5-9-07
Today brought many new experiences for me. First time flying, first time in California, first time on the west coast, etc. The plane was quite an experience -- luckily I got to sit by Sarah Humphrey and she helped make the experience a little better. The plane had a delay because of weather so I was just excited to get off the ground. Landing in Los Angeles was a great experience, there were all different ethnicities and languages being spoken at the airport. Checking into the room and getting my roommate ((Lauren Fairchild)) was good too, she's really nice and I'm excited to get to know her as more than just a smiling face when I pass her on the sidewalk. Last night we went to Olvera ((sp?)) Street and did some shopping. This street is like "stepping into Mexico"- there were a lot of different shops and street vendors along with little Mexican resturants. The metro ride back was interesting because Lindsay Bush and I had our first "cultural experience". We sat in the front row of the metro because it was so crowded and it was the first seat we saw, and this guy came in after one of the stops and asked us where the metro was going. He spoke in a different language, one that didn't even sound familiar. Linds and I sat and looked at him like a deer in the headlights. She kept asking him to repeat himself, and I just kept looking at him, offering absolutely no help! Luckily Elliot saved us. It was then that I realized we weren't in a place anything like Bluffton anymore.
5-10-07
We did quite a bit today, it's sort of hard to remember everything. We met Robert Linthicum, whose book we read and studied in class, so it was pretty cool to get to meet and spend the day with him. We took a van ride to Olvera Street to start off our Power Tour and did a little shopping and learned about the origins of the place -- all taught by Mr. Linthicum. We went and saw all the different parts of Los Angeles - the old part with the old name still on it, the new part, Chinatown, Koreatown, etc. It was really interesting to me to see the divisions and the set boundaries between all of these different groups of people. For lunch we drove into Hollywood and ate at the famous "Pink's Hotdog Stand". I wasn't sure what to expect -- maybe an actual resturant in a real building, but it was just a hotdog stand on the side of the street with a big patio out back and lawnchairs. There was a little building with just maybe 10 tables in it, and covering the walls were autographed pictures of famous people that had eaten there before becoming famous -- Will Farrell, Josh Hartnett, Martha Steward, Celine Dion, etc. After we left there we went and saw these "tar pits" where there were many fossils of different animals from over the years. It was an interesting little place. We then went back into Hollywood where we were able to shop and look around on our own for a little bit. One thing that stuck out to me was in one of the shops. The music that was playing had a lot of swearing in it -- something that's fairly uncommon to hear in a store in Findlay or Lima where I usually do my shopping. We got back to campus and ate in the campus cafeteria. It was fun because we all mingled amongst each other and got to know each other a little better. Some of us walked to Rite-Aid to get a few things, and it must have been obvious that we're not from around here because a nice lady behind us in line was laughing at us and asked where we were from. Once we got back to campus, a bunch of us girls just lounged around, did our nails and talked. It was fun to just hang out and relax after a busy day. Angie, Lindsay, Rachel, Kalla and I did an "8 Minute Workout" which made us all laugh a lot. Angie came and slept with me that night because of some incidents that happened in her room. It was a long and tiring day but opened my eyes to a lot of different things.
5-11-07
Today wasn't the funnest of days, but still a good experience. We listened to Erin Default-Hunter speak about Ethics in Urban Environments. She used the story from Mark 5 that spoke of the demon-possessed man and the way that Jesus cast out the demons. Even though I've heard this story several times, I still enjoyed hearing it and looking at it through the lens in which she presented it. She used many references to Los Angeles and Pasadena, especially relating the church and the city//laws. The second speaker of the day was Jeff Wright, and he spoke of the theology of L.A. His was more of a "lecture" type feel with him doing all the speaking and us taking several notes. It wasn't bad though because he gave a lot of insight to the city and it's people. He spoke about the independence that a lot of these people have and the way that they'd rather drive their own cars than take the metro, and also suggested that the next time we're in a traffic jam to look around us because we will notice that most of the cars will only have one person in them. I'm kind of anticipating our first traffic jam now! Tonight we traveled to Old Town Pasadena and ate at this really good Thai resturant. Neither Amanda Bell or I had ever had Thai food before but we ended up really liking it. It was fun to just be open to trying new things - usually I'm a pretty picky eater, especially since I don't like cheese. After we ate we just walked around and checked out the different shops. There were tons of people out - people shopping, homeless people, people playing the trumpet for money, men selling roses, etc. I also discovered pretty quickly that you have to be tough in stores, and be pushy otherwise you'll get pushed around all the time. It must just be the culture out here for people not to say "excuse me" or anything - they just push. Shopping was really fun though, you can't ever go wrong with that!
