internship and the scary fry machine

I have a church music internship this year that is turning out to be mostly really cool. I go down to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays) and am involved in almost every part of their music ministry, and even some of the youth ministry! (Last weekend I helped chaperone a 6th-8th grade dance. We had a record 500 students, and had to turn more away!) Wednesday nights are "Discovery Nights" at WP. All the music rehearsals happen between 4 and 9 (that's 2 handbell choirs, 3 children's/youth choirs, the adult choir, and the men's choir), as well as many and myriad classes and youth group happenings that I don't even know about (although I usually hear about). They have dinner at 5:30 that's a dollar for kids, two for adults, and is usually some sort of healthy-but-fun goodness. It makes for a busy night, but brings in whole families at once. I help mostly with the elementary choir, the youth/high school choir, the adult choir, and sometimes the adult handbell choir, as they need me. This Sunday I'll be playing the postlude on the organ at the early service, and pretty soon I'll be directing a few pieces here and there.
Sunday mornings are, I admit, not quite as fun as Wednesday nights. Mostly because I often find myself very much not agreeing with the senior pastor's sermons. He's doing a sermon series on Revelation. Which is fine, and interesting. But also, at some points, difficult and confusing.

I'm working in the Mensa (the cafeteria on campus) this year. It's been qutie the learning experience. Today I learned how to use the fry-cooking-machine, how to make a bazillion grilled cheese sandwiches at once, and how to clean the grill at the end of my shift (lemon juice makes it REALLY shiny!). It's not the ideal job, but at least it gets me gas money.


And yes, Spongebob is right: a grillman's (or grillwoman's) spatula really is his (or her) best friend.