Saturday, March 20, 2004
Spring Break, The Wonders of God, and Other Related Reflections
I have the feeling that this particular entry is going to be lengthy as I have what seems to be a million different thoughts and emotions swirling around inside me as a result of my Spring Break trip. As most of you know (since the majority of the people who read this blog were there,) I spent last week on a mission trip at Ft. Yuma, CA and Yuma, AZ. This has to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life and definitely the most productive use of my spring break time ever. I did lots of things for the first time this past week: went to the West, went to an Indian Reservation, went to a PowWow, went to Mexico (went to a different country,) stuck my toes in the Pacific Ocean, saw migrant workers at work in agricultural fields, and learned to stucco. So, it would stand to reason that I am still feeling a bit overwhelmed by the trip.
We flew to Long Beach on Saturday, then drove for about six hours to Ft. Yuma. I wanted to stay awake and see the scenery as we drove, but by that point, I had taken three or four doses of Dramamine in two days, and I could not stay awake any longer. I did get to see most of the drive, though, and I was able to witness the gorgeous moon as it rose in the desert. I have never seen it look so HUGE. Truly amazing. Anyway, once we finally got there, I helped rearrange the fridge so we could put the groceries that Deborah had bought away. We also unloaded our stuff, and then piled back into the vans so we could go over to the Pow Wow. That was by far the coolest thing I have ever been to. After studying the music and dance for so long in Worlds of Music, it was awesome to be able to see it first hand and understand what they were doing.
The costumes and the things they were selling were also amazing.
The next day I had a stomach virus, so I missed church and the return trip to the Pow Wow. I was well enough to attend the Singspiration that night, though. Ft. Yuma United Methodist Indian Church gets together every Sunday night with two other churches in Yuma, AZ to sing and praise God. While I am always in favor of singing worship music, this particular event lasted a rather long time, and as I still wasn't feeling very good, I was fairly relieved when we left. We also had a guest speaker, Debbie, who graduated from UVA and the Wesley Foundation in 2001. She was really fun to talk to, and I enjoyed hearing about her experiences since graduation working at the Border.
Monday, I was assigned to work at the church, mostly because they wanted me close to home in case I got sick again. This turned out to be a great idea, since I was pretty weak from the day before and ended up needing to take two naps throughout the day. In addition, April tore down the old fence around the airconditioning unit, dug the holes for the new fence and helped put the new one up. Caroline and I painted the posts and helped where we could. Joel was awesome at demolishing the old concrete that had been put in around the old fence posts. Caroline, Diane and I also covered up a pipe with dirt (don't ask,) and Joel and Diane did a great job pruning the bushes around the back fence. I also helped pick up trash, cleaned the kitchen and reorganized the fridge (again.) Overall, it wasn't an overly productive day, but at least we got a few things accomplished. And, our group was responsible for dinner. We made pancakes, potatos with onions, and sausage links. It took us over two hours to make the dinner, and Joel, Caroline and I didn't get much to eat, but everyone said it was good, so it seemed to be worth it. I was feeling pretty tired and anti-social by that point, though, so I pretty much stayed by myself for awhile. Leigha did take a walk with me later around the reservation, and that was extra fun. :) I sooo love my little ballroom sis!
Tuesday morning we took a tour of the (Mexican) Border and went out into the lettuce and broccoli fields. That one experience was perhaps the most moving and humbling experience of my whole life. I cannot even begin to describe what it was like seeing those men and women working so hard, knowing that they are getting paid terribly low wages and are working in far less than desirable conditions. I was pretty close to tears the whole time I was there. The remarkable thing is how nice they were, and how honored they said they were to have us there watching them. None of us really knew what to make of it, and I still don't know what I should do with the experience. I do know that I will be taking extra care to wash my fruits and vegetables from now on, but at least I know it's fresh from the fields... That afternoon, Joel, Andrew, Leigha, Diane and I went to the Yuma food bank. We took inventory of the items in their warehouse. It was tiring and dirty, but at least I felt like I was actually doing something. Needless to say, though, the clothes I had been wearing that day went immediately into the dirty clothes bag and did not get recycled later in the week. mmmm.... pesticides and dirt......
