Today my group and I spent the day at an organization called Operation Exodus. During the school year it functions as a tutoring/afterschool program for kindergarten through 8th grade and during the summer it's a tutoring/daycamp/VBS program...located in Washington Heights, which is in Manhattan above Harlem...in case you were wondering...
It is mostly all Dominican, all sass, all organized chaos, all Spanglish...
Washington Heights is a mostly Dominican neighborhood, the kids at the program are all bilingual so the whole day was a mix of Spanish and English and I wished I'd paid more attention in Spanish class/continued on in my Spanish education...the first part of the day is spent on academics, then we herd the kids to lunch at a near by school, then its off to recess at the park where there are different activity stations but basically the kids just run wild for a good two hours and harass the poor chupe man (chupes are popsicle like snacks that a vendor with a cart sells for $1 and the "e" is pronounced as an "a")."I want a chupe!" "Did you bring money for a chupe?" "...No..." "Well, then no chupe..." (child runs off to try to convince chupe man to give them a free one....
I was constantly, desperately surveying the park looking for my kindergarten class. Honestly, I have no idea how we successfully got all of the kids across the street to the park and then the school and back again without losing anyone, but somehow in all the chaos we managed to make it happen.
After recess is snack, which is once again noisy and you're constantly counting heads as kids try to wander 
and refilling juice demands and telling kids to stay in their seats. Then was craft time and an attempt to teach about Pablo Picasso and finally telling a group of uninterested kindergarteners to just draw silly looking faces because that's about as close to grasping Picasso as they're going to get. Lastly comes praise time where the whole program comes together and worships and hears a Bible story. And once again it was loud as the kids took it upon themselves to scream out the lyrics to the songs...
Did I mention a lot of us were left with our own classes since some of the teachers had a half day of work? Yep, I spent the day with 12 kindergarteners who I'm sure were discussing my incompetence in Spanish because they for sure knew I didn't understand...I even carried one girl from the bathroom to snack Behaven style when she refused to join the rest of the class...
Ok, so it was exhausting and crazy and you feel frazzled for a majority of the time but really at the end of the day when they insist on showing you the picture they drew and hugging you goodbye it makes for a pretty good day...
In other news...last week ended with the 4th of July...obviously...
My staff and I staked out a place by the Hudson, made a food run and then sat for 4 or 5 hours waiting for the 9:30 firework display.
The city lined up 8 barges along the river and set off 40,000 fireworks...and it was awesome.
A good end to a long week...
I got in trouble last night with my mom for not having updated my blog since the 24th of June, so here you go...
Sometimes I have weeks where I feel like nothing happens. I feel like that's been the last couple weeks. Not that the Canadians weren't nice, but nothing too significant or outrageous or profound happened.
This past week was another group from Ohio and once again I had all younger kids. Everyone in my group had just finished the 8th grade and so technically they weren't even in high school yet...and it was exhausting. I felt like they probably thought I was just a grouch because I was constantly telling them not to do things and feeling annoyed with them. The fact that three of the girls in my group were princesses did not help my mood either.
The group was a little whiny (is that how you spell that?), had listening issues, and had a habit of saying things out loud about the people and places we were that should have just been kept in their heads...I was annoyed most of the week.
Sometimes I have weeks where I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I show up at the ministry sites and do whatever it is they need us to do. I put a smile on my face and hand out the next plate of food.
Sometimes I feel like I expect big things to happen and for God to be obvious in the work we're doing. It's not always the case, though, Not because he's not present where we are, but that just because we're doing His work doesn't mean he still can't work in a not necessarily obvious way to our human eyes.
Sometimes I just have to believe that even, though I can't see it I know God is still working in this city, at our ministry sites, through me, through my groups, and in our lives.
My group this week is from Toronto, Canada...and yes, they do say "eh" at the end of their sentences...they're are also super obssessed with recycling, Obama, eating healthy, and allergic reactions to peanut butter (they were shocked when I told them they could make peanut butter sanwiches and take them out in public because I guess you're not allowed in Canada in the event you're next to someone with a severe allergy...anyway...
We spent this morning/early afternoon at the Agape Soup Kitchen in Brooklyn with Brother Omar. When we started out serving lunch it was way too many cooks in the kitchen. Some of us were standing around, all of us were mostly in the way, and those serving were running back and forth trying to keep up with the steady flow of people coming in for lunch. Eventually, things slowed down a little and some of the students went across the street to the church connected with the soup kitchen and those not serving food or sent to vacuum at the church began to talk with the people left eating.
Mostly, it just amazes me every time how much of a difference just sitting and talking to someone for a little while can make. There weren't any philosophical discussions or evangelizing, just talks about life and where people were from and what they do and how great a city New York is...that's all, just simple conversations...and sometimes that's all people need...
Sometimes when we need a filler during the day because of a gap between ministry sites or something we take our groups to Grand Central. Then we hand them a paper, sending them on a scavenger hunt, giving us 30-45 mintues of sit and think about nothing time...it's wonderful...
This week's group hails from Lebanon, OH. They're a few years younger than last week's group, most of whom had just graduated from high school, whereas these kids are just beginning high school...and there is an obvious difference. I feel like I am constantly repeating myself and telling them not to stand too close to the platform edge or to move out of the way so the 13 of us aren't taking up the entire sidewalk or to split up as we enter a subway car because 13 people can't go through one door at once and the list goes on...I notice that they're leaders take charge in situations where they're supoosed to be talking to people and stepping out and I'm not upset that they're leaders are taking things away from this experience too, but so far it doesn't feel as if the students are getting anything out of it...at least they most of them enjoyed tonight's Dominican restaurant, right?...I know it's only the beginning of the week, so we'll see as we go to two ministry sites tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll be able to step out and see God working...in the meantime I'll be making sure they're not falling on to any train tracks...
I know people have been asking...so here's a picture of our team...I'll add pictures from ministry sites later on when I have some, but in the meantime here you go...
and refilling juice demands and telling kids to stay in their seats. Then was craft time and an attempt to teach about Pablo Picasso and finally telling a group of uninterested kindergarteners to just draw silly looking faces because that's about as close to grasping Picasso as they're going to get. Lastly comes praise time where the whole program comes together and worships and hears a Bible story. And once again it was loud as the kids took it upon themselves to scream out the lyrics to the songs...
