5 Days: Day 3 - 'Beautiful Day'

I'm going to try and write this fast because after 10pm it becomes story time in the hut and I don't want to miss out. My teammates are ridiculous and it's impossible not to feel super close with them.

But  also guys, guess what! Day 3 was about 1000x better than Day 2!

Day 3 was still full of the usual dismals and rejections, but for some reason it was a lot more manageable. We’ve started to get into a groove now, and people have come to expect us.  Something about the sun shining and the wind being manageable just put people in a better mood, I guess. We raised more money today than yesterday and the day before combined, which is pretty incredible. We still have a long way to go to get to our goal, but we have a lot more awareness and people are coming even from off campus to donate.

My sense of shame is continuing to diminish which is both terrifying and exciting. I’ve taken on the university as my home and currently have my stuff splayed all over it. When you don’t really have a whole lot, you don’t really care if it goes missing. That sounds apathetic, but really there’s a sweet freedom to it.

As part of the routine, I was beginning to feel that I had become a pro interviewee, seeing as how many we’ve had to do. Unfortunately, a radio station called me this morning right after I had just woken up and asked for an interview (they called our emergency phone, for those of you crying foul.) I honestly laughed out loud the second I hung up because I have no idea if I made ANY sense at all. I distinctly remember a sentence of, “Well you see because the homeless of youth with Woods Homes and showers, beds and I have a real passion for it.” Yup. Apparently when you say the same things over and over every day the sentence structure kind of gets thrown out the window. Meh.

As with every other day, people have been more than generous with food. The Rotaract and Amnesty International club woke us up to fruit salad and clam chowder all beautifully laid out on a table. We continue to have friends bring us snacks and tea all day, along with words of encouragement and comfort. I have a lot of  time on my hands, so I am a lot more open to just sitting and talking with people and getting to know them better. All of those students that I vaguely knew from class I actually have the opportunity to get to know and hear their stories. It’s definitely one of the advantages of this program that I did not consider going in to it. People come with hugs and smiles, and I even had a two-year old boy come up and give me a dollar. I'm going to ignore the fact that his mom gave it to him and pretend that the children of tomorrow are keen and taking the initiative on social justice. God bless 'em.

My biggest frustration today was school. It’s amazing how apathetic I am towards postmodern avant-garde music when my armpits reek and I can feel my socks fermenting. I have a couple of assignments due tomorrow that were hanging over my head all day and even now I’m procrastinating. As a future teacher want-to-be, I still definitely see the importance and power in education, but it does serve as a reminder to teach perspectives and passions over futile facts. There’s something to be said for the simplicity and inspiration of Dr. Seuss:

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, it’s not going to get better. It’s not.”

Here’s hoping Day 4 brings a lot of happy, awesome people!

PS: Thanks to those of you who are posting these blogs on Facebook or whatever. I've had a couple people come up and mention them to me, so I really, really appreciate it!