Hey Y'all!!! This is Meg and Nat straight from DETROIT! Today was our last official working day! Today our small group finished cleaning up this little playground area. We used paint to cover up all the graffiti and fixed a swing...kind of. OH and we picked up MORE glass. Nat decided that it's just in the air and that's where it keeps coming from. We also used chalk to write good messages on some black turf in the park. We wrote things like God loves you, Detroit Pride, and born and raised in south Detroit. Then the big discovery happened. Meg wanted a picture of all the chalk writing and all our other group members laid on the turf to be in the picture and guess what...THE TURF IS SUPER WARM!!! So of course we just had top name it Turf Beach, and it's basically the hippest spot in town.  When we went to tell everyone else and they thought we were all crazy, until they tried it for themselves.  After playing and cleaning on the playground we were painting and picking up trash.  Today we found the third diaper of the week, we left that one for someone else to pick up!  At lunch we invited an older gentlemen to eat lunch with us in "big nasty" aka Moriah's van.  Randy had shown up and began helping us, and although he is older he went hard on weeds and branches stuck in the fence.  He told us about how he had volunteered with other groups before and how he couldn't come help us tomorrow because he is helping set up for good Friday at his church.  He is such an inspiration!

Dinner tonight was interesting... Megan had to leave for work, and she was lucky.  Just kidding it wasn't that bad.  Carl aka Mr. Weasely made a chicken rice and cheese combo, sounds good right? No.  He accidentally put in like 10x more pepper then he should have, it was spicy.  But Carl made up for the hot casserole with the juice he made.  Unfortunately, he couldn't tell us what was in it because he forgot what he added.  Sketchy.  It tastes like orange juice and maybe some raspberry juice too.  

Finally for our evening event we went to a poetry slam.  I would never go to one on my own but I loved it so much.  Everyone who read was so talented and passionate in their poems. While everyone was listening to these masterpieces Meg was struggling to find the little coffee shop. Eventually Nathan walked into the street to direct her and her dad, don't worry she made it safe and sound back from work ;).  Anyway, before the slam started STAGE quickly wrote a poem so we could be a part of the slam.  I think Nathan's posting the poem or the video or something for you to see!  We just started with one word, Detroit, and then everyone was able to add in their thoughts and feelings about the city. OH AND WE LOVE FROZEN CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!

Ok parents, friends, and avid STAGE fans, that is all we have to say. I hope you enjoyed our rambling, we sure did! XOXOXOXOXOXO MEG AND NAT!!! XD-

---- (thursday part 2) ----

Today was our final work day. This seems pretty unbelievable to all of us because this week feels as if it's never ending. every day felt like it's very own week! But even though the days felt incredibly long, we all worked with such intensity and pride that as we look back on the week it seems to have flown by. Sometimes we forget how close to home we were. At times I would catch myself thinking I was in some other big city like Chicago or in another one of those churches that is so old and beautiful that I feel as if I've gone back in time. But then I truly open my eyes and see my home city. I was actually born right here in Detroit but that fact has, to be honest, always brought embarrassment to me. I think it's just because most of my friends were born in the cheerful suburbs while I was born in a city that is forgotten and looked down on. But as the week has gone by and our work project has come to a close, my embarrassment has turned to a pride that I never imagined could exist. I find myself wishing I could fix the entire city. All I want to do is restore it to the glory it once knew. But when I come down from my fantasy world I realize I can't do everything on my own, no matter how much I want to accomplish everything. I need help, just like Detroit. At the work sites every single person person found a way to be helpful. The group from Illinois would come hold the ladders for us as we climbed to the top a fence to pull a vine or paint a fence. We would follow them around with trash bags as they picked up garbage that was scattered around the park. We would also share little tips on how to stay warm, for example laying on turf beaches in the park, and teaching word games to keep our minds off of how the chill of the wind would slap on our cheeks as it blew and cause our faces to burn. This trip has been such an amazing experience. I will admit that I say that about every mission trip, but it's always the truth. Every week we grow closer and closer to each other. We find new inside jokes, make new memories, and most importantly we change people's lives. Even though we may not see every person our work effects, somewhere deep in my heart I know what we're doing is making a difference. I hope it will eventually bring such a positive change that it will spread until it reaches everyone  in the city some way and somehow.

-Miranda