The Three Worst Kinds of Situations
Cold. Hungry. Sleepy.
Three worst situations.
And I was dealing with them all yesterday morning. I was awakened at 8:30 am, took a shower, and was rushed into my goth outfit (for the fifth time this week!). Then I grabbed my handbag and climbed into my sister's goth black car. We stopped by SA's house to pick her up, and then we arrived at the masjid. We had a short discussion with the rest of the volunteers, and then we got to work.
SA, another volunteer Fr, and I went to work trying to find good doorstoppers for the entrance. It was early in the morning and all the guys in the masjid were taking up the gym, playing all kinds of sports, so no one was manning the main office. And that meant we couldn't go and ask them if they had doorstoppers by any chance. So what we did first was see if a chair would be good enough to keep the doors open. It wasn't. Then I noticed an orange cone outside and suggested we use a cone to keep the doors open. We did find a cone outside that worked, but we didn't have as much cones as we had doors. So we then went outside to find other possible doorstoppers. We succeeded in finding pieces of wood to wedge between the door and the floor (eyyy a rhyme), officially finishing our job. Then we set up a chair to hold up a whiteboard, on which was written the agenda for the day. Throughout the day it did fall a couple of times, which was annoying, but it only fell those two times, which was great.
Most of the time I waited outside for more refugees to come so I could greet them and welcome them in. At one point, there was an occurrence of the van taking the refugees to the wrong door, therefore making them feel very lost, and Fr and I walked around over the entire masjid trying to find them, and when we walked back to out positions, we found them in the right area. I was like, smhhhhh we walked everywhere for nothing AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT I'M STARVING.
Anyway, I went back to my position and probably sat outside in the cold with nothing else but a chair, the cold, and my thoughts for a good hour. Then a new van came in and I stood up to say salaams to them. My heart was the only body part of me that warmed up when the little boys said salaam to me. MashaAllah, such well behaved boys. Now you don't see that everyday, do you? ;)
After a while, it occurred to me that all the refugees had arrived, which meant my job was basically over. So I walked inside and told the girls at the sign-up table that no one else was coming. All of us were trembling from hunger because none of us had been able to get a bite to eat.
Having nothing to do, I took my iPad which had been used to help sign people in, and checked all my notifications, and then I had a good conversation with Momo, who was stuck at home doing her homework. She said today was a very weird day and I agreed (although I can't remember why she thought her own day was weird; she can remind me in comments) and told her I would write an entire blog post about it tomorrow (which is today and the day is nearly over whoops).
Anyway, what happened next........ I sat inside with SA and we talked until Nr came over and then we went to go look for spoons at the office because THE FOOD HAD FINALLY ARRIVED. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO COME AT 12 BUT THE RESTAURANT WASN'T READY. SMHHHHHHHHHHH
So we went to the office, and met my parents' Hajj partner there. He was also looking for spoons that the office might have in possession. Then Sister Fd came to tell us that we needed tablecloths and asked if any of us could drive. SA said she could drive, but she had no car. Parents' Hajj partner, aka Br. Ershd, offered her his car. "You have a driver's license?" he asked.
SA pulled out her license and showed it to him. Sr. Fd and Br. Ershd nodded their approval and Sr. Fd gave SA her credit card, and Br. Ershd gave her his car keys. Then, because we were low on time, we three rushed outside and climbed into his car. The traffic sucked, but we made it to Walmart and got the things, and hurried back in time. Then SA and Nr and I found a place outside to chill and eat our food to fill up our skinny stomachs. I felt full immediately and my food was barely finished.
Then we went back inside and Nr and SA went upstairs to pray, and that was the last I saw of them. After that I sat with my sister's friends and tried to finish my food, but I still couldn't. And I really wanted to finish the food, because I've come to the conclusion that every time I get the chance to have free food to myself, I never finish it, and then later when I'm famished, I think, "Aw, darn it, if I'd only eaten that last piece of baklava I wouldn't be dying right now." But, yeah, I still couldn't finish it and I ended up giving the rest to Ummi.
What else.... well, after that, the job fair began and I chilled in the back room on the iPad talking to Momo again because I had nothing better to do. I walked in and out of the back room, observing the fair, but I wasn't needed. So I was almost on the verge on exploding out of boredom and helplessness. But this cute little kid with giant adorable shining eyes kept coming to me and shaking my hand. AAAHHH (I didn't trust the cleanliness of his hands but I washed my hands after, don't worry)
The fair ended at 6pm, and around that time I finally had a job to do. My mom told me to start cleaning up the back room because somebody had apparently spilled their food on the ground. I went upstairs to grab a bunch of napkins, and then hurried back down to wiped off all the tables. Then I tied up all the trash bags. The boys who could see me through the doors of the gym kept throwing their basketballs at the door; trying to get my attention? No idea, but it sure annoyed me. Can a girl tie up trash bags in peace, please?
Then H came along to help, and I asked him to get a broom. And thankfully he was being a good boi that day, so he went and got a giant broom from somewhere I am unknowledgable of. I seized it, but then these big guys came along and took the matter into their own hands. (Literally) I wanted to wait until the tables were all folded up so I could sweep, but these guys had different ideas. Anyway, H set to work destroying the cardboard boxes that the food arrived in, and I hurried upstairs to wash my hands because I'd touched the trash. Then I left the rest of the cleaning to the guys because they'd basically volunteered to do it themselves.
I took off all the signs from the walls and windows. And then... that's basically it. We went home, it was freezing cold, and I stayed up late as always, writing, until the Internet time was over. And that, my friends, is the end of my very weird day.
