Today was Monday Fun-day and our first full day of serving it up here in the ATL. We had a bit of a mad rush this morning with showers and making haphazard breakfasts and lunches but made it to our first stop of the day with Tapestri. We got to sit in on presentations for refugees in the area on laws and rights that they have living in the U.S. and we helped pass out brochures and pens. It was so fascinating to see that the rights and laws we find obvious or take for granted are things that they were learning. It was taking a step back from the American culture that we are so accustomed to.
After we said a tearful goodbye to the boys, Carlos and Rivu, AKA "the bros," the rest of the ASBesties went to the Cool Girls, Inc. office to learn about the after school mentoring program that they run with volunteers like us! We got to create programs about friendship and conflict resolution for the groups of 2nd/3rd grade and 4th/5th grade girls. Then it was showtime and we got to the McNair Discovery Learning Academy to debut our first Cool Girls Club program. The girls were all ears and took all the ideas of being a good friend and solving conflicts right off of our lesson plan! Their smarts blew us all away! Some girls shared what they wanted to be when they grew up and we had to look up the definition of epidemiologist (they are the doctors that research the spread of disease, FYI). We had so much fun telling them about the wonders of college with sleeping in, going out to eat at restaurants for lunch, and not having to walk in lines (gasp!) to get classes. Plus, we played some great games of telephone.
Not wanting to stop all the hugs from our Cool Girls, we headed on our way back to our home at the First Metropolitan Community Church to meet up with the Rev. Paul Graetz. He lead us all to what seemed like a seedy Thai place but ended up being magically delicious. There were four tables of us with each table having a host of different church members. It was so fun sharing stories of our views (and sharing delicious Moo Shu pork. Food is a great part of this trip, if you couldn't tell). When we got back to our home with our Thai food babies, we watched the Hotlanta Squaredancers dance it out. For this Illinois native, I wish I could've joined in on my state dance but I would've looked like a complete amateur next to these pros.
Now it is time for us to finish our air mattress story time so we can get some Z's before going at it again tomorrow! Peace out boy and girl scouts!
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