yesterday

yesterday there was something up with the page i post from so that's why i'm posting a day late.

life is a funny thing. i haven't slept properly in months but since i've been here i've been getting amazing sleep (even slept through my alarm yesterday.) but why is it that when you get lots of sleep you're enevitably more tired than when you worked without it? i guess sometimes you just need to wait for life to catch up with you a little (even if you lack the patience to do so.)

so today i spent my first morning at the food pantry at grace house. i had intended spending some time getting to know how things worked there and the people who carry out said work before getting my camera out. however, as with every time i try and plan things out, things didn't really work out that way.

turns out a local organisation may be giving some help to the pantry which becomes a lot more likely if they have some sort of publication to show what goes on there. here's where i come in.

the way it works is that people who need a little extra help with food for the week come in and meet a guy at a wee desk who has everyone on file who comes through. he sends the person/ family's details down to a couple of people who run around packing up food (someone would have already figured out the most nutritious selection from what they have and pinned up the list as a guide.) the food is then taken up and handed over. it might seem straight forward but i was totally taken back by the amount of effort and organisation put in by the folks that volunteer there before hand. they blew me away with their selflessness. ontop of that they're spending a good two or three hours in high humidity and heat (well for me anyway) doing fairly labourious work.

everyone was dripping by the end of it but amazingly still had smiles on their faces and were ready to stock up and come back again for more.

i'll talk about the people who come there later cos i don't want to do an injsutice to them by flinging up my first impressions.

i experienced my first bit of culture clash ontop of the obvious lessons learned...
sarcasm is not best advised anywhere outwith the uk (and even then i tend to push it a little) i was reminded of this fact when i was met with a look of shock and disbelief when i exclaimed "that smells beautiful!" when a bottle of steak sauce smashed on the floor and i started to clean it up with some kind of chemical...

i live and learn. (and try to remember to apologise for my numerous mistakes along the way...)