St. Paul's Cathedral, Boston Marathon, and Greater Love Tabernacle!

Today was busy, but wonderful. We got up at 8 and ate a great breakfast made by the advisors, consisting of scrambled eggs, yogurt, bagels, and cereal. We took the T into the center of Boston. The weather was absolutely perfect. This was our first time really out in the city on this trip, so it felt quite urban compared to where we live in the booneys of Massachusetts. It was weird to think that we were living in the city. We got to St. Paul's Cathedral and served lunch to homeless people. It was a really nice facility, in the basement of a beautiful, historic church right in the center of Boston. Leslie, the coordinator, has been volunteering serving lunch every Monday since 1987! We served the homeless tuna sandwhiches, chips, applesauce, nutrigrain bars, rice krispie treats, and hot chicken noodle soup.   There were about 150 individuals being served of all different ethnicities, and there was even a young 8 year old girl! Seeing such a young soul at a soup kitchen really made me sad. One lady I met had just lost her job, and she just started coming to these meals. She looked completely normal, yet she was homeless. I admired her courage to come to these meals, because I know it takes a lot out of someone to go seek help. My friend, Sarah, was talking to a guy who asked her what college she was going to. Sarah told him that she was choosing between Carleton (in Minnesota) and Davidson (in North Carolina). The homeless man replied with, "Oh! My friend over there (who was homeless) went to Carleton". Sarah didn't even know what to say to that, as this statement had made her realize that anyone can end up homeless, even a person who graduates from a great college! After serving at St. Paul's Cathedral, we walked through Boston for a while until we got to the Boston Marathon! We were past the finish line, but we still got to see the runners who had finished, which was exciting. We then went back to where we were staying, the First Church in Charlestown, and played cards and ate dinner. After dinner, we took the T to Dorchester, which is one of the most poor and dangerous towns in the Boston area. Once in Dorchester, we walked for half an hour along the main strip. We felt very out of place, for we were a group of 35 white people in a mainly black community. We received many stares, and even more glares from those driving by us. We even saw two girls on a porch laughing at the sight of us. Once our cold walk was over, we finally got to the Greater Love Tabernacle, a church in Dorchester. We went to one of their "youth meetings," which turned out to consist of intense praising of the Lord, singing, rapping, dancing, and loud sermons. The guest speaker invited people to come up to the front of the Church to get "saved". Some members of our group went up, which I thought was awesome for them to feel so comfortable in such an uncomfortable environment. Some members of our group were crying throughout the service, for it was very powerful. It was a success, though very intense and emotional.