Reflect on the Past. . .But Keep Making Friends!

Memorials. . .Reflections. . .Inspirations

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 
"Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Rock of Hope"

Jess and I have gone to see several memorials in D.C.   The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was quite inspiring for us.  This memorial was finished in 2011.  Behind the statue that you see in the photo are two pieces that the rock was cut out of--the "mountain of despair".  I liked how the sculpture of Martin Luther "came out of" the stone, rather than it being a free standing statue, which appears less humble.  This is the first memorial for African Americans and there were lots of them getting their picture taken in front of it.  The memorial had walls (see below) with quotes from MLK.






The Pentagon 911 Memorial (above) was a series of wing-shaped benches, each over a lighted pool of water.  The individuals who died were listed on the bench.  If a family died together, they were listed on the same bench.  Benches facing the Pentegon were for the people that died in the plane.  Benches facing away from the Pentegon were for people that died in the Pentagon.  This was the first 9-11 memorial Jess and I had seen.  The Pentagon is a HUGE building, employing over 26,000 people.  The place where the plane crashed into it was being renovated at the time, so there were a lot fewer people working there that day.

The FDR Memorial had several statues of people standing in line for work or food.  There were several quotes that were significant.  By this part of the memorial (on right) FDR's words were, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we proveide enough for those who have too little."

 

The Vietnam Memorial wall (left) had over 58,000 names of those who died--1000 of those names were for those who were missing in action.  Too many names. . . . .too many names. . .

The Korean War Memorial (right) was statues of soldiers, in rain ponchos, walking through low juniper bushes, which gave you the feeling of being out on the battlefield, in the rain, with them.  There were no names listed.  I was drawn to this memorial, first because my dad was a map maker in the Korean War (stationed in Japan), and secondly because there was so much human emotion in the figures walking.

 

Receiveing and Giving Hospitality

Jess' sister, Karis, was in town for an Anti-Hunger Conference and stayed at the Guest House one night.  She introduced us to her good friends, Christy and Tony and their daughter.  We enjoyed an Ethiopian meal with them.  They are part of a community of families that have been living in community in some form for over 20 years.  Sometimes they have lived together in homes and now they share 3 meals a week together.  They have an agreed upon statement of their values.  One of their values is hospitality.

We shared a meal with their community in the photo to the left.  I loved how their hospitality stretched beond themselves to outsiders like us!  I have noticed how "hospitality" has been a theme in our sabbatical time. We have shared hospitality by making meals for Anna and her friends.  We have received hospitality from churches in Japan, where we were invited for a meal after the service.  We have given hospitality in our work of cleaning and baking at the Guest House.  We have received hospitality from these  friends that we met just this one night.

 

Jess and I had the opportunity to visit my cousin, Tim and his family.  Tim is in in the army and  is stationed at Ft. Belvior close to DC.  He and his wife, Laurie, have 12 children and are expecting their 13th!  We visited them in their home and here they are with 9 of their kids.  Each of their children's names begin with a "J".  They have three high chairs.  While we were there, their 3 1/2 year old twins were training themselves to use the potty--a task Laurie had been putting off until after they moved in a week.  We enjoyed catching up with them and praying for them in their move.

Here is a typical Guest House breakfast.  Jess or I begins with a devotional and prayer.  Then we give instructions that sound like this, "Today we have blueberry oatmeal muffins.  We also have cold cereal, homemade granola, and fruit.  We will be serving coffee and hot water for tea.  Right now, we will take orders for whole wheat toast.  Who would like some toast?"  In the picture to the left, Jess is serving coffee to a group that includes 7 college students in D.C. for a service-learning trip for spring break.  They brought some good energy to the Guest House and LOVED our 9:00 p.m. tea time!

  

 

Here is picture of the Guest House staff on our staff outing.  For our outing, we wen to a free concert at the Kennedy Center (they have a free concert or event every evening for every day of the year).  Our staff includes Dan and Erica Block from Canada, Bill and Marlene DeFir  from Canada (both couples came through the SOOP program), Rene Hostetter (guest house host for a year), and Janae Detweiler from Boston.  Our photo was taken in front of a lego mural that was part of the Nordic Cool Festival at the Kennedy Center for February and March.

Little Surprises from God

We have enjoyed the sightseeing and memorials in D.C. but my favorite place was a total surprise to me.  A 15-minute walk from the Guest House is a BEAUTIFUL mountain stream going through the wooded and hilly Rock Creek Park.  This creek has become my favorite spot in D.C.!  Jess and I go for jogs and walks there.  I have gone down to sit in the cool weather to journal and draw.  I am captivated by this river that changes every hundred feet and from day to day.  I have always felt close to God by rivers ever since I grew up by a river.  I found these snowdrops (flowers) by the creek one day. :)

 

 

 

 

 



The International Guest House in Washington D.C.

