Yeah, sorry I've sort of been slacking with getting this blog finished and posted, it's just that, in a sense, so much has been happening. As the week was wrapping up in New York I didn't want to take the time to sit down and write a blog when I had so few hours left to spend with my team before we all split for the holiday and then to our countries. So I told myself I would blog when I got home, and contented myself with milking the remainder of my team-time in New York for all it was worth. But when I got home, blogging seemed to take the back seat again. I was reunited with family, I wanted to see friends (some of which were only home for Thanksgiving break before heading back to college), and I wanted some chill, relax, and unwind time. Consequently, I'm now a full week later with no blog. Thus I sit here now and write one.
Sunday of our last week there (Nov 12) was your pretty average sunday. We went to church where Pastor Wendy preached a great sermon on the Isaiah passage "Here I am. Send Me."Also, since Reneé and Beth would be leaving later in the week and wouldn't be there another sunday, we had a sending off prayer time for them. After lunch, Bekah's mom and sister (Chris and Whitney, respectively) arrived. Chris was our mentor for that week, and would be talking to us on Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the day was laid back. In the evening we watched"Elf," a very funny and fun christmas-themed movie.
Monday, November 13. I woke up just in time to eat a quick breakfast before our discussion with Chris. We talked some on the ideas of the book "When Helping Hurts" that we had been given, as well as general missions-esk stuff. After our discussion and lunch, we walked down to Fordham Plaza to do some shopping and city sightseeing. I actually finally bought something, after all those many shopping trip we had taken, I finally did some shopping myself. Not much, just a four-dollar ring, but at least i got something. On our way back to the apartment we stopped at McDonalds where Chris treated us all to a coffee or soda.
For dinner we went downtown to Times Square. We ate at a little Greek restaurant called Dafni Greek Taverna located a little away from the main of Times Square. It was very good, though not being a Greek connoisseur I can't vouch for how Greek or un-Greek it was, I just know it tasted good.We walked around Times Square a little before heading back to the apartment. Bekah, Reneé Aaron, Eryca, and I played a game of Settlers of Catan before turning in for the evening.
Tuesday (November 14) was another chill day of talking and hanging out mostly in the apartment. We started our morning with another discussion with Chris, this time talking about our individual strengths (particularly those from our StrengthFinders test results) and how they contribute to our STEP team as a whole and to our country teams (Spain, Colombia, Thailand) individually. For lunch we took a trip down to Little Italy were we ate at a very good Pizzeria. Afterwards some of us walked through Little Italy with Chris and Whitney.
When we got back I did what I do most afternoons I have a little extra free time, I took a nap. When I woke up I wrote my previous blog post, played some Settler of Catan with Karla, Bekah, Eryca, and Aaron, and had a generally quiet and relaxed evening.
Wednesday (November 15), as usual, was a long, tiring day. I woke up early, around 7:00 to go to Breakfast Ministry at Fellowship Chapel with Bekah and Aaron. From there the three of us took the subway to the Bowery Mission to meet up with the rest of the team. Most of the work we did at the Bowery was carrying, moving, and organizing donation shipments, getting ready for their biggest service event of the year, Thanksgiving. Near the end of the day I did get a chance to do some work in the dish room for the last time. It was fun and fast-paced as usual.
Around 1:45pm we left the Bowery and took the subway and bus to Manhattan Christian Academy to help with the after-shool program. It was a pretty normal day with the kids, who are always fun to be around (except for the occasional winning or tantrum, but they get over it pretty quickly). We left there a little after 6:00pm and got back to the apartment around 7:00pm. That means it was about a twelve hour day for Aaron, Bekah and me, whew! Vicky was at the apartment when we got back. She had come up to see us all one last time before we all split up. We had a chill evening, which included some group discussion and watching "Remember the Titans," Karla's favorite movie.
Thursday (November 15) I woke up tired since I had stayed up late to watch "Remember the Titans" and since I had to get up at 7:00 to Skype Bruce and Merly with Reneé. We had a good talk about what we'd be doing there in Spain, as well as some other general things we would need to know. After our Skype call I went back to bed for an hour-and-a-half morning nap. I got up again around 10:00am and we had some more team talk with Vicky. After lunch we had to say our first goodbyes since Beth and Reneé were heading back home with Vicky. It was hard and sad, but I know I'll be seeing them again, even if not in this life (we do have a week of debrief together when we all get back, and I'm trusting God to get us all you, but I'm just saying). The rest of us then went to help at the Love Kitchen and then the after-school program for the last time. It was a good time, and goodbyes and hugs and all that fun stuff went over pretty well, with maybe a bit of misty eye. When we got back to the apartment we had dinner and watched "Hitch."
Friday (November 16) started out earlier than most Fridays because World Vision asked us to come in an hour early. I'm still not sure why, they said they had some stuff for us to move, or something like that, but there really wasn't that much to do, and it definitely didn't seem like there was anything that couldn't wait an hour. But alas, we were there at the requested time, slightly low on sleep, and ended up finishing all the jobs they had for us before lunch, so we went home early as well.
When we got back I of course took a nap. I woke up for dinner, because if there is something I like as much as napping, it's eating. After dinner, and a few preparations (such as showering and getting nicely dressed) the five of us—Karla, Bekah, Eryca, Aaron, and me—went downtown to Times Square Church for our last time. After the service we wandered around Times Square for a while, visiting different stores and just enjoying the city. My favorite part was when we went into the M&M's store and imitated the faces and actions of the different M&M characters and toys. When we got back to the apartment we watched "To Save a Life." I ended up going to bed around 3:00am, while everyone else waited up for Eryca's family who were supposed to be arriving. I found out the next day that they didn't get in until about 6:30am, so yeah, I'm glad I went to bed.
Sunday, November 18, the day before I left had finally come around. We went to church, which was very good as usual. We had another sendoff prayer for the rest of us. After church we had to say goodbye to Eryca, since she was heading out with her family. It was again hard to say goodbye.
After lunch Karla, Bekah, Aaron, and I went down town to Central Park for some peaceful chill time one last time before we parted ways. We saw some people making really awesome and huge bubbles. When they popped they "melted" away so gracefully, it was so fascination and beautiful I could have stood there all day watching and enjoying, except that the others wanted to move on. We also went to a very awesome play ground that was built around a huge mound of rocks. It was a good relaxed time with some good talks included.
When we got back to the apartment we mostly just chilled together and packed for our different journeys home.
Monday came all too soon. I had my shower and breakfast. We said out final goodbyes, still as hard as ever. Bekah and Karla were going downtown with Aaron and his family (who came to pick him up) before leaving on a train to go home. I left with Bonnie, who took me to the airport. We had a very good talk on the way there. I'm gonna miss that women very much. My flight didn't leave till later in the afternoon, but because Bonnie had to get home early, she had to drop me off early. So I had some do-nothing-and-chill time for about five hours. I slept most of the plane ride home. When I landed, Baruch met me at baggage claim and helped take my bags out to the car where I very warmly embraced Mom and Dad. I will definitely miss my totally awesome team, but I'm also very glad to have some time with my totally cool and amazing family.
Well that wraps up another blog. I don't have a lot else to say. If you would like to ask a question or if you have a comment, those can be posted here on this blog or emailed to my communications girl, Hope, at constanceh.95@gmail.com.
Have a good Christmas. I should be posting again probably once more before I go just to give a check-up update, and then I will resume my regular updates when I head for Spain on January 2. Thanks very much for reading, and I hope this Christmas finds you well,
As usual, with many loves and misses,
~Asher Fickett~
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