These past few days standing in one spot for 8-10hrs a day have been tiring for all of us but also very fulfilling. I'll just reflect though on a few of my experiences for now.
I've been at the Aldi's store in Atlanta fundraising and first I'll tell you a bit about the store. Aldi's is a chain in Atlanta that offers cheap food etc. People of all stripes go there and it is not a small place but probably a fifth of a normal Krogers store. The workers there are all doing the same duties; stocking, checking, cleaning and smiling. Aldi's refuses to use plastic bags and there are no shelfs like those at Krogers, all of this lets them sell their products at a cheaper price and also be 'green.' But best of all it seems they truly respect their employees!!! Amazing!!! The employees along with having equal duties also get a comfortable chair to sit on while working, I always thought grocery checkers needed a chair or at least an option to use one and when I saw this I was ecstatic. Now that I'm finished with that I'll go over the patrons of Aldi's.
Like I said before they are of all stripes. White, Black, Brown, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat, close-minded and open-minded. I would say around 3% of the people don't acknowledge us, but we still say thank you and have a nice day in a calm, happy way. Most people don't contribute and say 'not today.' But we do have many that contribute and give us praise for throwing our bodies and souls into other peoples problems. One man that contributed said "Be careful, Central America is a great place to die, are you ready for that?" I replied "yes" with a big smile.
Some times we get more negative responses from people for being out their. Such as a woman saying that all the women in Central America are sluts to Andra, but while she cut her head off in her own head she acknowledged the lady with kindness and didn't let the old racist hag get to her.
Some of the most memorable contributions were those which were given by children from their mothers. The little cuties would usually shyly skimmer over with their heads down and throw a dollar in the bucket and then run back to mama.
Also we met many missionaries, those Christians can really throw their souls into the suffering of others, needless to say we had many great conversations with them.
Overall my feelings right now are sore but strong physically and mentally tired but clear. Working and talking with people who you want to contribute to your cause is a humbling experience. I would say the main feeling I'm having during the day and right now as I write this is an intense energy mixed with gratitude and love. Constantly talking with people about what I will be doing in Belize and hearing about experiences other individuals have had in poverty stricken areas make me so grateful for what my family has provided for me my whole life, a house, support and so much love (I miss them so much).
I can say this is another experience that I've had since when I started the program in late October that is truly life changing. You think fundraising would be a pain and hard, well it is, but it's also so much more then that, it's a challenge and it's gratifying, eye opening and humbling, if I had the choice not to fund-raise like this and didn't, I'd be missing out on so much. That's enough for tonight after all Team Parrot still has ten more days in Atlanta. Much love to everyone who we have seen and to my two families(Winkler's and Lowe's).
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