Hey everyone!
The main focus of this post is going to be Sea World, because it's taken up most of my time the last couple of days. We started our orientation yesterday at 8 in the morning (Sea World is about a 25 minute bike ride from our motel, so I got up about 6:30) and they basically went over the overview of the company and the park. It was all very general stuff that didn't relate to our job at all, and honestly we could have easily done without, but I was happy to be there and get started. The best part was getting our uniform at the end of the day, which includes black shoes, blue shorts/long pants, a white Sea World polo shirt, a red apron-type thing, a red Sea World hat, a name-tag, and I was lucky enough to get a very nice Sea World vest which I plan on keeping at the end of the summer.
Today, we had our second orientation(this one STARTING at 7...so it was a very early morning). This was a much more hands-on orientation, starting with a tour and an overview of our job. I will be doing vending for the shows like the Shamu show, the Dolphin show, the Sea Lion and Otter show, etc. Basically I'll be carrying trays of popcorn, drinks, hotdogs, ice cream, etc. up the steps of the stadiums and selling. I'll also be preparing the drinks and making popcorn and the other snacks before shows to get ready. After lunch, we got to practice on a show with both the preparation and selling. I filled up lemonade cups($9.75 for about a 35 oz. cup...wow) and got to sell popcorn at the show. It was a rush to have people screaming at you for popcorn and I sold almost all I had before we had to leave.
I will begin working officially on Wednesday with my regular shifts, and I'm looking forward to meeting some co-workers, making some money, and really just having a good time. I've never been to Sea World before, and it seems like a great place to visit and work. The leads, supervisors, and basically everyone we've encountered so far is very pleasant and just enjoys working there. I think it's going to be a very rewarding summer job.
Not much else to report. A major concern that has continued to exist is the job search for many of the project people that couldn't get Sea World jobs. Alot of people are still struggling to land jobs and some are talking of having to go home if they can't get a job for the summer. I'd ask for your prayers that everything would work out and they could stay....it's going to be a life-changing summer for alot of people out here.
Well, time to head out...we're having a reflection, prayer, sharing, and worship time down at a local park and my ministry team is helping to lead it, so I have to go get ready for that.
More to come soon.
albo
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Alot to update!!
Hey everyone!
A couple observations that I've noticed less than a week into this trip :
-I won't be getting much sleep
-I won't have much time to update the blog
-I won't be bored....ever.
Fortunately, I'm satisfied with all of those and am ready to be a little sleep deprived if it means hanging out a little later or getting to do some late-night activity.
Since my last post, alot has happened. We all went to purchase our bikes down the boardwalk area, which was a pretty awesome deal because the owner is willing to sell us the bike for $125 new now, and then buy it back at $60 when we leave at the beginning of August. The bikes are very nice and there are tons of bike lanes, boardwalks, and trails to head around on...I'll also use it to get to work.
I talked earlier about my job at Sea World...I will be starting orientation for the job on Friday, but unfortunately Sea World only took half of the project for jobs, leaving many people still on the search. It's been a big prayer concern so far that these people find jobs in the area, and if you would like to add it to your list it would be greatly appreciated. It's hard, as I'm sure you would imagine, going to an employer and saying you need a job that can't work nights, needs alot of weekend time off, and you're leaving July 31. Hopefully something will come out of this soon.
In the past couple days we have done alot of training, building relationships, sharing our faith on the beaches, and just preparing ourselves for the summer. The days have been long, but solid relationships are definitely developing and a comfort of settling into a routine is finally starting to come about. This being said, it will probably all change again once we start work, but we'll deal with that when it comes.
Yesterday was probably our longest day so far here. We traveled by bus and train to Tijuana, Mexico to an orphanage that the project is associated with. There, we played with the children, led a short Vacation Bible School, and did some maintenance and cleaning around the place. It was an awesome opportunity to connect with the kids, and really share our faith with people of different cultures and languages. After leaving the orphanage, we got to go into the market areas where bartering is the system, and people basically drag you into their stores....not somewhere I would recommend going at night, but everyone was safe during the day.
After that, a few of us decided to go to the San Diego Padres game, so we got off the bus in downtown San Diego and headed over to the park. The ticket salesman recommended a place called "Tin Fish" right next to the park so I got some good ole Fish and Chips before the game that was delicious. The Padres were playing the Cubs, and although I'm not a huge baseball fan, it was still alot of fun. The Cubs won, which made 2 of the people in our group happy, as they were big Cubs fans, and luckily no one with us was a big Padres fan.
Overall the trip is still going great. Today we're heading to one of the local college campuses to try to start up some Bible studies and just bring the offering of Christianity that many out here have apparently no knowledge of.
Hopefully it won't be too long before another update, but I can't promise anything. Hope everyone is doing great!!
-Albo
A couple observations that I've noticed less than a week into this trip :
-I won't be getting much sleep
-I won't have much time to update the blog
-I won't be bored....ever.
Fortunately, I'm satisfied with all of those and am ready to be a little sleep deprived if it means hanging out a little later or getting to do some late-night activity.
Since my last post, alot has happened. We all went to purchase our bikes down the boardwalk area, which was a pretty awesome deal because the owner is willing to sell us the bike for $125 new now, and then buy it back at $60 when we leave at the beginning of August. The bikes are very nice and there are tons of bike lanes, boardwalks, and trails to head around on...I'll also use it to get to work.
I talked earlier about my job at Sea World...I will be starting orientation for the job on Friday, but unfortunately Sea World only took half of the project for jobs, leaving many people still on the search. It's been a big prayer concern so far that these people find jobs in the area, and if you would like to add it to your list it would be greatly appreciated. It's hard, as I'm sure you would imagine, going to an employer and saying you need a job that can't work nights, needs alot of weekend time off, and you're leaving July 31. Hopefully something will come out of this soon.
In the past couple days we have done alot of training, building relationships, sharing our faith on the beaches, and just preparing ourselves for the summer. The days have been long, but solid relationships are definitely developing and a comfort of settling into a routine is finally starting to come about. This being said, it will probably all change again once we start work, but we'll deal with that when it comes.
Yesterday was probably our longest day so far here. We traveled by bus and train to Tijuana, Mexico to an orphanage that the project is associated with. There, we played with the children, led a short Vacation Bible School, and did some maintenance and cleaning around the place. It was an awesome opportunity to connect with the kids, and really share our faith with people of different cultures and languages. After leaving the orphanage, we got to go into the market areas where bartering is the system, and people basically drag you into their stores....not somewhere I would recommend going at night, but everyone was safe during the day.
After that, a few of us decided to go to the San Diego Padres game, so we got off the bus in downtown San Diego and headed over to the park. The ticket salesman recommended a place called "Tin Fish" right next to the park so I got some good ole Fish and Chips before the game that was delicious. The Padres were playing the Cubs, and although I'm not a huge baseball fan, it was still alot of fun. The Cubs won, which made 2 of the people in our group happy, as they were big Cubs fans, and luckily no one with us was a big Padres fan.
Overall the trip is still going great. Today we're heading to one of the local college campuses to try to start up some Bible studies and just bring the offering of Christianity that many out here have apparently no knowledge of.
Hopefully it won't be too long before another update, but I can't promise anything. Hope everyone is doing great!!
-Albo
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