Hey! It's Hannah!

Hello Everyone!

Today is Tuesday, and we just got back from our worksite. Im covered in red paint and I can't wait for tomorrow. I wrote a blog for thismorning but I didn't get a chance to post it then so I am just going to type up all the information and add anything I missed.
So thismorning, we got up early. Really really early. Yesterday was our first day at our worksites with our small groups. The people we met and the experiences we had were so unexpected and moving. My group went to St. Anothony of Padua's which is near Stanford University. The community over there is very blessed, and to my suprise, is very generous in giving their help to the poor. St. Anthony's has a huge dining hall where they serve anywhere from 400-600 people in a day, food from the kitchen. We served 550 at lunch yesterday and about as many today. On top of this hearty meal, they receive bread, fruit (some fresh, some not so much), flowers, cakes, pies, clothing, and other items that are donated from Costco and Safeway. The amount of food donated there every day is so immense that they have to throw whatever isn't taken that day in the garbage. Today though, I was able to talk to one of the volunteers named Fran and she allowed us to take 5, 30 gallon trash bags of loaves of bread instead of letting it go to waste. We are going to have Jorge is going to take the bread to his work site tomorrow since they are in need. Yesterday, I worked in the kitchen crew. They were HILARIOUS, I have to admit, but the most hardworking and dedicated people I have met. One of the crew members, Mariano, stood with us for 3 straight hours serving food. While Carol and I were complaining of knee and back pains, Mariano still stood over 60 years strong without a peep of discomfort. His humor kept us motivated and the people we were serving motivated us even more. Back in the kitchen, I helped an elderly man name Jake cut lettuce for a salad. At first we just made small talk about what kind of service I have done, where I grew up, those sorts of things. A few lettuce heads later, I finally asked, "Jake, what about your background? Where are you from?" And it began. We shared our life stories over 5 toseed salads. Jake was born and raised here in a small town in California, served our country for 2 months before he got sick and went home since there was no war going on at the time, he blew glass for a living, met his wife, got married and moved to the next town over. He had two sons and one daughter. One of his sons is the coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, his daughter became a teacher, and his other son was an engineer. I mentioned to him my love for football, but that I didn't think that the Seahawks were going anywhere this year. He agreed whole heartedly. I asked if he liked baseball and he enthusiastically replied, yes and as a matter of fact, his nephew was the coach for the Mariners a few years ago but is now the coach for the New York Mets. =D This really got me thinking, (and very excited). What was someone with such a full life and famous relatives mixing salads with an 18 year old from a little town in Washington? Curiously I asked what brought him to St. Anthony's and he humbly replied, "To serve." Such a simple answer, yet it meant the world. I realized that no matter how high our status is, no matter where we are from, how much money we have, no matter how many famous coaches we are related to, we are all human, and we are all called to serve. The rest of the day I spent working for a gentlemen named Bob, painting over the fire lanes that needed a touch up of red paint. This gave me plenty of time to reflect on the adventures and stories I had heard during the day. I thought of the 94 year old lady volunteer who brought life to the group and encouraged them to keep moving. I thought of the head chef who didn't speak much English but how he didn't miss a beat on bringing out more food to serve. I thought about you, Holy Cross Lake Stevens, the Knights of Columbus, my mom and dad, friends and family, who like these people, were motivated and worked so hard to make so that my youth group and I could be here to serve and give back to the community. It was around 8:20 am so we had to leave for our worksites again and I had to go finish painting all the curbs and prepping the other curbs to be painted. Today was a completely different experience. In stead of serving hot food to the people, I was handing out all the desserts and cakes and such. I got to interact with so many new people. I was working with a few elderly ladys, (who I nicknamed them the Golden Girls), Fran (who would have played the part of Rose) and Hasna (this adorable old Armenian woman who reminded me of Dorothy). Many of the people who came through were Hispanic so I had to refresh myself on my Spanish. A few of the people remembered me from yesterday and welcomed me with warm smiles. I am noticing that the more I talk to the people I have met (such as Fred, the safari guy and Robert the old timer/comedian {ex. me: "How is your day sir?" Robert: "Well I'm still above ground!"} ) the more they are opening up to me. More and more people are starting to stop and converse about their lives and ask about why I drove 3 days from Washington State just to help little old them from a small town in California. I hope to build stronger relationships with these people who all have very unique stories and very different backgrounds. It is only day two and they are already having a huge impact on my life and my perception of it. I wish I could bring them all home so you could meet them and hear their stories first hand. It is so humbling seeing how very alike I am with the people I am serving. The adults have been reminding us to think about what it would be like to be in their shoes, but I am noticing that I am in their shoes. I am just a normal person, who is living life trying to find meaning, dealing with struggles, and looking to find a friend, always. We all are just like the people we are serving. The only difference is that they are on one side of the table, and we are on the other. So overall, I just wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! For your prayers, support, and love you have continually been sending our way. We are all so very thankful, more than this huge paragraph could ever express.

Sincerely,
Hannah Jordan