Akron Orientation

Hello everyone!



I decided I would start this blog so that you could all see what I am up to while away for an entire year!!



Now where to begin? Well.



Yesterday on August 8th, 2009, my parents and brothers dropped me off in Akron PA at the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) building where I will be living for the next 2 weeks. We moved in all of my stuff and I filled out more forms and finally found my nametag.



At 5pm, I went to eat dinner at my dad's favourite place ever ... the MCC cafeteria. Too bad for you dad, you had to go with the families to an MCC information session while I chowed down!



After meeting up with the Ontario SALTers and making even more friends, we all went outside while a bunch of the guys tossed around a frisbee while the girls all sat and chatted. Not too long afterwards, the information session was let out and it was time for final family goodbyes. While goodbyes are always sad, it wasn't too hard to let go since there are approximately 150 young adults right now living at the compound which makes everything crazy but a TON of fun.



Once all the parents and siblings left, the real fun began. We played some introduction "get to know you games" and then watched an MCC movie called "Second Hand Pants."



Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGhLWXo2VG4 ... now go watch it!



After we all watched the movie, we were given a challenge. We each were given an item from an MCC thrift shop, and we have to wear the item sometime while on assignment and then take a picture of ourselves and send it back for everyone to see. I got a very ... ummm ... stylish ... purple shirt which I would describe as being perfect for whoever is going to be next in the casket (and I'm really hoping that's not wear my picture will be taken!).



In the evening, we had free time and we all went back to our houses. I am living in the Americas house since the Africa house was full and there are a bunch of us "overflow" people who got spread out. We played cards, figured out how to hook up to the internet which wasn't as easy as we thought it would be (maybe MCC is telling us they don't want us online ... yeah right dad!), and hung out until around 10.30pm when everyone was starting to get tired.



I went back to my room and talked with my roommate, Lindsey, for awhile before we headed off to sleep. This morning we had breakfast at 8am and we have a planned devotional session with some singing and a speaker (Bruce Campbell-Janz) at 10am. In the afternoon we will be discussing MCC history and their mission work followed by dinner and a free evening off.



I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of my time here =)