Welcome to the Big Apple!

Normally, when I have to get up before 8 am I take my time getting out of bed and hit snooze on my phone at least two times before making the effort of getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. But not today. Today was the day we left for New York City for our J term class. So even though my alarm woke me up at 4:30 in the morning I was out of bed immediately and got ready to go to the airport. I slept on our first flight and was jittery with excitement as we speed walked to our connecting flight from Detroit to New York. When we arrived, however, we found out that our plane had been delayed by 2 hours and 5 minutes due to maintenance occurring inside of the plane we were taking. While I was disappointed we were going to be delayed getting to our destination, I figured being delayed was better than flying on a defective plane that would fall out of the sky. While we waited, Renee and Mark discussed how food was going to work on our trip. Renee handed each of us $4.50 and told us that was all of the money we had to pay for our breakfast and lunch tomorrow. My brain went on the fritz as panic began to set in, drowning out whatever Renee was saying. I didn't want to be hungry on this trip and I had no clue how to stretch $4.50 into two filling, healthy meals, especially since New York is much more expensive than Des Moines. The average person on food stamps lives off of $4.40 a day for all three meals. When Renee told us this, I was shocked. That is not nearly enough money to pay for food to feed someone, much less for someone with multiple kids or parents that need to be cared for due to illness or injury. I can't imagine having to live that way every day. I have always had enough food to eat my entire life and knowing that others aren't as fortunate as me makes my heart ache for them. As I put myself in these people's shoes, I feel a little bit of the stress, worry, and fear about not getting enough to eat. I get hangry when I'm hungry and light headed. It's not a feeling I enjoy. I imagine all that I am feeling is magnified tremendously in someone experiencing this every day. As I told myself to calm down, I listened to my classmates and Renee. We all decided we would pool our money to buy groceries for tomorrow's breakfast and lunch, which gave us $54 all together. Pooling our money made me feel much better about eating tomorrow.  We were lucky Renee only had quarters to give us for change so we got a whole ten cents more per person than the average amount people get. We also only had to stretch our money for 2 meals instead of 3.  We discussed foods we all liked and looked up prices on our phones to make the most out of our meager budget. As we discussed the prices, it dawned on me that people experiencing poverty and homelessness must make decisions that involve money very carefully so they can have enough money to pay for other things like rent or new clothes. This realization reminded me of Chris Gardner from the Pursuit of Happyness because he had to budget his money carefully too. I also realized I was feeling guilt and anger. I felt guilty for feeling anxious about being hungry when other people go hungry every day. I felt angry because if there are so many people on food stamps that need to eat every day and feed their families, why hasn't anyone tried to reform the way we help people in need? Or at least create new options for people who need it? Something needs to change. Everyone should have the means to have food, water, and shelter. $4.40 is not enough. It may have been enough years ago but the economy has changed over the years and inflation has increased, causing a rise in the prices of everything. As times and the standard of living changes, so should the amount of aid we give to people in need. Finally, after about two more 30 minute delays we found ourselves on another flight to the Big Apple. Once we arrived, we went to the church to drop off our stuff, eat pizza, and head out to go to the Museum of Modern Art and Times Square. I was so excited! I have never been to New York so I have been on pins and needles about experiencing what the Big Apple had to offer. As we walked towards Times Square after seeing art in the MoMA for about 20 minutes before they closed, I paid closer attention to my surroundings. I saw at least 3 people laying in the streets, trying to sleep. One of them had a cat, which is an emotional resource. Another was trying to sleep right next to the hustle and bustle of Times Square! There were so many people walking past him, I don't know how he slept. It's crazy what things you see when you're actively paying attention. After Times Square, we headed back to the church. We passed by the New York Projects on our way. It is public government funded subsidized housing. It made me think about one of the books I read for this class, Evicted, because it talks about public housing and how hard it is for the poor to get into public subsidized housing since the rent is cheaper than regular apartments. In the book, rent for a regular one or two bedroom apartment in the poorer part of Milwaukee was around $500. Subsidized housing was about $140 if I am remembering correctly. This is a huge difference, causing a huge demand for this type of housing. One of the main characters in the book, Arleen, regretted her decision to give up her chance at subsidized couldn't afford the rent for her current apartment that wasn't subsidized. She was just evicted from her apartment. She is now homeless with 2 kids to care for and no where to go. Even though it was only the first day, I feel that I have already learned a lot. I learned that I need to be more cognizant of my surroundings because there are so many little things you miss when you don't pay attention close enough. I think people see what they want to see and ignore the bad in the world. They don't want to think about problems in the world that they cannot change completely by themselves like homelessness and poverty. I hope that one day that this will change and that people will come together to help bring an end to poverty. Every little contribution helps someone in need, so if every person contributed, so many people's lives would be changed for the better.