Thursday Oct. 20
The girls and I had packed the night before for our adventure to Fruitland which is north of Orlando. We were going to pick up our new volunteer, Flora, in Immokalee which is west of us on our way up there. The 5 hour drive was looking a bit long at 9:30 in the morning but I had my book with me and excitement inside me so I was ready to go. Patricia drove us the whole way up while the rest of us got to ride along. The car was packed with everything we thought we'd need for the next four days. The drive up there was nice, especially being able to get to know Flora since she joined after we had already started our year. I was also able to finish the book they had asked us to read about living in a community that we would eventually have a discussion over. We finally arrived at the camp we were staying at a little before 4 PM. The Tampa girls, Candace and Cristina, were already there so we found each other and gave hugs. Our Orlando crew arrived casually late and we were able to get going with our weekend! After a short overview of our retreat, we started dinner and a few of us went out to the lake that is just beside the camp to take pictures. We had dinner together and a brief talk but then were able to have some fun for the night which included karaoke! No worries that I did participate several times. We all finally wore ourselves out for the night and went to bed.
Friday Oct. 21
After an attempted good night's sleep in the dorm-like beds, all 11 of us were ready to start our day with some nice weather. Our morning started with a talk given by one of the sisters that is a support for us in the program, Sr. Kathleen. She led us through the idea of journaling, which I already do and really enjoy. We went through several different exercises using the Beatitudes as our guide. I was able to take a lot away from this part because I enjoy writing and just being able to put all my thoughts down on paper. It also reminded me that I need to journal more about my prayer life and not just use my blog as my outlet. Our next speaker was alumni who helped us look at different stories in the Bible using a new perspective. We broke up into small groups and had to break down a story using our "who, what, when, where" and then reading into the meaning instead of immediately looking at the "why". I struggled with this but definitely found it interesting. That afternoon, we listened to a speaker who helped remind us that we need to make sure and take care of ourselves over this year of service. I definitely forget about this so it was a good reminder for me. As an effect of this talk and our executive director, Elaine, I have started counting my calories each day and it is making me much more aware of what I eat and how much I eat. My hope is to start better portioning my food. That afternoon, we all had to meet with one of the staff (Elaine, executive director, Valarie, program director, or Sr. Florence, spiritual advisor/site coordinator) to discuss the goals that we had made at our orientation. Once we finished this, a few of us went and shot the basketball for a bit to relax. Cristina, Amanda, and I went for a walk around the grounds and discovered an orange grove that was actually off the property but it was still neat to finally be close to an orange tree! We had tacos for dinner that evening and karaoke came out once again for a little bit. We also were surprised with t-shirts from our directors that night. After, Amanda and I stayed up playing a Scrabble card game and talking til about 11 before we went to bed. The next morning we had a ropes course so I wanted to be well-rested.
Sat. Oct. 22
The ropes course was calling our names this morning. We had the low ropes first to get our minds going and then high ropes in the afternoon. Before we got there though, I was able to wake up just early enough to catch the sunrise and it was beyond worth it.
This cross is just sitting in the lake, not too far off the dock and it was a favorite focal point of mine in many other pictures from the weekend. After everyone else was awake and ready to go, we met our instructors and headed out to the low ropes course. Our first activity as a group was to pick an animal and then we could only make the sound of that animal. We were all standing on 3 different logs and had to put ourselves in alphabetical order according to our animal. I was lucky and barely had to move but it was interesting to see how everyone else reacted and moved while making their appropriate sound. We had pandas, platypuses, giraffes, and then a few normal animals that helped provide some humor for all this. After that exercise, we did a jump rope challenge where we all had to get past this moving jump rope in the fewest amount of swings. I used my jump roping expertise as best I could. Our instructors provided some humor during this and helped lighten up the stressful moments for some. All 10 of us eventually made it in one swing. Once we made it past that, we headed to what they referred to as the "Cheerios and Teddy Grahams" adventure where we had to get from the "baby island" to the "fantasy island of ice cream" balancing on "Cheerios" and we were the Teddy Grahams. We had "graham crackers" or wooden planks to help us connect to the different Cheerios or raised square platforms that were about 2 ft wide. This took us the longest because there were so many different opinions on how to get everyone from the main platform, across the 5 small platforms, to the other large platform using the 3 boards. We had to start over a few times and there were many moments of frustration but we eventually made it! This was a big moment for our community, I think, because we did not all realize one another's strengths and weaknesses for situations like that until then. By the time that hour of trial and error and then eventually success was over, we were all ready for lunch. We managed to squeeze in one more challenge of swinging to different platforms like Indiana Jones on the way back as well. After lunch came a whole new test for many. We were doing high ropes which meant climbing and testing fears of heights. We had many whole overcame their fear and made it to the top and a few who still struggled. Our first high rope was climbing to the top of a telephone pole, standing if you chose, and then jumping to the trapeze bar if you wanted. My friends all did very well and went to the top at least. I went to the top and was ready to take on that bar. I wanted to try and sit on top of the trapeze bar but was not quite in shape enough I suppose. I enjoyed that jump very much though!
