A lot has happened since I wrote my first entry! First a quick update. The Yosts and Sittsers headed to Cannon Beach for a short vacation before they dropped me off in Portland that following Monday. It was great fun and a wonderful ending to my summer. On Monday after saying some tearful goodbyes, my mom dropped me off at the airport to meet the rest of the new Jesuit Volunteers. I was instantly overwhelmed but quickly found someone who would be living in my community this upcoming year.
We arrived at Camp Adams and slowly people started trickling in. That evening to begin our week at Orientation, all 150 of us stood in a giant circle and received a traditional native blessing, welcoming us to the Pacific Northwest. Orientation week consisted of meeting tons of new people, answering the same four questions over and over again, singing silly camp songs, and slowly getting to know my new community. I really enjoyed Orientation but there were moments when I was ready to pack my bags and head home. There is something so appealing about being completely unknown but at the same time it is really intimidating. To be honest I was really nervous about my community at Orientation because it seemed like all the other communities had really clicked and meshed well. However as the week progressed our community began to bond and I grew increasingly excited about spending a year with them.
Before starting JVC I had never been to Catholic mass but by the end of week one I had attended mass three times and was slowly starting to understand when I was suppose to stand and sit. However the highlight of Orientation was the Missionary Liturgy. At the end of the Liturgy all of the new communities gathered in our own circles and received a blessing and a cross necklace from our area directors. It was a very moving experience to stand in a circle with seven strangers who I would be spending a year with in intentional community. As we stood there holding hands, I felt so reassured that JVC is exactly what I am suppose to be doing right now.
That Saturday morning we got on a bus and headed into Portland to finally move into our house. Orientation was really fun but we were all anxious to see the house, get situated and actually start work. When we arrived at our house we were so excited… our house is incredible! We have a small raised bed garden and a huge wrap around porch! The house has so much character and lots of JVC history. After some exploration and raiding of the fridge we sat down to discuss who would live in what room. I thought this would be a quick process but it ended up taking us three hours! After much discussion it was decided that three of us would be living in the huge attic and the other five would get their own rooms. After the long and tedious rooming discussion we spent the weekend exploring our neighborhood, moving in, and getting situated. The weekend was great as we all started to feel more comfortable around each other.
We all started work on Wednesday. My first day was a lot of sitting around reading manuals, but it felt good to finally start work. My boss and co workers are all wonderful and friendly women. They have made me feel so welcome and I have only been here a couple of days. My biggest concern right now is that my Spanish is not at the level I want it to be. Most of my co workers speak to me in English, which is nice but at the same time I wish they would speak to me in Spanish because I know that most clients I interact with will only speak Spanish. I feel that I am currently just waiting around but all my co workers assure me that in no time I will be super busy and overwhelmed but I am still waiting for that to happen.
Even though we had only worked three days, my housemates and I were exhausted when the weekend rolled around. On Saturday we went on a hike with one of our housemate’s agency and then spent the afternoon napping in our really hot house that has no air conditioner. That evening we got together with the other three houses in the Portland area and danced the night away. Sunday morning my housemate and I did a little Church exploring. We attended a church called Mosaic which neither of us really liked. This Sunday made me realize how fortunate I was to find a church I really liked while I was in college. That afternoon a couple of us went on a bike ride to explore North Portland which was a much better decision than sitting around our uncomfortably warm house. That evening our community had our first spirituality night. It was a really cool evening as we sat in our living room discussing the ways in which we worship God. Our community is unique in the fact that all eight of us are practicing some type of Christianity. Our main discussion focused on communion as each of us got to discuss the significance of communion. It was interesting to hear my Catholic roommate’s qualms about communion and about the Catholic Church in general. All of us have similar frustrations with our respective churches. It was neat to focus on similarities in our faith practices rather than our differences. Our first Spirituality night was a success.