One Week

In one week, on Monday, July 25 at 2:00 p.m., I will be boarding a plane in Miami and flying to the Bolivian altiplano (high plains). It's hard to believe it's coming so fast!

Just over a week ago, I got back from my 2 week Pre-field Orientation (PFO) in Southaven, Mississippi. Two weeks may sound like a long time to sit through dozens of sessions about transitions, assessment, and culture - and it was - but I had so much fun that the time actually flew by.

There we were, 80 or so teachers getting ready to jet off to schools around the world (literally!), staying in high school classrooms on creaky cots. Our days were filled with sessions to prepare us for our journeys ahead, and our evenings were filled with pick-up games of volleyball and soccer and whatever else came our way. Over 2 weeks, we played more card/board games than I've played all year! We even got to go to a Red Birds minor league baseball game in Memphis. (They won!) We watched fireworks and Super 8 in our spare time, and I got to know an amazing group of fun, talented teachers who God is calling to Korea, Indonesia, Ghana, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Turkey, and...the list could go on!

In the actual orientation part of PFO, we explored how different cultures interact with one another, and identified areas that could create conflict as a result of cultural misunderstandings. We took several personality tests and inventories to learn how we work in groups and how we deal with conflict. It as eye-opening to step back and think about my own tendencies. Some sessions dealt with our safety on the field, and some sessions dealt with the stages of transition we will experience as we move to a new country.

One of the highlights of the orientation was meeting our school director (Scott Frost), the other new teachers who will be going to La Paz, and a veteran teacher (Alison, that's you!) who has been teaching at Highlands for 4 years! Alison and Scott gave us the inside scoop about life in La Paz, and Alison gave us some lessons on cultural norms...like the proper way to greet strangers and close friends. We have a great team. I already feel really connected to my four new friends, and I am so excited to work with them this school year.

Here we are!

Maegan, Becca, Julie, Alison, and Me

*Please pray for these girls as they get ready to move. We're all in the packing and goodbye stages of this journey, which can be stressful, exciting, and sad all at the same time. Also, please pray that our whole team of teachers (new and old) at Highlands will be united with the same mindset and love and grace for each other this year, and that the trip to La Paz will go smoothly and safely for all of us.

Another highlight of PFO was learning how NICS was started, and how God is working through its schools around the world. You should go read about it. :) http://nics.org/history

It's not the whole story, but it gives you a basic idea of how NICS became what it is today.

This quote pretty much sums it up:

"This was not originally intended to be a global plan to reach the world, but God's heart for the world pushed us forward, as he opened our eyes to what he was doing in our midst."

And that's pretty awesome if you ask me.

7 days and counting!