February 3, 2018
As I sit here this evening, in a green Adirondack chair
under a thatched-roof gazebo in the courtyard of our small hotel, I feel
completely comfortable. We’ve had a
lovely evening meal together and taken a walk around town, and are now relaxing
at this hostel which will be our home for the coming week.
Over the course of several hours in the car driving here
today, I did not have a moment of boredom.
I enjoyed looking out the window and talking to everyone in the car
about all manner of subjects. By the end of the week I think I will know a lot
about all the folks in this group – which is great!
Some observations from the day:
-At the end of our morning devotions, held in the parking
lot between the two rental cars, Elissa thankfully noticed that one of our cars
was getting a flat tire due to a nail. After a little rigamarole, though, we
got a new one and started off down the road.
- Kara and Jacob did an amazing job driving on some
challenging roads.
- The ocean looks particularly blue when contrasted with the
gray DC winter weather.
- Goats are cute.
We’ve all come a long way to be here – from frozen
Washington, DC; from our offices, meetings, daily routines – and spent seven
hours in two cars driving through cities and countryside to a place most of us
have never been. Some of us know each other well, others are still getting
acquainted. But I think we all share at
least one common motivation for being here, which is to expand our notion of
the community that we belong to, and to change the lives of the people we meet
the way they will change ours – by beginning new friendships, becoming familiar
with new places, challenging our bodies and minds in new ways.
Personally, when I am at home I spend a little too much time
thinking about all the many things on my many agendas. Already here I feel myself focusing more on
the present. I hope I can practice that focus throughout the week and take it
back when I go home.
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