ASB Boston 2012 - #superheroes #bostonblackout

I may be a little bias, but I'm going to go ahead and say that ASB Boston 2012 was the best Alternative Break trip in the history of forever.

I do, however, want to apologize that I did not blog prior to the trip, and due to the fact that we had no electricity (which we'll discuss later) I could not blog during the trip. I guess that just means that this post will have to be super amazing.

The night before the trip, I was overwhelmed with excitement, as I'm 100% positive everyone else was. I absolutely could not wait to meet up with everyone at an ungodly early hour in the morning (I think it was like 8 or something), and begin our 5 to 6 hour travel to Boston, Massachusetts. Due to the fact that I'm extremely last minute (meaning that I had to pack in the morning,) my excitement kept me up, and the time change I got approximately 45 minutes of sleep. Usually this would make me absolutely miserable, but nothing was going to stop me from having an amazing time with the people that I've grown to love in just 5 short meetings.

The train ride was about an hour long, and we had to walk a few blocks through NYC to our Megabus. We got food at a corner deli, then endured the extra long bus ride with plenty of yummy homemade vegan baled goods (cranberry nut muffins, chocolate chip cookies, chai brownies.) #isthatvegan

I use hashtags because they later become a large part of our trip.

When we arrived in Boston we lugged our bags up and down so many flights of stairs and had a few (not really) near death experiences. That was a joke, I promise.

We found the hostel, and settled in to just relax for a few hours. The hostel, Hostelling International - Boston, was actually really really nice. I've never personally stayed in a hostel before, but this was far better then I had imagined from hearing others talk about them. It was really fantastic that they reserved a private kitchen for us, and Ralph (a staff member) got us pizza for dinner the first night! Everyone that works there was so nice, and it really felt like home, even if it was for just a week.

We had dinner, hung out for a while, and went to sleep so we'd be awake to go to our first service site:

The Greater Boston Food Bank! Here, we worked with a few staff members to package bottled salad dressings and condiments. We also got to meet and work with a few students from Indiana University - Bloomington. It was so cool to see how everything works, and the amount of food in their warehouse was unbelievable, I could only imagine how many people they could feed, but It was also kind of sad that even with all of that food, people would still go hungry. The GBFB is the largest food bank in New England, and one of the largest in the country, as a matter of fact, they distributed almost 35 million pounds of food last year, feeding healthy meals to close to 545,000 people!

After the salad dressings and condiments, we took a break and had lunch with the students from Indiana, and relaxed for a little while. Then, back to work! We then worked on a conveyor belt thingy where we packaged boxes of cookies, crackers (so many trisquits), and other snacks to be sent to all different organizations in New England. This sounds really silly, but it was almost like a game! We have the numbers of how many meals we made possible and stuff, once I have them I'll update this post.

Although our first day did not give us much person to person interaction, it was so cool to see how many people work in this food bank. I thought that it was amazing that they were able, with the help of both volunteers and staff, to sort, package, and distribute a ridiculous amount of food to the people who really do need it. I think it's amazing that there are people who are so passionate about this, that they chose to make it their career, their life long commitment.

The next day was, by far my favorite service experience. Unfortunately though, we had to split up. Some of us went to the food bank again, and I, with I think 7 others, went to The Boston Rescue Mission. This non-profit is a completely free recovery/rehabilitation center. Their mission statement describes what they do far better than I could:

• To offer resources that prevent and end homelessness
• To support the recovery, health, faith, and independence of those who have a history of substance abuse, incarceration, and homelessness
• To raise awareness about the root causes of these life risks
• To serve everyone with respect, integrity, and grace
• To continue to learn, grow, and excel in our services
• To be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us by our supporters
• To reflect the teachings of Jesus and the love of God in all we do

