Orientation Week

Mom, Dad, and Bryce dropped me off in Akron, PA at the MCC headquarters, said our goodbyes, and I was immediately forced into a room of 100 people. The week was full of many sessions on how to live cross-culturally, be respectful, be safe, and learn about MCC's goals and purpose. Although these sessions were helpful, I feel like I learned the most from my interactions with other people. There were people FROM 30 different countries, including Egypt, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Cambodia, China, South Korea, Jordan, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Colombia, Bolivia, and many others. MCC does a program called IVEP (International Volunteer Exchange Program) where these young adults come to the US and Canada to serve. I got to have several long conversations with some of them and learned a lot about other cultures. This is very helpful for the SALTers, as many of us are going to these countries. So we could educate them about what to expect in the US and vice verse.

We had sessions during the day and some free time at nights usually. It was a long week so I'll just mention the highlights...
The first night I met a girl from Nicaragua who hardly spoke English and so right away the two of us were sitting in our house lobby and trying to communicate in Spanish. After a while more and more girls joined until there were probably 15 of us from several different countries speaking Spanish and English, showing pictures of our friends and family, and getting to know each other. Second day there was an E-coli warning for the Akron area water wells, so we had to drink bottled water pretty much the whole week... good practice for living in another country anyways. Each morning we had a worship service from a different area- first American, then Asian, Middle East/Europe, Latin America, and Africa. I helped out with the Latin America worship service... I made the PowerPoint slides and helped stand in front to sing. On Sunday we had a lot of free time so me and some of the other girls saw a movie and went to dinner. Then Monday we had a tornado warning, which was kinda crazy and we all had to pack into the basement. The Latin American crew got along really well. My favorite times by far were the last couple nights we had Latin American dance parties with the SALTers who were going to Latin America and then some IVEPers from Colombia, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. We learned some Salsa and Merengue moves! Soon some guys from Zimbabwe showed up and we watched as they felt the music and danced! It was awesome! The last day, Wednesday we had a commissioning service as well as a talent show. Everyone left on Thursday morning...

Except me of course! Me and my two traveling mates Anne and Kristen are still in Akron. We went to the pool on Thursday and went hiking today (Friday). We leave at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. Sooooo here I am about to leave in a few hours, just relaxing and taking it all in. When we arrive in Guatemala city the three of us will have Spanish lessons for the first month before splitting off into our individual assignments.

Overall it was quite an overwhelming yet fun week. It was nice to be able to talk with other people who are going to be doing the same thing I am, and to know that they are feeling some of the same fears and worries that I'm experiencing.

Keep me in your prayers... the real adventure starts tomorrow! Adios Estados Unidos!