First week on the job...

This week has been interesting. Talk about being out of my element. To paint a picture I work in a part of town where as soon as I get off the metro I am a minority. Never have I been in a situation like this before. It is a great feeling actually. I have never felt threatened, however it is a place I have to keep my bag close and always be watching. I work from 8 am until 4pm Monday through Wednesday and get off at 3pm on Thursdays. I work at a preschool with children from low income families. The hardships that some of these children face, are incredibly challenging to hear. Some kids come from loving parents, but they work a lot in order to put food on the table. Other kids come from homes that the parents don't seem to want them. Some come from abusive homes, either verbal, emotional or physical. The teacher had to interrogate a girl about a big bruise on her cheek this week. The girl wouldn't say anything. I also had a little boy crawl into my lap, put his thumb in his mouth then grab my arms and pull them around him as tight as they could. It broke my heart that this child needed this much love from a complete stranger. To make it worse, he told me things about home, that I don't know if they were true, but no four year old child should know about. I've had some kids swear at me, and talk back to me. I also played a whole different version of "house" than I have ever before. Whenever the phone rings its always the police. Instead of cooing the baby the little girls yell at it to shut up. It is so different. The teachers mostly come from this same culture and use intimidation, yelling, and fear to get the kids to do anything. It goes against everything I know and have been taught, yet it is the culture that they grew up in. It has been challenging.
However on the other side, there is nothing better than spending hours each day with children. Their energy, although exhausting is exciting. They LOVE Jumpstart, and love to spend time with us. There is nothing better in the whole world than a 3-4 year old running up to you and giving a big hug, or holding your hand or just resting their hand on your knee as you sit with them. They are so full of love and so willing to give it away. They are also so desperate for love and attention. Most of the kids love to read. They love to sit down and read books with me. It has been so wonderful for that reason. I have also been able to pin point different speech disorders that I am working on getting addressed, to see what I can do to help. I hope that I can do something to help at least one of the kids. Even if it is just love and support.
Besides work, we have tried to get out and continue our adventures around DC. We went to Alexandria again and found this great deal on Baskin Robbins ice cream. It was a very nice relaxing day. It was also extremely hot this week, so we tried to remain inside as much as possible. On Wednesday we went to the Old Post Office. The view was incredible from the top! You could see all of D.C.! Sarah, Kiera, Nick and I then went to the White House. We just stood outside the gates and looked at it, but it was still really cool! We hope to get a tour inside soon. I just can't believe that I get the opportunity to be here and see things like this on a daily basis!
On Thursday we ended up sitting by the pool and hanging out. On Friday we got up really early and left for North Carolina! We stopped at Williamsburg first and went to the bakery there. It was pretty cool. The best part was after when we went to Virginia Beach. It was like the beaches in movies, much different than the Oregon Coast. It was HOT and people were walking around in swim suits and actually swimming in the ocean! I could hardly contain myself and ran right in as fast as I could. I'm afraid that it washed all my sunscreen off though, because I got pretty burned. The Atlantic ocean was the perfect temperature for the heat and we spent a good time swimming in it. We then went to Chick-fil-a for a "southern" meal and headed on our way. We met up with my aunt Marianne and Uncle Randall and Cecily once we got to Winston-Salem. I spent that night and Saturday with them.
We spent Saturday at an old plantation home, getting the yummiest cupcakes at a bakery called Tizzerts. We then got dinner at Big Daddies Burgers. They were delicious! I tried my first fried pickles there, and they were pretty tasty! The best part of the whole time was spending time with family and seeing Cecily, my new cousin. She is adorable! It was great to see them! Today we got up early and left for home in D.C. It was another 5 hours but we made it home for church. After church we had a new ward member dinner and got to meet people in the ward including the bishop. Then we had a dessert party at another friend in the wards apt.
It was a very busy week, and there is alot here. I want to make sure I get it all in though so that I don't forget! I am buying a journal of some sort tomorrow to start writing everything down, to keep record of it. Anyways it was a great first week of work, and I can't wait for more!