What A Week!

Well, my first week in the States is up and I am SO TIRED! It's been so overwhelming but each day, it's sinking in more and more that I am actually here living this! You read about my first day, so I will update y'all on what else I have been involved with.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be working with a project called 'Urban Promise' which you can read about right here. I had my first day there on Thursday helping to run an after school group which was so much fun, but when I was helping out at homework club, I realised I have been out of school for too long! I was really struggling to understand the work which was a little embarrassing as I am working with grades 5-10 which is equivalent to age 5-10/years 1-6 in the UK. Oh dear. Anyway, the kids have to call me Miss Sarah which I think is cute. 

We run our drop ins at the centre which have different numbers of kids each time but I especially enjoyed today - I think it went really well and it involved a game of Monopoly which can never be a bad thing. I also went back to the prisons and played cards with the guys in there. They loved my accent and kept asking me to say the British equivalent to everything. One of the other interns got a black eye at our retreat this weekend and they asked if I gave him that! HAHA. I must look pretty tough. 

We also went on a retreat this weekend which I think I mentioned in my last post. It was such a stunning place. I really enjoyed the drive up to Pennsylvania as there was quite a big Amish community there so I saw some of the horses and buggies like I saw on 'Breaking Amish' on TLC Channel! Also, they had a mennonite school and lots of farm type places. It's so strange to see it in real life! We joined with a local Church and some of the guys from Urban Promise. Though our kids didn't respond very well to it, (which didn't surprise me,) we had a wonderful time. I managed to have a walk around the place in our free time and got some photos. 

I thought this barn was very American!

My new horse friend.

It snowed overnight and was SO COLD.

Please expect photos of everything that looks typically American.

I took a walk to take photos and a stranger stopped to ask me if I was lost and wanted a lift. I said no.

I liked this bear.

I liked this sunset too. Also - the times are wrong on these photos but I couldn't  figure out how to change it.  

Yesterday, I went to my first basketball game and surprisingly enjoyed it a lot! As they had got all the times wrong, we ended up watching about 5 games which helped me pick up the general rules! I find basketball a lot easier to understand than American Football but most of the kids who come to the centre seem more interested in basketball anyway, so that suits me! We are going to have a Superbowl party so I will do my usual and prepare the snacks and ignore the game.

The cold weather is supposed to hit here again tomorrow so we have been told to expect a few inches of snow mid-morning. I'm hoping the weathermen here are like the ones back home; always wrong.  Also, for those of you reading in the States - happy Martin Luther King Day! We talked about him in the prisons today..what an incredible man.


Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18


I hope this update finds you all well!

P.s. I cuddled a baby today.