Home for the Holidays

Christmas decorations, Santa, candy, cookies, Christmas music, candy canes, lights, red and green, reindeer, gingerbread houses, carols, Christmas trees…these are the things that appear to dominate the Christmas season in the United States, where Americans seem to over-celebrate Christmas for all the wrong reasons. Most years, these traditions tend to get on my nerves, especially when the Christmas season begins before Thanksgiving and lasts through January…but this year I’m glad to be in the midst of it all.

It’s interesting having experienced Christmas in another culture (and being away from home over Christmastime) and comparing that experience to what typically happens here in the US. Last year felt very different – it took us much of the typical Christmas season (or at least most of December) to adjust to our new home in the city, the culture, the language, and the traditions, and each day was a new learning experience for what both Honduran and Spanish culture look like. I’m not sure if it was because of all these changes or if they really just don’t do very much for the holidays in Spain, but it sure didn’t feel like Christmas to us.

This holiday season is also different from most years, because I’m not at home (yet) – and it’s been one of the best I can remember. Straight in front of me as I sit at my desk is a live Christmas tree. It’s decorated with countless balls and other ornaments, strings of popcorn, and lights – including the one (and only) strand of blinking lights at the top. There are also plenty of other Christmas decorations around the house. Around the office are my fellow co-workers, all involved with their own work, occasionally talking to me or to one another. Laughter and jokes and banter are a common part of every day. I look to my left and see the pictures that I have put on my wall, of family, friends, and of my time in Spain – they hold so many wonderful memories. Behind me on the wall are the prayer cards of this year’s participants. Out the window, the sun is shining and giving the illusion that it really isn’t all that cold out – although I know it is. I love it here at HDC. It’s so much fun living here with the other volunteer staff. Our days are a lot less busy now that training is over, especially for my roles. We have more time to hang out, and just get to know each other, and there’s plenty of time for fun.

And soon I’ll be going home for Christmas break, for about two weeks. I’m looking forward to spending time with family and friends. This year, just being here is enough to make me happy – to be with the people that I know, to be surrounded by familiar things (especially to be able to fluently speak the same language as everyone else!), and even to be surrounded by our crazy American culture and it’s superficial love of celebration. Even if everyone else is not necessarily celebrating for the same reasons I am, I know the real reason for the season – and especially feel it after being away last Christmas. Sometimes, it’s a little disheartening to think about what it took for me to be thankful for all these crazy things, but it was definitely worth it – I wouldn’t trade last year’s experience for anything. Still, I’m just glad to be home for the holidays.

December 3

December 3...wow, what a day!

A year ago today, I left Pennsylvania, left the United States, left my friends, left everything that was familiar to me, and got my first look at the country that would be my home for the following six months. Wow...how did I do that?

I started journaling at the beginning of training last year, and have decided to read my journal entries from a year ago. Today, I'm reading from December 3 and 4, 2008 - the days we traveled, and my first day in Spain. Last year, the Spain team and the Indipali team left together to fly to Frankfurt, Germany - we were the first teams to leave. Our spirits were high as we said good-bye to the other 5 teams and to the staff, and headed to the Philly airport. The ride to the airport was full of laughter, and the excitement was tangible. The flight was mostly uneventful, although none of my team really slept. We got to the Frankfurt airport late and had to say a hurried good-bye to the Indipali team - and that's when it hit me. They were my good friends, so saying bye to them was hard enough, but they were also my last connection to anything American, to anything familiar, to anything I knew. After that, it was just me and my team. And so it began.

