NaNoWriMo word count: 6067. Which

NaNoWriMo word count: 6067. Which is pathetic, because I ought to be past the half-way mark [25,000] by now, but whatev. I'm not giving up till November 31 [i.e., never]. So I'll tell the tale of Homelessness Awareness Night to warm up, and then go off to bang out 22,266 words of novel.

In school Friday Milessa told me she'd pick me up around 4:30 [my mum couldn't drive me because she was off seeing Harry Potter without me], so I had assumed that we were supposed to be at the school at 5. I was sitting in the living room, waiting to be picked up, reading an extremely outdated and poorly researched and sexist library book about body language, and the clock read 4:50. I was worried she had forgotten me or had gotten lost [even though we live on the same street xP] or hated me and wasn't going to ever pick me up or whatever and that I would miss the bus [H.A.N. was happening at Upper Darby High School, so we were supposed to go to our high school, and then a bus was taking us from there]. Eventually she arrived and I learned that we weren't supposed to be there till 5:30. So we arrived approximately a half hour early, which was a bit boring.

However, since we were the first ones there, we did get to be the first ones on the bus and had our pick of seats [the back, of course, is where all the cool kids sit]. The bus ride to Upper Darby was long [we had to stop at two other high schools to pick up their kids], but wasn't too boring. Milessa and I talked about all sorts of fun things, like travelling and accents and our future careers [mainly her future career 'cause I have no idea] and number and names of our future children [again, it was she who had already decided how many children she was going to have and what their names would be].

When we arrived at Upper Darby, we had to wait in line and have our bags checked [I only had my sleeping bag, so I didn't have to be searched for prohibited food or electronics] and I got the impression that there were a lot more people than there actually were. All in all, I think there were about 50 - 60 students and maybe 10 or so adults. After we passed through 'security,' we had to sign a thing saying we agreed to follow all the rules and whatnot, and then we got nametags and were sent to put our stuff down in a gym.

After we tossed our stuff against one of the walls of the gym, we went into another gym which had bleachers and sat there. The woman from Building With Books talked to us, went over the ground rules, and blah, and then we were separated into three groups for an icebreaker activity. Sadly, Milessa was not in my group, but fear not, I survived. In our groups, we stood in a circle and went around and said our name, our school, our grade, and what a home meant to us. After everyone had said their bit, we formed two concentric circles so that each person was facing a partner and then we asked each other questions. My partner was one of the few boys there and was black, as were the majority of the people not from Abington. So I was like, "What's your favourite food?" ['cause that's what we were supposed to ask.] He said he didn't have one, but if he really had to pick it would be lasagna. Then he asked me and I said ice cream. He asked me what my favourite flavour is and I said cookies 'n' cream. He agreed that that was a good flavour.

Then we moved on to the next person. I think the question was: "Who would win in a fight, J.Lo or Janet?" My partner said Janet and I assented because I'm not good at predicting the outcome of physical fights that most likely will never happen.

We moved to the next person and the question was "What person, dead or alive, would you want to have dinner with?" I really hate these questions. A lot. I mean, maybe if I had a couple months to consider it, I could pick, but not in the blink of an eye. So my partner said some music group that I'd never heard of and I said my friends because I would be uncomfortable and awkward and shy around people I've never met before.

Then we went back to the bleachers and someone who works at a shelter spoke to us, and then a representative from Project H.O.M.E. talked to us and showed us a movie, then a formerly homeless person talked to us and gave us fliers to her art show, and then we were separated into groups again. My group decorated paper bags and then filled them with toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, deodorant, combs, washcloths, and other toiletries. When we finished that, we moved to the next station, where a sleeping bag was being made. First we anchored one layer of material to another and then we sewed around the edges to hold the three layers together, which was actually rather enjoyable. I totally 0wn3d 7h47 sl33ping b4g. I was like Betsy fricking Ross, baby. :D

Then we moved onto the next station, where we were to write letters to Senators Arlen Specter or Rick Santorum, Mayor John Street, or City Council President Anna C. Verna. But before we did that, we played this game where everyone stands in a circle. The first person does an action for three beats while chanting "I wannabe likeyou." Then when he finishes, the next person does that action, while he does a new action. And it goes around like that in the circle. For example:

Everyone: I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou [words divided into the three beats]
Person 1: claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around, hops forward, puts hands in the air
Person 2: watches P1, claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around, hops forward
Person 3: watches P2, watches P2, claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around
Person 4: watches P3, watches P3, watches P3, claps hands, gets jiggy

So there's a ripple effect and it's q. fun if everyone does it properly. But then we had to go sit at a table and write letters. Mine was crap, but they're hoping the sheer number of letters will motivate the people to act.

