Don't Stop Believing
8:23 PM Posted In abduction , invisible children , rescue , san francisco Edit This 0 Comments »
On Saturday afternoon, Joel, Heather and I ventured out to San Francisco for the IC RESCUE Event. We started off in Concord taking the BART to the Embarcadero Station.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, we decided instead of figuring out the bus situation, we would walk the two miles to our starting up. We passed piers 1-39 at least :) I think we stopped counting after a while. Our starting point was on the corner of Hyde and Jefferson which is also close the Ghiradelli Square.
After signing waivers allowing us to be videotaped, we joined the second "abducted" group and began our 2.1 mile walk to our LRA camp. The idea of 20 people walking single file holding a rope seems pretty simple, however it was not as easy for our group. A mixture of fast and slow walkers made it quite interesting. After the 45 minute walk, we arrived at the LRA camp, which was actually a park looking at the Golden Gate Bridge.
The wind has begun picking up at this point and the sun is slowing leaving us.
Upon arrival of the camp, we were given more information on the event as well as paper to write letters to our state senators and congresswoman.
Heather, Joel and I settled into our spot and relaxed for a little bit on our sleeping bags. After writing our letters, most of the group had arrived. There were about 2000 "abducted" people with us. We joined together for a few photo shots and filmed a few shots as well. By this time the sun was setting and the wind was now reaching 25 miles an hour. Needless to say it was not warm that evening.
Thankfully after the photos and filming, we headed back to our little section and turned in our letters with pictures attached to them.
We munched on some graham crackers and cheezits! :) Snacks of champions right! :)
We essentially settled in for the evening. The bitter cold made it unappealing to socialize with anyone.
I think I fell asleep around 9pm. I was woken up around 10:30 to people shouting the media's here the media's here... we carefully made our way to the News vans and cheered for the Rescue being possible. Throughout the evening, people were calling other news stations and newspapers. The San Francisco Chronicle stopped answering the phone but not before stating, they were not interested in this story. It wasn't worth following according to the person answering the phone.
There was not much sleep that happened (although I slept the most out of Joel and Heather) I think it had to do with the 2 pairs of socks, beanie, gloves, extra blanket and 3 layers i was wearing. :)
Around 4am, Joel, Heather and I were awake and chatting about who knows what.
I woke up again around 6:40 with the sun coming up and hearing that LA Rescue Riders were on their way up. Despite the media attention we had gained the night before, we did not have a media mogul to rescue us. One of the Original IC Founders greeted our group with encouraging words. LA brought about 50 extra people with them. Their LRA camp was rescued around 9pm the night before and these people got on a bus and headed up to SF.
Joel, Heather and I ended up leaving the camp site around 9am. We wanted to stay longer but knew we all had to work the next day. I know that's a lame excuse.
SF was later rescued around 5:30pm by former SF mayor Willie Brown.
The entire experience was great. During the photo shoot, the guys in front of us had a portable iPod station and kept playing Journey's Don't Stop Believing. I felt like that was a perfect song for this group. We have to keep moving forward and fight to see an end of this war in Africa.
Together we are free.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, we decided instead of figuring out the bus situation, we would walk the two miles to our starting up. We passed piers 1-39 at least :) I think we stopped counting after a while. Our starting point was on the corner of Hyde and Jefferson which is also close the Ghiradelli Square.
After signing waivers allowing us to be videotaped, we joined the second "abducted" group and began our 2.1 mile walk to our LRA camp. The idea of 20 people walking single file holding a rope seems pretty simple, however it was not as easy for our group. A mixture of fast and slow walkers made it quite interesting. After the 45 minute walk, we arrived at the LRA camp, which was actually a park looking at the Golden Gate Bridge.
The wind has begun picking up at this point and the sun is slowing leaving us.
Upon arrival of the camp, we were given more information on the event as well as paper to write letters to our state senators and congresswoman.
Heather, Joel and I settled into our spot and relaxed for a little bit on our sleeping bags. After writing our letters, most of the group had arrived. There were about 2000 "abducted" people with us. We joined together for a few photo shots and filmed a few shots as well. By this time the sun was setting and the wind was now reaching 25 miles an hour. Needless to say it was not warm that evening.
Thankfully after the photos and filming, we headed back to our little section and turned in our letters with pictures attached to them.
We munched on some graham crackers and cheezits! :) Snacks of champions right! :)
We essentially settled in for the evening. The bitter cold made it unappealing to socialize with anyone.
I think I fell asleep around 9pm. I was woken up around 10:30 to people shouting the media's here the media's here... we carefully made our way to the News vans and cheered for the Rescue being possible. Throughout the evening, people were calling other news stations and newspapers. The San Francisco Chronicle stopped answering the phone but not before stating, they were not interested in this story. It wasn't worth following according to the person answering the phone.
There was not much sleep that happened (although I slept the most out of Joel and Heather) I think it had to do with the 2 pairs of socks, beanie, gloves, extra blanket and 3 layers i was wearing. :)
Around 4am, Joel, Heather and I were awake and chatting about who knows what.
I woke up again around 6:40 with the sun coming up and hearing that LA Rescue Riders were on their way up. Despite the media attention we had gained the night before, we did not have a media mogul to rescue us. One of the Original IC Founders greeted our group with encouraging words. LA brought about 50 extra people with them. Their LRA camp was rescued around 9pm the night before and these people got on a bus and headed up to SF.
Joel, Heather and I ended up leaving the camp site around 9am. We wanted to stay longer but knew we all had to work the next day. I know that's a lame excuse.
SF was later rescued around 5:30pm by former SF mayor Willie Brown.
The entire experience was great. During the photo shoot, the guys in front of us had a portable iPod station and kept playing Journey's Don't Stop Believing. I felt like that was a perfect song for this group. We have to keep moving forward and fight to see an end of this war in Africa.
Together we are free.
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