All Moved In

I’m all moved in and have been super busy with all the orientation stuff. Well, new-student orientation hasn’t even started yet. I’ve had president’s scholars orientation since I got here.

The first thing we did was go to Hume Lake. I’d never been before so I’m sad to say that I did not enjoy it very much. I felt uncomfortable and awkward since I knew NO ONE and I didn’t know where anything was. The campus is huge, mind you.

The best part about that whole weekend was the lake. That lake was amazing. I actually went kayaking for the first time up there and it was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. I definitely plan to go back soon and kayak some more. I think going back, I’ll have a different attitude since this time I wasn’t very focused on God. I think being so self-conscious and quiet totally drew me away from God.

Honestly, when I think about it, if I continued to ignore God even in the midst of his most amazing ideas, it’s an empty life. Like, literally, there was nothing I looked forward to and no one I wanted to talk to. That isn’t God, and I know it.

Anyways, we toured Fresno Tuesday and Wednesday. It was incredible. I’d never been so heartbroken in my life. I saw hundreds and hundreds of tents—not even… they were ripped and half built—on the sides of roads as well as whole families of up to ten living in little garden sheds. How?

We visited the community food bank and experienced a simulation of being in a situation when you don’t have enough money to feed a family. That was eye opening and almost anger-instilling to learn that the government turns away people in need. My group’s family was surviving on $3 a day for food for two people. The “government” (the simulation) denied us food stamps and said that our income was too high. While I know it wasn’t the lady running the workshop’s fault, it made me realize that the government actually does that.

We also had a service project, which was also very awesome. We went to a local park, Holmes Park, and cleaned it up as completely as we could. We wiped off almost all the graffiti from the signs, the playground, the amphitheater, the courts— you name it. We picked up all the litter and removed all the excess greenery that was more brown.

I met five wonderful young children. The oldest’s name was Adrian and after him came Adriana, Francisco, Ariseli, and Adolfo. I think there was even one more but he was an infant and Adolfo was 2. Both Arian and Francisco came right up to me, one 9 the other 7, and asked me what I was doing and why I was doing it. I tried my best to explain that there are people in this world that don’t understand the importance of these parks for little tykes like themselves.

They both told me they thought it was horrible that people came in here and wrote bad things everywhere. Francisco told me that whoever wrote those things definitely wasn’t getting presents from Santa Claus. They all worked hard along side the 30 or so of us and I was so proud of them. We did a great job.

And the last day and a half, I’ve been doing nothing. We’ve had the last 36 hours off which have been such a nice break from all the traveling. I’ve painted several nails and hung out with different people a few times. I watched Pride and Prejudice for the first time and I didn’t understand almost a single word. I’ll need to rewatch it with subtitles.

The roommates are coming back tomorrow. I’ll have to explain that some other time. It’s late and I’m tired.