Ready for take-off

As I sit in my temporary bed in Akron, PA, I am amazed at how time has flown by.  My Bethel College life is over, my third summer as head cook at Keola is done, and now SALT orientation is coming to a close.  In each of these places I have had to say goodbye to people, not to mention my family and Sam.  I hate goodbyes, so I am looking forward to some hellos. 
Tomorrow at 12:25 I leave for Honduras!!  It's hard to describe how I'm feeling right now... mostly excited about seeing this place for the first time, meeting my team, and being surrounded by a new culture and language.  A little bit nervous, about the travel part and possibly not being able to communicate once I get there. 
Orientation has been so much better than I had expected.  This week I have been surrounded by 91 people from 23 different countries, including Brazil, China, Zimbabwe, Lesoto, and Jordan to name a few.  About half of the group are in the SALT program, which means they come from the U.S. or Canada and are doing a one-year service term in another country.  The other half are a part of the IVEP program, which is people coming from other countries to serve in the U.S. or Canada.  I have come to see that despite the cultural differences these are all young people who love God, love the world, and have a passion for peace and justice in the world.  It is so inspiring and encouraging to be around these people and hear their stories.  I have easily learned more about cultural differences and ways to bridge that gap than I have learned in my whole life leading up to now.  It is amazing to sit among a group of people and hear two or three translations going on during the conversation.  It makes me excited to one day be that translator for someone.  Coming into this week, seeing all of these new faces was a little overwhelming (but fun).  Now the faces are much more familiar and I feel like I have a new kind of family here.  My roommate, Karina, is from Brazil, and sometimes communication is difficult but I am so thankful to have met her.  We laugh together a lot, and despite the language barrier we have had some good conversations.  Her Portuguese-English dictionary is a lifesaver. :)  Needless to say, it will be tough saying goodbye to everyone tomorrow morning. 
 For those of you who don't know, I will be living and working on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa (the capital city) in a colonia called Nueva Suyapa.  I will be working for a Christian Ministries program called MCM at a school called El Verbo Institute.  My official position is Elementary Reading Program Coordinator.  Basically, this means that I will be working in the library, getting it organized (it is not currently being used very much by students or staff), and starting after-school/summer reading programs and activities.  Before I can even begin to imagine conquering these tasks, I need to learn Spanish... I think that will be my biggest challenge.  When I arrive in Honduras I will have 10 days of language school in Copan with a one-on-one tutor, so I hope that gives me a good start!


I have to get up pretty early tomorrow, so that's all I'll say for now.  I don't know how Internet access will be in the area I'm staying in San Pedro, but I will post again when I can.  I am new at this blogging thing so I hope you will be patient with me. :)