Over the past week, I have met several incredible people! I got reacquainted with my partner, Julie. It is amazing how much we are alike! We were both education majors, both love kids, both have similar fears, and both are crazy about the Almighty. You should check out her blog as well at http://juliegotoutsourced.blogspot.com/. She is much more extroverted and bubbly than I am (I believe she is a morning person J), but I think that will complement me well. We both also have similar strengths and weaknesses, which I suppose could be both a good and bad thing. It is going to be so much fun to get to know her better and serve the Father with her over the next two years.
A bit of a surprise to me, I also have a quad-mate. I had thought that might be Julie, but it is another girl who will be serving in South Asia. She is great! We both share an apartment like thing in a quad. We each have our own bedroom (although there is another bed, so I suppose if there were more people at orientation, I might have a roommate). We share a bathroom and kitchen. It is very nice! Each quad is divided into four (hence the name quad) apartments like the one I described. There are two couples, one of which is from KC area, and a family with a two year old girl. We are all headed to South Asia. Everyone is so nice and we have enjoyed several evening conversations together in the open middle area of the quad. We even played Phase 10 the first night and I WON!
The first couple of days, everyone was just getting settled in. I was actually the first person off a plane here!! On Wednesday, we started classes. The first couple days have been a bit like the first few days of a semester of college. We have a syllabus type thing from overall orientation, my affinity group, and my ministry team which contains assignments and due dates. I, who have always enjoyed school and the consistency of due dates, have really enjoyed these first few days. Our main speaker/director, Mr. Elbert is great. He has really given me some interesting things to contemplate. Some m.s on state-side assignment have also been leading some of the sessions. Yesterday, we had a personal spiritual retreat. The next blog will be focused on it.
Life here feels very much like camp! Every meal is served at the cafeteria. Breakfast is from 7:00-8:00, so I have been trying to wake up at 6:00 to do my Quiet Time because after breakfast we are off and running to classes. Dinner is at 5:00 (you guessed it mom, that does mean I need a snack in the evenings) and then we are basically free the rest of the evening.
The food is fantastic! I have never seen so much fresh fruit. Just today for breakfast, I had fresh blueberries, melon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and orange slices. Most of the time there are blackberries and watermelon as well! Fresh and cooked veggies are also always available for lunch and dinner. The main meal has been very tasty every meal. I think my favorite meal of the week though was the Mexican Buffet! They had tamales…yummy! I have a feeling the kitchen in my quad will get little use…just use the microwave to make chai tea J.
All that talk about food leads me to…exercise!! Yesterday we had to run a mile for time. I didn't do too bad. I didn't push myself too much because I have to beat my time at the end of orientation… We are expected to exercise three times a week. I think the rec team is going to be providing fun activities for us to do every night, so I am excited (sort-of) about that. It has been so warm that so far I have just walked for most of my exercise. The campus here is beautiful and kind-of spread out. I think to walk around the outside is about a mile. The scenery is wonderful! It reminds me of home with all the trees. Sometimes I forget I am in VA and not MO!
Today is Saturday and it is a free day. I volunteered to be co-leader of the "Conversation with the Father" Ministry Team, so we are doing some prep work later this afternoon.
Thank you for all your support and lifting me up to the Father!
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