Tag Archives: Cross-Cultural

A Day Trip…

20 Tuesday Jun 2017

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Dear Friend,

Since moving to DC, I’ve become quite good friends with a woman named Eileen who works with me in the L’Arche office and is a part of my L’Arche GWDC community. Eileen is my partner in candy-dish maintenance and James Brown/Ray Charles office dancing, and will often refer to me as, “my girl, Mandi” and just generally makes me feel SUPER loved.

On Saturday, Eileen and I took a day trip to Harrisonburg, VA so that we could visit my family. You see, a few months ago I was telling Eileen about the people in the pictures I have at my desk and she said, “I’d like to meet those people.” I knew that I would enjoy being able to share my family and the place where I grew up with her, so we looked at our calendars and found a day that would work for us to go.

On Saturday morning, I met Eileen at her house a little before 9am, and after a little while of hanging out and getting ready together we got on the road. Over the two and a half hour drive we listened to the radio and chatted about life. At one point we even put in the Katy Perry CD that Alfonso, Andrew, and I had listened to on a trip to Harrisonburg several years ago. As we got closer, we started talking about all the things we were going to do throughout the day, and I started pointing out places we were passing that had memories attached to them.

Our first stop was at my parents house. We arrived and said hello to both of my parents and waved hello to my mom’s Shih Tzu, Po, who was being kept on a short leash across the living room. (Po is super sweet, but has absolutely no manners and will jump all over you if you let him. Even though we know that after about 5 minutes of excitement he will likely just want to lay down next to you, it’s best to keep him restrained with new people around) After we said hi, I took Eileen on a quick tour of the house so she knew where everything was (It’s not a big space, so this took all of 5 minutes). Then my mom, Eileen, and I jumped back in the car and headed out to grab some lunch together.

For lunch we went to Mr. J’s Bagels, which is one of my Harrisonburg favorites. When I visit the ‘Burg, I often gather as many of my friends as I can for a brunch together. Our brunches are almost always at either the Harmony Square Mr. J’s or at the Little Grill Collective, downtown. As we drove over, I was reminded of how I would go to Holy Bagel for lunch when my group was in Jerusalem on Cross Cultural and was telling Eileen and my mom about the tuna salad bagel sandwiches I would get. I must have been making her hungry, because that’s exactly what Eileen ordered! After we got our food, my mom and I realized that we had each ordered the same thing a Santa Fe sandwich on an egg bagel (the Santa Fe has: “Grilled turkey with Santa Fe seasoning, Muenster, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing” and is delicious!)

Eileen wanted to see where I had gone to school, so after lunch we drove past Eastern Mennonite School, where I had gone to school for 6th through 12th grade. Then we parked by the Eastern Mennonite University Common’s and spent some time walking around campus together. As we walked around, I noted places like the art building where I had taken a lot of classes, and pointed out the Northlawn dorm where I had lived for my first two years as a student. We went inside the University Commons to explore the bookstore, see my grandpa’s chandelier, and look at all the flags representing the countries EMU has sent cross-cultural groups to as well as the places EMU students, faculty, and alumni call home. It was fun to try and find the flag of the places I’ve been, and see which places Eileen has gone to.

From the Commons we headed out towards the fountain. Eileen and I made sure to check it for pennies and saw one, but didn’t try to fish it out for fear of getting soaking wet. My mom told Eileen about how when she went to EMU (back in the late 80’s when it was still EMC) people would frequently get thrown into the fountain. I couldn’t remember frequent occasions of people getting thrown in, but I told them about the time my friend Megan and I went swimming in the fountain one November at midnight. They both thought we must have been crazy, but I obviously had to swim in it sometime and it’s not like you could just jump in any old time!

From EMU we headed towards Gift & Thrift with a quick detour to my storage unit. For the past few months, I’ve been bringing items I don’t need down to Harrisonburg as I am able, and putting them in my storage unit until it’s time for me to pack them into the Uhaul and drive out to Denver. On this particular occasion, I had brought a suitcase of my winter clothes and a few boxes of cookbooks, board games, and shoes. After our quick detour to drop those items off, we went to Gift & Thrift.

For my first two years at EMU, I had a work study job at Gift & Thrift. Sometimes I would be sorting household items in the back, but most of the time I was running one of the cash registers and keeping the store front looking good. What I remember most about working there, however, is how tired my feet would be at the end of a shift. Eileen and I scavenged the shelves for DVDs and cook books to add to our collections back home while my mom hunted down a light jacket made out of this lovely wool-blend. As we were perusing the store, Eileen modeled this amazing faux fur coat that we found before helping me pick out a pair of earrings to commemorate our trip (They have these really pretty red beads!). While we were there, we also bumped into several people who I know from growing up at Community Mennonite Church. I enjoyed getting to introduce them to Eileen since they already know a little bit about my life at L’Arche and in DC from “the social medias” and from talking to my parents.