5-12-07
Today was by far the longest day I've had so far, just because we sat in class from 9-12 and 1-5:30. Luckily the topics interested me for the most part so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Right before one our 10 minute breaks, we were told to write down what we thought our purpose in life is. I think that this is a very deep question, and one that I'm not sure we'll ever know the answer to fully. I wrote down that my purpose is to make a real difference in someones life and to leave the world a better place than it was when I arrived. We talked with 3 teachers and a principal today about the school systems in Southern California and the way that poverty really does affect the way they perform socially and academically. It really opened my eyes and blew my mind when they said the majority of people in poverty are under the age of 18. Tonight we went to the UCLA campus which was pretty cool because it's obviously so much different than Bluffton University, but it made me appreciate my "Bluffton family" even more. I saw a lot of homeless people - one just walking around kicking the air, another asking us to buy beer for him even though his shopping cart was filled with it, and another man wrapped in a blanket sleeping. Definitely more sites that you don't see in Bluffton, Ohio. Bell and I had a nice talk on the way home -- it's nice to have a friend like her on the trip. I know I can always talk to her and count on her. I talked for a little bit to her about Tim just to get some of it off my mind. It's easy to talk to her about it because I know she was greatly impacted by the accident also and we were together the morning it all happened, so I don't have to feel embarassed about it at all. I'm just thankful that she's here and I love her to death - I think this trip has brought us closer together already. When we got back tonight a bunch of us went to Rachel & Angie's room to play "Kemps", a new card game for many of us. It was just fun to have more bonding time with everyone. We're all becoming VERY close with each other, especially the 8 girls in my suite. I'm really glad that we didn't get to choose our own roommates, it turned out to be an awesome experience so far!
5-13-07
Today was a lot of fun and just all-around relaxing. We started off the morning with going to the Getty Museum. It was a little skeptic of this because I'm not always a huge fan of museums, but I really enjoyed this one. We took a cool trammy thing up the side of the hill ((giving us an amazing view)) to the musum, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The architecture of the building was incredible, and the fountains and gardens were amazing. It was fun to just walk around and soak up the artwork and of course the sun! After we got done there, we headed to Palace Verdes ((sp?)) where Tig's parents live, and he took us down by the ocean and also to a well-known glass chapel where there was an actual wedding going on. The chapel had beautiful gardens//flowers and also a few fountains. It also overlooked the ocean. I can't imagine how incredible it would be to get married there -- or how much you'd have to pay! All of the houses in PV were HUGE and had great views. Tig's family was awesome, they were so welcoming and fed us a bunch of realy good Barb-B-Qed food. Tig's childhood friend, David Twohey ((sp?)) is a film director and came over to the house to talk and hang out. It was cool having him there. He wrote and directed movies like The Fugative and G.I. Jane. A bunch of us headed down to the park to play some basketball and softball, which was tons of fun. I was really surprised at Tig's athletic abilities - he was catching balls and rolling on the ground just like the rest of us! It was fun to play with him and David. Overall it was a really great day - nice to escape the big city life for a while like we've been experiencing for the most part. It was also really interesting to see the way people lived, and I'm still amazed at all the super nice cars we've seen!
5-14-07
Today was a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to see the "colorful" people of Los Angeles. We got to sleep in and then headed to the beach around 10:30. We went to Venise ((sp?)) Beach and I think we may have been at Santa Monica Beach for a while too. It was a nice relaxing day of laying out, taking cute pictures and playing sand volleyball. Tig and Michelle were cracking us all up with their volleyball abilities. Tig was diving all over the place making plays! We saw a lot of different people - bums asking us where we're from, street vendor salesman yelling to us to buy from them, and even a group of guys sitting under umbrellas smoking weed. We also noticed while we were shopping that all of the girls are incredibly skinny - it's crazy! The girls and I were talking this morning while we were getting ready about how nice it is to wake up to sunshine every morning and not really have to worry about the weather like we do in Ohio. Speaking of Ohio, we ran into some men today from Wooster, Ohio. They talked to us about the baseball accident, which was kind of hard to do - it always brings back bad memories when I talk about it, especially with people that didn't experience it with me at the time. Overall it was a great day, though. It was so nice just to lay in the same and sun and listen to the ocean. I don't think there's anything more calming than that!