In movies, I've seen people running through the airport trying to make their flight. That happened to us in Frankfurt - we had less than an hour to get from one side of a huge airport to the other. We didn't run - we sprinted as much as was physically possible with all of our luggage, only to discover that our next flight to Barcelona was almost completely empty. It was a short flight, but allowed for plenty of time to think. I was excited, but also somewhat terrified of what I had gotten myself into. We met my host dad at the airport, and went back to the apartment. We crammed all of our bags - 14 suitcases and carry-ons - into our tiny bedroom. My host parents took us out right away to help us get to know the area, and we went to a nearby mall and ate our first meal in Spain - a Chinese buffet. We went grocery shopping too. That evening, we went to a prayer meeting. After hardly any sleep the previous night, an intense day with lots and lots of Spanish, and the fact that it felt 6 hours later than it really was due to the time change...let's just say that prayer meeting was very interesting, and we all had to try very hard not to fall asleep. Looking back is so much fun, although some of that day's events were not so fun at the time.

So what does December 3rd bring this year? Today is the first day with just us staff in the house - all but one of the teams and participants has left, and the remaining team is away from HDC for a few days doing some volunteer work. I cleaned off my desk this morning, as I haven't really had time to do that for the past three months. I talked to my sister about my upcoming EMU visit. Right now as I type this, I'm listening to Christmas music. Tonight, we're going to pick up a Christmas tree. Life is good :)

How the times have changed...and I can't wait to see what December 3, 2010 will bring!

Thanksgiving, a Ball, and a visit to EMU

Life, as usual, has been crazy lately, this past week especially.


Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. One of the participants is Canadian, and she decided that she would like to make a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. Since I am in charge of food, I was involved, as well as 3 other girls. We didn't tell anyone what we were doing, and we blocked off the kitchen and dining room as we cooked and decorated. It was crazy - Thanksgiving for a few people is one thing, but when you are doing it for 40 people, which means making between 50-60 servings - that is a different story. We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and cranberry sauce. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun!


Tuesday night, the guys decided to bless the girls by preparing a really nice meal for us, followed by a little dance party just for the girls. They called it 'The HDC Ball.' We all got dressed up. They called each girl down individually and took a picture of her, and then we were all seated in the dining room, which they had decorated. They served us drinks and a salad, followed by stuffed chicken, asparagus, and garlic bread, and then an ice cream dessert. It was all very good - I told the main chef that he was welcome to take over my job!


This weekend, I visited Allison and a few other friends at EMU. I drove down Friday night, and came back Sunday night. It was been so much fun confusing her friends - we didn't tell anybody that I was coming, except for her roommate. We got a lot of double-takes, and people asking if we're sisters or twins, and people had fun guessing which one is which. I am got the chance to reconnect with four of my friends who were in training with me last year, which was a lot of fun. It's very interesting, because most of our lives, Allison and I have been in the same group of friends. But these past two years, we've developed different groups of friends. She has her college friends, and I have friends from the YES program. It was really fun meeting her friends, and finally be able to put faces with the names of her friends that she's been talking about.


This weekend, the house will be almost empty. The teams are doing either backpacking trips on the Appalation Trail, or they are doing outreaches in different cities. Three of the four volunteer staff will be here, as well as one team of three people for some of the weekend. It will feel very empty here, but I think we are looking forward to it not being quite so crazy around here! Next week will also be interesting, but I will update you on that later...

Mall Walk

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks of training are over. In some ways, it feels like it has just begun, while at other times, it feels like we've all been here together forever. It's been really, really busy for me. There were a lot of things that I put off in order to help out with the renovation projects, so now I'm working on that pile-up. I've been keeping really busy, especially since I'm doing two roles. But I'm really glad that I do both, because one without the other would not be enough work. Still, it will be nice when things slow down a little bit...

There are now 38 people living at HDC, so the house is full again, which I love. I've slowly started to get to know some of those people, and look forward to ultimately knowing everyone, but that will take time, especially since I am not with the participants for most of their day.

