Orientation

We have now completed the first week of orientation here in Akron, PA and are enjoying a weekend of relaxing and celebrating our first wedding anniversary! It is crazy to think that this time last year we were in the flurry of activity that surrounded our wedding. In the spirit of reminiscing we recently travelled to Chambersburg, PA to visit a small farm where Kaarina interned. Visiting with the farm manager, seeing the changes that have taken place on the farm and stopping by the local farmer market for Jamaican Jerk Chicken were among the highlights.

There are 36 other new service workers living in the small village behind the MCC Akron Headquarters. All except three are traveling overseas and the majority are young married couples like ourselves! The days are filled with group discussions, lecture type seminars (concerning peace, justice, computer safety, culture shock, MCC policies, history etc.) and plenty of food combined with meeting new people. There are three others traveling to Laos with us to take up new roles. Although they won’t be working in the same project as us we will be flying on the same airplane into the country and most likely orienting and studying the language together.

We are excited for another week of MCC orientation and then several busy days of packing at home. For our next update we will most likely be in the beautiful country of Laos!