DC service trip week one

Two weeks ago, I was filled with excitement and anticipation as I prepared to go on the D.C. trip. My imagination ran wild and I had no idea what to expect. I imagined my room at the hostile would be a large space filled with people sleeping on the floor in sleepingbags, and I imagined that we would interact with the homeless community everyday. However, when we finally arrived on Monday afternoon I found that my imaginations were far from the truth. The hostile was clean, cozy and nice rather than huge and unwelcoming and, to my dismay, we really didn't get to interact with the homeless community as much as I had anticipated. However, what we did do was even more self-satisfying and rewarding.
The first experience where I actually interacted with them was on Tuesday when we went to Christ House, an organization that cares for homeless individuals who are too sick/injured to live on the streets but not sick enough to be admitted into an hospital. Here, we met with two funny and intelligent men (unfortunately, I cannot remember their names!). One of them helped us label and stamp the letters and the other entertained Mrs. D with calculus problems and thus caused the rest of us to cringe and sigh with disgust! However, although I despise calculus, this experience was truely rewarding because it was the first time I actually engaged in a conversation with an homeless individual.
My most defining and rewarding experience took place two days later at the YSOP dinner. Here, we cooked, served and ate a meal with individuals from the homeless community. At first I was worried that the conversations would be awkward, but as I sat at a table with two men (Joe and Phil) I found that I really connected with them and the conversation flowed easily. I don't think I will ever forget Joe and Phil, we talked about everything from school to sports to politics and we even shared our life stories! This was the experience I had dreamt about, except I never imagined it would be that much fun and rewarding!
Every part of the D.C. trip was so much fun! Mrs. Dichiaro was the best (euphemism for craziest!) chaperone ever and my red group (Sarah Stern& Fiona Taylor) kept her in line (just like we did in calculus). I am so grateful to the entire group of students that went with me because their positive energy motivated me to want to do more, and I am also grateful to our chaperones (Gil, Mrs. D, Sarah& Dr. Gustave--when he finally came!) for keeping us safe but still allowing us to have some freetime! Thanks, it was the best experience of my life!

Jonice Ward