Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Back From Orientation!

Where do I begin!? I had a great (but long) week at Stony Point Center in New York- about thirty miles from the city. It began with a very long couple of days with seminars on things like cultural competency and sexual misconduct. The weather was beautiful, even the day after hurricane Irene. I met a lot of great Young Adult Volunteers from other parts of America, all traveling to many different parts of the world.

As the week went by, we all began to make friends with each other. One of my friends I met will be going to Hollywood for his year of service. By the end of the week we were so close, I felt like I was supposed to be going with him. It was just as hard saying goodbye to the people I met over the week as it was to say goodbye to my friends back home. It's amazing how close you can get to people over the course of a week.

The best night of my week, if not the best night I've had in the past few months, was the night of the hurricane. My new friends and I decided it would be a good idea to stay up until sunrise. As the night got later, the storm began to build up. During the peak of the raining, a YAV going to Atlanta and I decided to go play in the rain, barefoot. In the forty-five minutes that flew by, we ended up swinging, sliding, and running. The best part of the night was when she and I decided to walk the labyrinth that Stony Point has. It was an amazing experience, and I could feel God's presence in the rain, in the gravel beneath my feet, and in the laughter, smiles, and hugs we exchanged.

Stony Point gave me an amazing week to prepare for the upcoming year. I made great friends that I will never forget, and I miss them a lot already. Some of them I will see in October, but most of them I will have to wait until September of next year to see. Facebook and texting will not suffice, but I'm glad we'll be able to keep in touch as our journeys unfold. It was a great reminder that I will never be in this year alone.

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