Today managed to somehow be both hectic yet minimal. We started off with getting up bright and early at 4:00 AM to meet up for our flight, and this fatigue followed us throughout the rest of the day. Despite the slog, we got to the airport, made our way to our terminal, and got onto the plane without losing anyone, at least not yet. Luckily the flight was only 2.5 hours but as soon as we got down to Phoenix, we got flashbanged by both the heat and light of the bright burning Arizonian sun. We stepped out into a grey, baren, desert environment that loudly declared we were not in Portland anymore. Lastly, after some shenanigans, we finally arrive at Andre House to begin our day of service.
We quickly met everyone on staff, then all separated to do different chores; my group went to “porter.” Portering was explained to us as something Brother Andre was know for, sitting out front, holding the door, and interacting people. This is a way to provide a human connection to the population we are serving. Thus, we spent our time talking and meeting the regulars of Andre House and provided some small services like handing out snacks and returning laundry. I very much enjoyed this role because I was able to simply converse with people, attempting to break down the power dynamic of helper and receiver.
The final activity we had was dinner prep, which was hectic! Because it was an ‘all hands-on-deck’ situation, each of us had individual roles in the whole ordeal. I was put on serving pudding in the second dinner line. This fluctuated from high stress from a huge crowd of people coming in, to slow and quiet, then suddenly back to a ton of people. Once we finished though, we all spent our time cleaning up the whole building, getting it ready to do it all again the next day!
– Benjamin Barrero