Orientation was wonderful! I spent two weeks with the volunteers in Brooklyn praying, studying Spanish, visiting neighbors and preparing for Honduras. There were four others there preparing for their missions as well. We were a varied bunch, ages 17 to 28. We were a dancer and a singer, a theologian and a philosophy major, a social worker and a business major. We come from all over the country. Quickly, we were friends.
I spent time in a nursing home and visiting neighbors at their homes. I played dominoes with neighbors at the House in Brooklyn and worked in the garden at the house in upstate NY. Everyday we discussed topics pertaining to our volunteer mission to prepare our minds and hearts. We studied writings on each of these topics. The most touching part of the orientation was how quickly the friends from Brooklyn opened their hearts' to me. They didn't know me at all, but loved me because they love the volunteers in Brooklyn and knew that I was their to learn.
One of my new friends has been in the nursing home. When I walked in with Moinette, she smiled at us happy to have a visitor. Moinette normally meets her in the recreational room or lounge area, but today she couldn't go. We sat and talked for almost an hour. We talked about the arts and crafts class that she took recently and she showed us the mask she made. It was simple, but beautiful, just like her. My new friend had been in her room for three years, but the walls were still the stark white of a hospital. So I hung her mask up to make it a little more "homey". It was such a small jester, but so appreciated. When we left, she invited me back. So small and so short, this encounter with a lovely middle aged woman made my day. She and some of her fellow residents at the home lifted my spirits and made my heart grow because of their love and welcoming acceptance.
