What Happened to October, Part 2?

Here is the rest of this long winded outline of my family road trip around the Northeast...

- Oct 8th & 9th - Boston. We spent 2 days in Boston and it was a really cool city. We walked the Freedom Trail and saw all the famous landmarks in downtown Boston like North Church and the Bunker Hill Monument. Walking around Harvard was a fun experience and we ate lunch in Charlestown at a cool restaurant called Figs. We had dinner in North Boston at another Italian restaurant. Outside the restaurant, Ben Affleck was filiming a movie called "The Town" that is coming out next year. It was interesting watching bank robbers dressed up as nuns driving down the street in a minivan (could be an interesting movie). On day 2 in Boston, we went and toured Fenway Park (which was awesome), went to a great pub across the street from the park, and then went to the Sam Adams Brewery to do some beer tasting. After the brewery tour, we picked up our car at the T station and drove to Vermont.

- Oct 10th - Vermont and Stamford, Connecticut. Vermont was one of my highlights of the trip. We spent most of the day driving around the Southern part of Vermont and pulling over from time to time to take pictures of the fall leaves. Spending the past 4 years in San Diego, I haven't seen many fall colors so this was a little bit of a shock to me. We left Vermont in the mid-afternoon to drive to Stamford, CT where we were spending the night. This was another surprise. Our hotel was cheap and we had one of my favorite meals in downtown Stamford. We went to a French restaurant called Chez Jean Pierre. The food, French wine, and deserts were all great. This was one of the most unexpected quality meals and we all enjoyed the evening.

- Oct 11th - Philadelphia & Lancaster, PA. We left Stamford and headed for Philadelphia and had a great time in the City of Brotherly Love. We got in around lunch and ate lunch at an awesome Cuban restaurant in Old City. Then we drove around downtown, went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where Rocky runs up the steps), walked around a park on the river, went to Independence Hall, and looked at the Liberty Bell. We left around 4ish and headed back to Lancaster. Central PA was a much different feel for the family than the big cities we had been traveling around. I lost count of the many questions my Dad asked about the farm land. But it was fun to show them where I've been living for the past 5 months.

- Oct 12th - Lancaster, PA. On our last day of the trip. We ate breakfast at my favorite diner, drove around Amish country (for hours), ate lunch in downtown Lancaster, went to Hershey's Chocolate World, and went in to HOPE. Showing my family where I've been working was another one of the highlights of the trip. *The picture to the right is an Amish buggy at a drive through ATM.*

- Oct 13th - Baltimore. My Dad and Sister flew back to CA. I drove straight to work and was completely exhausted from this whirlwind trip through: Maryland, D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, & Pennsylvania.

My family had been talking about going on a trip like this for years so this was a lot of fun to finally do it. My mom had been to the Northeast before, so it was almost like we were following in her footsteps. Planning has already begun on the Epic East Coast Family Adventure Round II.

What happened to October, Part 1?

Well its been over a month now since I have added a new post, so for the few of you who are still reading my "summer blog" here is an update....

After I returned from the Dominican Republic in mid-September, life kicked into high gear. Work began getting busier, I started mowing more, and I only had 2 weeks before my dad and sister flew in from California.

On October 3rd, my family landed in Baltimore and our whirlwind family vacation began. There is too much to tell, so I am just going to give a chronological outline (or a detailed one at that).

- Oct 3rd - Baltimore. We had dinner at Phillips Seafood at Baltimore's inner harbor. We were all pleasantly surprised by Baltimore and enjoyed walking around the harbor.

- Oct 4th & 5th- Washington D.C. We drove from Baltiomore to Largo, Maryland where we took the Metro into D.C. On Day 1 in D.C. we saw: the Washington Monument, World War II memorial, Korean Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Vietnam Memorial, the White House, Supreme Court, and the Capital. We also spent time in the Smithsonian Art museum and at the Archives (where the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights are located). On Day 2 we went to the Holocaust Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and Arlington Cemetary.
There is just too much to talk about it, so I will leave it at just the list.

- Oct 6th - Philadelphia and New York City. On our drive up to NYC, we stopped in South Philadelphia to pick up famous cheesesteaks at Geno's. When we arrived in New York, we checked into our hotel in Times Square and bought tickets to see Phantom of the Opera that night. We walked around Times Square for a little while, rested in our hotel room, and then headed to dinner at an Italian place in the theatre district. Seeing Phantom of the Opera was a lot of fun and afterwards we hopped on the subway to go get desert. Showing Dad the subway system was a lot of fun (not like Katy or I were subway pros, it was just fun teaching him how to take the subway).

- Oct 7th - New York City and Boston. We woke up to the elevators being out of order in our hotel. Thankfully we were only on the 17th floor and not the 32nd! This morning we walked around Wall Street, saw the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and spent some time walking through Central Park. We left the City in the afternoon and began our drive up to Boston. That night we went to a hole in the wall seafood restaurant and it was one of the best restaurants during the trip.

Dominican Republic Adventures Part 3

After visiting the 4 HOPE clients in Hato Mayor and San Pedro, I was pretty excited about the work HOPE is doing around the world. On the last few days of my trip in the Dominican Republic. A group of the summer interns, a HOPE employee, and a couple HOPE supporters came down to do a weekend trip. With this group we went to a couple bank meetings and met another client in Consuello. In August, most of the HOPE interns went back to school, so it was nice to see them again down in the DR.

We drove about 30 minutes down a pretty bad dirt road in San Pedro to get to our first bank meeting. It was really interesting to see a group of clients paying back their loans. They went around the room and explained their business. Then the loan officer led a couple worship songs and a quick passage from the Bible. For the next 30 minutes or so, the loan officer collected, counted, and recorded the loan payments. This meeting was pretty subdued in comparison to the next meeting we went to.

After that first meeting, we headed down another dirt road to another village. We visited two ladies who had received home loans alongside their business loans. They showed us their homes and they both were beaming with happieness. With the home loan they poured a concrete floor, patched holes in the roof, and bought solid wood doors. We then went to a bank meeting in this village. There were about 30 members at the meeting and it was an interesting environment. They all welcomed us to the meeting and seemed really excited that we were visiting. They began their bank meeting much like the other meeting, but this meeting went much longer. One member didn't come with his payment, so the group had to cover that sum of money. It was 1,500 pesos and the bank president went to each bank member collecting money. He wrote down everything that people put in to cover the missing person and then would make sure that the money was paid back to those people. I am glad that the meeting didn't go as planned because it allowed us to see more facets of microfinance at work. At the end of the meeting, the loan officer asked if there was anyone present who couldn't read or write. About a handful of people raised their hands and the loan officer signed them up for literacy courses. Just another benefit of being apart of the community bank.