We vowed to keep up a suggestion that Aman made, and that was to hear as many people's stories as possible. This became a central driving force in the trip, at least it did for me, and the BRM was a perfect place to begin. We helped clean, prep, cook, and serve for two of their dinner seatings. The first is open to anyone on the street that wants a hot meal, and man did a lot of people come in there hungry. I felt so bad that I couldn't give them extra, as they kept asking, but regardless they seemed to really appreciate the food. We all made an effort to at least say "Hey, how are you? What's your name?" and I thought it was beautiful that people were actually caught off guard by these questions. It seems as if some of them hardly ever have an opportunity to talk, they hardly ever have someone interested in their name or how their day is going or how they got to where they are now, and I loved seeing people's faces literally soften, and their smiles show as we made eye contact with them and had a real humanistic conversation. This was the first really meaningful moment for me on this trip. I was moved so much.

The second dinner at BRM was for the residents of the rehab/recovery program. These people were so friendly and after we got done serving them we had an opportunity to sit down and chat. Many of the reactions were similar to the one that I talked about above, it was really uplifting and I couldn't help but leaving that place smiling, regardless of how exhausted we all were.

I also want to take some time to speak of two people that I personally met at the BRM. The first, the woman who was coordinating the kitchen stuff that day. She was, by far, the most amazing woman I've ever met. She was inside of the program for ten months to get clean and get her life back together, and left the program only 4 days prior. She was the funniest, coolest, most approachable, most fun, and most optimistic person I've met. Ever. It was amazing to hear her talk about how much the BRM has helped her, and how she believed in it so much that aside from managing a Starbucks, she wanted to continue to work there two nights a week. She said that she feels so connected to the BRM and all of people people inside of it that she just couldn't leave. From watching all of them interact, you can really tell that they really are like one big beautiful dysfunctional family.

The second person was a man who had become addicted to a lot of drugs, including heroin. I only got to speak with him briefly in the dish room as Aman and I struggled to be efficient. He had, thus far, been 2 weeks clean and said he's really feeling like himself again, and planned to keep with the program until he was ready to be back on his own.

I have so much respect for these people, it was really touching to see people really willing to get better regardless of how hard it's going to be. Someone at the BRM said that all of these people are good people who have made some bad decisions, or have gone through some really rough times, but none the less they are good people. 

At one point, after seeing a case manager come down into the dining room to speak with one of the guests, I turned to Erin and said "I'm pretty sure that I just changed what I want to do with my life," and I meant it. I know that one of the goals of these trips is to change people and help people to grow, and I can honestly say that this did happen for me. I've always said I wanted to work with addiction, but never did I consider that I could open up a non-profit and really, truly help people who need it, without making it medicalized and expensive.

I want this to be my future.

I personally plan on going back to Boston this summer specifically so I could do service with the BRM again, it was such a fantastic experience.

The night before in reflection we talked about a homeless couple that was sitting next to the bus stop, and how some of us felt uncomfortable and maybe a little hypocritical for not stopping for them. On our way back from the BRM though, we were running very late for dinner and the other half of group had already began cooking, we saw a man sitting on the sidewalk with signs and a backpack. I turned to Erin and asked her if we could stop and ask him what his story was and after some hesitation (due to the time) she agreed and we went over and talked to him. His fiance was in the bathroom and he was trying to gather enough money for some food. He told us about his life, about his divorce with his wife who had cheated on him with his best friend, about his children that live with her, about losing his apartment, about a fire that ruined his things, so many terrible things happened to this man and he was still there, with a smile on his face, trying to make it through the day only to go sleep in a stairwell infront of a consignment shop at night. As we all sat around him we attracted some attention from other people on the street and others were joining in to listen to Jeremy's story. Eventually a man named Eli stopped to make sure Jeremy was okay, apparently Eli was "a saint" according to Jeremy, he comes by every day to make sure Jeremy is okay, to make sure he's got what he needs, he'd bring him food and coffee some days, and offer to bring him shopping others. Apparently Eli did not only help out Jeremy, but he had other homeless people that he checked up on each and every day. Hearing this was more moving than anyone could imagine. 

