I feel like I'm on "The Real World." That is, if "The Real World" consisted of 22 16-year-olds that I'm 1/5th responsible for...
(NOTE: Ironically enough, the 24th season of "The Real World" recently wrapped in NOLA. In fact, they left a mere few weeks ago AND I MISSED IT!!! Becoming a blurred-out bystander has always been a secret dream of mine. Oh well. I suppose you can't have it all.)
In actuality, the setup is quite similar. My fellow leaders and I spent Tuesday driving to and from the airport, picking up teenagers (most of whom have never met) and bringing them back to our pimped out mansion. Hehe, I keeeeed. BUT our base house is quite charming and comfortably fits all 22 students. We then leave them to their own devices as they awkwardly try and become BFF's. So far it seems to be working. We have been blessed with as stellar bunch. In the last 2 days I've heard endless amounts of guitar playing, watched a few magic tricks and witnessed a full on display of acrobatics. And that was just from one kid! Gel ussssssss!?!?
Days are spent doing service projects in Saint Bernard Parrish. So far hanging dry wall seems to be the primary use of our time. Our site coordinator is a spunky girl named Heidi who goes to great lengths to try and keep the kids entertained while on site. She also encourages spontaneous dance parties, which I obviously support. During one of our later water breaks everyone seemed to be in a heat-induced rut, so I did the only logical thing I could think of....taught them SAW. Unfortunately, they didn't take to it as well as SE (maybe because there was no loser pizza), so we played 'Big Booty' instead.
In all seriousness, I'm hoping the homeowners turn up at some point so the kids can know who they are creating a home for. That for me was the most rewarding part about Habitat and I only wish for them to have a similar experience.
Nights are spent exploring this fantastic city. Last night we took everyone to a free concert in The Square (Soul Rebels...ever heard of it!?)and tonight soccer and sunset at The FLY. Unfortunately, I did not get to witness the sunset seeing as how I was sent on a super-sleuth mission to the grocery store. Might not seem like a big deal, but it was the first time I've driven in the city by myself which is quite the feet for someone like me.
Hokay, time for bed. I miss you friends.
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loser pizza is seriously a crucial element in the introduction to SAW to a new group. im sad they didnt embrace it the way you had hoped. keep in mind that if dealing with children of age (or CLOSE to age,) adding alcohol to the mix seems to make SAW 10000% better than normal. did u tell them about how the word morphs to Sal, Salt, etc? or how about sometimes people start the game pointing up to the sky by accident? haha im honestly schocked this wasn't a huge hit. :(
ReplyDeletewhomp fest.
<3 kop.
ps, call me this weekend!