So, it is now the end of my 11th day in Highland Park. What have I learned? I have learned a few things. I have learned that I connect with people pretty well when I try. I have learned that food is a big part of my life and that living with a vegetarian family probably will not kill me but it certainly does send me to bed hungry.
I have discovered that Highland Park does not have many chain restaurants. Actually, the only business I recognize is Dunkin Donuts. Mary, Rose (the girls I live with)and I went for a walk a few nights ago and decided to go into Dunkin Donuts for a late night snack. I stood at the register looking at the pastries so nicely displayed before me and noticed that something was called “Munchkins”. I innocently asked Mary, “what is a Munchkin?” and she looked at me like I was the most retarded person she had ever encountered. As it turns out a munchkin is a doughnut hole. Who would have thought.
As I previously mentioned, the family I am living with happens to be Vegetarian. Well, the only true Vegetarian is Mary but they all just find it healthier to eat Vegetarian. If you know anything about me, you know that I am the complete opposite! I love eating meat. They have gone out of their way to provide me with at least some bacon. They are sweet people. They made Tofu for me the one night, let us just say that being a Vegetarian will never be an option for this Guatemalan.
There is a food mart literally next door to the house I am staying at. The girls and I make an almost daily trip to B-b-bigs to invest our money on candy and soda. I keep trying to convince them to call it pop but they are not easy to persuade. However, I found out today that some people call a shot of cocaine pop. I might start calling it Soda now.
On Friday, Pastor Seth took me to taste his and Steph’s favorite food , it is a small Thai restaurant that seems to get a lot of business. Again, if you know me you know that I am the most selective person when it comes to food, this is basically saying that I am picky beyond belief. I ate the Thai food but I would definitely not go back.
Also on Friday, I held my first youth gathering and I made them puppy chow. You see before last year (When Audrey, who is also from the Midwest and was here last summer) no one here had heard of puppy chow but they loved when Audrey made it. So I made them puppy chow in an attempt to win them over (if they even showed up). There ended up being eleven kids and me there! We watched the movie Taken, well tried to anyways. Some of them had very strong opinions and felt the need to express their opinions loudly throughout the movie. I was just glad they all came.
Today was a long day. I woke up at 7:15am, helped out with Sunday school, did some readings at the service and listened to an awesome band that played at the service, watched a documentary, went to dinner at one of the church member’s home (it was delicious!), held a meeting about the work trip that I have been working on these last days, and then went to a movie showing of a film/ fundraiser hosted by some Rutgers students. They are raising money to build stoves for families in Guatemala. So it was kind of busy but I was surrounded by awesome people all day.
Life is good in the East Coast. I will talk to you lovely people sometime soon!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
The start of a summer...
Hello everyone,
As you may or may not know, I am in New jersey this summer. I am interning at The Reform Church of Highland Park. Now, I never imagined my self working at a church especially at a Church in New Jersey! I have to admit I was a little nervous at first but after talking to last year’s intern, Audrey, I was a lot less nervous and a lot more excited to come out here.
I make a lot of dumb decisions and the night before I left, I made a very dumb choice-I pulled and all-nighter. So, I was up all night and left my house at 3:45 am. When I arrived at the airport there were about 50 military men and women ahead of me in line at the bag check-in. After about a 35min wait (which I hated every second of because I have absolutely no patience) I was able to get my boarding pass and check my bags in but not before being charged 40 dollars for my bags. I was not happy.
I said goodbye to my father and brother and waited in line at security check. The alarm did not go off on me but they did go off on my bags. I was pulled off to the side and as the lady rummaged through my purse and backpack I wondered what I had forgotten in there. Apparently there is a size limit on liquids! I was not informed. The no-nametag-security lady proceeded to throw away my Victoria secret perfume, face lotion, and toothpaste. She felt bad for me and let me keep my contact solution. I was not happy.
