Bahhston!

We asked a group of MIT students for directions the other night and they asked where we were staying for the week. I think our response of, "a homeless shelter" definitely threw them off!
Many of the residents have been asking why we came here...are we getting credit? are we crazy? were we under the impression it was sunny and tropical in Boston? I don't think any of us can really articulate a reason, but I think by the end of the week we may have a better understanding of what lured us here.
In between helping out around the shelter and touring Boston, we have had a chance to talk with each other about our first impressions of the shelter. The conversations with the residents have been interesting. I kind of had this idea that as addicts, their stories would be really similar; that there is some kind of generic formula for becoming homeless. But the idea of a formula or recipe doesn't explain how accountants, lawyers, teachers, moms, dads, and grandparents end up as junkies with prison records. These conversations are kind of a rollercoaster because I feel a mixture of empathy and frustration. I understand people have hard times, and many of the people we have talked to want to make changes and turn their life around, but there are also a number of individuals who are completely content to spend the rest of their lives feeding their addictions and be free of responsibility.
Sometimes I am surprised by how much we have in common with some of the residents. One young woman is a big fan of Harry Potter and is finishing the last book. I guess a love for fictional wizards is universal! But unlike her, my first two copies of the last book were not seized by the police in drug busts. There is a gentleman who enjoys his morning coffee is his new Starbucks mug...a beverage I think any time-crazed college student appreciates in the morning. However, while I usually enjoy my daily dose of caffeine on the way to class, he sips his on the bus to an out-patient clinic where he needs to provide a daily urine sample so he can recieve treatment and counseling.