Day 21

Observations:

-So I've been here for 3 weeks. Yup.
-This morning I decided to go for a little run at 5:30. The last time I ran was at the Skagit Senior Game. Yes, that was in March, thanks for asking.
-As soon as I got home I fell asleep for the two hours before I had to head out to work.
-Before work though, I managed to put my hair in two french braids! I think that's the most independent I've felt this whole trip.
-My host sister just told me I shouldn't shower for another hour because I just ate dinner. I guess showers are considered swimming here.
-I love listening to music I forgot exists.
-Today I helped a girl with English for a good hour and a half. She is sixteen-years-old and was breast-feeding her one-year-old son the whole time.
-Almost every day on the bus, some one will come on pedaling scrunchies, caramels, key chains...anything to make a few extra colones. Many of the people share messages about drug-addicted pasts and how the power of God has turned their life around, how all of their profits were going towards cures for cancer (something no one actually believes). Usually they're lucky to make two or three hundred colones (a little less than 50 cents). Today though was different. A man stood up half way through the bus ride and said that he worked for the handicapped services, promoting the production of wheelchair ramps and access for people who can't walk. Instead of asking for money, he simply said that he was going to pass out a candy to every person in the bus. I watched as almost every single person on that bus (including myself) game him a handful of change. It's amazing to see how when one person gives, other people give in return.
-I have a book recommendation for you all. It's called "The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World". It's a collection of 12 essays on current world issues. One of my favorites was on clean water and it was by Dan Haseltine, the lead singer of Jars of Clay. Another great one was on HIV/AIDS by Jenna Lee, a Whitworth graduate (I know my mother reads this). The final essay (consequently my favorite) was about poverty and written by Cranford Joseph Coulter. Here's some of my favorite passages:

"The idea that giving to the poor is giving to God can be found throughout the Bible. It should be noted that nowhere does it mention giving only to those poor who are deserving or worthy, or those who are poor through no fault of their own. No. Giving is an act of mercy. What is mercy? It is when one is spared the negative consequences of one's misbehavior. The poor are not presumed to be innocent, nor are we to judge them to be guilty. When we are confronted by them, we are given an opportunity to respond as we would hope God would respond to us in our poverty...
Every human being starts his or her life with wonderful potential and hope. Each person is a unique, unrepeatable reflection of the glory of God, made in His image. This is true, whether he or she is homeless, addicted, in prison, shopping at the local grocery store, or singing next to you in choir. Each one was once a beautiful baby in some one's arms...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: 'We need to relate to people less according to what they do or omit to do, and more according to what they have suffered.'...
Divorce has become so common and so easy. It's no big thing to throw a spouse out of the picture -- why can't I just walk away from a brother or a sister who is difficult or messy, or a mom or dad who is needy, or a son or daughter who has issues? Don't I deserve to be happy? Life would be so much easier without them. The first and most important element of the cure for homelessness is to love God--let Him help you love your family. Be a home-builder. Be the ounce of prevention. Then lover your neighbor. We have seen an eighty-three-year-old woman living on the streets for the last few months. She has no children. Why has no neighbor taken her in? That's the way it used to be done. She would be some one's Aunt Margaret and live in Bobby's old room. This is not a radical concept.
When I service the people on the street, I am not there to preach to them. I don't make them sit or stand through a message and a song before we serve the food. These people are not rats, and the food is not bait. The sharing of food and clothing is not just a means to gather a crowd to evangelize. If I do that, it would be a con, not love...
...pray this simple prayer: 'Lord, let me see what it is that you love about each person I meet.' It is powerful. But I warn you, be prepared to have your heart broken."

-Hannah