Orientation!!

Hello All! I am currently sitting on in the O'Neill Library at Boston College, just over halfway through with orientation. There is absolutely no way that I can convey everything I am feeling and tell you all that I have experienced in the last week but I will try to hit the important parts :)

Starting with leaving home...I successfully packed (no overweight bags!) and made it onto my flight. I've been told that may have been one of the harder things I'll have to do. I cried. (That's right, all of you who know me well, there were tears.) I cried with the hugs (not goodbye, I'll see you later), gathered myself and got through security, cried sitting at my gate and then again on the plane. And on the 2nd plane. These were not 'bawling' sessions, but tears flowed freely, silently, down my cheeks. It's hard to face the reality of leaving your family (shout-out here to Kaitlin who also came to see me off! TL). And it still hasn't completely hit me yet (scary thought. what the heck is that going to be like?!)

Then the whirlwind of orientation started. Rostro and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) pair up for this so I had about 40 new wonderful people to get to know, share fears and excitement with, and now am growing to love. 15 of those are my fellow Rostro vols. We have all hit if off from the beginning. I mean, these programs attract similar people in the fact that we want to do some good in the world, have a faith (of some sort) and have felt called to international work yet we are also all so different. I have loved getting to explore the depths of these similarities and differences through sessions, free time and meals. It is relatively upsetting that I will be saying goodbye to all the JVs in less than a week...we have grown so close. :P

As exciting as this time has been, it has also been exhausting and draining. We are at breakfast by 7:45, which we eat in silence, spend the day in sessions about topics ranging from Spirituality to Safety to Physical Health (try to eat lunch after that! haha) to Cross-Cultural Interaction and Transition and the list goes on. These are deep, long and thorough conversations/lectures, a lot of which involve extensive self-reflection. Today we spoke about relationships in-country (romantic and/or platonic) and how that affects your experience and your community. A fellow volunteer, Mandi, put it so well...it's like we're playing Chubby Bunny: we are so full, and really can't handle anymore and yet we keep shoving more and more in. It's amazing and just as important as the first thing we covered, but we are so full right now. The day goes until 9:30-10ish and then we all of course want to hang out!

So I have really enjoyed getting to know my community-mates that I'll be headed to Ecuador with and speaking with Rostro alum about their experiences. You can see the crew below:

Back Row: Liz, Billy, Lindsey, Katie, Emily, Me, Patrick and Megan (our In-Country Director)

Middle Row: Matt - Front Row: Brittany, Ali, Julia, Alli, Molly, Chris, Mandi, Bernadette

And as if you couldn't tell with the program we all signed up with and Matt plopping himself in the middle of the picture, we are characters. See below for a little proof:

An important and exciting note, on Saturday I found out where I will be living and with whom! Monte Sinai is the newest Rostro community and I will be living there with Patrick, Bernadette, Matt, Mandi and Katie! So excited!! It's nice to know a little bit more about what to expect when we head down.

So that's where I'm at. Ready to see what the rest of orientation brings. We are already getting a little anxious and just ready to 'jump on a plane already' but I'm trying to enjoy my time here. It hit me that I don't know much about what's going on at home when I jumped on fb so I could post this update and saw that my great-uncle had passed away, and a couple from school got engaged, among other things. So feel free to write a letter or shoot me an email to fill me on your lives and what is happening around the world!

I hope everyone is doing well. Please keep the RdC and JVC volunteers - both here at orientation and around the world - in your prayers! This is a crazy transition time for all of us.