A Lazy Couple of Days

Friday morning I got up early and met Charlotte at Battery Park for a trip to Ellis Island. I'd been to the island before, but it's been two years, and being a history major, I could always use a refresher course.

I enjoyed it, but I got the same impression as last time. The building has been restored, but it's also been modernized. The only room that's restored to look as it did when it was a functioning immigration center was the recieving room. I'm not a big fan of modernizing history. I think that's why I liked Edgar Allan Poe's house so much. It wasn't made to look like anything fake, it looked as much like it did when he lived there as possible.

We were going to go to the Guggenheim, but we stopped at church so Charlotte could make some qick phone calls. I took a nap. We decided to leave at about 4, and Charlotte called to see when they closed. Much to our dismay, they were closing at 5:45, so by the time we got there we'd only have about an hour to see everything. Not wanting to be rushed, we opted against going. Instead, we made the trip back to Queens, where we bought some watermelon and watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off with Kyle's family.

This time, I managed to get home at a decent hour. I went to bed around midnite, and set my alarm to wake up for eight. I hate even sleep that late, but I figured I'd give myself some rest since I didn't have anywhere to be. Imagine my horror when I woke up at 10:45!! I couldn't tell you the last time I slept that late. I lazed around for a while, brought some laundry to the basement, and then bummed a little more.

I decided to go to the Museum of Natural History, since it's in my neighborhood and I've been talking about going. I knew that it too closed at 5:45 so I wouldn't have excessive time to browse (seeing as how it was already three when I left my house), but nonetheless, I went, and enjoyed it. I bought a ticket to the planetarium show, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There were some exhibits I would have liked to take a closer look at, but at least I got to see them.

(by far, the Asian Peoples exhibit was my favorite, but maybe its because it was the only one I really took alot of time in)

For the walk home, I decided to take Columbus, which I never do, and I discovered a Jaques-imo's behind the museum on 78th!!! This one is owned by the same guy who owns the highly-reccomended one uptown in New Orleans. Despite it's high prices, I may have to make my way up there soon for a taste of home. They did have a side of jambalaya for six dollars...

All along I've been thinking Mara's Homeade in the East Village was my only option. It's amazing how I never realized how different our menus are down there than everywhere else. Things that are standard at just about any non-chain restaurant in Louisiana are rare gems found only at specialty places here! To those of you back home, TREASURE your easy access to things like crawfish etouffee and bread pudding. This is something I will never take for granted again!

I went to the cafe down the block, grabbed a sandwhich, came home and bummed around some more. Soon, I will go to bed. So good night!

Graffiti

My church is pretty much amazing. The people there come from every possible background, and it's so interesting to see how, as children of God, we are all one in the same, despite our differences. The general atomosphere of it all is undescribable. I cannot imagine how anyone could ever possibly feel uncomfortable there.

Today we had a meal after small group time. I made Potato Salad, South Louisiana Style... It went over pretty well, from what I could tell, unless everyone was lying to make me feel better. Either way, I enjoyed it, and since I don't cook very often, when something I make goes over well, I am very proud. (Like that macaroni casserole for thanksgiving.....)

Back to the point.

Fellowship meals at my church are so great. There are no cliques. No particular person is expected to sit by any other particular people. This is how it should always be at a church. Sure, after the meal is done we sortof migrated over toward our friends, but eating a meal together is one of the best ways to get to know other people, so there is no reason not to sit by at least one person you don't know very well.

We do the same thing on Wednesday nights, only the Wednesday meal is more of a community outreach, and it's not potluck.

People from the neighborhood and the church come in and get a free hot meal, which is served to them at the table by volunteers from within the church. This is such a special time to me, as it is to the other summer missionaries. We really get to know the people we are reaching out to and thier stories. Many of the people who come don't have much of anything or anyone, and it's such a great time for them to get to come and tell us their stories. I love to hear what they have to say. We've got former artists, pilots, you name it. There is so much to learn from these people and I'm so glad I get the opportunity to do it. After the meal, there is a Bible study, which has become one of my favorite times of the week. Some people don't stay, but there are many that do.

Saturdays is F.L.I.P. (Free Lunch in the Park). The church is but a half a block away from Tompkins Square Park, which is a charming little place. Many people live in the park, or in squats and tenaments around it. On Saturdays, volunteers from Graffiti, and mission teams, prepare a bag lunch, for these people. They line up in massive numbers. Then Vaughn, one of the most faithful and amazing servant-hearted people I've ever met, leads a Bible study for those that want to stay. If ever you are in New York on a Saturday, you should contact the church about helping with FLIP because it is a true blessing.

This weekend was Graffiti's first Paint the Town project. Throughout the week a mission team helped paint the school at the corner of our block: St. Brigids. Then on Saturday, we invited people from the church and the community to help us finish painting and to do some general cleaning, gum scraping, tape removing, etc.... We didn't have as many show up as expected, but it all got done.

One of the guys who came to help was someone I'd called a few weeks ago when looking for volunteers. He told me he had work the night before, but he'd be there. I told him it was okay if he couldn't make it, or if he wanted to sleep in and come by later on, but he insisted it would be no problem. Sure enough, he got off work at 7, and was at church at 9, having only one hour of sleep, and ready and willing to do whatever was needed of him.

This is the type of person we should all look up to.

I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with a church in the city with such amazing people who have a heart to serve the community. There are a million more things I could talk about, but you'd get sick of reading them. Check out the website if you get a chance though!