A Plethora of Adventures (#16-19)

Hello everyone, and happy Sunday! It has been awhile since my last post. Truth is, by the time I get home from work, I am TIRED. But, I haven't stopped having adventures, and it is definitely time for an update.

Adventure #16: You Can Go Home Again
....it's just that it requires two subways, a train, and a car ride to get there. Last weekend, I went home for my friend's son's third birthday party. As you probably know, I am still learning how to navigate all this public transportation business, and I knew getting there and back would be an adventure indeed. Becky gave me DETAILED instructions on how to get to the train, which I wrote down and carried with me the whole time. I walked to the first subway and got off at the right stop, no problem. After that, things got interesting. I got on my second subway train at 13th Street, with the goal of getting to 30th Street. The first stop was at 11th...then 8th....then 5th. At this point, I was thinking, "Why are the numbers going down??" In a semi-panic, I texted Becky, who told me to get off at the next stop and cross over to the other side. I got off, talked to the nice cashier lady about how to actually get over to the other side, and boarded the correct subway train. After emerging from the subway at 30th Street Station, the next order of business was finding Amtrak, and then finding the line that was going to Harrisburg. It ended up being pretty easy. I got in the longest line and showed the lady my ticket, and since she didn't say anything I assumed it was the correct train. When I pictured an Amtrak train in my head, it was something like a subway - but as it turned out, it was more like an airplane! Just to be sure I was in the right place, I asked the nice 30-something man that I sat beside if the train was going to Harrisburg. He assured me that it was. I had my clarinet with me, and he asked what I play. We had a nice chat.

The actual train ride was quite relaxing. After about two hours or so, I got off at Harrisburg...and Dad and Michael were there waiting for me! Yay! It took another hour and a half car ride to get home. We stopped at KFC for supper, and then finally I was home! I had a great weekend - saw most of my good friends who are in Milton, spent some time with Dad, Mom, Kathy, and Michael, and saw my church family on Sunday (where I got to clarinet!)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I got back to Philly with no issues...I just texted Becky to make sure I was doing the right thing before getting on each subway (I was right every time, just not confident.) :-P

Adventure #17 Exploring Cool Stores

Ikea is an amazing, wonderful place. Someday, I intend to hide out in a closet or something until it closes, come out after everyone leaves, and just live there. Like on Elf. I'd have my choice of beds, a library - they even sell food, for crying out loud!

Ikea is located in a shopping plaza over by the water. There is also a Target, Lowe's, Chick-fil-A, Wendy's, and numerous other stores. You could pretty much find a place like it in central PA or anywhere else. Except for the giant ship docked there.

This is the SS United States. It's a historical flagship, around since the early 1950s. I don't know a lot about it, but Becky said they pay $1 million a year just to be able to dock the ship there, which leaves no money for actually restoring it. You can learn more about the SS United States here.

Another cool shop is Urban Jungle. They sell plants here and they have a really neat atmosphere. Instead of me trying to describe it, you should probably just check out the photos here.

And finally, today I discovered Molly's Books and Records in the Italian Market neighborhood. I was more interested in the books than the records, but there was a good selection of both. They have a great collection of children's books! (Don't worry, Mom. I only bought one. It was $3. And it's for camp this week. :-P) It's quite small, but like I said, the books there were good ones. I definitely could spend a long time in a place like that!

Adventure #18 Church in a Public Middle School

Today I went to CityLife Church, which is located right here in South Philly. They meet at The Academy at Palumbo, a public middle school (how great is it to live in America?) CityLife seems similar to Epic. They both have a predominately 20-30 something congregation, are new (CityLife celebrates its one year anniversary in two weeks), sing modern songs during worship, put a strong emphasis on serving and getting involved in the church, and have pastors that preach good sermons from the Bible. The sermon I heard today seemed a bit deeper theologically than the ones I've heard so far at Epic. The pastor talked about the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the tabernacle back in Old Testament times. The Most Holy Place was where God lived, and only the High Priest was allowed back there, only once a year. This curtain, along with the necessary animal sacrifices, rules, rituals, etc, inspired a lot of fear in people. But because God wanted to be close to us, He decided a new curtain was necessary. Jesus became the new curtain. Hebrews 10:19-20 says "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body..." Did you know that at the moment he died, "The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom"? (Mark 15:38) These are things I knew before, but the pastor today said it in a way I hadn't thought of - As Jesus' body was ripped, the curtain was also ripped. This is all to say that because of Jesus - who is the Way, the Gate, and the Door - we have access to God and need not fear. Jesus is the curtain through which we have access to God, and the priest who offered the sacrifice for our sins.

Adventure #19 I'm Not Quite a MasterChef
...but I am getting pretty good. Today I went to the Italian Market and got strawberries, four chicken thighs, a box of cherry tomatoes, a red pepper, asparagus, and garlic all for about $7.75. The strawberries were $3. I realized as I looked around that they were overpriced - lots of places had strawberries for $1.50 - but I didn't realize how much of a rip off they were until I got home and opened them up, and realized that almost all of them were moldy or rotting. I was able to save three. But. With the rest of the stuff, I made this:

And it was good!

Work Update
I am still stuggling with the children's behaviors, but things are better than they were. I asked my director on Friday about what I will be doing when the kids go back to school in two weeks. She said she has two openings. Either I can teach the Young Toddler class (two year olds), or continue to work with the School Agers after school and be a floater for the remainder of my hours. Pray that I make the right choice, as neither of these things are what I thought I'd be doing here. I've been thinking perhaps God is trying to teach me something about pride. I went to college to be an elementary school teacher, which is a position respected by most people, but God didn't open those doors. I came here expecting to teach preschool, which I knew I enjoyed but which (sadly) demands less respect from people, and now it looks like I won't even be doing that. Not many people consider a teacher of two-year-olds or an after-school teacher to be a professional, and it looks like this is what I will be doing. But really, what were my motives for wanting "more?"

How to Comment on the Blog
For Pat, and everyone else who has had trouble commenting...I think I fixed it! There should now be two new option in the drop down menu. One says "Name/URL" and the other says "Anonymous." You can pick either of these options. If you choose Name/URL, just put your name in the name box and leave the URL box empty. If you choose Anonymous, you can just sign your name in your comment so I know who wrote it. I hope this helps! Let me know if you still have trouble.