Bye Bye Akron

The last few days of orientation went by in a whirlwind. I think at this point I was getting tired of having my schedule dictated for me and I was getting restless without having convenient access to a vehicle or public transportation.

The second week of orientation seemed very business like. We learned all about MCC structure, the boards, the policies, power and privilege (which still sits heavy in my heart, and I'll process more and let you know my thoughts on that one), expenses and how to keep track.....so much information, so many handouts, so little time to make sense of it all.

But on the flip side, once the sessions were done, it was anything but business. We had really started to connect with our fellow MCCers. One night we had a marshmallow roast in one of the fireplaces of the house (outside of course) and talked about being vegetarian, getting worms, what scrapple is, and passport regulations. One of the fellows at orientation, who's wife is an MCCer, is doing his doctoral thesis on MCC and so he made some great contributions to our conversations; the things you learn from a guy who has interviewed almost everyone in MCC....

I started to feel pretty connected with a few of the other moms there. Especially Jaime and Laurie. At our Meyers-Briggs session, we found out that all three of us have the same personality type. Ha! What are the chances of that? We each have three kids, all of our kids are similar age, and so we would talk at length about packing, helping our kids adjust to a new culture, and coping techniques for ourselves. We took a picture on the last day and we all are going to put the picture in our kitchen to remind us on those awful days, that there is another mom out there who can relate, and who is praying for us.

Carl and I helped plan our sending service, along with four other people. We sang, had Arli (who is the executive director) say a few words, did a few responsive readings and we had communion together. In the beginning of the service, the kids all came in singing and we had a prayer of blessing for them. I'll post the video; it's priceless.

Carl led the communion and I observed two things 1) he may not have a parish, but he's still a pastor and 2) Carl misses leading. Carl and I had experienced a very interesting communion while we were in Fresno, where we had someone who had never served communion come up and get the elements and we also ate all the bread and drank all the juice. It's hard to overcome those social constraints that tell us only to take a little bit. But it's supposed to be a meal, and so we eat together until it's gone.

The other aspect of the sending service was the string tying. It's an ancient tradition where you take a string and tie it on someone's wrist and pray a blessing on them. So everyone, staff and volunteers, all took strings and walked around the room, tying strings to each other. It was quite moving, to tie strings and to have them tied to you. And the tradition also is for you to leave the strings on your wrist until they fall off, a physical reminder of the blessings you have received.

After lunch, at our last Latin American meeting, we all felt drained, tired, and emotional. We went around the room and shared our thoughts as well as what the next few weeks would hold for us. Most of us were returning home to take care of closing house before leaving for our assignment. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement in the group as we all expressed our desire to just get on a plane and go. We were ready and yet hesitant. Somehow the two weeks here were a time of transformation and connection. Like a delicate cloth carefully weaved over the last 14 days, each strand representing a different person. We all sat on this sacred cloth, but now it's time to move off and the strands are unraveled, the cloth will not exist any more, we can't revisit this experience again.

Carl and I said some goodbyes as many people were leaving that afternoon. Some of these people we will see again, either in Bolivia or in Canada, but others we will assume that our paths will never cross. It's hard to imagine that, but 10 years ago I never imagined I would ever be back in Bolivia. So who knows.

That evening, I was eager to do some shopping, or maybe I just needed to walk the aisle of Target one last time. So Jaime and I took our girls and went for a drive. It was a fun outing and I enjoyed visiting with Jaime. As I sat listening to her, it was hard to imagine that 15 days before I didn't even know her, and that day, the thought of not being able to see her brought tears to my eyes.

We wandered around Target, picked up a few things, and treated ourselves to smoothies. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I whispered a little bye bye to my happiest place on earth. Jaime, Hizee, Kezia, and I got back just before dark. Joel was already in bed and Asha was sleeping. Kezia was tired and so she was snoring in no time. I went back outside and joined a group in front of the fireplace at Middle East House for s'mores. By 10:00 I was pretty exhausted and so I mustered up enough energy for a few more goodbyes.

I went back to our room in Asia House, finished packing up the clean clothes and fell asleep almost immediately in my bed. Carl, well I had no idea what time he came to bed. I think he was listening to the Bomber game with Bruce on the computer.