Orientation was a good time to reconnect with a few, meet new friends and make connections with those who will also be in Africa, and put faces to the names of staff in the North American offices. There were 29 of us in orientation from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Congo, Egypt, Mexico and the US. We were headed to work in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burundi, Canada, China, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Uganda, US and Zambia. Hopefully I will get a chance to visit or have visits from some of the folks in Central and East Africa. I have the advantage of living only three hours from Victoria Falls, a common vacation destination on the continent.
MCC had kindly allowed me to stay in the States for a planned family vacation in the Black Hills in honor of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Originally, there was a week between orientation and my family trip. Orientation was shortened, and the airlines bumped my flight to the States ahead by one day, so I was able to squeeze in several visits to dear friends on the East Coast I had not seen in awhile.
The easiest east coast friends to visit were Sue and Kevin, formerly members of Portland Mennonite Church, now living in Akron for the past several years. Sue works for MCC, so I saw her frequently throughout orientation. She was my go to person. It was great to spend time and catch up. I also went to their house for dinner one night and got to catch up a bit with Kevin.
Before orientation I was able to visit my friend Corbin and family. Corbin and I met through SOAW and helped start the Catholic Worker together in Portland. We hadn't seen each other in about 7 years. We walked about Troy, visited a nearby Peace Pagoda and mostly just hung out, played games and caught up. It was so great to meet 11-month old Riley.
The weekend after orientation I spent at Cape Cod with Cole, a friend from Holden whom I had not seen in a couple years. The weather was so pleasant after the heat and humidity of Akron. We walked on the beach, went to a wetlands, walked about the village of Barnstable where Cole's parents live, and visited Provincetown one evening.
Then it was off to NYC where I was able to see my friend David who is now living in Brooklyn. David and I worked together for MCC Work and Learn Teams after the earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001, and hadn't seen each other since. He was my life saver during that stressful six months. David and his family met me at Penn Station on their way home from church and helped me navigate my way to my Aunt Jan's apartment where I would be staying. We visited over pizza and I played hide and seek with the kids before they headed back home.
The next day I met up with my dear friend Julia at Grand Central Station. Julia is a Maryknoll sister who has served the last 4+ years in East Timor as a high school teacher. We also met through SOAW and had last seen each other in 2007 when Julia had visited the Catholic Worker. Julia was in the States on renewal, and the Maryknoll headquarters are just outside of NYC, so we were blessed to have a few days of catching up. We walked along the High Line (a park created on an old elevated train line), explored Central Park and even took a day out of the city to hike at Bear Mountain State Park. Ran into some Appalachian Trail thru hikers and had fun talking trail with them.
Then it was off to the midwest for time with family. Over the last few months, my Dad has developed bad back pain caused by stenosis of the spine which has become quite debilitating. He must now walk with a cane and any movement causes pain. He has a good attitude, pointing out that he has much to be grateful for, 73 years of life without any pain till now. Surgery is scheduled for Monday August 21, we pray that it will be successful and he can have some relief from the pain and return of mobility.
My dad's health meant the family vacation to the Black Hills was cancelled. Instead we all convened in Kansas City where my parents live and then went down to the Lake of the Ozarks and hung out as a family there for a few days. It was not the trip we'd planned, but we were able to be together as a family. We even tried to take some photos, but my youngest nephew was not in the mood to cooperate.
With MCC's consent, I was also able to stop a night in London on my way back to Zambia. No, not to see the Olympics, but to see my friends Kath and Steve who I had worked with in El Salvador back in the early 90's. The last time I had seen Kath and Steve, I held their newborn son David who is now in university. We had stayed in touch over the years mostly through their Christmas letters which I would usually respond to by letter or e-mail. We avoided London and instead hung out around their village of Hassocks. Steve and I walked about the countryside around the South Downs one day and Kath and I went to Brighton and the seashore the next day. The countryside near their home is beautiful, with some lovely old windmills. We had dinner with their daughter Anna and pulled out all their photo albums of El Salvador and reminisced.
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