Dreamers and Seekers

This morning we invented and participated in the first “take-your-unemployed-friends-to-work day” when we followed Nancy (moving across three lanes of DC traffic in 100 ft) to her office in Virginia. She works for a Just Neighbors, a non-profit organization that provides legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees. We were impressed as she told us about her job, shared client stories, and offered legal advice in Spanish to Javier over the phone.
After we left Nancy and DC, our next stop was Sarah’s friend, Kathryn’s, house in Harrisonburg, VA. We wanted to get there via Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, so we turned off the angry GPS and forged our own route using old fashioned AAA maps. It was fun to see the scenic overlooks, and Ali was excited to meet fellow Michigan folks at one pull-off point. Well, fun described our Skyline Driving for about 45 minutes, until Sarah started to get carsick and we realized that at the rate we were going, taking Skyline Drive to Kathryn’s house would take us all day. So we turned around, submitted ourselves once again to following GPS directions, and drove more directly to Kathryn’s. We’ll probably return to Shenandoah National Park tomorrow for some hiking (especially since we already paid for a multi-day pass, I’d like to get $15 worth of scenic Americana experiences). 
Now we’re at Kathryn’s lovely home and are headed out to play Frisbee. We like that people here have southern accents.
-Robyn

After what could have been a harried drive to the northeast corner of Washington, D.C. we arrived safely at the house of Nancy Sharpe who works for Mennonite Central Committee. Thanks to my mad driving skills we had little difficulty navigating round-a-bouts, spontaneous U-turns, and quick right turns. Sarah expertly navigated from the front and Robyn contributed to stimulating conversation in the back. Soon she will demonstrate her driving prowess, once we begin our trek to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. But now an account of our first interview and our sight-seeing adventures in Washington, D.C. We began our trip to the first interview at 10:30 a.m. after sleeping in for a glorious time, our first true morning of summer now that exams, graduation, and check-out are behind us for good. Our location seemed quite simple: the Interfaith Conference on the corner Rock Creek Cemetery road and Allison Street, a close 15 minute drive from our host’s house in Trinidad. We were more than a little surprised to discover that the office we were going to was located in a cemetery. I was delighted by this, however, since I recently made it my personal goal to visit a cemetery in every city on our road trip. Obviously this is a sign that my goal is a good one.

The interview itself was really interesting. Reverend Mark Hoelter graciously agreed to be interviewed by us and answered our questions really well. We asked the obligatory three from the Career Center’s interviewing guide and then delved into our own, asking how he remained personally invested and renewed when dealing with faith issues all the time, what obstacles he faced to faith dialogue, and how internships in his organization work.

After the interview we drove back to our host’s house, got a tad lost, but turned around as we did earlier and zipped our way through D.C. traffic to an exciting lunch of peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam sandwiches and carrots. After that we walked to the bus and got on the D8 to Union Station where we met our friend, Kelly for an afternoon at the Smithsonian. We decided on the Natural History Museum and thoroughly enjoyed the mammal section, especially the bats, the soil section, the Korea exhibit, Western civilization, and the forensics lab, where we figured out the sex, age, and time of a person based on the bones, the nails, and shells found in a coffin in New England.

Thanks for those who have commented thus far! We appreciate your involvement in our adventure!

Love,
Ali

For more info on the organization Rev. Mark Hoelter is part of check out their website: http://www.ifcmw.org/

To see our pictures from today, check out this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061838&id=55303286&l=e4b840ce3c

We survived graduation. The tassels turned, then keys turned in the lock for the last time. We’ve left empty apartments and in a few hours we’ll be leaving an emptied campus. We’re officially homeless– nomads soon to hit the road.

Our first interview is tomorrow morning in D.C. Wish us luck!

- Sarah

Just reflecting on this whole process I find it interesting how fluid are plans can be. Initially we had certain ideas about where to go and how much time to spend somewhere. For instance, we were going to spend a day or so in Erie visiting a convent there. But as we began contacting people and we realized the convent probably wouldn’t work out for an overnight stay we started to shift things around and now we will be spending more time in Toronto and Boston. Also, I began wondering about our stop in Philly and if our time wouldn’t be better spent roaming the Shenandoah Valley, where I’ve never been. That way we could go to D.C. and then VA before heading up to Johnstown and over to Pittsburgh. I really love the flexibility of this road trip so far. Knowing that we are not necessarily tied down and locked in to all of our plans (aside from set interviews) gives me joy and helps me relax. It is as if I have some control over my fate after all…