# 2's Take on Day 1

Fellow ASB members,

The idea of journaling hit me directly after my trip to Egypt.  In sharing my experience, it was difficult for me to put in order the events that occurred and also for me to remember Egypt.  Because of this, on my trip to Costa Rica a year later, I was sure to journal everyday. When telling my story, I can use my journal to guide not only the order of events but also all the things that occurred because I was sure to write each and every day.  Journaling is great for many reasons, some of these reasons include: bridging external forces in ones life with internal desires, moving one closer to a more wholesome life, integrates peaks and valleys of life and allows different perspectives on a single event.  Within my own journaling experience, I was capable of capturing my perspectives when my I was stretched beyond my comfort zone and could reflect on the new knowledge gained during these experiences.  The only thing that one can never get back is time and journaling allows one to capture time and refer back to it during any time in the future.

Our journey began promptly at midnight with the watching of Waiting for Superman.  This was followed by a reflection where we were able to learn more about each other’s intake on life.  Personally, I am never really the type to open up so fast but during this session, I felt safe enough to share my story without having to worry about being judged.  During the discussion the group discussed the cultural norms that each of us had come from.   We discovered very quickly that our norms had been very different in high school but that we all had the same passion when it came o the topic of urban poverty.

After a good nights rest, we woke up from our slumber promptly to begin breakfast and packing the van.  During this, I learned how efficient our group was when it came to task that needed to be done and how time conscious our group had been.  We were given a task and, as a team, completed it in a timely manner.  Frank managed to stir up some awesome eggs and Lacy baked up some world-class biscuits that we all enjoyed at least two of.

Our first stop was Concord Mills for lunch and a meet and greet with our leader Christi’s mom.  After this we made a Starbucks run and returned to the road to head towards Atlanta.  This stop was also a switch of the drivers, now it was Neelesh’s turn to drive and Frank, who had drove from Will’s to Concord, was able to rest.  We also discovered that Frank was master of maps and that he had been perfecting his skill for quite some time now. This is also where we cracked open Temple Run on my iPad.  We started a new game, which, I cannot tell you the rules to but I can tell you that Christie took a cat to the beach, and Rachael, a rainbow but Neelesh could not take a rainbow so he showed to the beach up with a nickel.  The other game was one that Madiha taught us; it was something like Contact 123 _____. This is where being in the passenger seat has its perks and its flaws because Madiha had been talking more to the back of the van I could never catch on to the rules, but I am hoping that I can learn before we get back to Chapel Hill.  As we stopped at Loves on exit 4 to refuel on snacks and gas, we were approached by the birthday girl [lady] and she was so proud of us for we were spending our Spring Break volunteering rather than on the beaches of Miami, Florida.  Now we were officially Atlanta bound and Georgia was officially on our minds.

Upon arriving at our first Shelter, I was very much thankful of how clean, organized and prepared the shelter was.  At this shelter no one was left out and although it was filled with men, I could tell that there was neither tension nor animosity between anyone in attendance.   After serving the men in attendance, we all sat with them to eat and converse on whatever came to mind.  Many of us were enlightened with new knowledge.  Promptly after food was served, my mother did a surprise visit.   I had not seen my one-year-old sister since January so I was quite delighted that I could see her.  I knew the night couldn’t get better but there was much more in store.  We were not only able to finish cleaning with time left to watch the last six minutes of the game but we also were able to stream it via web and we won. TAR...HEELS!!!!!! We blew d00k out of the water with an 18point win and demolished d00k’s three-year [I believe] home game winning streak!!! This made us Regular Season Champions.To ice the cake, we enjoyed a game of chess and a few of us played monopoly deal.

Being from Atlanta, I had not known that there were shelters of such comfort and safety for men.  I had gotten so use to working at women’s shelters.  This shelter surprised me because it had reached the point where it could run itself with not much help of the owners of the facility.  The lesson I learned today was that even if my day, week, month, year or life is partly cloudy, that doesn’t mean that I have to lose my smile. 

 -Lilly :]