On the way back to Santo Domingo, we stopped in and visited a client named Mayra. She began taking loans from Esperanza 10 years ago when Esperanza began operating. She ran various businesses to support her family. Her first loan was for 1,500 pesos ($50) and her most recent loan was for 400,000 pesos ($10,000). Mayra now has a furniture retail store and she said in the last year she had over 1 million pesos in orders. She can barely keep up with the demand. Mayra stressed the importance of capital in her business. After building up her credit and business, Mayra could have received a loan from a commercial bank and at a better interest rate, but Mayra decided to stay with Esperanza. Mayra said, "Esperanza has blessed me, and I want to bless others through Esperanza." It was great to her multiple clients repeat the importance of Esperanza (HOPE) in their lives.

Bank in Santo Domingo we visited an Esperanza Clinic where clients could get cheap healthcare. For just a couple dollars they could be checked out by the top of the line medical professionals and all this just because they are a part of Esperanza. Many clients said, "Esperanza is more than a bank to me, it is my family...they care about my health and family."

This was an incredible trip because it validated why I have been volunteering for the past 4 months. I am glad that this trip only made me believe more in Microfinance. It is a very viable means to help people escape poverty and improve their families lives.

Dominican Republic Adventures Part 2

After a couple days of relaxing on the beach and traveling around the Dominican Republic, our trip shifted. The purpose of our trip now was to experience HOPE International's life changing work in the DR. This part of the trip rejuvenated my energy and reasoning for volunteering with HOPE this summer. It has been an awesome summer/fall with HOPE, but up until this point, I didn't have any ownership of microfinance's impact on those in poverty.

Here are 4 quick stories from visiting clients in Hato Mayor and San Pedro...

Aura had a really interesting story. Typically women in the Dominican Republic are very dependent on their husbands. After Aura's husband passed away, she wanted to be able to provide for her family and not have to move in with other family members. The First Lady in the Dominican Republic gave Aura a scholarship to go to a trade school to learn chemistry. She spent 3 months learning how to make hair products and then did some teaching as well at the school. The income from teaching wasn't enough to support her family so she decided to make her own hair products. We talked to her sons and they mentioned how much their quality of life has improved since their mom started selling these products. Coincidentally, her sons names were Michael and Daniel. So Mike and I had to take a picture with them (Aura is in the background). Aura was extremely grateful that we cared about her story and for the support of HOPE. She talked with us for about an hour and kept offering us drinks so we would stay and chat with her family.

Next, we headed a little ways further down a dirt road and we stopped at Agueda's home. She produces cheese and acts as a wholesaler to supermarkets in the DR. The cheese that she makes out in the country is then picked up, packaged under various brand names, and sold throughout the country. She gave us a sample of her cheese and a piece of dulce de leche (both were great). Agueda also sells ice cream from her home. I was continually surprised by the many things these people gave to us.

We headed back to San Pedro from Hato Mayor to visit 2 more clients, Jose Luis Rincon and Milan Tapia. Jose has an amazing story. He manufactures wheelbarrows with a lifetime guarantee (supposedly the only life time warranty in the country). He started building them out of a wood shack that he lived in. As a result of the loans he's received and the expansion of his business. He has now built a modest two story cement block building. The first floor is his work shop and the top story is his home. He has a truck to transport his wheelbarrows to construction sites and for the hour we were with him, he did not stop smiling. In 30 minutes he built about half of a wheelbarrow by hand. It was truly impressive. Within a few minutes he knew all of our names and was joking with us in Spanish. He got us all involved in one way or another. He gave me the chance to try some welding. Jose is one of HOPE's all-star clients and his joy was contagious.

The last client we visited today was Milan. She started with a HOPE loan years ago when she had a sewing business. After she experienced great success and was employing 7 other seamstresses, she decided to open up a school for underprivileged children. It was initially in her home and she quickly outgrew her capacity. She rallied her community and government to help her construct a bigger school building. Now she has 385 students and desperately needs more space because of the demand for the education she is offering. As a result of Milan's success, she is giving back to her community. Spending an hour with Milan was moving. Seeing the children respect her and love on her like a mother was heart warming. It really reminded me a lot of going to visit my mom at her school and how students loved her. Milan recognized my level of Spanish and talked with me at that level. She will be traveling to Lancaster to speak the HOPE Annual Breakfast in November and I wish I could be there to see her again.

I'll save the rest of the HOPE trip for Part 3 because there is too much to share...

Dominican Republic Adventures Part 1

On September 11th, I woke up at 2 AM and drove to the Philadelphia airport to catch a flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Last summer, I spent three weeks on the island of Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. This trip to the Dominican Republic was an incredible chance to see HOPEs work first hand and spend a couple days of vacation on the beach.

Our (Mike and I) flight left Philadelphia at 6 AM and we landed in the DR around 130 in the afternoon. We then took a taxi to downtown Santo Domingo and hopped on a "wa-wa" (small bus) to the Samana Peninsula. This was our first Dominican experience. Dominicans cram as many people as possible in buses or cars (in one of our vans we counted 21 people). Claire, Mike, and I went to the back row of the wa-wa. There were four seats, so we sat down and put our traveling backpacks in the 4th seat. Before we knew it there was a mom and two kids squeezing into the back row with us. For the next 5 hours to the North Coast, we had 6 people and 3 backpacks in a space that would have been uncomfrotable for 4 average sized passengers. I couldn't move my legs and it was probably the most uncomfortable bus ride I've ever been on. For some reason I couldn't stop laughing though and the only thing I could do was lean forward and fall asleep on my backpack.

It was a relief to arrive in Las Terrenas but I was exhausted by now and not in the mood for doing anything other than sleeping. Over the next few days we would spend time relaxing on the beautiful Caribbean beaches, walking around the village, eating some amazing fruit, and drinking fresh fruit juices. The best fruit juice was Chinola (passion fruit), but I also had mango, pineapple, melon, and strawberry. It was nice to not have a phone or watch because I woke up whenever I felt rested and went to bed whenever I felt tired. I spent the mornings reading The Kite Runner on the porch of the apartment we were staying in. We went to a market to get food and made our meals in the apartment. It was very simple living. One day we were sipping on jugos naturales on the beach and we saw some people pulling a 4 foot shark out of the water. After that we decided to not swim as far out into the ocean.
After we spent some time swimming and reading on the beach on Sunday, we went back to our apartment and checked out. We decided to take a bus 4 hours to a town called Puerto Plata so we could go to 27 waterfalls the next day. This night in Puerto Plata was full of adventure. We each paid $8 for a bed in this hostel. We were the only people staying there and it wasn't the nicest accommodations I've ever had. Since there obviously wasn't any air conditioning, we opened the windows to cool down the room. Soon we had bees flying around our room. In an attempt to escape an attack by one of the bees, Mike dove onto one of the beds. Good thing there was an extra bed in the room because Mike snapped the slats that held up the mattress. Now the only thing holding up the bed was a couple cinder blocks under the bed. Falling asleep was tough because when you laid in the bed, your body sunk into a mattress canyon. Was it worth the $8? Definitely.

