Day 5

So this morning I had my first solo AM shift! I survived!  I slept really poorly last night because I kept thinking of everything I would be needing to do.  Since it's the weekend, thankfully shift does not start until 7AM (instead of 6AM).  The house was a lot emptier today compared to the other days because many of the guests were out looking for work, both for the day or possibly more long term.  Overall, the shift was fairly "quiet," but I was still running around answering the door, phone, fetching items for guests from the tiendita, assigning chores, prepping cleaning and meals, cooking and sorting beans, checking fruit, trying to chat-up guests, etc.

At the very end of shift a new social security guest arrived (unexpected to us volunteers, but she had been pre-accepted by the office) so we admitted her and gave her the orientation to the house, got her bed ready, and here I am! Writing! Off shift! WOO.

One of the things I really enjoyed while on shift was talking to one of the guests who (surprisingly) is from Eritrea... not Latin America.  He told me about how he and two others were the only ones who survived from their group due to violence and the elements.  I had opened the chapel up for him so that he could put remembrance candles for those he had lost.  Despite everything he's been through (violence, refugee camps, legal battles, job searches) he still smiles. I know this sounds cheesy, but talking to him I nearly teared up.  I said to him, "I've had it so easy...I don't think I could do what you've done" and he responded simply that some of go through hard things, and that others have other experiences, and that is life. He smiled.

Ok, enough cheese for now.

Speaking of cheese, I really miss it. Dairy in general.  I think it's really great that we as volunteers live and eat the way the guests do, but I really miss having milk and eggs regularly.  We only have eggs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  We haven't had milk around lately because we only have what people donate to us (we have a lot of donations), but it terms of variety it can be very limiting. Rice and beans! Arroz y frijoles!