Wednesday was our day off, and a group of us (Deborah, Joel, Leigha, Lisa Fong, Eddie, Andrew and I) went over to the Imperial Dam lakes early to hike before the others came out to join us later. Well, Andrew decided not to hike with us, but he did still drive out with us. The hike was awesome, although one should really wear hiking boots rather than tennis shoes when scaling mountains. I am just saying. If you get a chance, check out Eddie's pictures of the view. The rest of the was spent reading, writing in my journal, enjoying the sun and sound of water, and making fun of Glamour with Deborah. So fun! We stopped at the Creamery on the way back and had some DELICIOUS ice cream. Well, I had a milkshake, but the night before I had had cheesecake ice cream with chocolate chips, black cherries and chocolate sauce. I think it would have been better without the chocolate chips because then it would have been creamier, but it was still unbelievably good. :)
Thursday, I was assigned to work at the church again, this time with Bethany, Eddie, and Scott. Kristen was in our group too, but she wasn't feeling well, so she slept. At first, Bethany, Eddie and I picked up trash from behind the apartment and Sunday School building, while we waited for Scott to get back from buying paint and stucco and other useful supplies. We also picked up trash and sticks around the church itself. And Bethany and I got to start stuccoing, which led to my discovery that I LOVE to stucco. I pretty much spent all morning and all afternoon stuccoing. Bethany and Eddie nailed the chicken wire to the backboard on the other side of the stairs and then helped Scott paint. After lunch, Leigha took over with the chicken wire, Bethany and Eddie (with help from a few people who weren't needed at their other sites) painted, and Scott and Brian filled in some cracks on the apartment walls with stucco. And still, I stuccoed. I finished around 5, and I have to say that my wall was beautiful when I was done. They declared me a master stuccoer. :) That night, Avis (the minister at the church) and her family made us a traditional Indian Fry Bread dinner and shared a bit of their culture with us. We got to see dances unique to both the Quech'an tribe and the Emerson family. It was great, and fry bread is the Wesley Foundation's new favorite meal. Shelby (Avis's four year-old granddaughter) was very cute in her traditional dance, even though she didn't really do much dancing. And Seth (Shelby's 11 year-old brother) played a rattle-type instrument as accompaniment to his granduncle's singing. That night, I slept outside on one of the picnic tables, and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air, bright stars, and calming sounds from the passing trains. Okay, the last was not so great, and I was a little cold, but otherwise, I liked sleeping outside.
Friday morning, I went to the Ft. Yuma food bank. There was hardly anything for us to do, so we spent most of our time listening to the Christian talk-radio station that was playing and making up games with which to amuse ourselves. Joel is quite adept at inventing fun games to play with whatever materials there are at hand. Check out Andrew's pictures to see some of the games. At about 1:30, we went back to the church, because it was clear that we weren't going to have a whole lot to do if we stayed. I got to go back to the Quechan Museum and buy some earrings for my mom. Then, after we worked for a bit finishing up the apartment (I got to do a bit more stuccoing,) some of us piled into Scott and Joel's vans and took a trip to Mexico. I can't remember the name of the town we went to, but it was fun. We were there for about an hour. I bought myself a pair of earrings, that I have gotten tons of compliments on. And NO, I did NOT get ripped off. I had a fun time walking around with Caroline, Bethany, Brian and Eddie. Then we met up with the rest of the group and headed back. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back so that Joel could buy ingredients to make salsa. I bought a coke from the machine (50 cents!) to try to get rid of my headache, which by that point was turning into a migraine. Luckily it went away not long after we got back. Dinner was fabulous, especially with Joel's salsa, and that night I packed and started writing my affirmations. Good stuff. Oh, and Brian learned how to make fry bread.
Saturday morning, we got up early and packed the cars. I fell into the firepit and hurt my good shoulder (being the clumsy idiot that I am.) Thankfully, there was no fire (though I'd like to think that if there had been, I would have been more aware of its location,) and I was wearing long sleeves, so I didn't get too scratched up. I do have a fairly large bruise and Student Health thinks I probably have tendinitis in it now, but whatever. At 6:30, we had an amazing devotion where we washed each other's hands. Then we got into the vans and drove to Laguna Beach. Diane, Leigha, Lisa Fong and I rode in Alex's van, and that was really fun. I introduced Alex to Dar Williams. :) We stayed at the beach for about an hour and a half, enjoying the Pacific Ocean. I saw some dolphins out in the distance, and Lisa F. and I had a fun time walking on the beach. The water was cold, so no one went swimming, but we did all stick our toes in the water. And Island Dave made an appearance. Then we piled back into the vans, drove to the airport, and flew home. I got to sit next to Leigha and Diane which was awesome (Thanks Andrew, for switching with me.) We spent the night at Kristen's and headed home Sunday morning. Overall, the trip was amazing, and while this blog gives you an overview of what we did, it doesn't come close to beginning to describe all I felt and learned while on this trip. Still, feel free to ask me questions about the trip anytime you want. And, on a final note, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO WENT! You made it such a special experience for me, and I am so glad that I got to know you all better. Thanks, also, for your affirmations. They meant a lot to me. I love you! God Bless!
