Monday, September 12, 2011

First Entry From England

Sunday – September 4, 2011 – 9:15pm
I am home earlier than usual after Sunday night church because it started raining (soaking wet clothes from the bike ride home as proof) but the change of plans has forced me to write my first entry. Hard to believe I have been here almost two weeks, the days fly by, I will try to sum up the main events of my trip without making this incredibly long.
The flight over from D.C. to Heathrow went very well. Although I was unable to fall asleep, it did not seem like a long flight and the lasagna they served was the best tasting meal I have ever had on an airplane. The trouble started when I got off the plane. I was detained for over an hour and a half at border control because I did not have the proper paperwork needed for someone who wants to stay six months (I was under the impression that you could stay for six months with just your passport). The lady behind the desk said that I was probably going to have to board another plane back to America. She called the people who had come to pick me and up and they tried to convince her to let me stay 3 weeks, haha it ended with her saying “this is your lucky day – don’t ever try this again” and she gave me a special stamp in my passport that they normally don’t use. Handwritten inside of it were the words “six months”.
It was a bit nerve wrecking sitting in a chair and thinking how I might have to fly back home the same day I arrived, so I will definitely take her advice and never again try coming to England for six months without the proper paperwork. In that time though when I did not know whether or not I would be allowed in, I remembered something I saw in Baltimore on the drive to the airport. We were stopped at a red light and there was a guy across the intersection to our left wearing yelling pants and holding a sign. He had his back to us and Kayla saw him first, she asked us what we thought his sign said, we were still taking guesses at it when the light turned green. I thought it was a sign to promote a clothing store but as we passed him I was shocked to see it only had three words – “God never fails”. Although the majority of people that drove by him that night thought he was crazy, I was glad he held that sign, more importantly I am glad that it is a true statement.
So far I have spent a lot more time that I thought I would hanging out in the church parking lot (people here call them car parks). Yesterday I was there from about one in the afternoon until seven at night, riding my skateboard with about 15 other kids. Majority of them ride scooters, one kid even had a go kart that peddled like a bicycle. Before leaving to come here, I envisioned youth work as showing up on Sundays and Wednesdays to teach/“babysit” the church kids but so far it has been way different. I sat and talked for about an hour yesterday with 6 kids, they asked me 101 questions about America and I asked them a lot of questions about England. Funny how God uses random things like Spongebob and skateboards to help you relate with strangers. At one point in the conversation they asked me if I went to the church and I told them yes, it was the perfect opportunity to ask them what they believed. A few of them said they were not sure, but think there might be life after they die. I shared with them what I believed and they seemed to listen but not say much. Looking forward for the chance to speak with some of them one on one in the future. Really praying that one day the might come into the church for services.
There is a problem at the moment between these kids and the church members though. Most of the members don’t like the kids because they leave trash (rubbish) outside, make too much noise while they are trying to pray and “damage” the building with their scooters. The kids know that most of the church people don’t like them. So it is going to be an uphill battle convincing them that going inside the church is a good idea. Haha I was even yelled at on Thursday night, by someone who I guess thought I was one of the kids. I was riding a scooter down near the church café entrance and the guy opened the door and yelled “stay away from the building”. If I wasn’t a believer, I doubt I would ever want to go in.
The neighbor to the church doesn’t like the kids either, while talking to them yesterday they said on Friday night he came over and started yelling at them, and was even saying terrible stuff to one of their moms (“mums”). They called the police on him when he took a swing at a 15 year old; the police did not do much and basically told them they shouldn’t be hanging around the church anyway because the church people don’t want them there. Ironically enough, there was some excitement in the church lobby tonight when people looked out the window and saw the neighbor’s 12 foot high hedges in a fiery blaze. Haha it actually looked really cool, but the neighbor was very upset. Really hope they don’t try burning down the church next.
On Fridays I go down with Jon to the market, he sets up a stand where he gives away free Christian books. I enjoyed just sitting around and meeting people. One older man informed me that he was diagnosed with cancer this week; he lifted up his shirt and showed me the marks where they took the skin samples. Maybe he thought I did not believe him? The day before that though I went downtown with someone else from the church who was working with a group called Open Air Mission, they basically just start preaching on the main sidewalk and try to draw a crowd. I felt out of my element but it was a good experience watching them doing it and being in conversation with people that stopped to talk.
Food wise I have been eating a lot of cereal, also found this microwavable pizza that tastes very similar to what I ate back home. I am staying with an elderly woman in the church from Jamaica, she is super nice, but I told her I would rather buy and cook my own food. Tried Dominoes pizza last night for the first time since being here, it was funny because right before we ordered this guy brought a half eaten pizza to the register and said “umm I found this in my pizza”. We looked in the box and there was a black bug crawling around. It was definitely gross but I still ordered my pizza and it was really good.
The gym here, called the Olympiad, is very nice. Has a huge pool along with steam rooms/ saunas/ hot tubs/ etc… but becoming a member is way different than what I was used to back home. I have to go to five “introduction sessions” before I can use all of the equipment. I went to my first one Wednesday and the kind trainer showed my not only how to turn the treadmill on but also how to step onto it. It’s ridiculous that I can’t use any of the weights yet because I have not been shown how to use them but I have my second session tomorrow at 10am. At least they let me work out in the same shoes that I wear outside, unlike in Bosnia.

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