the past week or so...

So this past week has been crazy. We are always on the go or having to be somewhere.  I love it here and I am so happy I have been blessed with this opportunity. I feel like I have known all the staff and students for years even though it has only been about three weeks. It is crazy to think that the staff will be leaving in just two weeks.  I can’t believe that we are almost half way through the summer.  I just feel so close to these people and just how open we all are with each other. 

This week hasn’t really consisted of too much.   We have had our weekly routine with work and meetings.  I had Thursday off with about twelve others and we went to San Francisco.  It was so much fun.  We rented three cars and drove up there for the day.  We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and got to take pictures with it in the background.  After that we attempted to find a place to eat but it took us like three hours to find the place.  We got so lost and didn’t know where we were at some points so it was interesting but so much fun.  We got to see a lot of the city because we did get lost.  After lunch we went to Chinatown and did some quick shopping.  We then went to attempt to find the Full House house but had no luck but we did run into Lombard St., the really curvy one.  We then headed to Pier 39 and walked around.  Everyone wanted to eat at a ‘San Francisco’ place so we ate at IN&OUT BURGERS.  It was so yummy.  My favorite part of the day was while we were waiting on our food.  I got a call from a Cleveland number that I did not know.  It was my friend Westin and he asked me what I was doing and I told him eating at IN&OUT BURGER and surprisingly so was he.  He and his family were in San Francisco for vacation and just so happened to be there at the same time.  It was so weird to see someone from home but it was so cool too.  I was dumbfounded at first because I didn’t think I should see someone from home over 2,000 miles away from home.  It made my day though and just what I needed, a little piece of home.  

   On Friday we began working night shifts.  It was crazy intense.  They have free concerts on Friday nights so there are so many people out there listening and so that mean so much business.  I thought it was really busy because I was running all over the place but one of the managers told me that it was a slow night.  I was blown away. I don’t know how I am going to handle a truly busy night. It is exciting though because we get tips.  I only got three dollars but hey, it is better than not getting them in the first place. I was so tired when I got off though I was very excited to get to bed.  Many of us worked Saturday as well but was really fun was our outreach/theme party that night.  We had a Barn Party and invited our co-workers.  We dressed up and played country music. This guy brought in a huge smoker and cooked tons of BBQ pulled pork and chicken.  It was so amazing to have a little piece of home.  I hadn’t realized how much I missed the southern food and hospitality.  We definitely don’t find that here.  THEY DON’T HAVE SWEET TEA.  It blows my mind.  I am missing that very much and cannot wait to have that.  (Mama have some real sweet tea made when I come home please. : )  haha.  So many people showed up for the party and there were many conversations.  It is awesome just to see how God has already started working and opening up doors for us.

Today has been a very relaxing day.  I went to the beach and watched some people play volleyball for about an hour and then we rode rides for the rest of the afternoon.  I had dinner at a place called Pizza My Heart which is famous here.  You get a slice of pizza and a free t-shirt for five dollars and the pizza is actually really good.   Now we are all just watching Hot Rod and hanging out. 

One week gone.

So one week has passed and it feels like I have know these people for a life time. The days are so long here and everyone is so open.  I blows my mind that we just meet each other a week a go and we are all from different parts of the country.  Yesterday started our normal schedule with work and everything.  I had yesterday off so I was able to do laundry.  This was surprisingly very needed becasue I had layered so many things in the past week to try and stay warm.  The weather has been so cold and rainy here but no worries every local has informed us that this is very unusal. Actually today was very nice.  It was a little chilly in the shade but not too bad.  What I really wanted to share was what we did tonight. I don't really know how to describe it but it was such an eye opening experience.  We were each given an invitation to dinner by a different country or region of the world, I was invited by the Middle East.  We met in one of the rooms and then one of the leaders lead us out of the room and to the side of the Pan, the place we are staying, and told us to sit on the blue tarp.  We were then given the instrutctions that we could not leave the blue tarp, we could only talk to the people directly beside us, no complaining or grumbling, and we couldn't leave until we had had solid food.  We were then given pita chips and humus.  As we continued to sit there we could see out there countrys and some of the people were traveling aorund and we attempted to do so but were not allowed.  Eventually someone from America brought us some steak and once we ate some we were able to leave. The staff then called us all together and told us that we each were representing the spiritual knowledge in those areas.  America had steak, baked potatoes, green beans, sweets and games.  Everything decreased from there to on group, they were called the 10-40 who had nothing and were sitting in a dark ally behind the Pan.  It was just eye opening to see how distracted we as Americans can get with all our fancy cars, nice houses, sports and whatever it might be to not even realize how hungry people are for the Word when we are just sitting here enjoying ourselves and not sharing, in this case steak, but the glorious gift we have been given.  It is just amazing to look back and see all the things I could have been doing wheather giving my money instead of getting those shoes or even just taking 10 minutes a day to pray for a specific area that doesn't know Him at all.  I  thank you for the prayers they are greatly apprieciated from me and everyone here on project. 
Love from Santa Cruz

Hey. 
So we have almost finished our first week here in Santa Cruz.  It has been so fun and exciting.  I really haven't been able to explore that much becasue we have been doing so much training  but we did have a pirate scavenger hunt yesterday which was so much fun.  We learned alot about the city and got to build sand castles, my team built a pirate ship, and then we ended the night by watching the first pirates movie and eating s'mores. They were very yummy.  We get to meet our employers tomorrow for orientation and then we begin working on Saturday morning. I am so pumped about meeting the owners they seem so sweet just from the emails I have gotten.  I have met the guys from project who will be working at Surf City Grill with me as well and I am excited.  I love all the people here.  They are so cool and fun. We already have two outreach projects planned for Sunday afternoon.  We will be playing tug-a-war.  We have the night off tonight so a lot of people are going to see the X-man movie and the new pirates movie.  Well I am going to go grab some dinner. Thanks for all the prayers.