Until next time! :)
Three worst situations.
And I was dealing with them all yesterday morning. I was awakened at 8:30 am, took a shower, and was rushed into my goth outfit (for the fifth time this week!). Then I grabbed my handbag and climbed into my sister's goth black car. We stopped by SA's house to pick her up, and then we arrived at the masjid. We had a short discussion with the rest of the volunteers, and then we got to work.
SA, another volunteer Fr, and I went to work trying to find good doorstoppers for the entrance. It was early in the morning and all the guys in the masjid were taking up the gym, playing all kinds of sports, so no one was manning the main office. And that meant we couldn't go and ask them if they had doorstoppers by any chance. So what we did first was see if a chair would be good enough to keep the doors open. It wasn't. Then I noticed an orange cone outside and suggested we use a cone to keep the doors open. We did find a cone outside that worked, but we didn't have as much cones as we had doors. So we then went outside to find other possible doorstoppers. We succeeded in finding pieces of wood to wedge between the door and the floor (eyyy a rhyme), officially finishing our job. Then we set up a chair to hold up a whiteboard, on which was written the agenda for the day. Throughout the day it did fall a couple of times, which was annoying, but it only fell those two times, which was great.
Most of the time I waited outside for more refugees to come so I could greet them and welcome them in. At one point, there was an occurrence of the van taking the refugees to the wrong door, therefore making them feel very lost, and Fr and I walked around over the entire masjid trying to find them, and when we walked back to out positions, we found them in the right area. I was like, smhhhhh we walked everywhere for nothing AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT I'M STARVING.
Anyway, I went back to my position and probably sat outside in the cold with nothing else but a chair, the cold, and my thoughts for a good hour. Then a new van came in and I stood up to say salaams to them. My heart was the only body part of me that warmed up when the little boys said salaam to me. MashaAllah, such well behaved boys. Now you don't see that everyday, do you? ;)
After a while, it occurred to me that all the refugees had arrived, which meant my job was basically over. So I walked inside and told the girls at the sign-up table that no one else was coming. All of us were trembling from hunger because none of us had been able to get a bite to eat.
Having nothing to do, I took my iPad which had been used to help sign people in, and checked all my notifications, and then I had a good conversation with Momo, who was stuck at home doing her homework. She said today was a very weird day and I agreed (although I can't remember why she thought her own day was weird; she can remind me in comments) and told her I would write an entire blog post about it tomorrow (which is today and the day is nearly over whoops).
Anyway, what happened next........ I sat inside with SA and we talked until Nr came over and then we went to go look for spoons at the office because THE FOOD HAD FINALLY ARRIVED. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO COME AT 12 BUT THE RESTAURANT WASN'T READY. SMHHHHHHHHHHH
So we went to the office, and met my parents' Hajj partner there. He was also looking for spoons that the office might have in possession. Then Sister Fd came to tell us that we needed tablecloths and asked if any of us could drive. SA said she could drive, but she had no car. Parents' Hajj partner, aka Br. Ershd, offered her his car. "You have a driver's license?" he asked.
SA pulled out her license and showed it to him. Sr. Fd and Br. Ershd nodded their approval and Sr. Fd gave SA her credit card, and Br. Ershd gave her his car keys. Then, because we were low on time, we three rushed outside and climbed into his car. The traffic sucked, but we made it to Walmart and got the things, and hurried back in time. Then SA and Nr and I found a place outside to chill and eat our food to fill up our skinny stomachs. I felt full immediately and my food was barely finished.
Then we went back inside and Nr and SA went upstairs to pray, and that was the last I saw of them. After that I sat with my sister's friends and tried to finish my food, but I still couldn't. And I really wanted to finish the food, because I've come to the conclusion that every time I get the chance to have free food to myself, I never finish it, and then later when I'm famished, I think, "Aw, darn it, if I'd only eaten that last piece of baklava I wouldn't be dying right now." But, yeah, I still couldn't finish it and I ended up giving the rest to Ummi.
What else.... well, after that, the job fair began and I chilled in the back room on the iPad talking to Momo again because I had nothing better to do. I walked in and out of the back room, observing the fair, but I wasn't needed. So I was almost on the verge on exploding out of boredom and helplessness. But this cute little kid with giant adorable shining eyes kept coming to me and shaking my hand. AAAHHH (I didn't trust the cleanliness of his hands but I washed my hands after, don't worry)
The fair ended at 6pm, and around that time I finally had a job to do. My mom told me to start cleaning up the back room because somebody had apparently spilled their food on the ground. I went upstairs to grab a bunch of napkins, and then hurried back down to wiped off all the tables. Then I tied up all the trash bags. The boys who could see me through the doors of the gym kept throwing their basketballs at the door; trying to get my attention? No idea, but it sure annoyed me. Can a girl tie up trash bags in peace, please?
Then H came along to help, and I asked him to get a broom. And thankfully he was being a good boi that day, so he went and got a giant broom from somewhere I am unknowledgable of. I seized it, but then these big guys came along and took the matter into their own hands. (Literally) I wanted to wait until the tables were all folded up so I could sweep, but these guys had different ideas. Anyway, H set to work destroying the cardboard boxes that the food arrived in, and I hurried upstairs to wash my hands because I'd touched the trash. Then I left the rest of the cleaning to the guys because they'd basically volunteered to do it themselves.
I took off all the signs from the walls and windows. And then... that's basically it. We went home, it was freezing cold, and I stayed up late as always, writing, until the Internet time was over. And that, my friends, is the end of my very weird day.
Until next time! :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete