I am finally enjoying some time off this week, as my site does not have programming due to the Independence Day holiday. Taking some time to finally breath, soak in my surroundings, and process everything that I have experienced this far has been very beneficial to me. It has been tough being away from family, as they are all reuniting back home. I have been going on lots of walks, journaling, and talking with family and friends on the phone. I at times need to remind myself of why I am here, and that God has a bigger purpose for me right where I am at.
Never again will I take for granted the comforts of home. Living in a church and now in a school allows me to fully appreciate how nice it is to have a house to call home. The school is great, and it’s actually pretty homey for a school after we have gotten all settled in. We even get to take advantage the projector we have (for our worship song lyrics during Club time for the participants) and have movie nights with a big screen in our staff room.
Our second week of programming went really well. We were all on our own with no help from our Area Director, and overall everything went very smoothly. We had four different church groups, all from the eastern region, and making a total of 63 participants. The weather was fantastic so we were able to do all of our outdoor activities and volunteer sites. Each week I feel will become more and more comfortable. Already I have seen a huge growth in confidence in each of my staff members, as well as in myself. Hopefully our last four weeks of programming will be able to run smoothly as we become even better at what we do!
I haven’t mentioned how our meals work or what our “evening activities” consist of yet. Each meal one of us staff is the “Total Meal Manager,” we get to wear a red apron and delegate tasks to prepare and set out the meal. We have a “Crew” assigned to each meal, who is responsible for helping the Total Meal Manager. Our breakfast crew prepares breakfast, and a pack’n’go lunch line. Everyone packs their lunch at breakfast and puts it into the cooler for their ministry crew. We have 5 ministry crews that volunteer at different sites, we create fun names for them; ours include: Deer, Otter, Moose, Beaver, and Pineapple. We have a different crew help us clean up from the meal (doing dishes, putting food away, etc). So that is how our meals work – a little bit of organized chaos and a little stressful, but it all works out.
After our dinner cleanup crew is done, we then have an evening activity Monday-Thursday. Monday we go to the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center, where participants learn how to belay, then get to climb. This just happens to be right next the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream store, so almost everyone makes a trip there before we leave. Tuesday night we go to the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor, VT where we have a scavenger hunt to make the visit a little more exciting. Wednesday evening we have a hike in Pine Hill Park (one of our ministry sites where they blaze and work on upkeep of the trails). Thursday evening we have a community cookout at a nearby park. We invite community members and church friends by word of mouth to come join us for dinner and visiting in the park, while the youth hang out, play games, and enjoy the company of some kids they know from Kids Club. We have a grill we bring to the park, and bring over the rest of the food as well. And there is a summary of how we spend our evenings. Following that time is Club time, where everyone comes together for a time of worship, skits, and a reflective talk.
The 4th of July we spent in Burlington, VT. Rob and Jenny (our community friends) took my team and I to Burlington to celebrate the 4th. We all hopped into their churches big white 12 passenger van and drove the hour and a half to Burlington. Upon arrival we made a stop for lunch at Al’s French Fry’s – comparable to an old-fashioned diner, and they are apparently everywhere in Burlington. We then checked into our hotel, and had the afternoon to relax. I scoped out the outdoor pool and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then we headed into downtown Burlington and walked around the open air market at Church Street Marketplace (it seems as every town here has a Church Street). We browsed the shops for a while then found a local burrito shop called Boloco (similar to a Chipotle) where we ate dinner. After we finished we hit the candy store, watched a guy playing the didgeridoo. We then wandered down to Lake Champlain. This lake is about 490 sq miles and is mainly on the border of Vermont and Ney York, but goes partially into the Canadian border of Quebec. We were looking out across the lake to the Adirondack Mountains of NY. We found a spot on some large rocks and hung out there until the fireworks. We got there nice and early, as there were thousands of people. All along the lake were food booths, inflatables, live music, and people meandering in their boats or along the waterfront. Before the fireworks started I wandered over to the Skinny Pancake for some iced tea. The Skinny Pancake is a unique creperie, coffee shop, and fondue restaurant. Savory and sweet, they serve crepes in all forms with a large variety of flavor combination, all products coming from Vermont – a wonderful place with a bit of a hippie edge.
Upon returning it was about time for the fireworks. The longest firework production I have ever seen – 25 minutes of straight fireworks over the lake was fantastic! It’s obvious why so many people come to witness this. Leaving was an adventure in itself. Weaving our way through the massive crowds to the street, then to find the big white van that Rob was picking us up in, was all pretty exciting. Eventually we made it, and returned to our hotel. After enjoying each others’ presence, and the fact that we were able to hang out in a hotel room, we all went to bed, tired from a long but fun day. And that’s when I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud – my first time sleeping in a bed for a month and a half; no need to say it was fantastic!
On our way back to Rutland, we took the scenic route and drove through Montpelier to see the capital, ate at a Chinese Restaurant called the House of Tang, went to the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Wilmington, VT and took the tour there – with free samples of their newest ice cream (pretty exciting).
This week our team has been working at the Kids Club with some youth from a local youth group. I love hanging out with the kids – they come for 2.5 hours, and it’s basically like a Vacation Bible School that runs all summer long. Tonight we were able to visit with Kori and Scott, some friends we made at Roadside Chapel. They are a wonderful young couple, and we absolutely love hanging out with them and their two girls who are 8 and 4. Not to mention they are both really great cooks! It’s been great connecting with their girls also, as I do miss my family a lot, and hanging out with my nieces and nephews.
And that brings me to now, hanging out in my classroom of a bedroom and getting ready to relax on my mat for a good night sleep. Tomorrow we head to the community gardens to do some gardening before going to Kids Club, then the Community Cookout.
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