I'm just hanging out enjoying my time up there! I have come to realize that I really don't mind heights anymore. Before this year, it was a huge fear of mine but I just climbed up there like it wasn't a big deal and was taking in the view. I did the same with the zip-line which was after the "Leap of Faith" above. Candace and I went down the zip-line together and I was able to see her through her moment of struggle before we zipped down together. She did great! We also had another girl who was very nervous once she climbed up (she did not do the "Leap of Faith" above) but after a large amount of confidence, she finally overcame her fear and zipped down! We were so proud of her! It was time to finish ropes for the day so we helped the guys pack it up and headed back to shower before Mass that evening. After a chat with Cristina, we headed to Mass and were able to spend some more time with God as community. We had dinner following and then a game of "Werewolf" that night. Elaine's fiancee always brings his game and introduces us to new characters every time. After a few rounds, we were all pretty tired from the day and headed back to our cabin. Several of them stayed up talking but Cristina and I had a small chat and some Facebook time before deciding we wanted a good night's sleep before heading back tomorrow.
Sun. Oct. 23
It was the last day together and I was feeling a little sad. We had breakfast and discussion over our book of the quarter which led to some really neat conversations. I was able to learn a lot about everyone else's backgrounds about where they were in their relationship with God which is something that I don't think we are always willing to talk about. I was grateful for those who shared though. Not many had read the book the entire way through though (it was definitely a struggle for me at times because of the content) but for those of us that did, we got a prize. It was positive reinforcement at its best! After receiving our new books for the quarter (The Shack), we started cleaning up the building that we had made our home in for the past 4 days. Separating food, putting chairs away, and organizing belongings. None of this is our favorite part because it means we have to separate again and go back to our cities. 2 of the volunteers, Nich and Candace, happen to have the same birthday, 11-11-11, and decided to take me up on the offer of celebrating their birthday down here in Miami! This means lots of visitors here in a few weeks but Amanda, Patricia, and I could not be more excited! We took a group picture by the lake once everything was cleaned up and then it was time to head out.
Here is our group picture at the end of our time together. It is such a wonderful community to be part of. It is sad to not be in the same city as all of them but I am so appreciative of the time when we are together. After we hugged and said "see you soon", we went our separate ways. Our car stuck with the Tampa crew and stopped to eat at the Taco Bus in Tampa on the way back. It was definitely delicious and filling. I also enjoyed seeing Amanda excited to share something that is part of her home with us. While enjoyable, we knew that we had to keep driving. Flora still had to be dropped off in Immokalee and I had lesson plans to write. We hugged the girls and went on our way. I sat in the front seat and started working on my lessons, or at least what I could work on while the girls drove. We finally arrived back at our apartment around 8:30 that night and I was so tired. The Cards game was also on so I wanted to catch part of that. I was nervous about being able to finish all my lessons though so I caved and called the principal to ask for a little extra time. She was very kind and said it was no problem and totally understood. I could not stay up much past 11 so I went to sleep.
Today
School came way too fast this morning and I was exhausted from the moment I woke up to the moment it was over. A few of the students came up and gave me big hugs and others acted like I was never gone. The day went as normal, however. My teacher had actually taught farther than the lessons I wrote for last week so I have to rewrite a few lessons I have already made for this week. We also kept writing our letters to our pen pals back in Kansas and I cannot help but laugh at how concerned and confused some of my students are about this. They don't want to give away "personal information" like their age. I laughed. Some of them are really getting into the idea and others, not so much. My class has 22 girls and 8 boys but Mrs. Stewart's class has 9 girls and 14 boys. This will prove interesting for who in my class can be mature enough to write to a boy. My boys, of course, volunteered to write to the girls but I informed them that was not necessary. Their faces sunk in disappointment. After school was out, I worked on catching up on all the grading that was waiting for me. I went to a meeting for Volunteer Broward tonight and it was hardly exciting. I went though and now I can participate more. I have been watching the game, looking at lessons, and writing this blog ever since I came back.
I am going to leave you with a few favorite pictures from my retreat. I hope you enjoy! I sure did!
Above: Cristina and I just hanging out in the door frame.
Above: Group picture with our new shirts before the ropes course.
Above: Roommate picture!
Above: One last picture of the sunrise!
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