Conversation, Self Reflection, Preparation

This week has been an intense week of wrestling with what this next year is going to look like for me.

I arrived in Chicago to find my brother waiting for me.  We got to see each other for almost an hour before he had to leave.  He came with the family of one of the girls going to South Africa.  He rode with them from Goshen to see me.  It was a very, very nice surprise.

I am staying in a hostel with the other 8 members of Radical Journey (RJ).  There are five women in one room and 4 male RJ participants and the leader in the other.  There has been quite a bit of bonding time with the group as a whole.  It's been really nice.  I really enjoy being around and being in conversation with these people.

I met Sam, the other member of the Paraguay team.  He just graduated from Eastern Mennonite University.  His major is computer science, and his minor is music.  We both enjoy singing and being goofy, but we are very different people, too.  We approach the world from different angles.  I think it will be a year of growth and learning how to work together using our strengths to make this year an enjoyable one for both of us.

On Monday we began talking about the next year and doing activities to help us gain some skills for navigation in the city.  We did an exercise as a team in which we found different places in Chicago using the EL and the buses.  As and RJ group, we talked about our personalities and how we, as individuals approach the world.  I think that knowing more about myself will make a major cross-cultural experience much easier.

Tuesday we had some leadership training and had some good conversation about racism and white privilege.  I struggle with how I am going to overcome the white privilege that I have and live in solidarity with my neighbors.  There is a lot of asking questions, and not a lot of having questions answered here.  This is frustrating, but good.

Wednesday we talked about finances, blogging, and theology.  We learned how to more effectively blog (I hope I'm doing an okay job) and what keeping finances would look like.  Having Sam on my team is really nice, because he enjoys numbers and financing comes easily to him, which is not the case for myself.  I'm going to keep papers and receipts to be helpful. :) Theology was good.  It's helpful to look at what my beliefs are and why, and how I think about God.  I hope that my ideas and opinions will continue to grow and change, and I expect that they will, which is exciting.

There were more team activities Wednesday evening.  We were to go to assigned public spaces in the city and read Psalm 30, and then talk about our reflections on how it went.  We also shared our faith journeys and our life stories a bit.  It was a nice time to get to know Sam a little better.

On Thursday, we continued conversation about what this next year was going to look like, and watched The Mission.  We were reminded of what true service looks like, and how to change our attitudes to be more Christ-like.  After watching The Mission, which is on my list of suggested movies for everyone, we talked about what was the cause of what happened in the movie and the character's outlook on life and their situations.

Friday we talked about living simply and sustainably, and had some conversation with program alumni.  We also talked about how our beliefs should shape our actions, without being forceful.  We talked about how we attained our beliefs, and why we believe them.  It is something that I've struggled with for a while, and it was nice to continue conversation about it.  Talking with program alumni was really helpful.  I think that it will be really nice to be able to look back on the notes I took as they gave suggestions for the year.  Hind sight it 20/20, you know.

Today, we had a three hour silent retreat.  For all of you who know me reasonably well, you know that being silent for three hours is a pretty hard thing for me.  I walked for most of it, trying to refrain from talking to strangers.  Sam and I are going to go do something as a team, soon.

This weekend we have different activities that we will be doing, you know, to help us figure out ourselves some more.  We all ship out on the fifth.  I will be sad to leave all of these amazing people, but I'm more and more excited to be on location and be learning Spanish.

Love,

Sarah