Dreamers and Seekers

Well, folks, this is it. Almost. We have arrived in our final destination – Boston, and today is our final full day together. I must confess that the end has rather taken me by surprise. As I lay in bed this morning (or perhaps, lay in futon, would be more accurate) I realized that I needed to gather many of my belongings from various and sundry locations in the car. Well, there shall be a time for that. Today we are going to drive to Worchester (pronounced “wuhster” in the good ole English tradition of skipping the sounds in the middle and rushing right to the end of words longer than 7 letters) to eat lunch at Bonnie’s house. Tomorrow Bonnie and David are getting married and the Coopers are graciously opening their house today not only to the bridal party, but also to out-of-town guests for what I’m sure will prove to be delicious homemade pizza. I’d better stop describing our plans for today or else Robyn won’t have anything to talk about when she posts next! Now, a synopsis of yesterday and an addendum from the day before:

Sarah forgot to mention in her post about Wednesday that after the interview we stopped in Rochester for lunch with my friend Jeni Adams. We enjoyed the sumptuous fair that Memorial Day leftovers has to offer including hotdogs, German potato salad, coleslaw, 12-hour baked beans, and homemade brownies. After that we continued our long trek to Boston, which Sarah already described.

Yesterday morning we awoke at various times in the 9 o’clock hour and left the Keith’s at 10 to meet Sarah’s friend Jerica whom she knows from high school. We spent the morning lounging on her furniture, every now and then peeking blearily out at the cold, rainy Boston weather that Sarah claims is the result of her presence. After a delicious lunch of penne pasta we left for our third and final interview at Gordon College with scholar-in-residence Stan Gaede. We arrived at Gordon just in time and spoke with this former president of Westmont College and current President of the Christian College Consortium about life experiences and remaining open to God’s gifts as he gives them and takes them away from us. Sarah was newly inspired to pursue graduate school as a result and we set off from there to meet up with Robyn’s friend, Christine, who is a current student of Gordon and who acted as our tour guide for the rest of the afternoon. We finished the day’s tour with coffee at Starbuck’s and drove back hungry, yet happy to the Keith’s for dinner. Katie Keith made a delicious meal of porkchops, mashed potatoes, salad, and snap peas. Ryan’s mother came over later and we got to partake of conversation with her.

Later that evening as we sat in the living room I spied a Super Nintendo in their tv stand and asked if we could play. We all became much more excited after that as we explored the various games that Ryan had acquired over his college years from friends whose systems bought the farm before his. We settled on Super Mario All-Stars, which created nostalgia in all of us, even Robyn who “does not play videogames,” and we all turned into little, loud kids for the rest of the night. Finally, shortly after midnight, we turned off the console and tucked ourselves in, visions of Mario and Luigi dancing in our heads.

Oh! and my job prospects for next year are only getting more and more exciting. In addition to Kazakhstan, I also could possibly work in cemetery plot sales in Pottstown, or as a household manager in Arizona, or I could possibly live near Messiah and work somewhere (never completely discount an option, I am swiftly learning). So, it seems that the end of this trip is the beginning of everything. For me, at least.

Love,
Ali

Addendum: To see pics from Shenandoah (I know, it was ages ago) follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061981&id=55303286&l=71b2e07e91 I’m sorry that some of them are sideways. That will be remedied when I return to Michigan/have more time. More pics to follow…

More pics! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062526&id=55303286&l=e4ac23bf60