I leave for the airport in 3 hours!!!!!!

Orientation

Here's some pictures of me on my last day at Ludwood Ct--



Well here I am at Orientation. We're staying at Stony Point Conference Center, which is in Stony Point, NY-- annnd is an "intentional community" -- as in, they grow their own vegetables, recycle everything... so obviously I'm loving it.

But - orientation itself, well this has been harder. We've been having lots of hard hard conversations about gender and race and power and caring for yourself well... As well as making about 65 new best friends (all of the international and national YAVs). It's so so much fun and I'm SO glad that they structure the program in this way, but it's heavy, world, and exhausting. All of the facilitators for the week are YAV Alumns (YAVA), and so they have lots of encouraging (and scary) stories and experiences to share-- yet another reason I'm very glad that they structure the program in this way. Plus we have worship in the morning and evening, and we're singing all kinds of weird songs in different languages to represent the different sites that people will be going to, which is always fun :)

Let's see-- Favorite orientation moment so far: We've been having total information overload these days, so today we got the afternoon off to relax and do whatever we wanted and then after worship, had an epic 2-hour dance party in the room where we've been having our sessions/workshops. Such a fun way to bond and be stupid and blow off steam! Especially since we're all so so white... hahah. A bunch of us also followed this dancing with a long massage train-- excellente.

Well that's about all that I have to report. Hope all are well! (Hopefully) contact info will be coming out soon...
bendiciones, juli

"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I go from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there... Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me."
-Psalm 139:7-10

I leave tomorrow!

Well world, I got commissioned this morning at my home church and I leave tomorrow for Orientation in New York! I've come home to a whole mess of packing today, and let me tell you... It's a lot harder than I expected to fit my world into 1.5 suitcases. I don't like it, not one bit, world. But, part of my whole experience in Guatemala with YAV is to live simply and it's just so hard to pare down what I thought I needed-- especially in the toiletries department. Ah well-- I'll make it work somehow. :)

So I'll be outside New York at Stony Point with all the international and national YAVs until Aug 30 when we'll all fly to our respective sites! Then all 5 Guatemala YAVs will be in Antigua for 4 weeks for language school until I move to Xela!

Better get back to the packing- I can't believe it's almost time to go!
bendiciones, juli

A few updates

I leave in 2.5 weeks! Insane! I go to orientation in Stony Point, NY on the 23rd and then after one week of all international / national YAVs orienting together, we're deemed ready and we all leave for our respective sites on the 30th!

AND I'm 91% fund raised! I'm almost there! :)

Thanks for the prayers, world. I can't believe it's almost here...
bendiciones, juli

"You go nowhere by accident. Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. God has a purpose in your being there. Christ who dwells within you has something He wants you to do through you where you are. Believe this and go in His grace and love and power."
- Rev. Richard C Halverson