We flew to Long Beach on Saturday, then drove for about six hours to Ft. Yuma. I wanted to stay awake and see the scenery as we drove, but by that point, I had taken three or four doses of Dramamine in two days, and I could not stay awake any longer. I did get to see most of the drive, though, and I was able to witness the gorgeous moon as it rose in the desert. I have never seen it look so HUGE. Truly amazing. Anyway, once we finally got there, I helped rearrange the fridge so we could put the groceries that Deborah had bought away. We also unloaded our stuff, and then piled back into the vans so we could go over to the Pow Wow. That was by far the coolest thing I have ever been to. After studying the music and dance for so long in Worlds of Music, it was awesome to be able to see it first hand and understand what they were doing.
The costumes and the things they were selling were also amazing.
The next day I had a stomach virus, so I missed church and the return trip to the Pow Wow. I was well enough to attend the Singspiration that night, though. Ft. Yuma United Methodist Indian Church gets together every Sunday night with two other churches in Yuma, AZ to sing and praise God. While I am always in favor of singing worship music, this particular event lasted a rather long time, and as I still wasn't feeling very good, I was fairly relieved when we left. We also had a guest speaker, Debbie, who graduated from UVA and the Wesley Foundation in 2001. She was really fun to talk to, and I enjoyed hearing about her experiences since graduation working at the Border.
Monday, I was assigned to work at the church, mostly because they wanted me close to home in case I got sick again. This turned out to be a great idea, since I was pretty weak from the day before and ended up needing to take two naps throughout the day. In addition, April tore down the old fence around the airconditioning unit, dug the holes for the new fence and helped put the new one up. Caroline and I painted the posts and helped where we could. Joel was awesome at demolishing the old concrete that had been put in around the old fence posts. Caroline, Diane and I also covered up a pipe with dirt (don't ask,) and Joel and Diane did a great job pruning the bushes around the back fence. I also helped pick up trash, cleaned the kitchen and reorganized the fridge (again.) Overall, it wasn't an overly productive day, but at least we got a few things accomplished. And, our group was responsible for dinner. We made pancakes, potatos with onions, and sausage links. It took us over two hours to make the dinner, and Joel, Caroline and I didn't get much to eat, but everyone said it was good, so it seemed to be worth it. I was feeling pretty tired and anti-social by that point, though, so I pretty much stayed by myself for awhile. Leigha did take a walk with me later around the reservation, and that was extra fun. :) I sooo love my little ballroom sis!
Tuesday morning we took a tour of the (Mexican) Border and went out into the lettuce and broccoli fields. That one experience was perhaps the most moving and humbling experience of my whole life. I cannot even begin to describe what it was like seeing those men and women working so hard, knowing that they are getting paid terribly low wages and are working in far less than desirable conditions. I was pretty close to tears the whole time I was there. The remarkable thing is how nice they were, and how honored they said they were to have us there watching them. None of us really knew what to make of it, and I still don't know what I should do with the experience. I do know that I will be taking extra care to wash my fruits and vegetables from now on, but at least I know it's fresh from the fields... That afternoon, Joel, Andrew, Leigha, Diane and I went to the Yuma food bank. We took inventory of the items in their warehouse. It was tiring and dirty, but at least I felt like I was actually doing something. Needless to say, though, the clothes I had been wearing that day went immediately into the dirty clothes bag and did not get recycled later in the week. mmmm.... pesticides and dirt......