The next morning we hopped on another bus and headed to 27 Charcos (waterfalls). I fell asleep on the bus ride out to the waterfalls and was awaken by a bus of Dominicans yelling that my friends got off the bus already. When I stepped off the bus I realized that the driver just dropped us off on the side of a dirt road. We walked down the dirt road for a while until we found the entrance to 27 waterfalls. This was the highlight of the first half of the trip. We paid about $15 dollars each and it was some of the best money I've ever spent. We had a guide for the three of us and he asked us if we wanted to hike or swim. We chose to swim, meaning we were swimming to the bottom of each of the waterfalls and then climbing up the waterfall. On some of the waterfalls, our rather large Dominican guide, Pablo, would just grab our arm and pull us up the waterfall. After we climbed up all 27 waterfalls, we swam a little bit and then began our descent. Now we got to jump off of each of the waterfalls. The highest was probably 30 feet and some of them were like natural water slides. I had a huge smile on my face for the three hours we spent climbing/jumping off of waterfalls. Swimming through canyons filled with clear blue water was incredible. This excursion surpassed my expectations immensely. We walked back up the dirt road until we came to the paved road where we stood on the side of the road until a bus stopped to pick us up.

We took the bus from 27 Charcos back to Puerto Plata where we hopped on Moto-cochos (motorcycle taxis) to take us back to our hostel to pick up our bags. Riding on these motorcycles was another one of my highlights. We were very trusting of the hostel we stayed at because we left our bags in an unlocked room. They could have stolen our passports, phones, hundreds of dollars, credit cards, cameras etc. We then got on the bus (still in our wet clothes from jumping off waterfalls) and drove 4 hours south to Santo Domingo. Once we arrived in Santo Domingo, the trip started to transition to focusing more on HOPE. Mike and I were staying at Claire's (a HOPE DR intern) apartment across the street from the Presidential Palace. We spent a day walking around the city and seeing common tourist sites. This wasn't interesting me too much because the cathedrals looked like any other old church and the castles just like any other castle.

A couple of my random observations of the DR: the food is too bland, plantains (maduras) are amazing, police, military, and random people carry shotguns, humidity is intense, it's hard to understand Dominican Spanish, the water is pretty warm, Dominican coffee is strong (and made in a Greka), traffic lights, signs, and rules don't mean anything, jugos naturales are incredible, and don't drink the water!

Part 2, the HOPE trip, coming soon...

Blessings in Abundance

Hope International has proven to be a blessing in so many different ways. Professionally, it has been great to work for something I truly believe in and alongside so many incredible people. Spiritually, I have been encouraged by many different people at HOPE and challenged by living outside my comfort zone. Personally, I have been given the opportunity to visit much of the Northeast and many times stay for free at friend's houses to make my trips much more afforable. Many things have just fallen into place, such as having my mowing job. Mowing gets me outside, doing something physical, gives me access to a truck when I need it, and has made it financially possible for me to volunteer out here.

In my last post, I wrote all about my East Coast road trip with Alan. The weekend after that I went down to Deep Creek, Maryland to spend the weekend at a friend's lake house. I think it is incredible the blessings that I've received across the nation and so far from home. Since that weekend I have decided to try and lay low for a couple weekends.

Now that I'm not traveling as much on the weekends, I am spending more time on Saturdays mowing lawns. Mowing really isn't that bad until it is 90 degrees outside with high humidity. I honestly rather be mowing then sitting around on the couch. It is nice to go do something productive. The international house that I am living with just filled up with the students who will be attending the local University. It is great to meet people from countries all over the world. Last night, we played an indoor soccer game in the barn. We played four vs four and there were six countries represented (Ghana, Brazil, Guatemala, Sudan, Albania, and the US). That is an experience I couldn't find in too many other places. It is great to have a full house of interesting people to spend time with. I am trying to take advantage of living with people from South America by practicing Spanish with them. It is hard for me to be bold enough to speak in front of everyone in the house, but I am really enjoying practicing my Spanish one on one.

Over the past few years, I have come to find that living in different states or countries is a catalyst for personal growth. There are times of boredom, loneliness, thankfulness, and gratitude for a multitude of blessings. Even though life at work (HOPE & mowing) may be hectic, there is much more time for reflection and connection with God. It is these times when I find myself out of my comfort zone that I am pressing towards God. The distractions of home are great, but can serve as a road block for spiritual and personal growth. I miss home (California) every now and then, but at other times I am extremely grateful for the position I am in, even if that means a lonely night here or there. I thank God for today and the challenges that he has allowed me to have this summer.

Last week was the first week of Point Loma. This was a tough week for me. For the first year in 17 years there was no first day of school picture, meeting new teachers, or reading different class syllabus. After Freshman year of college I realized that I loved to learn and be in an academic environment. I don't know if that is because I started working in the business world that year and saw what I had waiting for me following graduation or if my perception just changed as I was growing. I miss the academic environment, the late nights in the library with friends, studying (talking) late at coffee shops, growing my knowledge, and the list goes on.

Two weeks ago, I began my quest to the next step in my life. It is tough knowing that there is a good chance that even after a lot of hard work looking for a job, I will probably have to settle for a job that I don't necessarily want to do. So much for that degree right. This quest is taking a lot of my focus, energy, and time. I feel guilty with this lurking in the back of my mind because I am not as efficient when I am working at HOPE. Much of my free time on the weekends is being spent in coffee shops searching for that elusive job, connection, or person I need to talk to. I am confident and trust that if I take this journey day by day, it will work out and God will help place me in a job that will grow me in different ways.

On September 11th, I am heading down to the Dominican Republic for a little over a week. I am traveling with a few of the HOPE interns around the country as well as visiting HOPEs operations down there. I am excited to see what our work at HOPE in the United States supports overseas.

A Road Trip of a Lifetime

Last Thursday, I had my first visit from the West Coast. Alan came out to do a short road trip on the East Coast. I picked Alan at the Baltimore airport up just after midnight on Thursday and we drove to a hotel about 30 minutes outside of Washington D.C. to spend the night. The next morning we parked our rental car and hopped onto the metro into D.C. We stepped off the Metro at the Smithsonian stop and immediately when we got off we heard bull horns blaring. One guy was yelling, "audit the fed." Once we ran past the people asking us to sign petitions, we realized the ugliness of the National Mall. In between the Washington Monument and the Capital building was not much more than a mile of dead grass. After taking a few pictures, we found our way into a few different Smithsonian museums. It didn't take too long for the fossils in the natural history museum to become boring so we decided to head over to the Holocaust Museum. We picked up tickets to go through the exhibit later in the afternoon so we could grab a bite to eat first.