A highlight from the past two weeks was the Mall Walk last Saturday. For the Mall Walk, the Staff and Team Leaders disguised themselves and/or dressed up, and hid in a pre-determined area around the Capitol. The participants went around as teams, and their goal was to find as many of the Staff and Team Leaders as possible, and to get their signatures. In order to get the signatures, they had to do a creative marriage proposal. I decided to use my available resources - Allison, and I didn't tell anyone that I had a twin. Allison came up from EMU, along with 4 others who were in my training together. I found an awesome hiding place and stayed there with one of the guys. The hiding place was so good that only one team found me. So, I technically wouldn't have needed Allison, if going only by the amount of signatures...but it was worth it for the reactions of the participants! Allison and 2 others walked around in some really obvious areas, where all but one team found her. From what I heard, those teams became very creative, and their proposals just kept getting longer and better because she refused to sign their papers because she wasn't me. She even whipped out her EMU ID, but some of them still didn't believer her, and some of them were actually quite mad at her. I'm sorry I missed all these proposals! It was a really fun day, concluded with hanging out with the EMUers.

My schedule has been and will continue to be pretty busy, but I'll try and post updates on here every now and then.

First picture: all the Staff and Team Leaders

These are all the people who were at Mall Walk this year that were in my training last year

And it begins...

Team Leader training begins tomorrow...wow...

I think crazy is the only word to really describe what life has been like at HDC these past few weeks. There are major renovation and construction projects in various stages of completion, and the list of things that need to happen seems to be never-ending. But for me, it has been so much fun.

Loren Rice's family arrived yesterday. Team leaders will be arriving tonight (as of now, the team leaders are Jon Landis, who was in my training last fall and I already know, and Jordan and Jeweli Ritz, which means we still need three more team leaders...). Participants will come after Commissioning, which is two Sundays from now. A lot has to happen before they get here, but with (more) hard work we will be ready for them.

I really haven't spent much time in my office this past week, and have been trying to help out Andy as much as possible. I did a lot of sanding drywall and painting, plus other various odd jobs. The new session room is looking great, but there is still work that needs to be done before the participants arrive. Until that is finished, the Upper Room or the Living Room will be used as meeting spaces. There will be more demo in the old session room as well as other projects before the offices can be moved in, all of which needs to happen sometime during the next two weeks.

It's really nice that all of us as staff already know each other. There are 4 of us volunteer staff: Jess - Training Assistant, Margaret - Hospitality Coordinator, Ben - Community Outreach Coordinator, and then me - Office Assistant and Kitchen Coordinator, and we're all sharing the role of Cook. The three other staff working here include Chris - Training Director, Jan - Center Manager, and Andy - Operations Manager. We were all here during training last year, either as participants, a team leader, or on staff.

It's crazy to think that a training is about to begin. Sometimes it feels like we're not ready for the house to be full of people again, just because of everything that has been happening around here. Us volunteer staff were just getting used to this huge house and for there to be only four of us living here. Soon, before we know it, there will be 37 people living here, plus others that will be in and out. It will be a big change, yes, but I'm excited for it, and I can't wait to see what this year will hold!

This Year...

One year at a time - I think it's the best way to live life. While looking at the whole picture is important, it's easier (at least in my mind) to focus on just a short portion at a time.

I decided on this new outlook on life during the year(ish) that I was in YES, which involved a 3 month training at HDC, and a 6 month outreach in Barcelona, Spain. Those months were amazing for me. It was an awesome opportunity to get a chance to see some of the world, and to realize that not everyone lives, believes, or functions the same way that i do. Coming back afterwards gave me a new appreciation for what I have here in the US, and I learned so many things while gone. Even now I am still discovering how my views have changed. It's fun to look back, and I have many great memories from that time.

And now for this year - I'm very excited for what I'm doing. About 2 weeks ago, I moved in the Harrisburg Discipleship Center (HDC), where I will be serving through August of 2010. I am the Office Assistant, and am also taking over some roles of the Kitchen Coordinator. So...most of these posts will probably be about the lastest happenings here at HDC. I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this blog, but hopefully it will be often enough that you get a chance to see a little bit of what I'll be up to for this year!