. Most notably, we met Jerry, his tarantula who is the “bravest, strongest, nicest tarantula that ever lived.” Jerry also likes to live in dark, damp and dingy places, and he made sure to point out that Stephanie’s hair is a perfect place for him to hang out.

After getting back to the ranch, we feasted on kebobs and mac-n-cheese. Don’t let anyone tell you we’ve been roughing it around here. After dinner, we headed outside for sunset and to tie-dye our t-shirts. The before picture is below…stay tuned for the after shot and an explanation.

We are having a blast and learning a lot. I’ll leave you with this gem, courtesy of Gus Hodges:

Answering random questions on the ride to YES today…

Hillary: “You wake up tomorrow and find that you have the ability to converse with another species. Which species would you choose?”

Gus: “Girls.”

We are here (and we are loud)!

We made it to the farm around last night, and we were greeted by our hosts Dr. Jim and Mitzi Renfro. The farm is incredible – plenty of land, a gorgeous house, a lake, river, and a barn filled with ping pong tables, games and loud music. It’s fitting that the barn is far enough from the house that we can’t hear what’s going on in there, because man we are loud!

We volunteered at Y.E.S. In Nashville today, which meant we pretty much played and did crafts with inner city kids all day. It was chaos, but definitely fun.

Enjoy the pics! Oh yeah, and JEFF IS HERE!!!!!!

On the road

Well, we made it through three Harry Potter movies before the DVD player went sketchy. So, now it’s Bieber time.

Never spit against the wind.

You probably think that the title of this post is an Apache proverb we learned on the reservation.

It’s not.

It’s Doug’s fortune from the Dragon Chinese Super Buffet in Big Spring, TX.

We’re almost home! Thank goodness, because this is what is starting to happen to us.

Tentless

Sydney and Maddi are giggling.

Wil is strumming his guitar.

Jeremy is sketching.

Stephanie is diligently journaling.

Doug is quietly making things happen.

Charlotte is making everyone laugh (half in Japanese).

Leon is freaking out about bugs and lizards.

Neil is stargazing.

I am chronicling.

It is a beautiful night. We are tentless, open to nature. Free.

It’s been a great trip, full of moments like this. Never have I been a part of a group so open to experiencing anything that comes. It’s inspiring.

See you all soon.