Alan and I are extremely indecisive. We walked around for close to an hour before deciding to go to a Thai restaurant for lunch. We had an awesome lunch and then began our long walk to all the sites. We walked to the White House, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and the Capital Building (After the trip, we mapped out how far we walked and it added up to 10 miles). After seeing all these sites we headed back to the Holocaust Museum and did a quick tour of the exhibit. The exhibit was intense and I am looking forward to going back there in October to spend more time.

That night we left D.C. to visit some friends in Virginia. On the way to Virginia, we decided to stop for dinner at Five Guys, an awesome burger chain out here. This was the first of many times we found ourselves lost on the drive to Virginia. We arrived in Charlottesville, VA around midnight at our friend Justin's house. Catching up with him for a couple hours after we arrived was great.

Spending the weekend at Justin's house was refreshing after spending so much time at the crowded International House back in Millersville. On Friday morning we made a huge breakfast and headed out to see Charlottesville. Justin took Alan and me to the University of Virginia and then to Thomas Jefferson's house, Monticello. These were both incredible sites to see, but not the best part of our trip. Next, we headed out to the Atwell's house for dinner. Alan and I hadn't seen the Atwells since they left Modesto five years ago to come out to Charlottesville to start a church called Portico. Hanging out and reminiscing with friends was my highlight of this trip.

Driving through Pennsylvania, Maryland, D.C., West Virginia, and Virginia was fun to see each of these states. On our way out of Virginia, Alan and I stopped at a winery by the name of Veritas and did some quick wine tasting. On the 5 hour drive up north to Pennsylvania, I introduced Alan to Dunkin Doughnuts because out here America truly does run on Dunkin or at least I do.

We arrived back in Lancaster on Sunday night. On Monday morning I showed Alan the Amish countryside. In the afternoon he came into HOPE with me and sat in on a meeting. Our trip was winding down and the next morning I drove him to the airport in Baltimore. This was an awesome break to this summer's internship.

Since I was gone this weekend, I had to do some mowing on Tuesday evening after work. It was 90 degrees when I left the office and by 5:45 I was mowing in the rain. Lightning bolts were splitting the sky. I kept thinking, "hmmm, I wonder if I should be mowing in this lightning storm." I am learning to roll with the punches out here whether that be at HOPE or when I am mowing. My experiences this summer has taught me to be more flexible and spontaneous. I thank God for today and know tomorrow isn't a promise but this verse is comforting as I am growing this summer.

For I hold you by your right hand-- I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid, I am here to help you.'

Isaiah 41:13 (NLT)

Amish Adventures, Philly cheesesteaks, Patience, and the Future

In my last post, I wrote that I had made a trip out to Philadelphia, but didn't talk about it much. The night before Philly, Deirdre (my office mate) took all the interns on a journey through Amish country. It was a lot of fun driving through the countryside and seeing a lifestyle completely different than the way we live. It is pretty incredible how young the Amish kids start working around the farm. We saw boys that couldn't have been more than 10 years old steering the mules while another family member operated the hay bailing machinery attached to the mules. A couple minutes later we were driving down the road and passed a girl who was probably 11 or 12 and she was driving a mini horse and buggy with two other little girls in the buggy with her. I don't think I could drive a horse and buggy. I think the Amish children are given responsibility much younger than most kids. At one of the Amish farms, we bought whoopie pies. They are pretty incredible. It is more or less two pieces of cake with some sort of frosting in the middle. That could be a bad thing to become addicted to while out here in Lancaster. Seeing horse and buggies driving down the road on my first night in Lancaster was a pretty shocking yet incredible experience. Unfortunately, I have become numb to seeing the Amish around the area. It is just another way of life in Lancaster County.

Philadelphia is a great city, that is if you are in the right part of town. Below is a picture of the Philly group atop the Rocky steps, with the skyline in the background. I've been to Philadelphia three times now and each time I go there, we try a different philly cheesesteak joint.

It is incredible how popular these cheese steak restaurants can be. The lines can be a couple blocks long and take longer than an hour to get your food. It's a great experience but I would trade quality for quicker service. Below is Geno's Steaks, a really popular place to get steaks. Yesterday, we made a day trip to Philly and got cheese steaks at Jim's, another popular restaurant on South Street. South Street is supposed to be like Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I could never live in an area like this because it is crowded, touristy, and dirty. As I've said, there are some great places in Philly and some places that are not so great. I didn't like South Street too much and once we finished our steaks, we went straight to the car and left.


This summer has been an incredible experience on many different levels. After accepting my internship with HOPE, I began to question if this was the right direction for me to go after graduation. Now over 2 months into my stay out in Lancaster, I can say I made the right decision. It has spurred spiritual growth with me as a result of me being out of my element. Working for HOPE has developed invaluable relationships with people from all over the United States. I have been praying for increased patience and I think my patience has been challenged this summer. Graduating from Point Loma and then immediately coming out to Lancaster to volunteer during the week and then mow lawns on the weekend wouldn't have been my first choice in post college plans a couple years ago. I've always thought that after graduation, the pay checks would begin to roll in. This economic climate has redirected my journey. I am thankful for my patience being challenged. I don't think there are many people who go get a degree from a private university and then subsequently start mowing lawns for income. My prayer for this summer and my subsequent journey lies around, "Not my will, but yours be done O Lord."

Each phone call with friends and family back home, the same question is asked of me, What are you doing next? I don't have a definitive plan today, but a blurry image of what the future may hold. I have committed to volunteer with HOPE until the end of October and there isn't necessarily an open position for me at HOPE. I've asked advice from many individuals at HOPE and have struggled to make the decision to leave such a great organization where I love the work I am doing and the people I'm working with. Over and over, I have been told of how important for-profit experience can be. Just because I leave HOPE and start working in the for-profit world, doesn't mean I can't come back to work for a non-profit in the future. I am hoping to go back to San Diego in the late fall for a couple of different reasons. It is where my business network is, I have a couple great friends that are still out there, and I really enjoyed living there during college. I am taking my decisions day by day, so my plans could change next week, but today this is what the future looks like in my mind.

The intricacies of Microfinance

Day by day I have been unknowingly piecing together my understanding of microfinance (MF). I've come to realize that MF isn't as simple as Muhammed Yunus makes it out to be in his immensely popular book, Banker to the Poor. Here is a Banker to the Poor in a nutshell...