In the next few days we visited a few more service sites, My Brothers Table, where we did prep work, cooked, served, and cleaned. As well as The Center for Homeless Veterans where we packaged bags of toiletries and socks, took a tour of the center, and spoke to some of the residents. 

Lee gave us all "Smiles".

After our last day of service we decided to add our own impromptu service site to our trip. "Food Not Bombs shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities around the world to protest war, poverty and the destruction of the environment. With over a billion people going hungry each day how can we spend another dollar on war?" We found out where they set up their tables and showed up eager to help out. They where so inviting, and this quickly became one of my favorite movements. They set up a small table with rice, potatoes and other vegetables, hot soup, water, and bread, which was mostly, if not all donated from local restaurants and stores. Anyone was invited to come up and grab a bite of healthy, and filling food. After the first hour at FNB, I had already collected so many stories and talked to so many people. Everyone, regardless of their situation, had a really good heart and a fantastic sense of humor. One man, Lee, was such an inspiration to all of us. He was so cheery, friendly, caring, and open. I did not really get to listen to his story, but I absolutely suggest asking our site leader, Will, to tell you more about Lee. I can be sure that you'd feel inspired.

Also, before we left on our last day, we stopped by a park, gave 

out PB&J's and met up with Lee again.

Wait, I think it's so funny that I absolutely forgot to expand upon the fact that we lost power a few days into the trip and were powerless for close to three days. There were multiple fires in our area, and because of this a great deal of damage was done to a few of the underground transformers and we lost all power, including hot water. The fact that I forgot to write about it earlier, though, just goes to show you that it really did not affect our trip much. Although it was annoying, none of us really complained about it, and we remained optimistic and still had a fantastic time. I honestly think that the fact that we lost power provided us with more of an amazing experience. Sitting around a table with a few flashlights eating pasta and talking about our day was fun. I know it may not sound like fun, but in a way, I'm kind of glad that it happened. I'm strange I guess.

Now, I'd like to share a few quotes from our trip. If you weren't on the trip they probably won't be funny, but whatever.

"It tastes like a small bomb." -Val

"I haven't had good Vietnamese food since--" -Nina

"Vietnam?" -Val

"...I was going to say Texas..." -Nina

"So why is it called Moo?"

"See, it's ironic, it would be called Oink."

"Is this guy from Harry Potter?" (asking about Ryan Gosling)

"I always got left out... and had to take care of the farbies." -Val

"Does it smell like a library?" -Val

"I was still stuck on the shitter at that point." -Val

"We did a wonderful version of 'We're Off to Find our Savior.'" -Erin

"I wanted to be a crayon." -Sabotta

"The nostrils... they're very temperamental." -Val

"Pecans, crayons... Same concept." -Val

"I fit 32 grapes in my mouth." -Val

"You're a black belt, right?"

"No, but I have a sandwich..." -Nina

"I just want to taste the cream, but I don't want to put my finger in our cannoli." -Mary

"Your hair goes in every direction, and I think you get handsey during the night." -Val

"I guess I need to check my legumes." -Val

"The vegan said we're having meatballs, damnit." -Erin

"Is Aman green? What color is Aman?" -Will

In summary, for those who do not feel like reading my entire novel-of-a-blog-post, I'd just to say that this trip has been my single best experience this far in college. I learned so much about myself, about my group, and about the world. I now think about homelessness in a completely different way, and I no longer will pass someone by just because I've been taught to assume that they're going to use my money for drugs or alcohol. I will collect as many stories as possible, and continue to fuel my own, as well as other's passions to help with hunger and homelessness. I will continue to build and maintain the relationships that I've built with my other group members. I will always remember that we all only are a fire, an identity theft, an expensive hospitalization, or a lay off away from becoming hungry and homeless.

Oh and, Erin and Will are the best site leaders ever, and Nina is the best staff thingy ever.

I will never, ever forget ASB Boston 2012.

With Love,

Joie DeRitis