5-15-07
Today was another day of classes, but it went by pretty fast. I had to sit in the front row though, and the lady about blew my eardrums out because she talked so loud. We talked a lot about power and who holds the power within the city and it's organizations and also the way in which the city's power was shifted over recent years. Tonight we went to the Dodger's game which was a lot of fun because I love baseball games! The whole atmosphere was really fun and getting to sit by and talk to Joel's wife Emily to and from the game was really enjoyable as well. Once again I found myself thankful that Amanda Bell is on the trip with me because we stick together a lot in groups. Walking back from the game to our vans was kind of scary just because of all the different people that we encountered. It was another full day, but very enjoyable.
5-16-07
Today was an interesting day in the sense that it definitely stirred up a lot of emotions for me. We had classes again from 9-12 and 3-6:15, and I left the first session pretty mad, just like I think a lot of other people did. The thing that aggitated me most was when we talked about anger and related it to tragedy and the grieving process. Sister Mary ((the class leader for the session)) talked about how we all have anger within us and how it's the root of all of our actions, and how we really shouldn't justify anything with saying it's "God's will", but I disagree with that - in fact, I don't think I've agreed with anything that she's said so far. It was incredibly hard for me to listen to us talk about the bus accident - I was trying not to cry the whole time. For me, when the accident happened I immediately turned to God and to my strong faith and have continued to lean on that the entire time. I can't ever say that I was angry. I wasn't ever angry with God, with the bus driver, with Atlanta, etc. I believe that it happened for a reason and that it is a challenge to us from God to make the most of the tragic situation and learn from the lessions being taught. Same goes for the Virginia Tech shooting. I do think that was evil working in the world, but I also think that it was in God's will for the individuals for it to happen to them - it was in His plan for them, and good can come from the situation if we allow it to, and same goes for the bus accident. So for Sister Mary to say that anger is the root of our actions just doesn't settle with me because I don't think that is always the case. The whole thing just really frustrated me and listening to it, mixed with the fact that I miss Tim a whole lot, just didn't go well with me. Tim did say his first word - ouch - though yesterday which was awesome to hear, and he also made his mom a Mother's Day card with a little help. Overall, the day was filled with a lot of emotion - frustration, annoyance, and just plain exhaustion. I'm really glad to be living with such great girls though - Bell, Shannon, Allie, Sarah, Alisha and Lauren are so much fun and have made this experience so great.
5-17-07
Today was a really fun day, starting off with going back to Venice Beach and doing some shopping, laying out and volleyball. Venice Beach is where I definitely met some of the "different" people. There were bums sitting on the sidewalks, one was holding a sign that said "Will do ___ for marijuana" and another was just holding a sign that said "F__ you". The homeless sure are honest around here! Traffic getting back from the beach was awful, it took us over an hour & a half because of how bad it was. I realized that I could never live here just because of the bad traffic and how you can't really plan anything. We went to Hollywood tonight to go to Jimmy Kimmel Live and it was really neat to see the way a tv studio runs, even though the show wasn't very long. It was really cool though, and Brandon Stedman texted me and saw me on tv, although I'm not sure if he really did or not! haha. I had quite a nerve-wracking experience at the McDonalds in Hollywood. All of us girls were getting a picture taken, and this guy offered to take it for us, but the way he went about it really made it seem like he was going to run off and steal my camera. When we told some of the other students on the trip about it later, one person accused us of judging him, but the way I see it, you just can't be too safe. There are definitely interesting people here.