In Yunus' book, he describes how micro loans can be a solution to solving poverty around the globe. Yunus' explains how these loans can be given to the riskiest segment of the world's population, without collateral, and how the loans will pull these people out of poverty. The loans are given out in groups, so if one borrower doesn't pay his or her monthly interest payment, the group must come up with that sum before subsequent loans may be given out. One reason why people pay back their loans is because of the social pressure that is inflicted by the group. The repayment rate for these micro loans given out by Grameen Bank (Yunus' bank), has historically been over 99%. It seems so simple. Give a poor person a loan, collateralize it in a group, poor person pays back their loan, and poof, the person is released from the grip of poverty. I know that is a very quick and insufficient explanation of MF, but it will do to illustrate my point.

Since being at HOPE, I have seen many different side's of MF that weren't mentioned in Muhammed Yunus' book. It isn't all about passing out money to the poor and then collecting it with a little interest. There are many departments or segments that make up a nonprofit like HOPE. Not everyone working for HOPE lives in a third world country and passes out loans. Some people deal with the finances, others raise money, plan events, deal with spiritual integration, or market HOPE to the world. I've been working a lot on the development side of HOPE and that is very far from first hand passing out loans overseas. In the next few paragraphs I'll go through the logic of why development is so important, especially today. What does it take to give out loans???

Money!

Where does that money come from? Many different places, but someone (or many people) need to be seeking this money out through the form of donations, grants, etc. It takes an immense amount of effort to bring in money and in turn loan that money to entrepreneurs in developing nations. This summer I've realized how much I love to talk about the work HOPE is doing around the world, but it takes a strong strategy and a lot of persistence to effectively raise capital.

The next important question isn't a personal question, but is very broad and complicated question that affects HOPE and other nonprofits greatly...

What is the current state of the economy (both here is the States and around the world)? Let's take the current state of our economy and use this example...Say someone had $10 in their retirement account 2 years ago, today they now have $6. They still have their money, they haven't technically lost anything, it is just a loss on paper. Because of the psychological response to the downturn in the economy, people allowed fear to control their financial decisions and they sold shares in their retirement accounts, thus leading to a realized loss. Now that they have lost their money, they are afraid to continue with their philanthropic giving to organizations like HOPE. The fears that the downturn in the economy has produced, has made it extremely difficult to raise money because of the security in which people find in their money (or for this hypothetical example, retirement accounts).

Microfinance isn't as simple as I read a couple years ago in Banker to the Poor. There are many external variables that affect MF and many different roles within organizations like HOPE that are integral to loan out money and ultimately help the poor pull their families out of poverty.

Moving away from MF, I have been all over the Northeast the past three weeks. Three weeks ago, I was up Western New York and Canada. Last weekend, I was in New York City and yesterday I was in Philadelphia. It almost feels like I am studying abroad (domestically) all over again because of the many new places I'm visiting. I wasn't a big fan of New York City. Too many people, tall buildings, crowded sidewalks, and stinky streets. I did love the food we had while we were there. We went to a really nice Italian restaurant, a French cafe, and had a Chinese lunch called Dim Sum. The highlight of the weekend was definitely going to Monk's Restaurant from Seinfeld. It was a relief to head back to Lancaster after a busy weekend in New York. The city life isn't for me.

This was my first trip back to Philly since my frightening experience of being lost on the city bus system after flying into PA back in June. I enjoyed this trip much more than I was expecting. Lauren, Mike, Michael and I had Philly Cheese steaks at Geno's. After we dropped Michael off at the airport, the rest of us toured some of the sights. The City of Brotherly Love felt much more manageable to me than New York. Traffic, parking, and overall congestion in the city wasn't too bad. The highlight of this trip was running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the steps Rocky ran up).

The past couple weekends have been a blast traveling around the Northeast with the other HOPE interns and I think it's about time to take a break from traveling for a few weeks. We'll see about that...

Economic Dependency and Canadian Vacation

It has been almost two weeks since I wrote my last blog so its about time for an update.

Here is an example of the interconnectedness of the world's economies:

Over the past few months we have begun to see the recession hit the developing countries that HOPE works in. I find it fascinating how long the economic downturn was delayed from reaching these countries. It is also really interesting to see how interconnected everyone is in the world, no matter if you are a commercial banker in the United States or an agrarian farmer in a third world country. The world economy is so intertwined now that nearly everyone is going to feel this economic downturn. The difference between the affects of the recession in the United States and developing countries around the world is huge. Note: I don't want this to discount the struggles that many people are having around the United States today, but I want to try and provide insight to how the recession affects lives overseas. Here's an example: Lets say that individual A works in a factory in Nairobi, Kenya. He makes widgets that are exported to countries like the United States, Germany, and France. Since demand for these widgets is down, exports are also down, and so Individual A is fired. Before Individual A was fired, each day he would stop by Individual B's mobile vegetable cart to pick up food to take home to his family. Now that Individual A and other Kenyans have lost their jobs in Nairobi, the demand for Individual B's vegetables has dropped significantly. Individual B is stuck because since he planted his crops months ago, his supply is high, and he cant sell it all to make any sort of profit. On top of his business struggles, each night he has to ride his vegetable cart two hours back home where he does his farming.

Individual A and Individual B are struggling to stay alive, losing a job or not selling what they have harvested means that they are one step closer to falling off the cliff of poverty. This economic recession potentially can be a mass killer in the developing world. It is important now more than ever for international development around the world.

On a brighter note, I went on an incredible trip last weekend to Western New York, Niagara Falls, and Ontario, Canada. We left immediately after work on Thursday and drove 6 hours north to Rochester, New York to stay at Sandy's (one of the interns) house. Waking up on Friday morning to the smell of bacon in a comfortable house was surreal (despite sleeping on the floor). It was the start to a nice vacation from life in Lancaster. We got to Niagara Falls around 11 AM. I was really excited to see the waterfalls and then we went on Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes you right up next to the falls.

We ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and were surprised how many taxes there were on our lunch. It was also interesting how many places in Canada only took MasterCard. Next time it might be a good idea to bring some cash instead of the Visa card. We left Niagara Falls around 2 and started the drive to Georgian Bay where we (Sandy, Cameron, Mike, Michael, and myself) were going to stay for the weekend. It took us about three and a half hours to get up to the marina where we met Sandy's family. At the marina we hopped on their boat and took a 45 minute ride out to their island. Everything is green and beautiful up there. On the island there are a couple sleeping cabins, a main cottage, and a boat house. We spent a lot of time barbecuing and eating a lot of food that we don't get at the house in Lancaster. On Saturday we went cliff jumping, took a nap on the dock, went kayaking, climbed up some small waterfalls, fished for a while, read books, and ate a ton of food. While we were on the island I didn't shower once and never knew the time. Swimming was our form of shower. We woke up when we wanted to, did whatever we felt like during the day, and went to bed whenever we felt tired. It was a much needed relaxing weekend. When Sunday came around I did not want to leave. I still wish that I was back on the island relaxing. Sunday we left the island just before noon and hopped back on the boat. After 10-11 hours of driving, we were back in Lancaster. The work week was less than 8 hours away, but it was all worth it!
I am ready to go back to Georgian Bay...

