Hell's Kitchen - Soup and the Great Comet

Somewhere in my mind I got the idea to spend some time serving soup at a soup kitchen and I found one - the biggest one in the city, apparently - and this morning Brett and I were off to volunteer. Shaun decided not to, he went shopping instead and we kept saying he was going straight to hell. It was spitting with rain as we headed off, so a good morning to spend inside.

Here is the Holy Apostle church where the soup kitchen is. Apparently it was the first LGBT synagogue.

And in we go...

We are welcomed and checked in with Richard, who then hands us to Edward for information. We drop our coats, pick up our aprons, gloves, hair nets or hats and then sit and chat to some of the other volunteers. Michael and a couple of ladies tell us about the place - they serve 800 to 1,000 people every day! Five days a week every week. 

They ask us if Australia hears much about the election and we tell them it has a lot of coverage and we can't imagine if Trump was to get through. There are a lot of volunteers here who come every week, lot of retirees. There was a group from a company - not sure if they actually volunteered or if they were volunteered!

There is no water today so the meals are only soup and a roll, an apple and coffee. Normally they have a cooked meat and three veg and there were many who were 'not happy.'

This is the hall getting set up - can't take photos once the guests arrive - I thought maybe because it was disrespectful, but Edward said its in case they are fugitives... It's a safe place...

Brett is unsure whether to go with the hair net...

We were given our assignments - Brett was a runner, meaning carrying in the tubs of soup. I was assigned table cleanup on tables 4 and 5, which basically meant wipe down the tables after the diners left and keep up the sugar packets and the juice jugs filled. 

Meals are served from 10:30 to 12:30 and it seems like there is a never-ending stream of people coming through. They collect their trays, sit, eat and drink and then go. They have to take their trays up to the cleaning station and I clean up after they leave.

I cannot believe the amount of sugar they go through - I filled the bowl with packets umpteen times and was asked by a couple of individuals for more. One well dressed man asked for a handful and then asked for more when I brought what I thought was a lot. He put it in his coffee - about 25 packets!!

One man did accuse me of disrespecting him when I asked the man sitting next to him if I could clear his coffee cup. There were some people there who obviously did not have the chance to bathe very often... There was another man who wanted me to clean down his seat before he sat down - coz "not everyone is clean". I was standing by my tables and was surrounded by a few people when two men started arguing furiously - took a while before I managed to escape from that area. Bit scary! When I looked over to see Brett, many times he was being accosted by Chris - who had a brain injury - Chris wanted to tell Brett all about his travels to Europe - in detail...

It is an amazing place and it was and amazing experience to have. They have a man playing the grand piano - dinner music, there are usually social workers there to help in any way. Today there was a chiropractor offering his services and they could also get a food shot. Lots of really wonderful people who help out. This is Lucretia and Raul, who were very helpful and very lovely, with the piano behind. Not a great photo, I didn't want to embarrass them. Lunch is provided for the volunteers but we didn't stay for that, seen a bit too much food this morning.

And in our glory...

It's spitting when we come out, we head up towards home, stopping to get some soup on the way - ironic after just working in a soup kitchen! Back home to rest up for a bit before heading out again. We're meeting Raff at the New York State Library. We're a bit early so we have a wander through Bryant Park, where they hold the New York fashion week. It's a lovely area.

Then into the library - a magnificent building that's been in many movies.

We're all taking photos...

The reading rooms upstairs are beautiful, the ceiling is amazing...

Next stop - Rockefeller plaza with the Lego store.

And one of the things I've always wanted to see - the ice skating rink that's set up for Christmas...

Bit of a sit to rest and have a coffee and then a walk to find somewhere for dinner and it is raining! And we are getting wet! We end up at the Olive Garden, which I always thought was a fancy one, but it's not really. You get a salad and bread with the meal - more like oil with some lettuce and sugar with some dough... Had a pretty good eggplant parmigiana though. Had to ask for it to be served with vegetables instead of spaghetti - got a forest of broccoli. We had a great view of Times Square...

Then it's to our next show - Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet - a new, very different and amazing musical based on a small section of Tolstoy's War and Peace. It stars Josh Groban - who is superb - what an incredible voice. The whole show is fantastic, it's interactive, the audience sits all over the theatre - on the stage, in chairs. The cast move all over the theatre. The music is fabulous, loved it. The cast, staging, everything was so interesting and just wonderful. We all came out at the end and debated going back again this week.

And on the way home, crazy clouds over the city...