Traveling Circus Troupe

Tuesday: February 2^nd

Tuesday morning after breakfast and our morning meeting, Christian and I called Scott. He told us that the manager was coming in a week and he strongly believed that things would get much better once she arrived. One week sounds like nothing in terms of a work week. We had only been at the hostel for two weeks and it felt like three months. Having trouble in the work place is always a bummer but being able to go home afterwards to decompress is how we get over the little things. In the hostel we all work and live together so if something happens in the work day, it comes home with you and vice versa. After a while we came to the very difficult decision that we needed to leave the hostel because we weren’t achieving what we thought we would.  We asked if we could come back in the summer when it may be easier to spend more alone time in the woods, or even camp if we wanted a night alone. The growing tension in the house was not worth the amount of time and energy we were giving it.  Our time is very valuable right now since we want to travel in the fall.

Scott was very understanding and welcomed us back whenever we felt ready. Multiple volunteers had informed him that things weren’t going very well but he did not want to change anything until the manager had a chance to take leadership first. There is a probable chance that things at the hostel will get better but we couldn’t wait that long.

We talked with Yen and Allie who also understood but were sad to see us go. Though we were all going to miss each other we planned to meet up in Austin, Texas for the Levitation music festival! So it was sad but we knew we would see one another again.

Since Sunday and Monday were off days it was time to get to work. Christian and I began scraping the old paint off of the chicken coop to make the new coat of paint go on without chipping off. Yen and Allie began working on the walls inside and outside of the bathroom. Brian was planning on making pizza for dinner and taught Christian and I to make the dough correctly. The process involves mixing the yeast, water, and sugar separately from the flour and salt. Salt apparently will completely kill yeast. After a few hours Allie, Christian, and I decided to go into Paoli and French Lick to hunt for a sewing machine for the hostel to make curtains with in the future.

Some of the flea markets and thrift stores were more like junkyards indoors, but it was interesting. We did kind of find a sewing machine at the craziest store. There were some amazing antiques but there were also half full bottles of alcohol scattered around the store. The owner, an elderly man, was a bit thrown off by us city kids. I asked him if he had any sewing machines for sale and he looked at me like I had three heads. He asked if I was a local and I began explaining how we were volunteering for a hostel in West Baden Springs. He was unenthused but did tell me about a sewing machine he had buried somewhere in the back. He told us we would have to call back so he could dig it out when we needed it. As we looked around the store for a little longer the owner did not take his eyes off of us. We got the message and saw ourselves out.

When we got outside we all cracked up realizing how we are quite the trio in a small town like this. To the locals we appeared to be a traveling circus troupe. I have the side of my head shaved, Christian was wearing cut off sweat pants paired with red and white-stripped knee socks, and god forbid, Allie is foreign. It was an interesting lesson to experience. We were all reminded of different cultures across America. Living in a big city, especially on the west coast, is kind of like living in a massive bubble. There is so much diversity you don’t even think about the way others look or dress.

We were all pretty hungry so we decided to stop into a bar for some snacks and drinks. It was so nice getting to spend time with Allie outside of the hostel. She is so down to earth and such a calm and fun human to be around. We talked about the music festival, the hostel and how much we were all going to miss each other.

When we got home and it was dinnertime. We circled up and shared what we were grateful for. I was grateful for everyone at the hostel. I was thankful for everything I had learned and experienced. We all took a moment of silence and a loud “YUMMM” before eating. Brian made pizza with homemade sauce and dough and it was wonderful! After dinner Christian and I went outside to tell Tim and Brian the news. They were both very understanding and wished us luck with our future endeavors.

The rest of the night was awesome. I played Ratatatcat with Li, had talks in the kitchen with everyone and most importantly created a gift for Yen with Allie. We had this idea of wanting to create a bracelet or key chain for Yen. We wanted it to have a yoga theme so we chose the seven chakras. With Sculpie we created individual pieces representing each chakra. It took us hours. Christian studied Ruby on Rails and Li played Minecraft while Allie and I had such a great time creating together. All four of us were crammed into our tiny room and it was so great. After finishing our gift for Yen we were proud and completely surprised. I cannot remember the last time I sat down with a plan, began creating it and did not stop until the final product was completely finished.  

Yen was so excited and grateful. She gave us one of her palms in prayer at heart center bows of gratitude.

Once we were finished we all moved downstairs since we no longer had to hide our gift. Allie spent some time painting the mural in the bathroom and headed to bed. Yen became consumed with Sculpie and I hung out with Li in the kitchen. I was talking with Li about something pretty deep. I cannot remember exactly what we were talking about but I do remember turning around, looking at him and saying “Li, when we have these kinds of talks I forget completely that you are only eight years old.” He smiled and ate his English muffin that I made him.

It was a perfect last day in the hostel. Most of the day was spent with the housemates in a relaxed environment. We explored, created and as always had beautiful meaningful conversation.