Week Five and the Summer is Rolling

It is incredible how fast this summer has been flying by. I started my fifth week of work on Monday and the week is almost over. The majority of the other interns only have another 4 or 5 weeks because they start school in August. Myself and two other interns will be staying on until later on in the Fall. Right now I feel blessed to be staying on longer because I am not ready to pack up and head home yet.

One of the greatest aspects of working at HOPE has been the amount of responsibility that they give the interns. I am treated as if I am a normal member of the staff and am expected to give my opinion in meetings. Each week, the founder of HOPE/my boss and I take a potential donor out to lunch to talk about HOPE. These are people that have established relationships with Jeff already. Before my first lunch, I was afraid that I would just be the intern sitting off to the side, but that isn't the case. Jeff and I take turns talking about different aspects of HOPE and what we are asking of the potential donor. I have loved the opportunity to try and pump other people up on what HOPE does. Each lunch that I go to, I get a little more involved, confident, and excited for the opportunities in which the donor can help HOPE fight poverty around the world. That is one of the most rewarding pieces of my job. On my last lunch, we took out a huge national company who is interested in making HOPE their primary charity in Central Pennsylvania. The contact we met with wants me to spearhead this and talk with their marketing department in Philadelphia to see how we can make this happen. It is projects like this that have and will stretch me while I am working for HOPE this summer. These opportunities get my blood pumping and make work even more enjoyable.

This past 4th of July weekend was extremely tiring. Friday is our day off of work, but as soon as I got up, myself and another intern Mike helped a couple move into an apartment. They had just moved back from working for HOPE in Rwanda and are relocating to the headquarters in Lancaster. Later that evening, the other interns and I went downtown to get Mexican food (my first time since being in Lancaster). On the first Friday of every month, all the art galleries downtown are free. One of our friends from HOPE has a friend that owns a gallery and we went and visited his gallery. It was cool to see his art and how he runs his gallery. HOPE is having an art auction at one of the galleries so we also went to that preview. On Saturday, all the HOPE staff was invited to a 4th of July party at a HOPE donor's house. It was an insane party. There were a couple hundred people there, a pig roast, and one of the biggest fireworks shows I've ever seen. Apparently, people back East are more patriotic because they celebrate the 4th of July on the 5th of July too. We went to Longs Park to watch a fireworks show. They had civil war cannons that they shot as well as an Army orchestra that was performing. It was an awesome experience. There wasn't much down time over the weekend, but I am grateful for the opportunities to go out.

The first 5 weeks out here have been exciting. I truly have had answered prayer in many different areas. Coming out here from San Diego was a hard decision because of the strong relationships I had, awesome bible studies, and a church that I truly feel I can call my home. I kept wondering, why would I leave a place where I feel life is going well? I've prayed a lot about finding friends out here, finding bible studies, and not having to sit around on my butt wishing I was back in CA. We have 2 different bible studies at work that foster spiritual growth for me. I've lost count of the number of HOPE staff that have had myself and other interns over at their homes. Many of the younger HOPE staff hang out with us outside of work and plan events that we can do. The fellowship that I've had with HOPE/Keystone employees and people living with me at the Millersville International House has been such a blessing. I feel comfortable here and am very content living day by day. I am happy for the day that I've been given and am excited for what tomorrow will bring.

This verse constantly comes to the front of my mind...Psalms 118:24 - "This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it." This is my prayer!

Mowing Internship Summer 2009

I am convinced that my real internship this summer is mowing lawns. I mowed 5 out the past 7 days. Monday and Tuesday after working at HOPE during the day, I mowed at night. Wednesday night I had the evening off. Then all day Thursday and Friday I was out mowing a Keystone community. Today, is my normal mowing day and I mowed three houses throughout the county. I am pretty stoked that I have a 7 day break until I start mowing again next weekend. Even though I am sick of mowing, it has been a pretty cool experience. After working Monday through Thursday in the office, I am ready to be doing something outside. After I mow all day on the weekend, I am ready to get back into the office on Monday morning. I've been driving a couple different work trucks and learned how to back a trailer. When I decided to come out to Pennsylvania, I accepted the fact that I wouldn't have a car out here. It has been a nice surprise to have the work trucks to drive.


Interning at HOPE has been really cool because there are so many like minded people working towards the same goal. HOPE International is a microfinance organization that provides small loans to people in developing countries around the world. HOPE strives to go to the hard places that other organizations have often stayed away from. The loans are given to people as a hand up and not a hand out. That meaning that there is interest on the loan and it isn't a gift. Many times the only option for a loan in these countries is from a loan shark who charges exorbidant amounts of interest. HOPE's micro loans give people an opportunity to expand their small business and pull their family away from the cliffes of poverty. They may be able to eat 2 meals a day instead of just one, add more nutritious food to the family's diet, send the kids to school, pay for needed medical care, etc...

How does my work in Pennsylvania help those overseas in the countries HOPE works in? Here is a breakdown of what I do at HOPE... I work for HOPE's founder Jeff Rutt. He founded HOPE in the late 1990s after his church had been sending containers of supplies to Ukraine and he realized this really wasn't helping. The people in Ukraine were becoming dependant on these containers sent from the US. Jeff found that it was important to let people pull themselves out of poverty. He realized that people already had the survival skills, they really just needed capital and so he began giving out loans through HOPE International. Before Jeff founded HOPE, he started Keystone Custom Homes (I think its pretty obvious that they build custom homes). He later then started another nonprofit that stems from HOPE called Homes for Hope. Homes for Hope finds builders, contractors, and tradesmen that all come together to build a home. Once the home is sold, the profit that the builder usually pockets is given to HOPE International. I split my time between those three organizations: HOPE International, Keystone Custom Homes, and Homes for Hope. My typical days have a couple meetings and maybe a bible study. The days fly by because there is so much going on between these three organizations. I enjoy being really busy with many different projects and so I think this is a great internship for me. Many projects with HOPE and Homes for Hope involve helping Jeff raise money. Raising money from donors can take many different forms. I may be helping find sponsors for the HOPE golf tournament, go out to lunch with Jeff and a potential donor, or work on ways to save HOPE money. I am basically a liaison between Jeff and HOPE, making sure that all of his projects are completed. I have only been here 3 weeks (next week will be the start of the 4th) and work has already gotten intensely busy but I am loving the fast paced environment and having some involvement in HOPE's great cause.

