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January 08 Australia TripWhat can I say about my trip to Australia? It was amazing! My hosts Julian, Dave, and Daniel were incredibly generous with their time and my travel mate Dietmar was a great sport and a lot of fun. We worked hard (really, I swear) and packed as much sight-seeing in as possible. I arrived on the 30th of December and left January 7th. It is hard to believe how much I saw while there. Here is a summary: Dec 30th: plane ride to Australia, Heath Ledger sits one row in front of me, arrive in Sydney, take a nap, go shopping Dec 31: tour around Darling Harbor, visit the Chinese Garden, first look at Bondi beach, fantastic BBQ on Julian's deck overlooking the beach, fireworks, and a little Texas Holdem poker, we really did talk about work (I promise) Jan 1 (the hottest day on record in Australia): ferry ride to Manly, lunch overlooking Manly, quick dip in the water, 15 min walk from Manly beach to Shelly beach, ferry ride back to Sydney, recover from heatstroke in hotel Jan 2: head out West to the Blue Mountains, survive Dietmar's driving, stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park, pet some koalas, feed a kangaroo, make our way out make our way out to see the Three Sisters rock formation, hike down and then back up the 841 step Giant Staircase, sweat a lot Jan 3: meet 3H group at their offices in Bondi Junction, dinner at Mu Shu (very yummy) and drinks at Icebergs overlooking Bondi beach, drank a couple Scarpinas my new very favorite drink (it's like a lemon sorbet that will kick your ass) Jan 4: Dietmar and the boys go play golf, I walked around the Botanical Gardens taking lots of pictures of the enormous bats for Dietmar, 3 and a half hour climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Jan 5: more meetings with 3H, checkout the incredible view from Daniel's penthouse apartment in Bondi Junction, a couple more Scarpinas, trip to Star City Casino for a little blackjack, taught the boys to play craps, win a respectable amount of Australian dollars Jan 6: Julian and Dave promise to teach me to surf, we visit Whale Beach and Palm Beach (both beautiful), I pick out my new house overlooking Whale Beach, beaches are closed to swimming and surfing because the wind it too choppy, head back to the city to catch the afternoon session of cricket, Dave explains the basic rules of cricket, Julian taunts the opposing team, Australian captain, Ricky Ponting scores over 100 points to lead Australia to victory Jan 7: plane ride back home November 26 Thanksgiving at DisneyMike and I spent Thanksgiving in Orlando with my family this year. It was fun but not really want I was hoping for.
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September 22 Day 9: Distributing clothing and suppliesI spent time yesterday at a distribution center in Destin, FL for hurricane survivors. It was a mostly depressing experience with a few moments that were heart warming. I’m heading back there this afternoon. My job yesterday was keeping the toiletries area stocked and tidy. What that really meant was policing people to make sure they only took one toothbrush, lotion, or deodorant. It was truly depressing to see people grabbing all they could and shoving it into their packed shopping carts. I tried asking them to limit their items to one per family but then they would say they are shopping for seven families and couldn’t live without seven tubes of toothpaste and seven bottles of lotion. The whole experience was just a reminder that there are ugly people everywhere who will take advantage of every situation. There were some very kind hearted and humbled people who came through as well. A couple different women and teenage girls who came through would ask meekly before taking anything and would say “thank you” every time. These are the people I would stop and talk to about what they had been through. Their stories of loss and courage touched my heart and made the work worthwhile. I met several people from Louisiana and Mississippi who had lost everything and were traveling from one relative to the next once they felt they had worn out their welcome. I was amazed to see that most of the volunteers at the center were evacuees themselves and had also lost all of their possessions. It was a very depressing day. September 19 I almost forgot to mention...The people I went with on the trip to Louisiana were totally fantastic. I spent most of the time traveling there and back with Steve, Chad, and Cindy. All three were funny, kind, and hard workers. Chad was a former Ranger who flew in Black Hawk helicopters. His stories and jokes kept me amused on our long trip. He also took on the dirty task of cleaning up after all the food was cooked. Steve is a kitchen and bathroom designer who is also rather techno savvy. He talked alot about his son CJ who was also on the trip. I was totally impressed by CJ. He is a 15 year old kid who I'm sure plenty of better things to do than hang out with us and get dirty and sweaty but I never heard him complain. Quite the opposite in fact. He obviously wanted to be there to help as many people as possible. He even convinced his dad to rescue a puppy they found on our second day in Louisiana. I think Cindy works for a large food supplier but I don't remember exactly what she does. She was the mom of the trip and the fastest food server I have ever seen. I didn't spend as much time with Cesar or his sister Natalie but they were always laughing. Natalie thought it was hysterical when I accidentally dumped a huge can of chili in the trash instead of into the cooker. There was also a guy named Jimmy with us. He was pretty quite around me so I didn't get to know him very well. I thought they were teasing him when they called him Jimmy Stewart but it turned out that that was actually his name. Go figure. Our fearless leader on the trip was named Chris. He was always talking to people from the churches and those who came by for food. I have never been as comfortable with complete stranger as he obviously was. He just came up to people and smiled, chatted them up, and generally made them feel better in the face of a pretty terrible situation.