Once we finished, we returned to the main gym with the bleachers and sat down. I was reunited with Milessa and we watched people play basketball and some black girls cornrow [I like to verb words. ;D] some white girls' hair. I grumbled that homeless people didn't play basketball or braid each others' hair, but then homeless people don't have warm beds in suburbia to return to either, so we weren't replicating the authentic homeless experience exactly.

After that, we broke up into our groups again and reflected. There were a couple questions we went around and answered, and then, finally, it was time for bed. I was extremely tired [and had been since around 9:00 xP] and the time was 1:00-ish, I think. So the girls went to their designated sleeping area and the 10 or so boys went to their designated sleeping area, and I rolled out my sleeping bag and fell a to the sleep, despite the noisy preppy girls from my school giggling and being generally obnoxious.

We got about six hours of sleep, I think. I woke up around 5:30 and went to the bathroom and when I was coming back the door wouldn't open so I was v. scared that I had locked myself out of the gym, but then I noticed the sign next to the door that said "Janitor" and went a bit further down the hallway to the right set of doors. I fell asleep again, but it seemed like I was woken up five minutes later, even though it was like 7:00. The people in charge told us there was a basketball game at 8:00 in the very gym that we were sleeping in, so we had to get our stuff and clear out. Milessa and I carried our stuff into the cafeteria and sat at one of the tables, ogling the tangerines and coffeecake and orange and apple juice. Then one of the adults recruited us to put the "I Care" bags into larger trash bags for easier portability and while we were doing this everyone else went into the cafeteria and got to get their food, so we were a little sad that we weren't first in line.

And Upper Darby has slurpee machines in their cafeteria! What's up with that?!

After we finished eating our breakfast, we answered some debriefing questions. When we got to suggestions for future Homeless Awareness Nights, some girl from my school said she thought that we should be allowed food because we would be more productive that way. Apparently some people can't survive without food for a night. And another girl thought since we were doing good stuff we should get a reward! Like, hello? We're volunteering. Our reward is that we're helping the community, blah blah blah. If you want rewards, then get a paid job. Honestly, people are so dumb.

Then we gathered our stuff and went outside to wait for the bus. It was cold and raining and the bus was late, but I was just glad that we were going home. The trip back was much quicker than the trip there had been because only our school was on the bus. I had told my parents to pick me up at 10:15 because that's what the sheet had said, but around 9:15 Ms Farrington said we would be back at the school in ten minutes. So I used someone's cellphone to call home, but I got the answering machine and left a message saying that I needed to be picked up at 9:30.

Around 9:30 the bus arrives at the school and everyone gets off. It's cold and rainy still, and we huddle under a narrow roof that doesn't q. stop the rain from landing on us. Eventually everyone gets picked up and it's just me. Around 9:45 I walk over to where there's a bigger roof thingy and put my sleeping bag down on the dry bit of sidewalk and sit crosslegged on top of it. My butt was probably the warmest part of me for the next half hour. And let me tell you, that morning, waiting to be picked up, I felt 10 x more homeless than I had last night. It was not fun.

At exactly 10:15, my dad pulls up. I complain to him about waiting in the bitter cold for forty-five minutes and turn the heat way up in the car. We got to Manhattan Bagel and I eat an onion bagel on the way home. At home, I walk into the living room and my mater is all, "I missed you!" and I just stand there, glaring at her, while my dad plays the answering machine message.

"Oops," she says, but 'Oops' just doesn't cut it. No, I wasn't mad at all, actually, because I am just a forgiving person by nature and I cuddled next to her on the couch, trying to steal her body heat while Nora watched Sailor Moon.

And that was that.

Almeda | 17.11.02 12:39 | TrackBack