For the start of Spring Break, I was not on my way to the beach or to the malls. I was packing for a cold spring break in New Jersey. I came back to school on Sunday, ready to leave for the my Serve trip. The time was exciting, because I only knew a few people on the trip; the rest i did not know very well. We went to the airport, and to our disappointment it was delayed, but we were all excited to be on our way.

We stayed at the Salesian House in South Orange, and came in at 10:00pm at night. We were tired, but the next day we were off to an early start. We visited the Salesian sisters and were told about thier mission to help children have an education. They followed Don Bosco's leadership to teach even the low income children get a good education. I had gone to St. Joseph's Middleschool, so I knew of them and their very down-to-earth ways of teaching and communicating to children in the way that we can understand. they showed us their school they had for young children, which also hosts a camp during the summer. After visiting with them, we went to the Salesian high school and helped them make props for thier play and paint sets.

The next day we went over to the soup kitchen. We arrived there at 8am, and started helping them to make lunch. They were making baked chicken, stuffing, soup, cranberry sauce, and dessert. The amount of food the small kitchen could produce surprised me, how diligently they worked and how dedicated they were. this was a strickly volunteer area, and so all these people working were giving up thier time and skill to service thier community. some of us helped with the food; others helped stock shelves. by 11:30, the soup was out, and by 12:00 we were serving the lunch plate to the homeless. At first I was weary, but in the end, they turned out to be very nice people. The were polite, and one thing that serprised me was how, one person could only get one dessert, but if someone didn't want their dessert and someone else wanted two, the one that didn't want it would share thier dessert. Once we finished cleaning up, we enjoyed knowing that we could help not only the volunteers, but also the homeless have a good meal.

Moon, Maya, Sarah, Nick and I all helping to make the food.

After that, we went to the Food Bank,which was an experience. it was stocking shelves and trying to place things in the same area as the other food. it was nice to see the supplies, but at the same time it was a grueling task to try and fix everything to be in their correct place. we were able to put many things in the correct placement, and did a good job of making sure that everything was put away.

Sarah and I posing after a long day of putting food on shelves.

That night, we treated ourselves to some ice cream or Starbucks. It's amazing how much sweeter things taste after a day of hard work.

The first three days were tiresome, but we still had a lot of work on our hands. We were getting to know eachother too, which was nice because some of us were in different majors, different classes, and would not have met if it weren't for the trip.

The day after the food bank, we were off to another new sight. It was a home for unwed mothers, a place that they could learn skills and be able to find jobs and have a cheaper daycare and free food. It was called Oasis, an appropriate name for such a place that could take in these women.

When we arrived they were overjoyed by the help they could have for the day. They divided up the group, and Kristin, Maya, Jess and I all had the privilage of going to thier new building where the classrooms for the mothers and the rooms for the daycare could would be. It was right down the street, and it was an entirely new building. Construction was still being done, and so we were asked to clean up some of the new desks that were sent from a University that was not using them. The desks that were donated were in really nice shape, and we enjoyed being able to help them do such a necessary but tedious task. When we were done cleaning, we picked up the paper from the floor, and the room looked like a nice classroom.

Maya, Jess and I picking up the paper from the floor

We joined the others at the main sight after our work was done, and helped to move things from one area to the other. there were boxes of so many things, and they wanted them moved from their original location to a main location so that later it would be easier to move it to the new building. We finished surprisingly fast, and after that task, we were able to have lunch. The lunch consisted of quiche, soup and salad, a very well made lunch. when we were through, a few of us went to help them serve the food while others helped with the children. The women were grateful for thier lunch, and enjoyed food. After that, we cleaned up, and we were done for the day.

All of us at Oasis

For dinner we had the privilage of going to Jess's house and we were able to relax. They gave us a huge meal, including NY cheese cake, which was on my list of things to try. We all started to understand one another, and this was one of the ways that we could get to know one eachother in a more relaxed way. I enjoyed some time with the group, and after relaxing there, we went back to the house and started to get ready for the day ahead of us.

We were back at the soup kitchen for one more go around. The people were happy to see us back as volunteers, and there were other college students there from a nearby college that helped with breakfast. that day, a few of us helped with thier plot of garden outside, picking out weeds and clearing off leaves from the sidewalk. After that, a few of us went down, and helped with the making of the plates. There are always a lot of things to get done, and so once we had enough plates, a few of us went up to the serving area and served the food. Again the people were grateful for what they could get, and it felt good to see them get something warm in the cold day. One woman, who had sang to us before on Tuesday, sang for us again about how she wanted her spaghetti and meatballs. The sight was amazing to see, she had so much energy and love for life than some of us do.

All of us outside the soup kitchen

After cleaning up, we were on our way back to the house. After resting, we went out to a diner for dinner, and had really good diner food. We had been living off of Edimends and food that a student's parents made, so this food tasted really good. After that, we had a confession with the priest, and then we prepared for tomorrow. The next day was the big day though. The next day was NYC, our off day to see the big city.

I had never been to NYC, nor had I ever taken a train before. It was an exhilarating feeling as when we try anything new. We came off at Penn station, and then some of us went our separate ways. There was so much to see! I went with Nick, Liz, Kristin, and Moon, and we saw the two towers site, the statue of Liberty, parts of Central Park, and Time Square. At five, we all decided to go to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, a beautiful church in the middle of NYC. One of the saints with a statue there was Don Bosco, which we thought appropriate considering our mission in NJ.

All of us in NYC!

After mass, we went to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp, as the group slowly came back together. We talked about all of our different adventures in NY, and after dinner, some of us stayed longer. We went down Canal St. shopping and went through parts of Little Italy, where some of the girls got a piece of NY pizza. Traveling the subway was an adventure and new experience for me, but in the large group I felt safe and the transportation got us to where we needed to go.

It was so hard to go to sleep after such a fun filled day. But the next morning we were up early, packing and having our last mass with the Salesians. It was hard to leave behind so many memories, but we had to pack our bags and go. At the airport we mingled together, knowing full well that after this everything would go back to school, work, and other jobs that belonged in our lives in Florida. Florida's heat and humidity reminded most of us of home, and though the palm trees and blue skies were nice to see, each of us will have a special place in our hearts for NJ's chilly March nights and the bright lights of Time Square.