Early Morning Adventures

Hello Bloggers-in Training (apprentices) & Blog-Readers Anonymous,

I would like to relate to you the story of my morning which reaffirmed my faith in humanity. I rose early to go volunteer serving breakfast at Charlie's Place at 1840 Connecticut in St. Margaret's Church! I was complaining to my companion most of the way there about the cold, and the girl who sent us here with bad directions, and the lack of transportation - when we finally arrived after a pretty long walk (walks always seem longer when you're looking for something) I saw that the church was called St. Margaret's and I took it as a sign to stop complaining. So we waited outside for awhile with a couple men who were waiting to go inside to have breakfast. I suppose I forgot to mention that it's a homeless soup kitchen. So we were waiting outside chilling when the man who runs the show, Tom came out to let us in.

All in all, we did the regular stuff that one might do at a soup kitchen - but I was SO glad I went for a few reasons:

1.) A lot of the men spoke spanish so I got to practice. One guy was quite a smiler and he was staring and smiling at me for most of the time I was there - he was from El Salvador and I asked him a few questions in Spanish. He spoke pretty slowly which I was happy about, I don't know if it was natural or if he was doing it to help me out. He came here for work. I was talking to another volunteer later a (well dressed guy in his 30's) and he said that some of the men work they just can't afford food. Which makes sense, about half of the men were hispanic and I've seen a lot of Hispanic men working construction around the city. He also said the demographic of the clients has changed since he started, he said the men have gotten younger and more Spanish. I wonder what the reason for that could be. So anyway - I was just so happy to be able to speak Spanish and I want to return if only for that reason.

2.) I read somewhere (probably in Oprah magazine) that if you are past the bar hopping age and single and you want to meet someone, volunteering is a great way to do so. I truly believe that it's the BEST place to meet really nice and interesting people. It is a given that you have at least one important thing in common which is you are all nice enough people to come out early and help out homeless people out without pay. So I met first this guy Tom who is actually paid for his work I would later come to find out. He runs the show and is there from 6a.m. until 2p.m.. He's a singer-songwriter as well and has just finished his second cd. He;s having a CD release part at Iota on January 8th. Anyhow I had a great conversation with him just basically interviewing him about who his influences were, who he sounds like, how he promotes himself etc. It was really great. There were also two ladies who are friends, about in their 20's who work there before going into the office and three other men who do the same thing. It inspires me to think I'll be able to keep doing this fun volunteer type stuff pretty much forever. I'd love to come in before work when I'm older I think that's be great! Anyhow having conversations with such a wide range of people inspires me.

Anyhow lessons learned:

- In America we are fortunate enough to be able to do whatever we want in life and be pretty much guaranteed to live a pretty misery-less existence until we're about 80.

- I would love to be a docent at a museum when I retire. Hah! I'm planning pretty far in advance, but I met this great older lady docent at the National Museum for Women in the Arts and she said it was on her list of things to do when she retired. We're lucky to be able to have hobbies.

-D.C. is a great city full of really interested people from all over the country. They say it's a transient city but that also makes it great because you can get to know people whit really varied histories.

-D.C. has a wonderful public transportation system. I hopped on a random bus when I exited Charlie's place at about 8:30am and it was fun of young professionals reading books and newspaper and that is what I want to be! A bus riding young professional! There is a place for you in D.C. no matter what your age, Buffalo could really benefit from imporved public transport - even just buses. The bus system in D.C. is so extensive! You can go anywhere! I feel so independent and confiedent in my knowledge of the city at this point that so long as I have my SmarTrip and GWorld card I can go anywgere!. I can buy food with my Gworld on campus and take buses and the metro with my SmarTrip.

I'll try to be more reliable in document my adventures. Last night I went to a really engaging and FUNNY book talk by Jim Lehrer (of NewsHour) and he said that most of what writing is is getting yourself to sit down in the chair and begin. He also is a big proponent of organizing your life and sticking to a routine. He said that when he had a heart attack about 25 years ago he mae a list of all the tings he did in 24 hours and he crossed off half of them, everything he didin;t like to do. Then he stopped doing it! And he said he has so much more time, and he can fit everything he wats to do into one day, he also takes a nap everyday which I though was great. I'll have to do that soon.

He also acknowledged that he is fortunate enough to be able to stop doing the tings he didn't want to do. He said that many people don't have that luxury but he is always sure to acknowledge that he is lucky to be able to do everything he does. He said there is nothing worse than being around a person who is privledged and having them not recognize or acknowledge it.

Anyhow, Adios!