September 26, 2006 - Tuesday
September 26, 2006
Today was another tea house day at the Refugee Center. I woke up at 8:15AM, got ready, and came downstairs to join the team at 8:20AM. I am fast, what can I say. We debriefed quickly as a team before heading over to the ARC.
Upon arriving at the arc, we saw a couple of boxes of bread to carry upstairs, so David and I grabbed those on our way up. I immediately went in to the kitchen to help get things going for food preparation. I had a new task today. Last week, I was “bag-opener”. Today, I was “feta cheese bagger”. Cynthia cut up the blocks of cheese while I bagged them, rolled them, and put them in a crate. Thankfully, we got to wear latex gloves, so my hands did not smell of feta cheese all day. Other members of our team were counting olives, peppers, bread, etc. to prepare in the bags.
We worked right up until about 10:15AM or so and then everyone stopped for group prayer time. We shared prayer requests and prayed. I prayed for my refugee friend T * (name removed for refugee), who has been looking for work. It is difficult for many of them to find work since they lack the proper papers, aren’t citizens, etc. T* volunteers with the ARC when he cannot find work.
After prayer time, Ilir, one of the Helping Hands staff members who was on vacation last week, assigned jobs to everyone for the day. I was assigned to help with the clothing ministry and pass out shirts to those with tickets. Before I could go perform that task though, I had to help finish with the cheese. So, I quickly finished that task and joined Mr. Ali and Skip at the tables outside of the kitchen to help pass out shirts.
I enjoyed this job assignment today. Basically, people would come to the table with their ticket that they had received earlier from Susan, they would tell Mr. Ali what size shirt that they wanted/needed, and he would translate and tell me in English what to get out of the boxes. We had boxes set out for each size (small, medium, large, extra large) and I would just pull a couple of samples from each box to give them a choice. I found it was easier to give away the striped shirts by first offering them a solid boring color and then show them the striped one. I should really go into marketing… ;)
The interesting thing about the shirt giveaway was that when someone didn’t know what size they needed, they would look around the room and point at someone and say “Like him! Like him!”. They pointed at me a lot and said “Like him but not as big”. I wanted to tell them in Greek or Arabic, that I’m “voluptuously muscular” but I held back…
So, while we were doing that, Skip was basically behind us making sure no one could walk around behind the tables and grab shirts without us seeing them. After a while, Skip and I traded places. S* (name removed for refugee) (I mentioned him from the men’s retreat) was there and we played a few games of Tavli. I beat him in the first game but only by lucky high rolling of the dice. I lost the rest of the games. But hey, I prefer to call it the “ministry of losing”, and I have mastered the art of making it look realistic.
Around 1:15pm, Susan came and told me that I could give a shirt away to anyone who had not already gotten one without them having to have a ticket (after 1pm, they turn off the computer and stop taking registrations). So, when we were done, we gave away about 200 shirts.
After I was done with this, I stopped in the office to try to start uploading some pictures to an FTP server so that I could upload them to the site later. It didn’t work, it timed out. So, I am going to have to figure out another method. But, this late into the trip, perhaps I will make everyone wait to see our presentation when we get back. Perhaps…
I also helped Mr. Ali with his laptop computer. David gave his own wireless adapter to Mr Ali for him to use on his laptop around Greece. So, I installed it on his laptop and configured it to work with most of the wireless connections, and then showed him how to use it. Mr. Ali is an older man from Somalia who knows very much about Jesus and the Christian faith yet still continues to seek and find out as much truth as he can. He is very intelligent and speaks several languages and is constantly learning new things.
After they closed the tea house and started dismissing refugees to leave (more accurately, turning off some of the fluorescent lights and saying “goodbye!” in many different languages), we started the cleaning process. Wiping down tables, turning the chairs upside down on the tables, sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, picking up trash, etc. Something occurred to me today though. We wipe down the tables with soap and water so that they will be clean. And then, we put the chairs upside down on the tables without washing the seats of the chairs. What good does it do to wash the tables if we aren’t also washing the seats? Just a thought… ;)
When all of the cleaning was said and done, we met with Susan for a team debriefing. She asked how things were going, our impressions of things today and the past week, how the retreat went, etc. After discussing some plans for later in the week, we were dismissed. I went in to the office to check my email and then left with Cynthia and Kerry and came back to the guest house.
