DAY 0 - ARRIVAL

At 5pm everyone met at the Colorado Vincentian Volunteers house. Ground rules were laid out, and rooms were assigned. Everyone quicky started to talk to each other and we played cards together. The group was called down to start on a grocery list for basic things for the upcoming week and ingredients for dinner that night. We walked to the grocery store which was a couple blocks away and quickly divided into groups to find all of the ingredients we needed. Walking around the grocery store, we had to keep a close eye on how much money we were spending and what we truly needed as we are doing our best to live on a SNAP budget this week ($3 per person per meal). We had to cooperate with our newly formed group and make sure to be smart with the little money we had.

After bringing groceries back to the house, the group cooking that night began making chicken fried rice. The others talked, played cards, and played hacky sack while waiting. The food took a while to prepare, as the group was not very experienced in cooking for large amounts of people, but they figured out what they needed to do and finished the meal just before 9:30. We all got food and said grace before eating. During dinner, we talked about what we were looking forward to, what we were nervous about, and how today went. From just the first day, it is evident that the group is already bonding and building a stronger connection. We’re excited for our first full day tomorrow!