Yesterday evening was a quiet, calm one. Our favorite kind! Most of what we did consisted of chatting and observing. The police force was certainly on target and some form of their presence was there the whole time. They had especially good timing when a small tiff broke out between two guys and a punch was thrown. A squad car was conveniently parked right in front of the action and when one of the trouble makers saw the mistake he made, he chose to run. We got to witness police prowess as one of them sprinted after him full speed. Pretty intense! Other than that people seemed content to just hang out and take it easy.
The funny story of the night happened while introducing ourselves. A very cheery young man was talking with us a bit and he asked what we get for doing Street Buddies. Micah simply responded, "We get friends!". The young man replied vigorously "Well then I'm your BEST friend!". We all chuckled and Micah asked what our best friend's name was. He replied and then asked ours. This is how the conversation went:
Micah: My name is Micah.
Nice Young Man: Michael?
Micah: My-cah.
NYM:Ah okay Micah
Me: I'm Rachael.
NYM: Freak show?
All of us: *bursting into hardy laughter*
Micah: Yes, yes it's Freak show!
So I guess I received a new name, as strange as it might be :). There was also a squirrely gentleman who thought it was an excellent idea to try and steal the blue light off the top of a nearby Police car. We tried to rouse his better judgement by reminding him that probably wasn't a good idea and maybe he was listening more to the Jagermeister than to the logical side of his brain. In the end he backed out, much to our relief.
This week I also heard an answer from the animal shelter that I applied to for volunteering. Sadly, as my interviewer had warned me, there were too many insurance risks involved with allowing me to work with them. Their team has recently experienced several animal bites with their staff and the added risk of me not having total fluency was too much. I definitely felt a little disappointed, but it was such a good experience to apply and it just means God has a better opportunity waiting. My next feeling is that maybe I should look into helping on a farm, so I'm currently researching and asking around. We'll see what happens!
It's just a couple of days until we head back to the good ol' States. I can't wait to see family, friends, and eat aggregrious amounts of Mexican food!!!! Bring on the burritos...and salsa...and chips...and machaca with green sauce!!!!
I love you all and pray blessings on you!
-Rachael
The funny story of the night happened while introducing ourselves. A very cheery young man was talking with us a bit and he asked what we get for doing Street Buddies. Micah simply responded, "We get friends!". The young man replied vigorously "Well then I'm your BEST friend!". We all chuckled and Micah asked what our best friend's name was. He replied and then asked ours. This is how the conversation went:
Micah: My name is Micah.
Nice Young Man: Michael?
Micah: My-cah.
NYM:Ah okay Micah
Me: I'm Rachael.
NYM: Freak show?
All of us: *bursting into hardy laughter*
Micah: Yes, yes it's Freak show!
So I guess I received a new name, as strange as it might be :). There was also a squirrely gentleman who thought it was an excellent idea to try and steal the blue light off the top of a nearby Police car. We tried to rouse his better judgement by reminding him that probably wasn't a good idea and maybe he was listening more to the Jagermeister than to the logical side of his brain. In the end he backed out, much to our relief.
This week I also heard an answer from the animal shelter that I applied to for volunteering. Sadly, as my interviewer had warned me, there were too many insurance risks involved with allowing me to work with them. Their team has recently experienced several animal bites with their staff and the added risk of me not having total fluency was too much. I definitely felt a little disappointed, but it was such a good experience to apply and it just means God has a better opportunity waiting. My next feeling is that maybe I should look into helping on a farm, so I'm currently researching and asking around. We'll see what happens!
It's just a couple of days until we head back to the good ol' States. I can't wait to see family, friends, and eat aggregrious amounts of Mexican food!!!! Bring on the burritos...and salsa...and chips...and machaca with green sauce!!!!
I love you all and pray blessings on you!
-Rachael