I was very worried that they would figure out that I don't go to church and wouldn't want me on the trip so I didn't bring it up. There was some praying at meals and before bed, a lot of bless you's, one church service, and more Christian rock (and rap) than one person should be forced to listen to but I still loved every minute of it. They said that Baptists generally do a lot of charity work especially during disasters and tragedies and I could tell that was true after spending time with this group. Steve and CJ invited me to attend their church service on Sunday when we got back to FWB around midnight on Saturday. That was when I told them that I don't go to church. I think they were surprised but they never made me feel bad. They did try to convince me to come anyway. I think it is their mission to save as many people as possible and I appreciated the effort but I am happy just the way I am. :) Day 6: Hanging out with my familyToday, I took it easy and just hung out with my mom, sister, and nephew. We went to IHOP in the morning, shopping at the outlet mall in the afternoon, and dinner and bowling at night. I crashed around 10:00, still pretty tried from my weekend adventure. Days 4: Trip to Bogalusa, LAI got up at 5:30 in the morning to meet the Salvation Ministries group at 6:30. We met at a church near where I grew up. There ended up being 9 of us going on the trip to Louisiana. Me, Chris, Steve, Steve's 15 year old son CJ, Chad, Cesar and his younger sister Natalie, Cindy, and Jimmy. We split up into 2 trucks, both towing trailers behind packed with food and supplies. It took us about 7 hours to get to Bogalusa, Louisiana. One side of a bridge we went over was completely washed out so traffic got pretty backed up for a while.
We got to Bogalusa around noon but didn't have a set place to set up so we stopped by a few different churches. We found out that the Red Cross had finally made it there so there wasn't as much need as we had thought. But we got pointed to a small church, Mount Zion Baptist Church, in a very poor part of town. When we drove by the church and I decided that "poor neighborhood" was the biggest understatement I have ever heard. The houses were tiny and thoroughly run down. I don't think Katrina did too much damage to this neighborhood but they certainly needed our help so we stopped there and setup across the street from the church in an empty lot.
It took us a while to set up. We had to unpack the trailers and setup tents, tables, and all the food. For the first meal, we served the most amazing BBQ pork butt I have ever tasted. We made pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and let me tell you, everyone who ate one loved it and came back for more. Around mid day, an older gentleman came by and told us that he was the city councilman for the area we were in. He kindly thanked us for coming and serving food and assured us that the people of this neighborhood really needed our help. He then asked us if we knew where we were. We stared at him with blank looks on our faces until he said, "You're in the middle of the hood." He went on to say that this is the poorest neighbor in the poorest parish of all of Louisiana. He left us with a very uncomfortable feeling that was multiplied when dusk started coming. The people in the church locked up and headed out around 4:30. By 5:00 we decided that it would not be safe to stay the night there in tents. In record time we packed the trailers and trucks and made a hasty departure. Luckily, we found out where the Red Cross we set up and were invited to stay the night with them in the gym of another local Baptist church.
Curfew was at 9:00 so by 8:00 almost every restaurant was closed for the night. Even though the BBQ pork was amazing, none us us could take having it for dinner after preparing and serving it all day. Luckily, we found a Chinese restaurant still open and we ate there. Sleep was pretty tough in the gym with so many people around. I had my iPod so I fell asleep listening to music. September 15 Day 3: Boys & Girls ClubSo, today I'm spending the day helping my sister at the Boys and Girls Club. This morning we went to Sam's Club to buy a bunch of drinks and snacks a Day of Caring that they are doing with some organization. Since Michelle is 8 months pregnant, I helped move all the stuff into and out of the van. After that we stopped by Meigs Middle School, my old middle school (from 20 years ago). We left some supplies for an after school program that they run there. I got to meet an amazing teacher there who is incredibly passionate about teaching at risk kids. Michelle told me all about some other programs that I wasn't aware of. It made me very glad that I donate as much as I can to the Club every year. Later today, after scool gets out, I'll be taking pictures of all the kids. They want to have their pics come up when each kids checks in at the computer. It should be fun.
I think I'm going to be going to Louisiana tomorrow for a couple of days. My sister got me hooked up with a church group that drives out to diaster areas and cooks meals for people there. We'll basically be camping out for 2 days with no electricity, etc. I'm really looking forward to going and helping out. Hopefully, they won't ask me what church I go to. :) September 13 Day 1: Gulf Coast AdventureI decided to cancel my vacation plans and head to the Gulf Coast to help with Hurricane Katrina diaster victims. I am from Fort Walton Beach, FL and my family still lives there. So I headed home to stay with family and volunteer where I can. Today I hung out with my sister at the Boys & Girls Club where she works. She is helping me contact different volunteer organizations to figure out where I can be the best help. More info and pics later. April 10 Asia trip pics are postedToo much to write about... Right now, I'm nursing jet lag and a cold given to me by either MC and Melora so I don't feel like writting up my trip report. I'll save it for when I have more energy. December 13 winning isn't everything; but it is more funI'm not sure if I am up for blogging about the whole trip tonight. We really had a fantastic weekend! The fight was fun, food was great, hotel was beautiful, pen and teller were hilarious, but the winning was hard to come by. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the check, but check out the whole album. |
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