I am officially back, and intend to ration a reasonable amount of time for the purpose of catching up with CAA.
This strikes me as a good time to speak on the subject of the grammar of hte previous sentence, as Lehn has brought up the matter. I generally, in my speech and typing, treat acronyms differently than most words. Were I to not use an acronym, that is, to speak about the Christian Anime Alliance, I would always use an article in reference to the name. However, with most acronyms I view the acronym as representing the organization in a broader sense. It is, therefore, treated like a proper name.
My views of Texas reinforced what I frequently see when traveling: most of the country is basically the same. It is slightly hotter than Kansas, but not enough to bother me. Ironically, the first person to possess an extreme Texan accent actually wasn't from Texas. Also, I was pleased to see that the church was alive and well.
Lynx wrote:by the way... we get stories about how you traumatized the kids when you get back.... right? j/k
At this point I will give a brief overview of the trip, for those of you who may care for reasons unknown to me.
The first portion of our time was absorbed by a poverty simulation. I should not speak on it greatly because Mission Waco stated they wish those who enter it to have no prior knowledge, and it is generally kept under a veil of silence. It will suffice to say that while I felt it was lacking as a whole certain elements were extremely effective. This includes a masterfully presented World Banquet.
All the other days were as I described previously. We worked on a housing project for low income persons. I worked in a small division devoted to painting one of the apartments (the majority worked on the overall apartments). At the end of the first day the man in charge of our work took me aside and said "Do you think you could assemble your work crew again tomorrow so the same people always work in the apartment?"
So evidently I have a work crew now. Feh. Regardless, it went perfectly fine, and we managed to completely finish the apartment in our time there.
Street Camp was chaotic but went well. I narrated for all the stories, and the kids at least quieted down long enough to listen to those. It made a minor impact on a fair number of kids.
I had thought there was a large group that simply didn't care, but on the last day I was proven wrong. Two kids whose names I did not know and who had called me the wrong name the entire week approached me after Street Camp. All I had done with them was help them climb the tree (they refused to sit on the mat, and I decided to work with them instead of against them). But they gave me a friendship-braclet sytled necklace to "remember them by." Evidently we did more than I thought. Though I normally wear nothing of the sort, I will wear this necklace for their sake.
One sad event: I spent nearly half of one day shadowing a child. He was filled with extreme amounts of anger and hatred. Though he said the older kids were picking on him for no reason, I quickly figured out they were coming after him because he was throwing rocks at them and flipping the finger. I had to at one point physically stop two of the kids from hitting each other. Then the kid I was shadowing (he idolized me, but didn't really listen to what I had to say) got ahold of a massive chunk of concrete and would have thrown it except that I took it from him and threw it into a river. It was very sad to see.
Zedian wrote:Wow I'm come back after a week off and I witness one of the seasoned veterans leaving...I really hope this isn't a pattern, we'll miss ya UC.
It seems common for people to post as if I was leaving for a long period of time. I personally would not mind if CAA members were required to take time off for God's work.
Azeieieir the Swordsman wrote:And it's Azier. Not Azeir.
I apologize. It was my responsibility to check which letter was first and I failed to do so.
Omega Amen wrote:Frankly, I was not shocked by the title of this thread since I remember uc pseudonym previously mentioning in another thread about visiting Waco, Texas.
I did not truly expect to shock anyone, nor was such my intent]It was very nice of him to offer to take the job. Even if he says that it will be difficult, I think he'll enjoy working with the kids.[/quote]
Actually, not really. The children were by large acting far less than their age. Narrating, however, was quite enjoyable. However, it was hardly the point of the previous week to bring any manner of enjoyment to myself.
CobaltAngel wrote:*gasp* We have to make up for the the error. <.< >.> *jumps out and tackles UC as he reads over thread upon his return* SUPRIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Salutations.
Zarn Ishtare wrote:You evil moderator, you. That was Lewisian humor you were using, or I'm not a man of God. Which begs the question: How british is UC's humor? very, it would seem. A man of classic humor, indeed.
Interesting; my humor style developed prior to any exposure to British (or even much American) humor. Not that I considered this thread to be anything more than mildly and vaguely amusing.
It is good to be back.