Orientation recap: Part 2

Since being back from orientation, I've been working on getting my visa documents together and catching up on all the yearly doctors appointments I've been putting off until now.  Not mention, I'm still working full time for another week and a half!

So, more on orientation.  Two weeks seemed like a long time for orientation.  What could we possible talk about for two whole weeks?  Well, we covered a lot!  When we were at our home base of Stony Point, we had sessions with various members of the Mission Personnel staff.  We covered topics like how to tell our own story to the people we'll meet, the history of missions in the Episcopal church, and nuts and bolts stuff like health insurance and fundraising.  Most of our time at Stony Point, though, was spent with Chris Pullenayegem, our cultural competency consultant.

Chris helped open our eyes to what it will be like to live in another country.  We started by examining our own culture, and the things that have shaped who we are.  For me, my family and my education are two of my biggest culture-shapers.  My family has always had high expectations, but in a good way.  As a kid, my mom always treated me like an independent person.  She talked to me like an adult, and she let me try things my own way.  In return, I was expected to act mature and make good decisions.  I think, for the most part, that parenting philosophy worked really well.  My family instilled in me a great desire to use my talents and take pride in my work.  I credit my education, especially my college education, with giving me the tools to do good work, and for teaching me what I can accomplish when I set my mind to it.  We also examined how the different places we are going to will differ from the US, and we spent a lot of time preparing ourselves for the challenges that we will face because of these differences.  It turns out that most of the YASCers have the same anxieties about out missions, like being isolated because of a language barrier, doing something offensive because we don't know any better, or being misunderstood because our body language means something different to us than it does to our hosts.  Overall, our sessions with Chris were really helpful.  We were able to talk through some of these issues, and I think by the end of the two weeks, we all felt a little better, or at least we realized that all of us would be going through the same transition.

Some of my favorite days at orientation were our 'special' days.  As I mentioned before, we spent a whole day at the Church Center in New York City.  It was really great to meet the staff there, and put faces to the names of people I've been emailing or read about.  We spent another day at Holy Cross Monastery.  That may have been my favorite day.  It came almost half way through training, and it was really more of a break.  It gave me a chance to spend some time alone with my thoughts. 

The second week of training, we went back to the city to spend a day with a group called Faith House.  We went to several different sites of worship, including a synagogue, a catholic church, St. Paul's Chapel, Park 51, and a Buddhist center (you can see some of those sites in my pictures from my previous post).  My favorite was Park 51.  This place got a lot of attention for being the 'Ground Zero mosque'.  While there is a worship space in the building, it's actually a community center that is open to everyone, more like a YMCA or a JCC.  Also, it's not really at Ground Zero.  It's several blocks away.  You can't even see the Freedom Tower from there.  I think the reason I struck me so much is that we heard very personal stories from two individuals who worship there.  It was really eye-opening to hear what it was like to be a Muslim in New York right after 9/11.  I won't repeat what they said, because I'm sure I would get the details of their stories wrong, but let's just say they have been through a lot, but they've managed to stay way more open and tolerant of Christians than Christians have been of them.  Faith House did a great job facilitating this day for us.  If you'd like to know more about Faith House, check out their website: http://www.faithhousemanhattan.org/

Our final day in the city was the 'find your way in NYC' day.  Basically we went off in groups to check out different neighborhoods where we might be outside of our comfort zone.  My group went to Washington Heights, Harlem, and the South Bronx.  I had a great time that day.  We were supposed to meet people and find out what what it's like to live or work in their neighborhoods, and I discovered I have no problem approaching strangers and asking them to tell me about themselves.  Not everyone was willing to talk to me, but I had some good conversations with the people who were. 

I could go on and on about all I learned at orientation, but I think I'll just leave it at this:  The most important thing I learned is that I really can do this.  Not only am I capable of spending a year abroad, but it's going to be an awesome experience, and it's going to change me in ways I can't even imagine right now.  After orientation, I'm convinced all these changes will be good :)