Yesterday was our last whole scheduled day. It definitely was something to remember because we finished the heavy dirty work and planted all they had at Eden Place. This last day meant a lot to us because we could finally see what we we had done, and realize that we were actually making a difference and impacting a whole community's lives. Coming into this project I think we all dreaded it but all the sweat and dirt was worth it. After we finished, the whole group (Our group "The Bulls" and the Colorado group) and Troy drove in our vans to pick up the deep dish pizza, we first stopped at the Soldier Field where the Bears play. We probably didn't appreciate it as much as maybe the boys but it was pretty cool to see. Once we got pictures we drove to Giordanos to pick up all the pizzas. Heading back we were supposed to see Obamas house! But unfortunately we just drove right past without noticing. Troy told us later that we couldn't have stopped anyways because there's security everywhere and the house is blocked off! So we did see Obamas house... We just didnt know it.. We went back to Eden Place to eat. The deep dish pizza was delicious! But it was huge and only two people could eat 2 pieces. The one piece I had expanded a bit later and it did not feel comfortable. Once everyone finished Troy had us play a game together to end on a good note, I think we were all too full and hot to put in 100% but it was fun. We said our goodbyes and headed to the showers. We went back to Seed of Abraham to prepare the dinner. We grilled burgers, hot dogs, and made a pasta salad. For every dinner the group is supposed to make a introduction of what the food is for that meal, we made a parody to "Cups" by Anna Kendrick. I think it worked perfectly and sounded great. They saved the best Crew for last! After dinner everybody hung out for awhile because there was a church service going on upstairs. It was a really nice time to get to know each other even better. Not only the kids from our church but the other kids as well. We also had a very nice talk with one of the girls from Lindsay. She is from the Nebraska group and will be a senior next year. What surprised us the most about her was her view on marriage equality and LGBT rights. To our surprise she was a supporter of the freedom to marry. Since she is from the Nebraska group (which is conservative catholic) we expected her to disagree with us. Instead she was in favor of equal marriage. One thing she talked about was how the people from her group were not exposed to the opposing view so they were not open to the idea of LGBT's getting married. A few years ago her brother explained the opposing side of LGBT rights to her, but let her make her own decision. A few years after that her brother came out to her as being gay. She was very open to speaking with us which we were very grateful for. The last thing that happened that night was a very special tradition in YouthWorks, the foot washing ceremony. First our YouthWorks leaders came around and washed ours leaders feet and than our leaders washed ours, but you could choose to not participate aswell. To a lot of us it was a very humbling and empowering feeling. It encouraged and connected us with Jesus, who also washed the feet of his disciples. Many of us got very emotional and cried, but it was a wonderful feeling. After we had some time to ourselfs we took everything and packed up, prepared to wake up extra early the next morning.
-Emilie, Maya and Clara