Wednesday was our day off, and a group of us (Deborah, Joel, Leigha, Lisa Fong, Eddie, Andrew and I) went over to the Imperial Dam lakes early to hike before the others came out to join us later. Well, Andrew decided not to hike with us, but he did still drive out with us. The hike was awesome, although one should really wear hiking boots rather than tennis shoes when scaling mountains. I am just saying. If you get a chance, check out Eddie's pictures of the view. The rest of the was spent reading, writing in my journal, enjoying the sun and sound of water, and making fun of Glamour with Deborah. So fun! We stopped at the Creamery on the way back and had some DELICIOUS ice cream. Well, I had a milkshake, but the night before I had had cheesecake ice cream with chocolate chips, black cherries and chocolate sauce. I think it would have been better without the chocolate chips because then it would have been creamier, but it was still unbelievably good. :)
Thursday, I was assigned to work at the church again, this time with Bethany, Eddie, and Scott. Kristen was in our group too, but she wasn't feeling well, so she slept. At first, Bethany, Eddie and I picked up trash from behind the apartment and Sunday School building, while we waited for Scott to get back from buying paint and stucco and other useful supplies. We also picked up trash and sticks around the church itself. And Bethany and I got to start stuccoing, which led to my discovery that I LOVE to stucco. I pretty much spent all morning and all afternoon stuccoing. Bethany and Eddie nailed the chicken wire to the backboard on the other side of the stairs and then helped Scott paint. After lunch, Leigha took over with the chicken wire, Bethany and Eddie (with help from a few people who weren't needed at their other sites) painted, and Scott and Brian filled in some cracks on the apartment walls with stucco. And still, I stuccoed. I finished around 5, and I have to say that my wall was beautiful when I was done. They declared me a master stuccoer. :) That night, Avis (the minister at the church) and her family made us a traditional Indian Fry Bread dinner and shared a bit of their culture with us. We got to see dances unique to both the Quech'an tribe and the Emerson family. It was great, and fry bread is the Wesley Foundation's new favorite meal. Shelby (Avis's four year-old granddaughter) was very cute in her traditional dance, even though she didn't really do much dancing. And Seth (Shelby's 11 year-old brother) played a rattle-type instrument as accompaniment to his granduncle's singing. That night, I slept outside on one of the picnic tables, and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air, bright stars, and calming sounds from the passing trains. Okay, the last was not so great, and I was a little cold, but otherwise, I liked sleeping outside.
Friday morning, I went to the Ft. Yuma food bank. There was hardly anything for us to do, so we spent most of our time listening to the Christian talk-radio station that was playing and making up games with which to amuse ourselves. Joel is quite adept at inventing fun games to play with whatever materials there are at hand. Check out Andrew's pictures to see some of the games. At about 1:30, we went back to the church, because it was clear that we weren't going to have a whole lot to do if we stayed. I got to go back to the Quechan Museum and buy some earrings for my mom. Then, after we worked for a bit finishing up the apartment (I got to do a bit more stuccoing,) some of us piled into Scott and Joel's vans and took a trip to Mexico. I can't remember the name of the town we went to, but it was fun. We were there for about an hour. I bought myself a pair of earrings, that I have gotten tons of compliments on. And NO, I did NOT get ripped off. I had a fun time walking around with Caroline, Bethany, Brian and Eddie. Then we met up with the rest of the group and headed back. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back so that Joel could buy ingredients to make salsa. I bought a coke from the machine (50 cents!) to try to get rid of my headache, which by that point was turning into a migraine. Luckily it went away not long after we got back. Dinner was fabulous, especially with Joel's salsa, and that night I packed and started writing my affirmations. Good stuff. Oh, and Brian learned how to make fry bread.
Saturday morning, we got up early and packed the cars. I fell into the firepit and hurt my good shoulder (being the clumsy idiot that I am.) Thankfully, there was no fire (though I'd like to think that if there had been, I would have been more aware of its location,) and I was wearing long sleeves, so I didn't get too scratched up. I do have a fairly large bruise and Student Health thinks I probably have tendinitis in it now, but whatever. At 6:30, we had an amazing devotion where we washed each other's hands. Then we got into the vans and drove to Laguna Beach. Diane, Leigha, Lisa Fong and I rode in Alex's van, and that was really fun. I introduced Alex to Dar Williams. :) We stayed at the beach for about an hour and a half, enjoying the Pacific Ocean. I saw some dolphins out in the distance, and Lisa F. and I had a fun time walking on the beach. The water was cold, so no one went swimming, but we did all stick our toes in the water. And Island Dave made an appearance. Then we piled back into the vans, drove to the airport, and flew home. I got to sit next to Leigha and Diane which was awesome (Thanks Andrew, for switching with me.) We spent the night at Kristen's and headed home Sunday morning. Overall, the trip was amazing, and while this blog gives you an overview of what we did, it doesn't come close to beginning to describe all I felt and learned while on this trip. Still, feel free to ask me questions about the trip anytime you want. And, on a final note, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO WENT! You made it such a special experience for me, and I am so glad that I got to know you all better. Thanks, also, for your affirmations. They meant a lot to me. I love you! God Bless!