If I was asked a couple years ago what I would be doing after graduation, I don't think I could have predicted this. It has been an interesting experience graduating from college, volunteering my time at a Christian non-profit, and mowing lawns on the side to make a little money. This scenario would have sounded absurd to me three years ago. In my last few years in college, I realized how much I loved learning and I think that is why I am having a blast thus far this summer. There are things from my last internship in commercial real estate that really help me in this internship, but other projects I have are completely random and force me to teach myself new concepts. I had never mowed lawns growing up (I know that is embarrassing) but have loved having the opportunity to learn how to operate the commercial mowers and back the trailer. My Toyota Tacoma work truck is a manual transmission and that has been great being able to drive stick again for the first time really since high school.

The first 3 or 4 weeks of summer out here have been pretty eventful. I hope that each week will bring something new to learn or some exciting adventure. This summer has already been a growing experience both spirtually and personally.

The beginning of Week Three

Here is a mind dump of my random thoughts from the past week or two...

The first couple weeks have flown by. I thought that this was going to be a summer with an abundance of free time and boredom. So far I have been pretty wrong about that. I work at HOPE International Monday thru Thursday. Friday is my day off before I mow lawns on Saturdays. So far I haven't taken a Friday off. I spent the first Friday working with a Keystone employee at one of the Keystone communities. Keystone Custom Homes is home/community builder and was founded by my boss Jeff Rutt (he also founded HOPE International). I am technically a Keystone employee also because of the mowing that I do on the weekends. This past Friday, I went to a Homes for Hope breakfast. Homes for Hope is a separate nonprofit that brings together builders and sub-contractors from around the nation to build homes. These homes are then sold to the public and the profit is given to HOPE International. This is not like Habitat for Humanity because these homes are built just like any other home and if someone looked at the home it would look like any other house on the block. The builders volunteer their labor and greatly discount the materials they use on the house. So if the total cost for building the house was $150,000 and the house sold for $300,000, then HOPE would get a $150,000 check. That can provide a lot of loans overseas. I've gone to two Homes for Hope events now and it has been great talking with people about what HOPE does and learning how to interact with builders. A Home for Hope was completed in the end of April and it has been incredible seeing how generous builders/sub-contractors have been even amidst a challenging economic climate. Over the past 10 years, 64 homes have been built and over $10,000,000 dollars has been given to HOPE International.

My first couple weeks at HOPE have been great. Within the first 3 days, I felt very comfortable with everyone in the organization. Each week we have devotionals and time to grow together as a team. The HOPE staff has been a blessing and really involved the interns even outside of work. Every week some employee has had a barbecue at their house or we will go to the park to play volleyball or ultimate frisbee. They invite us to their churches with them and have us over on weekends to watch movies.

I share an office with Deirdre (Jeff's assistant) and I have had a blast just talking with her throughout the day. The days fly by so fast because each day there are a couple meetings for either HOPE, Keystone, or Homes for Hope. If there isn't a meeting, there is probably a devotional or special event. For example, today was the beginning of the HOPE International ping pong tournament during our lunch hour. By 3 in the afternoon, I am hoping the clock will slow down so I can get some work done. Tomorrow night, we have game night at a HOPE employee's house. Then on Thursday, we have a barbecue at another HOPE employees house and Deirdre is planning a day to take the interns into Amish country later in the summer.

I have an extremely busy week ahead of me. This weekend it poured rain as I was trying to mow lawns. Now that I am behind on my lawns, I have to mow lawns after I finish my work at HOPE. Tonight I left work at 4:30, picked up the the equipment/other work truck and mowed 2 lawns in Lancaster. Tomorrow night will be a longer night, but hopefully I will get most of my lawns done before dark.

This has been a pretty disjointed post, but that is more or less how I feel the past 3 weeks have gone. It has been great, no day is the same, and each day brings a new adventure. I am excited to see what tomorrow brings and how I will grow from these experiences. In the coming weeks, I will describe in greater detail the work HOPE does around the world and how I am involved in that work.

Week One

I started work on Tuesday June 10th, the day after I flew into Pennsylvania. Two weeks ago when I flew out to PA for orientation we learned all about HOPE and met all the staff that we would be working with this summer. Orientation gave me something to look forward to this summer. After each day of orientation we went to a different HOPE staff member's house for a barbeque. It is really cool how the interns are integrated into the culture of the organization from day 1. The first couple days of work this week were pretty difficult. I am interning for the founder of HOPE International, Jeff Rutt. He started a company called Keystone Custom Homes before he founded HOPE. Since I am his intern, I am sitting downstairs in the Keystone office even though the HOPE office is upstairs in this office building. It was a tough first couple days because I met all of the Keystone employees and I le what I would be doing this summer. It was a little overwhelming. On my third day of work, I went to a customer appreciation lunch that Homes for Hope was attending. Homes for Hope is a funding arm of HOPE International which has builders construct a house at cost and the profit from selling the house goes to HOPE. At this event, we were meeting builders and promoting Homes for Hope in an effort to find more builders who would like to become involved with Homes for Hope. This was a cool experience because it helped me practice how I would advocate HOPE to a random person. The first week of work was pretty tiring but I am excited to be working for HOPE and seeing where this summer takes me.

I am living in a house called the Millersville International House (MIH). Year round students from around the world live here as they attend Millersville University which is a couple miles down the road. It is a really cool place because there are people from all over South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. 8 other interns are living here this summer also so we all car pool to work in the morning. When we come home from work, one of the international students has prepared dinner for us. It is a pretty comfortable setting and is a couple miles outside of Lancaster which is a really quaint town. I'll write more about MIH and Lancaster later.

As the weekend began, my part-time job also began. This summer I will be mowing lawns throughout Lancaster County to make some money. On Thursday I got the details for the job. Jeff came to me and said, "Do you know how to back a trailer?" I replied honestly, "uhh, no." Then he said, "Do you have any experience running machinery, besides an automobile." I replied honestly, "Uhh, no." He looked pretty nervous. I got a call a couple hours later from a Keystone employee who was going to show me how to use all the equipment. He said that it would probably be easiest if I spent the majority of Friday working with him so I could get used to usually all the equipment. On Thursday night I left the office with my work truck. Who knew that when I got out to Lancaster, I would have a car. I am driving a 2005 Toyota Tacoma Keystone work truck. I went out to the truck on Thursday night to head home and found that my work truck is a manual transmission. I hadn't driven a manual transmission more or less since high school and I was excited to get to drive it again. Friday morning I drove 30 minutes west of Millersville where I am living and met Bryan at a Keystone community where I learned how to drive the commercial riding mower and other equipment. He attempted to teach me how to back the trailer, but that was pretty tough. He left me with his cell number in case I got into trouble on Saturday, but also said, "Just make sure you don't have to back up wherever you go."

