If I had to pick one of my favorite things about this trip it would be the midnight talks I had with my group, and the few long conversations I had with a couple of the guests at AndreHouse. Which is quite ironic since I am the least social/open one of the group. I guess that's why I liked those long conversations because I truly got to see and know a certain part of someone's life.
- On the last day I was at AndreHouse a guy sat next to me, and next we knew we were talking about music. He told me he writes songs and he used to know how to play piano. He talked about music being a remedy to his gloomy days, and it was something that always kept him going. Somehow we skipped the introductory meeting questions, like our names. We never asked for each other's name but we somehow managed to talk about our passions. We didn't even say hello yet we managed to give each other a "happy early birthday" since we are both summer babies. We are both cancers, we are two deep emotional beings. We both laughed at the fact that we are cry babies at heart but still try to keep a hard 'cold' exterior for other people.
- On Thursday after two days of Leahna telling me to talk to Marlon, it finally happened. I approached him towards the end when things started to settle down. As I was bringing him his cup of coffee, I managed up some courage and started talking to him. I began with telling him that Leahna had volunteered at the family dining room before and that she wanted to know more about him. He gave me a warm smile and laughed he then said " well what do you want to know" and I told him "Whatever you want to share" at first he started telling me that he had been going to AndreHouse since 2006. After a few minutes of talking he started to open up more. He talked about the fact that he had a talent for sewing clothes, then he shared that his dream is to have a family of his own to share happy memories with. Due to his family being in Honduras his main struggle is being alone, without any real bonds. He said that he usually doesn't like getting close to other guests because he doesn't want to attract any trouble. Even after avoiding people he told me of the story of another group of people that tried stealing his belongings while he was sleeping, and then got brutally hurt. It was the reason he is now in a wheelchair. Marlon is a person that doesn't have any addictions or bad habits but unexpected situations has led him to where he is now. Even after telling me all of this he still kept a smile on his face. He is one of the strongest people I have ever met if I am being honest.
-Midnight Conversations:
I really liked these. Some of them were quite funny like the one where Kadi and Nick were criticizing the poor interior design of the second house we stayed in (or near??) Sedona. I have to agree that the different shades of brown in the master bedroom did bother me after they had pointed it out. Another conversation was when Joe and I were planning on making a screamo band called "The Introverts" with Nick. Joe would play the bagpipes, Nick would play the piano, and I would play the guitar. We even created six track names for our first album.
Then of course there was the "Men are Trash" conversation with the entire group where we just complained about men and bad past experiences. It was truly bonding and there were many good laughs.
Until they showed "DNA" by BTS. I wasn't phased by the first guy that was whistling(Jungkook). I was quite okay until I saw Taehyung, and I heard his deep voice for the intro of the song. After I saw that guy I had to learn his name. His stage name is V, then I learned his real name is Kim Taehyung. Then I wanted to learn the names of the other members so I could be better at telling them apart. I learned their names, and slowly I started watching their other MV's, and Bangtan Bombs. I still kept on going to the weekly k club meetings. In every meeting we saw new MV's and we learned k pop dances. It was (and still is) quite fun.