International Guest House
1441 Kennedy Street NW
Washington D.C. 20011

Serving at the Guest House

So now we are in a city where we know the language.  Riding the bus, navigating the streets, and ordering at resaurants no longer includes so much alertness and guesswork!  Jess and I arrived at the Guest House on Tuesday, February 19 and began 2 days of orientation to the first shift (7-3).  We work 5 shifts a week and our work consists of making muffins, serving a family-style 8:00 a.m. breakfast (which includes a devotional, muffins, cold cereal, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, and juice and conversation), cleaning rooms and bathrooms, doing laundry, making lunch for the staff, and attending the 9:00 p.m. tea and conversation time.  The guest house host is Rene, who is here for one year.  Volunteer staff can stay for as little as one month, as we are doing. The other volunteer staff includes two retired couples from Canada--Bill and Marlene and Dan and Erica, and a young adult, Janae.  So we have been learning a lot about Canada and how it is different than the U.S. politically and otherwise.  One thing that is interesting to me is that Canadians do not revere their national leaders in the same way Americans do with our presidents.  These couples have noticed this in a big way as they have visited different Presidential memorials throughout the city.

 
 Tea and cookies are served at 9:00 p.m. in this front room.  Each person tells about their work or adventures for the day.   So far we have had guests who are doing research at the national archives, lobbying for a smaller defence budget, attendeding a conference, attending board meetings for a peace organization, and family or friends of the staff.  There are many lively discussions topics ranging from politics to where they are from to great places to see in D.C.




The rooms at the Guest House have 2-3 single beds in each.  If you come by yourself, you might share a room with someone of the same gender.  There are also shared bathrooms (women's and men's).  Part of our work in the mornings is to get the fancy fold on the quilt of the bed--Jess let's me do that task while he grabs the vacuum!

A fun quirk in the guest house is the tile "artwork" in the basement.  Someone (who had WAY too much time on their hands and WAY too much leftover tile) had a hayday in the basement.  The basement has a sitting area, ping pong table, snacks for purchase, and a kitchenette where guests can help themselves to an early breakfast if they are leaving before 8:00 a.m.




Here is the room where Jess and I are staying.  I love the corner windows, which look out into the neighborhood.   We brought our Scrabble game so we can continue our favorite competition with each other on our time off.

  Out and About in D.C.

On our first day off, we ventured out and took the bus down 14th Street to the Mall area.  We went to the National Gallery of Art, where Jess found a couch in front of this huge amzing painting of Daniel and the Lions Den by Peter Paul Ruebens.  He spent his time there watching people and journaling.







   I went to find Rembrandt and the Impressionist painters, some of my favorite art!  Here is a painting by Monet. . .mmmmm--love it!


To take a break, we headed down 7th Street, and found the Verizon Center, where the Washington Wizards play (NBA basketball team).  We ate lunch at a Mexican resaurant where the server makes your guacamole right at your table.

 After lunch we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  Jess found a bench to sit on to rest and watch people and let me wander around.  I loved the exhibit of bones!

Can you see the Praying Mantis in this picture?

 

On another day off we went to the Holocaust Museum and spent 5 hours there.  We learned the history of how Hitler got into power and the expansion of Germany during that time.  They also had an example of a railroad car that would haul 100 people to the concentration camps--it was dark with 2 small high-up windows (most of the people died along the way). . .and a room of leather shoes taken from the prisoners before they were gassed to death. . . The most moving part of the museum for me was the video with survivor testimonies, which was shown at the end.

On the Bus (usually Bus #52 or #54)

One of the very interesting things about D.C. is the diversity!  There are so many different languages that you hear spoken around you--especially in the Mall area--it is really wonderful!  When we ride the bus (which is a short walk to the end of the block), we go by an Ethiopian neighborhood with Ethiopian restaurants, shops, hair places and people speaking Amharic getting on  the bus.  Then after a few blocks, we go past a Latino neighborhood with Papusarias and people speaking Spanish getting on the bus.  D.C. is over 50% Black persons and we ride the bus with many of them.  One day there was a big, loud guy who got on the bus looking for "Toby", who supposedly owed him some money.  Jess heard him say he was living "on the streets" (homeless).  After riding the bus for several blocks, talking loudly to the whole bus as we went, he decided to get off.  As he stood in the door--and we all waited--he told us all loudly that he thought Toby might be at this stop and he was going to get his money from him "one way or another"!  The bus continued quietly on.  Another day, two young black women got on--both talking loudly and with expletives on the cell phones in separate conversations about a woman who had wronged one of them.  They continued their conversation the entire time they were on the bus, inspite of a black man near them asking them to quiet down.  When they left, the bus quietly drove on. Another day a very young girl and her sister were in a seat together.  The little sister must have been 2 or 3 and was very lively.  I noticed they got off together. . . but not with a mother.