I relaxed in the dining area for a while. Karen and Jean Y left to go shopping, David and Erika left to go shopping, and then Jean and Skip left to go shopping. So, I went with the Buttrams to dinner at KFC. After dinner, we walked across Omonia Square to the Hondas Center to look at all of the stuff there. We went up all 10 floors, back down all 10 floors, into the sub-floors/basement floors, and back up and out. Didn’t purchase a single thing, but it was neat to look at all of the stuff there.
After all of that stair-trekking, we went to get some ice cream. I wanted to try a new flavor, but ended up just getting “Green Apple Sorbet” again. I like it. While we were enjoying the ice cream outside, we saw T* (name removed for refugee) walking through the square, so he stopped and said hello. We bought him some ice cream too so that he could enjoy it with us. After talking to him for a while, we left the square and headed back to the guest house.
We weren’t home for long before Skip and Jean returned. Jean was ready to play another game of “Blokus” and try to beat me. So, Jean, Kerry, Cynthia, and I played 3 games. I lost all 3 games. After that, I played a game of Tavli and lost that too. I am in a major losing streak now.
I called home for the first time today. David and I called our friend Matt from our accountability group. Then, I called my cell phone to check my voicemail, and I also called my parents to talk to them. They have enjoyed reading the blog.
Tomorrow is a work project day. I am going to be stationed here at the guest house to carry and move heavy stuff I think. Should be interesting. I think David and Skip are supposed to be “handymen” at the ARC, fixing stuff. Some of the women are stationed here at the house also, and some will be doing some cleaning at the ARC. I will also have to fix and repair a laptop while I am here. Boy I haven’t done that before…
-Joe
Today was another tea house day at the Refugee Center. I woke up at 8:15AM, got ready, and came downstairs to join the team at 8:20AM. I am fast, what can I say. We debriefed quickly as a team before heading over to the ARC.
Upon arriving at the arc, we saw a couple of boxes of bread to carry upstairs, so David and I grabbed those on our way up. I immediately went in to the kitchen to help get things going for food preparation. I had a new task today. Last week, I was “bag-opener”. Today, I was “feta cheese bagger”. Cynthia cut up the blocks of cheese while I bagged them, rolled them, and put them in a crate. Thankfully, we got to wear latex gloves, so my hands did not smell of feta cheese all day. Other members of our team were counting olives, peppers, bread, etc. to prepare in the bags.
We worked right up until about 10:15AM or so and then everyone stopped for group prayer time. We shared prayer requests and prayed. I prayed for my refugee friend T * (name removed for refugee), who has been looking for work. It is difficult for many of them to find work since they lack the proper papers, aren’t citizens, etc. T* volunteers with the ARC when he cannot find work.
After prayer time, Ilir, one of the Helping Hands staff members who was on vacation last week, assigned jobs to everyone for the day. I was assigned to help with the clothing ministry and pass out shirts to those with tickets. Before I could go perform that task though, I had to help finish with the cheese. So, I quickly finished that task and joined Mr. Ali and Skip at the tables outside of the kitchen to help pass out shirts.
