post nine - and it was evening, the second day

june 10, 2008 (tuesday night)

quick overview: we played monopoly this morning. we all started out (without knowing it) with different amounts of cash... and when we passed go, different salaries. i was poor, but managed to be one of the final two. the game ended in a draw. but to keep it to more important things, since there ARE more important things than winning, playing monopoly that way was used to teach us about capitalism in a more tangible way. there was another poor person like me, a middle class (normal salary and starting amount) and an upper class person. (2000 start and 300 for passing go) Jim asked us questions at the end of the game about how we felt given our financial situation. it was hard for me, but because i am experienced at monopoly, i was able to adapt better... it was an example of how cultural knowledge is a huge advantage in succeeding financially. most poor people don't have the knowledge of how to get rich, or know the right people, so they don't. brittany, our rich person, felt guilty because she was rich and often gave hand outs to the other poor person with bad luck. it was interesting. after monopoly we went on our city-wide scavenger hunt.

we saw a lot in hartford, but missed out on a lot of the historical sites and info that we'll visit tomorrow. we went shopping on a food stamp budget and managed to be $20 below budget. we were not able to buy any fresh fruit or vegetables, and I'm not sure if we'll need to go shopping again later this week... we may run out, but who knows? being a vegetarian with three meat eaters is a little difficult... it's sometimes hard for them to understand different aspects of how we as people get certain nutrients, and our need for those nutrients, even on a budget diet. i'm cheating a little bit on our budget by taking the multivitamins i brought just in case our food wasn't able to provide everything (mostly iron, b vitamins, zinc, calcium... a lot)

we all had half an hour each to share our life stories today. it was great to learn from the other people in our team how God has worked in their lives. tonite i cooked dinner with brittany. eggs and pancakes. delicious. tomorrow morning is oatmeal and maybe bananas left over from our breakfast this morning. I think i will try to do the dishes before people wake up. we'll see what happens. i've been doing my best to be encouraging and pointing out all the ways i feel blessed by the people here. like, i thanked patti for telling me when she and the rest of the girls were done showering, and i praised julie for her boldness in the city today, and brittany for her patience with me while grocery shopping i made sure after praying tonite to tell them all how great it was to spend the day with them. it really was.

we had bible study on amos tonite with our group, and with some people in the neighbourhood. awesome. i learned so much. jim is very gifted with his questions and leading. and i believe that is it for now. it's raining, and getting a little cooler. we're having a thunder storm. i am blessed to be here.

prayer for today:
for God to show me how i can help someone in the city when we go out in the next few days