5-18-07
Today wasn't too eventful, it just felt like a lot of driving. We left after lunch for San Diego, which I think ended up being a little longer of a drive than I anticipated. Once we got here we drove to the hotel and got our room assignments-- I'm with Linds, Shannon, and Amanda Sheffel. I think this is a good group! We then went down to Old Town and walked around and shopped for a while, it was set up really neat- kind of reminded me of Sauder's Village back home. So far, I like San Diego better as a city than Los Angeles. I'm not sure why, but I just like the atmosphere better. Joel took some of us girls to Target tonight which was an experience for him, I'm sure! I'm a little bit anxious about Tijuana tomorrow-- not so much the atmosphere, I'm just scared that I'm not going to do something right somehow. It should be a good experience though. Today while I was in Old Town, Stedman sent me a message that had a voicemail that he found on his phone from Tim at the beginning of the year. He figured it'd be good for me to hear his voice, and he was definitely right. It was good to hear his voice, but hard at the same time because I miss him so much. I'm really getting anxious to see him again and am thanking God every day for his continuous improvements.
5-19-07
Today was a pretty interesting ((and early)) day! It's crazy to think that I was in another country and back already. Tijuana was quite an interesting experience -- definitely not what I expected at all. I kind of wish we could have done more walking around the villages rather than sitting and listening to the people speak. Because it had to be translated, it made it harder and more frustrating to listen to. My favorite part of the experience was walking around the little village and seeing the children. I just wanted to take them all home with me. One little girl smiled real big and waved at Angie and I, and it was the sweetest thing ever. It's sad to me to see that that's how the children actually live every day. When I saw 3 kids playing in the polluted water, I just wanted to warn them and tell them that it's unhealthy. It was weird to see the adults driving their cars through the little stream, I'm not entirely sure why they did that. Crossing the border was an experience -- not nearly as complex as I imagined it to be, and very quick. It was cool to have the U.S. on one side of the cement bridge and Mexico on the other as we crossed it. I felt guilty being in such a poor place and not helping, only touring and looking to see just how bad the people had it and then walking back to our country of great abundance.
5-20-07
Today was a pretty interesting day. In the morning we got divided up into 3 different groups and went to 3 different churches. I went to a Nazarene church with Tig, Angie, Kalla, Elliot, Rustin, Tim, Sarah, Alisha, Amanda S and Megan. This church was cool because it had 5 different sanctuaries for 5 different language services. Right when we got there we met the pastors wife, Kathy, and she was really excited to have us there. She gave us a tour and showed us where the children's room was -- it was really neat to see it all. Some of the services had already started so you could hear them worshipping in their own languages. Church didn't start on time, just kind of whenever everyone got settled, which is very different from what I have back home, but definitely the California way of doing things. I really enjoyed the service, although sometimes the message was hard to follow. The coolest part to me was the interaction between the pastor and the congregation, especially a man named Lawrence. He is homeless and has autism, and takes his medicine with alcohol. During the service he kept yelling out "People mean more than Jesus", and "I have no friends" and "People treat me like junk". the pastor still found a way to include him though, as if to show him that he DOES matter and that he DOES have friends. It was kind of a distraction but still a good experience. This one young lady invited him to go up and take communion with her when it was offered and it almost brought tears to my eyes to see him doing that. Although Lawrence was somewhat of a distraction, I thought it was cool to have him there. It helps us all to practice what we preach by taking in the needy and helping them with their questions and walk toward a life in Christ. The church experience was great, and so was lunch with Jason & Brooke Evans at their house. I'm glad we got the chance to participate. The rest of the day was fun too. We saw downtown San Diego and some sea lions at the ocean. On the way back we stopped and ate at "In & Out", which reminded me a lot of Wilson's in Findlay. It was really good. That resturant was in Laguna, and we passed a sign for Laguna Beach! I didn't get a chance to get a picture, but Joel found it on the map for me. It's been fun getting to know him better in the van rides. He's very quiet and super nice. Overall, it was a good day-- a lot to take in, again. I'm gettin g ready to go home, as I think many people are, just because we miss our old routines. I am geting anxious to do the service projects this week though, I love little kids. It should be a good way to end our trip.