I enjoyed this job assignment today. Basically, people would come to the table with their ticket that they had received earlier from Susan, they would tell Mr. Ali what size shirt that they wanted/needed, and he would translate and tell me in English what to get out of the boxes. We had boxes set out for each size (small, medium, large, extra large) and I would just pull a couple of samples from each box to give them a choice. I found it was easier to give away the striped shirts by first offering them a solid boring color and then show them the striped one. I should really go into marketing… ;)
The interesting thing about the shirt giveaway was that when someone didn’t know what size they needed, they would look around the room and point at someone and say “Like him! Like him!”. They pointed at me a lot and said “Like him but not as big”. I wanted to tell them in Greek or Arabic, that I’m “voluptuously muscular” but I held back…
So, while we were doing that, Skip was basically behind us making sure no one could walk around behind the tables and grab shirts without us seeing them. After a while, Skip and I traded places. S* (name removed for refugee) (I mentioned him from the men’s retreat) was there and we played a few games of Tavli. I beat him in the first game but only by lucky high rolling of the dice. I lost the rest of the games. But hey, I prefer to call it the “ministry of losing”, and I have mastered the art of making it look realistic.
Around 1:15pm, Susan came and told me that I could give a shirt away to anyone who had not already gotten one without them having to have a ticket (after 1pm, they turn off the computer and stop taking registrations). So, when we were done, we gave away about 200 shirts.
After I was done with this, I stopped in the office to try to start uploading some pictures to an FTP server so that I could upload them to the site later. It didn’t work, it timed out. So, I am going to have to figure out another method. But, this late into the trip, perhaps I will make everyone wait to see our presentation when we get back. Perhaps…
I also helped Mr. Ali with his laptop computer. David gave his own wireless adapter to Mr Ali for him to use on his laptop around Greece. So, I installed it on his laptop and configured it to work with most of the wireless connections, and then showed him how to use it. Mr. Ali is an older man from Somalia who knows very much about Jesus and the Christian faith yet still continues to seek and find out as much truth as he can. He is very intelligent and speaks several languages and is constantly learning new things.
After they closed the tea house and started dismissing refugees to leave (more accurately, turning off some of the fluorescent lights and saying “goodbye!” in many different languages), we started the cleaning process. Wiping down tables, turning the chairs upside down on the tables, sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, picking up trash, etc. Something occurred to me today though. We wipe down the tables with soap and water so that they will be clean. And then, we put the chairs upside down on the tables without washing the seats of the chairs. What good does it do to wash the tables if we aren’t also washing the seats? Just a thought… ;)
When all of the cleaning was said and done, we met with Susan for a team debriefing. She asked how things were going, our impressions of things today and the past week, how the retreat went, etc. After discussing some plans for later in the week, we were dismissed. I went in to the office to check my email and then left with Cynthia and Kerry and came back to the guest house.
I relaxed in the dining area for a while. Karen and Jean Y left to go shopping, David and Erika left to go shopping, and then Jean and Skip left to go shopping. So, I went with the Buttrams to dinner at KFC. After dinner, we walked across Omonia Square to the Hondas Center to look at all of the stuff there. We went up all 10 floors, back down all 10 floors, into the sub-floors/basement floors, and back up and out. Didn’t purchase a single thing, but it was neat to look at all of the stuff there.
After all of that stair-trekking, we went to get some ice cream. I wanted to try a new flavor, but ended up just getting “Green Apple Sorbet” again. I like it. While we were enjoying the ice cream outside, we saw T* (name removed for refugee) walking through the square, so he stopped and said hello. We bought him some ice cream too so that he could enjoy it with us. After talking to him for a while, we left the square and headed back to the guest house.
We weren’t home for long before Skip and Jean returned. Jean was ready to play another game of “Blokus” and try to beat me. So, Jean, Kerry, Cynthia, and I played 3 games. I lost all 3 games. After that, I played a game of Tavli and lost that too. I am in a major losing streak now.
I called home for the first time today. David and I called our friend Matt from our accountability group. Then, I called my cell phone to check my voicemail, and I also called my parents to talk to them. They have enjoyed reading the blog.
Tomorrow is a work project day. I am going to be stationed here at the guest house to carry and move heavy stuff I think. Should be interesting. I think David and Skip are supposed to be “handymen” at the ARC, fixing stuff. Some of the women are stationed here at the house also, and some will be doing some cleaning at the ARC. I will also have to fix and repair a laptop while I am here. Boy I haven’t done that before…
-Joe
posted by Joe at 11:08 PM
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