First Week Fun

So my orientation week is officially over and the end was just as exciting at the beginning. We visited all of the other volunteer sites, which are: My Sister's Place- a day shelter for women and children, Our Daily Bread- CC's hot meal program open 24/7/365 for three meals a day, Christopher Place- an employment center for formerly homeless men , Esperanza Center- immigration outreach providing ESL, medical clinic and legal services, and Villa Maria- a school for children who are diagnosed with special needs and/or an emotional disturbance. It was great to see where everyone else will be working.

One thing that I was pretty proud of this week was my ability to drive in the city. I jumped at every opportunity I could to drive somewhere so that I'd be comfortable driving to work on Tuesday.  I found that it is not nearly as difficult or scary as I thought it would be and I'm beginning to really get a sense for the layout of the city.

On Wednesday we went to Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center where we did team building activities and some high ropes challenges. I climbed to the top of a 25 foot telephone pole and then jumped off! While wearing a harness of course. On Friday, Allison put together a beautiful commissioning service for us with our supervisors and other members of CC. We prayed together for our intentions for the coming year and each of our supervisors spoke and gave us each a small gift. My supervisor's said that she was thinking about what I might be able to use, but saw that the lead caseworker had already set up my desk for me with everything I needed. When she was looking through the notes of past Project SERVErs, she noticed something about a cactus and noted how they compare to the clients at Sarah's House. She noted that their prickly exterior sometimes causes people to keep their distance, but with a little care and nourishment they are allowed to grow and flourish. I plan to keep it on my desk as a reminder of this metaphor.

So then orientation week was done and we had... FREE TIME! And we painted a mural. That's right, a mural, and it is awesome. We decided that the sand color in our living room was nice, but a little boring with a lot of wall space, so this is what we did:

Rebecca sketched it (inspired by a painting we found online) and then we all worked together to fill in the lines. We're incredibly proud of ourselves and smile every time we look at it. But that's not the only thing we did together. We've been having detailed conversations about how to do groceries, chores, cooking and cleaning around the house. It's going pretty well so far.

I'm sorry I still don't have pictures of my room for you. Like I said, we're waiting to get new beds and desks and as soon as everything is here and in it's place, I'll post some pictures.

Today, we all volunteered together at Our Daily Bread and then we are going to my Aunt Mary Carol's house for a cook out. We can't wait! Tomorrow is our first day of work. I'll be sure to let you know how my first week goes!