Intern scavenger hunt

     At the beginning of the summer, the interns went on a “scavenger hunt” around the city of Hartford to get a feel for the surrounding area, spend time together, and see what it’s like for some people to live in the city. The students did a similar simulation on the last day of The Hartford Project, so we also wanted to see what that would be like for them. The students were given a bus ticket, told about an app that helps figure out the best bus to take, and given a few locations to visit. However, as interns, we had a long list of things to take pictures of, a little bit of money, and no form of transportation. For every item that we did on the list, we got a few points. Once we had 100 points, we were rewarded with a celebratory lunch at a local restaurant.

      We quickly figured out that we would need to buy bus tickets. After walking around for quite some time, we eventually found the place to buy the tickets. This took asking around a lot, going into several places that do not sell bus tickets (such as a post office) and getting some strange looks. Most of all, we ran into a lot of very kind people who helped us find our way to the little booth that sold us the tickets. Finally! We were so happy to be able to buy our tickets- only to be encountered with another challenge- which tickets to buy. We asked a lot of questions and slowly figured it out. At last, we were on our way. And then, another challenge stopped us in our tracks. We weren’t sure which bus to actually get on. After a little bit of confusion, and the help 

of our maps, we successfully figured it out. On the way to the bus stop, we also bought someone food at Burger King “pay it forward style,” got a postcard at the art museum gift shop, and completed a few other tasks. We also found a small grocery store and bought some Aloe Vera juice. It’s quite challenging to find a grocery store in Hartford, and then we had to try something none of us had tried before. This happened to be aloe juice- which I still can’t decide if I like or not.
​     Once we made it on the bus we were on our way to Barbour Street to pray over the Citadel of Love. However, once on Barbour Street we realized there weren’t many bus 

stops around that could take us where we needed to go next. So, we started walking. A lot. Eventually we were told that there was an app for the bus system, which did help, but only once we had made it all the way to Glory Chapel! With the app, we were able to get to the final bus stop and make it back downtown. From there, we earned enough points to get some lunch! With very sore feet, and a newfound appreciation for cars, we walked to Bear’s Smokehouse Barbecue for lunch.

    I thought this experience was very beneficial. It definitely made me realize how challenging it can be to use the bus system; it takes a lot of time and can be very inconvenient. Before this experience I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have a car, but after riding on the buses (and walking a lot!) I was very thankful for the easy transportation I had to get home that day.​
     I think the students were really impacted by their scavenger hunt as well. It was designed as a simulation of a teenager, given a list of errands to run for his mother that day. A lot of the students came back talking about how much they had to walk and what it was like to ride the bus- the public transportation system being entirely new to them. They also had exciting stories about the people they had been able to interact with and even pray for along the way. Even though the scavenger hunt was challenging at times, it was a great way to experience Life In The City. 

Written by Jenna Adendorff.