The future population I want to be working with was confirmed...

Friday

I stayed the night again last night at Helen's (second day in a row) because it would have been a while out of her way to take me home, plus we didn't get to her house until 10:30, so it just made things easier. We got up and she dropped me off at Hosanna Heights so I could get ready for work... this was Hilary and Ellie's second late day that they were allowed to come into work. I was a little envious after my 6:30 am morning.

In the morning/early afternoon we did some office work- I was suppose to browse wedding/pre-marriage websites for Helen which was nice because I was able to see if there was anything I was forgetting :). Helen runs a lot of pre-marriage and relationship counseling and was wanting to know where some good places would be to advertise a new workshop called "Dreams and Dramas." To my understanding this workshop is for brides-to-be to get together and discuss the good things, and struggles with being in this stage of life, and to get some tips from others. Once I found websites I ranked them and indicate if they would be good places to put ads.

Later on in the afternoon we got our first visit to the Ingle Farm LCC site. This is a place where disadvantaged and under-resourced individuals come to seek help. They offer a lot of workshops and support groups for a variety of populations, one being depressed mothers. Some of the things we could do when we work there are doing creche (pronounced crash)(day care), organizing workshops for women, and doing house visits. The women get together and make a list of the types of things they want to learn, and we would call around to various agencies to see if someone would be interested in coming and talking to the women while we'll be doing creche. I would really like to do the house visits.

After the Ingle Farm visit we went to Blair Athol for an after school Friday afternoon program for youth. I really, really enjoyed it! At first it was a little awkward because for a while we were the only girls, and the boys were all refugees from Africa and didn't really act too keen to meet us. However, once the girls arrived it was much better. This girl named Emilia who was from Egypt was very nice and welcomed us freely. After a little more time together the other girls were more open to the thought of three Americans (one only white people there, minus the Australian DJ who was already known by the group) hanging out with them... they liked our accents. :)

The program was geared towards hip-hop, so the girls danced and the boys rapped. At first it was uncomfortable because I can't hip-hop dance/move my hips... not even for a white girl. :) Emilia was also uncomfortable because the girls basically danced right in front of the boys while they sat there and watched and chatted. There was some DJ equipment from a local DJ that comes in and provides music for the youth. These youth are tough... I mean, really tough.

I absolutely loved this experience, minus the few awkward moments, and this affirms my heart for at-risk youth, particularly in impoverished communities. As Ellie put it somewhere along these lines "you were really comfortable, and you flourished in this environment."- what a nice thing to say. Hilary said she wasn't comfortable in the program and Ellie said that it wasn't her cup of tea. I want to go back on a regular basis, and I hope I can still go if Hilary and Ellie choose not to. When we were leaving a few girls gave me hugs, and Emilia was hanging on me, not wanting me to leave and asking if I was going to come back. I told her yes, and I will keep that promise... I want to be involved in this community. My
heart hurts for this population, young women in particular.

We had to leave early because Helen was our ride and she was having company over for dinner, she dropped us off in the city where we had dinner, did a little looking around, and made it back to Hosanna Heights. We were all extremely tired after a long week of work, I crashed around 11... which is very early for me.


Saturday
Yay for sleeping in! - sort of. I put ear plugs in and wore an eye mask to avoid being kept up by my loud neighbors. I woke up at 7:30, said "forget that"and stayed in bed until 9:45ish. I hung around, read, facebook stalked until 11 when I went on a run to the shopping center that has kmart, coles (grocery) and the bank. I bought a few random things at coles, got some money back at the bank, and stopped at organic fruit and vegetable shop on my way back to Hosanna Heights. I didn't buy much because I had a 2 mile trek back and it was the time of day when the sun was the brightest.

When I returned it was just in time for lunch... it was the best dish with meat that I've had there so far... but just because it was the best doesn't mean it was something I'd prefer (2 small pieces was enough for me). There was also this interesting soup that has been served on Saturday afternoons... it is rice in water with pieces of chicken in it. To flavor the soup you can add onion, cilantro, and something that looks like cereal...it is... interesting.

After lunch I was lucky that I could Skype with Stephen. :) My internet sometimes lets me skype and sometimes not, so this was a pleasant surprise. The three of us walked to a closer shopping center and shared a Turkish delight and honeycomb dipped in chocolate (pictures to follow) from an organic store/cafe. We then looked around at the grocery stores there.

When we got back to Hosanna Heights I decided it was about time to shower, after all, I wouldn't want to be stinky on Valentines day :). Helen picked us up and took us to her house to do our laundry (the laundry room at Hosanna Heights is filthy... there are dead flies all over, including in the washing machines and dryers), have dinner, and watch Murial's Wedding. It is a famous Australia film, I enjoyed it... it wasn't all that predictable. We are staying the night at Helen's because we are going to her church in the morning and it would be easier if we were here to leave with them... plus, our laundry is still on the line out back to dry. :)

Happy Valentines Day.