i honestly can’t wait to go to vietnam and cambodia. today we spent the day going over details about our trip. it’s gonna be an exciting time. we leave for cambodia on the 28th of this month which is really pretty crazy to think about. a few little fun facts about our trip is that we have stopovers in korea and thailand, we get to drive across all of cambodia into vietnam, get to live on a boat for three days in halong bay, and get to stay in rural villages in cambodia. we get back from our journey on the 19th of february so there’s so much to look forward to. 

this past week has been pretty crazy for luke and i. we got a chance to go to muir woods just across the golden gate bridge, and go swimming at muir beach. it was freaking cold water but a really awesome experience, it was also a really good chance to get out of the city for awhile and drive through the woods and really appreciate all that’s out here. coming out of an intense week it was also a really good refresher. we got an awesome opportunity this week to really process what we’ve gone through and what we’ve experienced and in our own way ask for forgiveness and look to forgive others. it’s been a really tough emotional week, but i really see a lot of good coming out of it. 

i think that luke and i can both say that we’re so happy to be here. it’s awesome getting to know the other students and really get to know and love them so much, all in all a great experience i can say thus far. 

so yah, keep praying for us! so yah cool beans.

i’m a crossbreed, or a mutt here in san francisco i can’t quite pinpoint what. i’ve become this weird hybrid of hipster who walks around, uses transit, and spends his time in one of the richest cities in the u.s but doesn’t spend a dime. BUT. i’ve also become this awkward still almost university kid who sits in coffee shops in the big city and blogs like i currently am right now. so that’s kinda fun.

the past week and a bit has been amazing. we’re definitely settled in and now we’re getting the chance to get to know everyone so much better and explore the little lesser known parts of the city. today we went and saw the painted ladies in alamo square where they filmed the intro to full house. then, we took a twenty minute walk and actually went and saw the full house house which was super neat. we all got pictures on the steps and then the owner was getting annoyed and she came out and said that we had to get off her property which was a little bit of an overreaction, buuuut i’m definitely certain that she gets it all the time. THEN. we hit the beach. it was magical, us boys stripped to our brookies and swam in the ocean and had a blast. the ride back though in our soaking wet pants was not quite as fun, especially when so many bodies press up against you whilst you’re on the bus.

also, more importantly i guess. we’re getting a really awesome opportunity to minister and learn about jesus. learning to have a love for the people in the tenderloin is awesome. it’s kind of funny to think about how since there are only nine of us dts’ers i probably have more friends that don’t have homes then do. it’s great though, i love getting recognized on the street and getting pulled aside just to chat with all the guys on ellis. it’s really awesome.

we’re also busy preparing for our trip to southeast asia. we’re going to cambodia and i couldn’t be more excited. we’re busy studying about the khmer rouge and the influence that they had in cambodia. we’re headed to batambang, which used to be the main city where the khmer rouge were located in cambodia and it still houses quite a few ex khmer rouge members. so it’s both exciting and quite intimidating at the same time. we’ve been told that we’re going to get the chance to live in villages for two weeks at a time that don’t have any running water or any electricity, so i’m pretty stoked about that. bucket showers are gonna be great, and i can’t wait to pop a squat out in a field to drain my stomach. gonna be a ball.

so yah, have fun.

san francisco life is pretty fun.

we’re just finishing off a free weekend today and it’s kind of a welcome change from everything that we do during the week. this week’s been pretty busy and there’s been a few shocks and weird experiences …

-we witnessed a little rough and tumble fight between two homeless men which resulted in one of them getting knocked out onto the ground. it kind of bothered me to see the security guard responsible for that area to just ignore it. we asked him if he was going to do something about the fight and all he said was that he called the police. which i personally think is a load, it’s his job to keep the place safe and it’s quite pathetic in my opinion just to stand and watch things like that unfold.

-also, late the other night at around 10 o’clock i was walking outside to go next door and blocking the doorway was a homeless man who started talking to me. he was mumbling a lot and then i started to make sense of what he was saying. he was obviously in rough shape and he was telling me that he had had a seizure earlier that night and that he had a really bad gash on his leg and he asked me if i could call a paramedic. sooo … long story short we called the paramedics and they arrived. the guy whose name was phil collapsed to the ground right as the paramedics came and the paramedics pretty much just heaved him like a sack of potatoes onto the stretcher. they didn’t treat him like he was worth it at all. this really bothered me quite a bit, like - i understand that they do this job day and night and it most become monotonous, and obviously it’s rough to deal with homeless people at times. but, the nature of their job is to help people, and i feel that at least requires a little bit of compassion. i guess what i got out of it is that i never really want to get to a point where i’m in a position where i don’t feel compassion or respect for another person, regardless of their social ‘position’.

BUT YAH. i think i can say for both luke and i that we love it here. even walking back from golden gate park, and the beach yesterday it feels like home walking down ellis street back towards YWAM. the street is literally caked in human feces because of a serious lack of public restrooms, and we get to witness druggies and those with serious mental illness in their heyday, but i still love it. once you get to know the people in your community, you really realize that we’re no better then they area. it honestly just takes a few steps and we could end up in the same situation that they’re in. it’s our job to be a witness to them by talking to them and actually giving the time of day.

it’s amazing to see two sides of a very broad spectrum in a day. yesterday we went to golden gate bridge, golden gate park, queen wilhelmina tulip gardens, and the beach! it was a glorious day. we finished it off by going to delaney restaurant right by the water. it’s a really neat place, the people that work there are convicts and they’re given the chance to work in a restaurant as a way of rehabilitation. it’s a pretty cool ministry. and then we went straight back to the tenderloin! home sweet home. gotta love it here.

anyways.

la fin.