27/7/07

Hey all. So im safe at IHOP. The trip was long but easier than expected. I thought I had to change the bus a lot more times than I actually did I only changed the bus 5 times but at the back of the ticket other stops where marked and I thought those stops meant we were changing bus but they were actually just rest stops.

Before leaving concord I was really blessed Royce (the guy who owns the house I was in) gave me a book, then Rashied another guy living there gave me 2 more. Then in the morning before I left Royce gave me a map of KC.

Rashied was supposed to drive me to the bus stop but the car wouldn’t start, good thing we were leaving early, Royce tried to charge the battery but it didn’t work so he ended up driving me with his car. He prayed for me before he left the bus station.

One thing I really noticed on the trip was poverty, not just financial, that too, but spiritual and emotional poverty and attitudes of slavery. Especially among African Americans, they aren’t physically slaves but they look like it, their faces really show they are under oppression.

The Hispanics are really sweet especially older ones that grew up in their country. Those that grew up in the states have a different attitude altogether especially those that grow in the cities, u can tell from their faces, clothes and attitudes. It’s interesting I guess.

Yesterday when I got to Kansas city, there had been a misunderstanding (Daniel the guy im staying with didn’t read my email before yesterday morning) so I didn’t get picked up which was ok coz I didn’t think I was getting picked up. So I had to find my own way to his house. I had prepared a map with the shortest/safest walking route to they house, but then I realized it would take me between 4 or 5 hours to walk, and that’s without baggage so obviously baggage slows me down even more. So I thought id get the bus.

So when I got to the grey hound bus station in KC I went to the customer service to ask where and what bus to get to get closest to his house. The lady there was very helpful, she spent probably 15 mins on the phone trying to figure out which bus and time … the bus shelter was right across the road, so that was great had to take 2 busses the second one dropped me right infront of the door. There’s other detail I could go into but it’s unnecessary.

I went to the door, knocked waited a bit but there was no one there. I knew IHOP was just round the corner so I thought id better go there in the coffee shop (I presumed they had internet) go online and let abby and mum know im here. I found out from her that Daniel was at home so after resting a bit I went to the house. There I found a not from Daniel telling me to go inside and call him from the kitchen phone. Im like man that’s just weird (people leaving their doors open and im supposed to just walk in). so I went in and tried to call a few times but it didn’t work, later I found out (Daniel remembered) that the phone doesn’t work long distance. So basically I waited there at the house looking into their yard, saw 2 squirrels tried to film one but nothing can be seen in them.

Then I got a phone call from Daniel and he told me he’d be there in 25 minutes and told me that if I wanted to I could go help him help Leslie (his fiancée and eve’s friend) I was like “sure” then we told me but u don’t have to, aren’t u tired, I was ok so when he came we left to go help. It didn’t take as long as it took us last week, there wasn’t so much stuff and when we were unloading we unloaded to a room downstairs right behind the garage so it was easy and quick, while loading we had to go into a lift and through a couple of doors so we wasted a lot more time. While there I met another of Eve’s friends called Johnna who offered to take me to do my shopping today. After we were done leslie gave me some money, I didn’t want to take it u know what its like then in my mind I was like I need to learn to accept people’s gifts and not feel guilty so I ended up accepting. She said she didn’t want to abuse the foreigner, I think she did it for eve.

We went home I met 2 more of the room mates there. I went out with one of them to walmart just to hang out from my side, it was already 11, I didn’t buy much only some lip balm coz I was desperate since iv been sick my lips have dried up really bad and they hurt a lot. He didn’t find anything he wanted to buy for himself so he just bought a couple of things for one of his room mates. We struck up a conversation with a Kenyan employee there so we talked to him for bout 20 minutes or something, it turns out he used to go to ihop but then he moved to Kansas City Kansas so he stopped and now he just moved back here.

This room mate I was with is funny, he is sweet but he talks a lot he sounds excited all the time and barely has time to breathe, sometimes he has to think about breathing.

This morning I went with Dan to prayer room they were doing an hour or 2 hour session there, went in to the briefing before they started and then just went to the side when they started and did my thing. I left the prayer room at 11, got a shuttle to IHOP coz the prayer room at the moment is at FSM (the school and where they do conferences) went to the book store (man there’s too much stuff, good thing Patrick wasn’t here). I started part of this letter, then I met Johnna and we went shopping. Actually she paid for all my food for the time im here (I felt embarrassed but she told me she did it for ben and eve and for malta which she loved when she was here) btw both leslie and Johnna were in Malta, I don’t really remember them (typical well maybe not just really bad).

So now I finished this letter, ill go back to the cafeteria to send it come back to the house leave my laptop here and go to JHOP which apparently is moving here.

Peace to all.