5-21-07
Today was our first day at Harambee Ministries School, and it was quite an experience. In the morning we listened to the leader, Rudy, speak and give us a little orientation. It was cool to hear all of the positive stories that have been coming out of the school. The kids were interesting, quite a variety of ethnicities. They were adorable, but quite a handful because of all of their energy. Angie and I helped a little girl named Anari do her spelling homework. She had quite an attitude, but it was fun. We got to play games with the kids and interact with them as well. We went to Chinatown after the school and ate at a Chinese resturant. A bunch of us walked down this little alley and asked if they had any purses, so one of them opened up their little garage thing and sold us a bunch of purses, so that was fun. Lindsay got her nose pierced too and it looks cute! Chinatown is a whole different world, but it's cool just to see the new culture.
5-22-07
This meaning we went to Kevin Blue's house and had a discussion meeting in his fixed-up garage. We discussed race, ethnicity and culture. It was actually easy to pay attention this time because it was more interactive. We talked a lot about ethnicities and what might be more important in different cultures, such as gender, age, etc. It was an interesting discussion and applied to a lot of our experience out here so far. The experience at the school was pretty good too. We did mostly the same stuff as the day before except I didn't spend that much time with the kids because I had to clean out the teacher's lounge. Cleaning it kind of frustrated me because it was so unorganized. It's hard for me to understand how a school can function properly with such a lack of organization. I think a few of us were a little frustrated because we felt sort of unappreciated for the work that we were doing. We had a free night tonight which was nice because we were all so tired. I walked up to Rite-Aid with Bell, Amanda S, Allie and Alisha. It was fun just to spend some time with those girls. When we got back, me, Bell, Alisha, Allie, Lauren, Sarah, Tyler and Rustin played Rummy. It was a good end to the day.
5-23-07
Today was our "work day" at Harambee, and the weather was actually really nice. When we woke up in the morning, Shannon was really sick so she didn't come with us. I felt bad for her, she was so sick and then felt awful for not being able to go with us. Once we got to Harambee, we had to find all of our utinsils for doing the jobs, which was really frustrating to me. The school just seems so disorganized that nothing can get done. I painted fences all day and worked on some scripture boards for the Prayer Garden. It was good to get work done and volunteer, I'm sure they appreciated it even if they didn't say it. We ate dinner at a Lebaneze ((sp?)) resturant. We were all pretty closed-minded about it, I think just because we're so sick of trying new foods but it actually turned out to be excellent. I had a chicken-kabob and rice pilaf, and even tried some hummace. It was all really good. I kind of felt bad for being so negative about it beforehand. After dinner, we all watched "Crash" and it was great! it was a pretty hard movie to watch and talked a lot about racial controversies, and took place in Los Angeles so it fit our experience perfectly. Parts of the movie were really sad, but I think the saddest part was realizing that the story lines in the movie were a reality. I'm glad I watched it though and will probably watch it again.
5-24-07
Today was pretty busy. I think I get more tired and less excited to do things every day. We had a presentation in the morning, and it was really hard to follow. I'm not sure if it's because it was hard information or if I'm just that tired and burnt-out by this point. I remember talking a lot about immigration, but I honestly can't remember a whole lot more than that. This afternoon we went back to Harambee, but we didn't even do anything because the kids were all gone. Once again, the disorganization factor came into play. Poor Shannon and tim had to go to the Urgent Care Center because they were really sick and couldn't keep food down, so Michelle and Tig were with them most of the day. Luckily they're both back and sleeping now. Tonight we went into Old Pasadena and did a little shopping. It was another relaxing night and ended up meeting up with some of the other girls from our group so we all got to ride back to campus together.
5-25-07
Today was our last full day here, and it was a good one. We got to spend more time with the kids at Harambee, and it was kind of sad to have to say good-bye to them. A lot of them asked if we were coming back. For our last night here, we went out to an Indian resturant, and it was different! I accidentally ate a really hot pepper because I thought it was a cucumber, but it was funny. We all took a bunch of pictures afterwards -- it was really fun just to spend one last night together. Looking back on the trip, I think the best part of it wasn't the scenery, or the tourist sites, or the things that we got to do. I think the best part was the way we all came together and bonded. Coming into the trip, most of us knew at least OF each other, but weren't really that good of friends. Now, we're planning things to do together next year, getting each other's cell phone numbers to keep in touch and have just developed really great friendships. It was such a good experience to come out here and step outside my comfort zone, I'm really glad that I did it.