Granted- I was tired from lack of sleep but those circumstances would have aggravated me even when in a good mood. Anyways, I got on the plane to Chicago and slept. Stayed on the plane when we arrived there since that same plane was headed to Newark. I slept all the way to Newark and woke up to find a nice Indian lady sitting next to me.
I arrived in New Jersey and met Pastor Seth, Pastor Stephanie, their children, Pastor Patty, My host family the Lauranos, the youth group, Lisa the secretary and Jean (a very sweet lady!). The first day is kind of a blur, I was exhausted and there was information overload. The second day I met with the pastors, worked on what the Work trip I have to plan will look like, planned some potential activities with the youth, explored the town for lunch and ended up in a cute little Pizza place where I met a nice guy who thought I was Asian. I also went to my very first consistory meeting that lasted 3hrs. I was getting a little tired but it was actually pretty interesting to see how choices are made in the church.
It is my third day in New Jersey, I went to a Bible study today. Struggled to stay awake at first because apparently 9:30 am is too early for me. Towards the end I was participating though so that was fun. I went to this cute coffee shop for lunch and got a huge sandwich- it was delicious. I called a Senator and a Congressman’s office today. Pretty cool huh? It felt very business/ professional for me. A nice change from hanging around in sweats at school and my job is a little more demanding than at the LRC at school. Anyways, there is a memorial day cookout in an hour. I have to be in the best of moods to make a good impression. Wish me luck!
Peace and love,
Karla <3
As you may or may not know, I am in New jersey this summer. I am interning at The Reform Church of Highland Park. Now, I never imagined my self working at a church especially at a Church in New Jersey! I have to admit I was a little nervous at first but after talking to last year’s intern, Audrey, I was a lot less nervous and a lot more excited to come out here.
I make a lot of dumb decisions and the night before I left, I made a very dumb choice-I pulled and all-nighter. So, I was up all night and left my house at 3:45 am. When I arrived at the airport there were about 50 military men and women ahead of me in line at the bag check-in. After about a 35min wait (which I hated every second of because I have absolutely no patience) I was able to get my boarding pass and check my bags in but not before being charged 40 dollars for my bags. I was not happy.
I said goodbye to my father and brother and waited in line at security check. The alarm did not go off on me but they did go off on my bags. I was pulled off to the side and as the lady rummaged through my purse and backpack I wondered what I had forgotten in there. Apparently there is a size limit on liquids! I was not informed. The no-nametag-security lady proceeded to throw away my Victoria secret perfume, face lotion, and toothpaste. She felt bad for me and let me keep my contact solution. I was not happy.
Granted- I was tired from lack of sleep but those circumstances would have aggravated me even when in a good mood. Anyways, I got on the plane to Chicago and slept. Stayed on the plane when we arrived there since that same plane was headed to Newark. I slept all the way to Newark and woke up to find a nice Indian lady sitting next to me.
I arrived in New Jersey and met Pastor Seth, Pastor Stephanie, their children, Pastor Patty, My host family the Lauranos, the youth group, Lisa the secretary and Jean (a very sweet lady!). The first day is kind of a blur, I was exhausted and there was information overload. The second day I met with the pastors, worked on what the Work trip I have to plan will look like, planned some potential activities with the youth, explored the town for lunch and ended up in a cute little Pizza place where I met a nice guy who thought I was Asian. I also went to my very first consistory meeting that lasted 3hrs. I was getting a little tired but it was actually pretty interesting to see how choices are made in the church.
It is my third day in New Jersey, I went to a Bible study today. Struggled to stay awake at first because apparently 9:30 am is too early for me. Towards the end I was participating though so that was fun. I went to this cute coffee shop for lunch and got a huge sandwich- it was delicious. I called a Senator and a Congressman’s office today. Pretty cool huh? It felt very business/ professional for me. A nice change from hanging around in sweats at school and my job is a little more demanding than at the LRC at school. Anyways, there is a memorial day cookout in an hour. I have to be in the best of moods to make a good impression. Wish me luck!
Peace and love,
Karla <3
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