So anyways, I woke up at 5:00am this morning to go volunteer. xD It took us a while to figure out how to use the BART ticket machine; it was sad. And then both Clarie and I got $3.90 in change. Like, in quarters and a nickel and dime.
So it was really interesting, because the first person we see when we get off BART at Powell and head towards Glide is this obviously drunk woman staggering around, so everyone moves to the right side, and she stumbles past us, saying rather loudly, "I'm not drunk!" SO yeah, that was... interesting.
Glide was actually pretty fun. It felt nice to be helping people, although it was slightly depressing to see how many poor/homeless people there are in a single city. And they probably don't even account for half of the actual homeless population... I felt so bad when I saw little kids getting served there... Like there were two seven year olds (or so) and I was just so depressed that they would have to grow up without a home... And I saw a ton of homeless people when I wandered around SF later on, and I gave a dollar to this one guy with a sign, but I sort of think I should have given more...
But I was happy to be able to serve them. And it's amazing how grateful they are when you hand them a tray of food (even if it's not exactly... appetizing? They just got a piece of fruit, eggs, bread, and I think grits. And the eggs were obviously made from a powder). But they usually thank you and everything, it just made me so happy to be able to see how much they appreciate everything when most people who have a home, good food, family, and everything other basic need take it all for granted.
So today, I basically just served a ton of food, prepared trays, and cut up carrots. Carrots were by far the most fun aspect, but definitely not the most meaningful. It was pretty enjoyable though. =P
*****
Clarie and I went to Chinatown afterward. We went to Quickly's, but it didn't open until 11am (an hour and a half after we got there), so we went to the pet store (which didn't open until 10am), and hung around there for a while. They had chinchillas! They were absolutely ADORABLE!!! And they had bichon frise puppies, and tiny little baby Robo hamsters, and lots of really pretty fish, and colorful (albeit annoying) parrots.
Quickly's was good. I'm getting Jasmine Milk Green now. It's so yummy!
We saw these sunglasses too, but the lady was selling them for a ridiculous price, especially since they probably weren't very good quality, so we just left. Then afterward, we realized that we should have bargained, so we headed back, but along the way, found another stall with the same style of glasses, but they were like, half the price. So obviously we bought them there. (And I pretended to "steal" Clarie's black glasses later on and she got SO pissed.)
Quickly's was good. I'm getting Jasmine Milk Green now. It's so yummy!
We saw these sunglasses too, but the lady was selling them for a ridiculous price, especially since they probably weren't very good quality, so we just left. Then afterward, we realized that we should have bargained, so we headed back, but along the way, found another stall with the same style of glasses, but they were like, half the price. So obviously we bought them there. (And I pretended to "steal" Clarie's black glasses later on and she got SO pissed.)
*****
Then we decided to walk to Japantown, but it took a while since we sort of overshot it. We didn't even know how to get there at first, so we asked these people with a map, and they had an extra one, so they gave us a map! It was pretty awesome. It's so sad though, we live near there yet don't know how to walk from Chinatown to Japantown... And on the way, we saw Pink Bunny, Terry, and Kevin sitting along, and they wanted to go too, so we decided to go together. But then they wanted to take a cab, so Clarie and I ditched them... And STILL got to Japantown before they did. To their credit though, they walked too. But I guess they were tired or something. So Clarie and I sat under the peace pagoda for like, 10 minutes waiting for them. And meanwhile, we just took off some layers, since we were both wearing two actual shirts (plus a cami for Clarie). But they decided to go eat once we got inside, so we ditched them again.
So we just wandered around Japantown for a while and looked at the stuff there, which, by the way, is adorable and so freaking awesome, but amazingly expensive as well. They have awesome stuff though! Like their pens are amazing, and everything is SO CUTE! Like their stuffed animals/cartoon characters, and T-shirts, and everything! We're going to go back and buy crepes and take pictures at PikaPika over the summer. =D
So we just wandered around Japantown for a while and looked at the stuff there, which, by the way, is adorable and so freaking awesome, but amazingly expensive as well. They have awesome stuff though! Like their pens are amazing, and everything is SO CUTE! Like their stuffed animals/cartoon characters, and T-shirts, and everything! We're going to go back and buy crepes and take pictures at PikaPika over the summer. =D
*****
Afterward, it was already like, 3pm, so we decided to go to Westfield Mall, and this was the point where Clarie got hella pissed at me for "stealing" her glasses. It was more just like we switched. And the glasses are the exact same except one's blue and one's black. I just wanted to see how pissed she would get, and how long it would take her to calm down. And she got REALLY pissed and wouldn't have calmed down if I hadn't told her I was kidding. Like I said we'll go back to Chinatown and switch the blue ones for black ones, and walked off in that direction, but after a while, she didn't follow me, and I went back to look for her, but I couldn't find her because apparently she walked off in the other direction.
So I crossed the street and found the BART station first, just in case she actually did ditch me and like, left. (See? I do have some street smarts! I can fend for myself! Sort of.) Then I tried to find her again and was freaking out because I had the map and she doesn't have the best directional skills ever. And she doesn't automatically ask people for directions if she needs them. So I slightly panicked for a while until I calmed myself down and just waited at the street corner by BART, because I figured she'd have to pass somewhere near here. And I saw her pretty soon, and you could tell she was still pissed at me. =P But after I got her to cross the street and gave her back to glasses, she calmed down. It was amazing how mad she got over a pair of sunglasses (not even, just the color) though! xD
So I crossed the street and found the BART station first, just in case she actually did ditch me and like, left. (See? I do have some street smarts! I can fend for myself! Sort of.) Then I tried to find her again and was freaking out because I had the map and she doesn't have the best directional skills ever. And she doesn't automatically ask people for directions if she needs them. So I slightly panicked for a while until I calmed myself down and just waited at the street corner by BART, because I figured she'd have to pass somewhere near here. And I saw her pretty soon, and you could tell she was still pissed at me. =P But after I got her to cross the street and gave her back to glasses, she calmed down. It was amazing how mad she got over a pair of sunglasses (not even, just the color) though! xD
*****
Then we went down to BART and entered Westfield Mall that way. We sort of browsed a tiny bit, but it was getting late and the mall was huge and we didn't know where to go, so we just decided to come back here when we came back over the summer, and left.
So on the BART, it took us forever to find two empty seats by each other. Like, I found a pair of seats, but as we got nearer, it smelled weird and I realized it looked like someone puked on one of the seats and the floor. It was disgusting. But we found some nice, clean seats, and I proceeded to fall asleep until we got back to Dublin/Pleasanton.
So on the BART, it took us forever to find two empty seats by each other. Like, I found a pair of seats, but as we got nearer, it smelled weird and I realized it looked like someone puked on one of the seats and the floor. It was disgusting. But we found some nice, clean seats, and I proceeded to fall asleep until we got back to Dublin/Pleasanton.
*****
So all in all, a pretty fun day, and I can't wait until we go back over the summer!!!
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