A Whirl Wind!

This past week I was in San Antonio for orientation. There were 45 MVSers this year, and we all stayed in the San Antonio Mennonite Church. It was cozy! We shared four toilets, and three showers. All of us were on air mattresses in various rooms across the church.

It was a bit of a mess for me to get to San Antonio. I had a flight scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and the plan was that I would get to San Antonio Sunday night. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed four hours, causing me to miss my connecting flight in Dallas. When I tried to reschedule, there were no flights going into San Antonio until the next morning. It was a rough start. I made the best of it though, my mom and I went to the Olive Garden, and then had a How I Met Your Mother marathon.

When I finally got to San Antonio, everyone was out and about exploring the neighborhood the San Antonio VSers will be staying in. I was able to hear their reflections on exploration. Then Regina Shands Stoltzfus, a professor of Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies at Goshen College, came and did a two part seminar on Anti-Racism. I think I would have benefited a lot more from it if I hadn't already been stressed from flights, and waking up early, and entering a new place. It also felt a bit like a review from my time in Chicago.

Overall, the best part of orientation was getting to know all the other VSers. Staff said that this year's VSers meshed really well together, and connected better than previous years. We definitely connected, and felt supported by each other as we anticipated starting our assignments. I really bonded with the other Manhattan VSer, and the VSers in Rochester. We shared our faith stories with each other, and now hope to keep in touch throughout the year.

I left San Antonio early Saturday morning, and arrived in New York City Saturday afternoon. I'm all moved in...at least until my parents ship me the rest of my stuff. My room is pretty small. It's long and narrow. I have a lofted bed, a book shelf, a couch, a wardrobe, and a chest of drawers. It's cozy.

The people in Menno House are really nice, although most of them are moving out within the month. We'll have a whole new house with new people to decide the rules and house culture. It should be good!

Later this afternoon I'll go to Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship (MMF) which is the supporting church for MVS. Tomorrow is my first day of work. The adventure has begun!