Saturday morning I thought I was getting an early jump by driving out to pick up the other work truck and load the mowers onto the trailer at 8:00AM. My first house was 45 minutes further west and of course I had to pull into the driveway and therefore back the trailer out of the first house. I mowed it pretty quick and didn't do too bad backing out. I was thinking, wow this isn't going to be such a bad summer job after all. Then I drove 30 minutes back East to the next house and this is where all hell broke loose. The grass was a foot long and a neighbor came up to me warning me that they had black snakes. She said, "Watch out cause my husband saw a 6-foot black snake hanging out of the tree." I said, "I didn't sign up for this." It took me 2 hours to mow this house because their lawn was over an acre big and it needed a lot of work. It was after 1 in the afternoon and I still had 3 more lawns to go. I drove 3o minutes north to the next lawn and this house was ghetto. It looked like the house was condemned, there was almost more dirt than grass. My spirits took another nose dive. It was now after 4 and I had to drive 30 minutes east back into Lancaster to mow 2 more lawns. The last 2 lawns in Lancaster were pretty small and I finished them pretty fast. By the time I took the equipment back to the storage facility 30 minutes west of my house, it was after 7. I got home around 7:30, making my day about a 12 hour day.

Wow this is going to be one heck of a summer!

Arriving in Philadelphia

Hey everyone (or anyone who wants to read about my summer). Sorry it has taken me so long to write about my experiences back in Pennsylvania. It has been a busy week and each day I have been putting off writing this post. I am sick today so it is a perfect time to write about the past 7-10 days.

I left home on Sunday, June 8th to fly out to Philadelphia. June 8th and 9th turned into the craziest travel day I've ever experienced. When my dad and I got to the airport, I was told that I wouldn't make it to Philadelphia. My first flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles was delayed so much that it made me miss my connecting flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. After changing all my flights, I eventually hopped on a commuter flight from Sac to San Francisco. It was my first time on one of the small commuter planes and that was an experience in itself. When I got to San Francisco I found that my new flight from SF to Philly was delayed until 12:30 AM. We boarded the plane and sat on the runway long enough for me to fall asleep. I woke up and we were in the air. Luckily, I slept most of this flight and landed in Philadelphia just after 8:30AM. First stop, Dunkin Doughnuts. By the time I got to the baggage claim, my bags were just coming out onto the carousel. Rewind back to Modesto on Sunday afternoon....It is 2:00 PM and I need to leave for the airport in 2 hours, not a single bag is packed. In my rush to the airport I forgot to look up directions from the Philly airport to Lancaster.

Fastforward....I've got my bags and I know that I need to take something called "SEPTA" to the central Philadelphia train station. I tried to hop on the first SEPTA bus that I saw but didn't have any cash. Strike 1. So I walked to two different terminals looking for an ATM and after about 30 minutes I had my cash and found the next SEPTA bus. I asked the bus driver if it was going to downtown Philadelphia and she said, "No, I think you need the next one." When the next bus showed up, I hopped on asked if it was the right bus and didn't get much of a response from the bus driver. Then, when I went to pay I asked the driver if he had change for a $10 and he laughed and said no. I replied with, "So you want me to pay $10 for this bus ride?" And he laughed and said "Yes." So I paid for 5 bus tickets on my first bus ride in PA. Cool. About 10 minutes into the ride I began to get a bad feeling in my stomach that I was on the wrong bus. I leaned over to someone near me and asked if I was on the wrong bus. Of course he said, ya you are going to complete opposite direction of the train station. I then proceeded to swallow my pride and walked up to talk to the friendly bus driver. He again laughed at me and told me to get off and walk across the street to another bus stop. I got off with my two large suitcases and backpack. My body is lacking sleep and common sense so I decided I needed to reevaluate my situation. So I interrupted my journey to the train station by walking into the Burger King next to where the bus dropped me off...

I proceeded to haul 2 suitcases and my backpack into the BK. I don't think I have ever felt so out of place. Everyone in BK was staring at me. I had a new strategy, get change for my $20 dollar bill so I didn't have to pay $20 for the next bus fare. I bought a coffee and some hash browns. Immediately after I bought the coffee I realized I couldn't carry it and my two suitcases. After a few sips and burning my tongue, I tossed the nasty coffee, hobbled out of BK with my luggage, and walked across a couple busy streets to the next bus station. To make sure I was at the right bus station I walked up to a lady and asked, "does this bus go to the main Philadelphia train station?" When she responded I realized she only had one tooth and couldn't talk too well. She kept trying to explain things to me but I didn't understand most of what she was saying. I hopped on the bus and asked the driver the same question, "will this bus get me to the train station?" He said, "Get off on 49th Street and take another bus to the 30th St Amtrak station." I then walked to the back of the bus, found a seat and blocked another seat with my suitcases. This bus packed out with people standing shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and I got a lot of dirty looks for taking up an extra seat. Once again, I have never felt so out of place or had so many people staring at me. There wasn't a bus stop map on the wall of the bus nor were there many street signs indicating where we were so I had no idea where the 49th Street stop was at. I stood up at one point and asked a lady who looked to me like she was a prostitute if this was the stop I needed and she surprised me. She said, "Follow me, I am going the same place you are going." She showed me the 49th St stop and where the next bus was to head to the train station. Once I was on that bus she told me how to go the rest of the way. After this lady left me, I couldn't stop thinking of the verse that says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." I felt pretty dumb for how I judged this lady who was sitting across the bus from me and she turned out to be the nicest person I'd met all day.

I got off this train and walked above ground to find the Amtrak station. My flight landed this morning at 8:30 AM and it took me two and half hours to get to the train station (it should take 20-30 minutes). Once I saw the station, a huge pressure was lifted off my back and I felt safe again. I walked into the station not caring if I had missed a train and knew that I finally knew where I was going. I got into the ticket line and found out that the next train to Lancaster was leaving in 10 minutes (they leave about every 2 hours) so I was right on time. I hopped on the train and met a guy who had been studying in Germany and talked with him for a while on the ride into Lancaster. When I got to Lancaster, I called Cameron another HOPE intern and she picked me up and took me to the Millersville International House where I will be living for the next few months. I got to the house around 1:00 PM, ate lunch at the house, unpacked a little, and fell asleep until dinner.