As we got in the car after our Gift & Thrift perusal, we realized that we had a bit more time between then and our set dinner time than we had anticipated, and it was a hot day so we wanted to go somewhere with decent air conditioning. After a bit, we decided to head to the movies to watch Wonder Woman! I am a complete superhero movie crazed person, so this was right up my alley. I also hadn’t heard a single person say they didn’t like it and figured we would all enjoy watching Wonder Woman, AKA Diane, try and save the world. And it was true! When I asked Eileen what she thought afterwards all she said was, “Wow, I loved it!”

Once the movie was over, we headed to Martin’s to grab some items for dinner. We got a delicious loaf of this whole wheat/rolled oats bread, some salad ingredients, and not one, but TWO rotisserie chickens! Which, really, was unnecessary since we only ate one… but it made for an exciting trip to the store.

When the three of us returned to my parents house, we were greeted by my sister, Lydia, who had spent the day bridesmaid dress shopping with friends, and my Dad who had returned from an afternoon kayaking run. There was also a fun moment when Cleo(patra), the outdoor cat, came over and laid down at Eileen’s feet as if to say, “Love me, please!”

When he saw us, Dad said that there were some blackberry bushes with ripe berries out in the back yard. He asked if Eileen and I would be interested in helping him pick some to put on a post-dinner ice cream treat. We, of course, thought that sounded like a great idea, so he handed Eileen a colander, and the three of us went out back.  The stems of the bushes were a bit thorny, but the fun of exploring the back yard and filling the colander with all the ripe berries we could find was worth the need to be careful where you grabbed the bushes. As we picked, I was telling Eileen how I wished by brother Eli could have joined us, because I remember when he was little and he would spend hours picking and eating the berries that lined our driveway and would come back to the house with his face, legs, and hands stained purple from all the berries he’d eaten. Side Note: There’s no need to feel sorry for him, despite his missing this lovely evening together, as he’s currently off adventuring in Peru…

Once we had gathered all the berries we could find, we returned inside where my mom and Lydia had gotten everything set up for dinner. After sitting down around the table, Eileen led us in our dinner prayer and we began passing around the salad and bread as I carved up one of the chickens. Lydia told us about the different dresses she and her friends had tried on during their bridesmaid dress adventure, and Eileen and I talked about the Pandora stations (We have three: James Brown, Ray Charles, & The Beatles) that she and I like to play in the office when we’re working together. Between dinner and our dessert, my mom and Lydia took Po out for a short walk while my Dad, Eileen, and I listened to Ray Charles and James Brown and got our groove on.

When we had been picking berries, Eileen had asked my Dad if she could see his penny collection. Knowing Eileen is a pretty avid penny collector herself, my Dad had joked that he wasn’t sure he should reveal where his pennies were or they might become Eileen’s pennies. Eileen had turned to me and said, “He’s worried that I’m going to take his pennies. I don’t need his pennies, I’ve got my own pennies!” So before Mom and Lydia returned with Po, I retrieved Dad’s penny jar to show her his little collection. (Little being in comparison to Eileen’s collection, of course).

Once everyone was back at the house, we rinsed the berries and pulled the ice cream (which was actually gelato) out of the freezer. We had two small containers of Talenti Gelato, one was a “plain” vanilla, and the other was vanilla chai. We grabbed some bowls and doled out a little bit of each flavor before passing around the berries to put on top. I was so excited about it, that I didn’t get a picture to share with you all… but let me tell you now, vanilla chai gelato with wild blackberries may just be the best thing ever. Especially at the end of a hot (basically summer) spring day. Once we had finished our dessert, Eileen and I borrowed one of my dad’s Beatles CD’s and hugged everybody before we got back in the car to drive back to DC.

What an absolutely beautiful, fantastic, perfect day…

Lots of Love, Mandi Jo

To Israel, Turkey, and Back Again

27 Thursday Mar 2014

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Dear Friend,

My apologies, an update on my adventures was due weeks ago. So much has happened in the last few weeks, and it will be impossible for me to sum up everything we’ve done in any reasonable length. However, I will do my best and you can ask questions for clarification as you wish, and hear more when I return home.

Efrat:

After leaving Beit Sahour in the West Bank, we spent Shabbat weekend with Orthodox Jewish families in the settlement of Efrat. Settlements are HIGHLY controversial communities that are located inside the West Bank, but annexed and connected to Israel and Jerusalem through the Wall/security fence bypass roads. Going from living with Palestinian families and feeling like we had “family” there to living at Efrat was extremely difficult. The difference in understanding from one place to the next was huge, and there was no way for us to fully explain all that we had learned and seen in Palestine. That said, I found Shabbat to be very meaningful, and enjoyed the religious discussions about pacifism and Judaism/Christianity. Overall though, I was really frustrated by most of the planned activities because they felt forced and as if they were so focused on proving themselves to us that they were only showing us the “pretty stuff.”

Jerusalem University College (JUC):

After leaving Efrat we spent two weeks at JUC studying the Biblical Historical Geography of Israel. So essentially what that means is we looked at the very land itself, the terrain, the water sources, etc and used that knowledge to understand life in that area, and what that understanding of life in the land meant in Biblical times, and how it continues to impact how we read the Bible today. The first week we spent in and around Jerusalem. We visited places like Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Pools of Siloam, the Mount of Olives, the pools of Bethsaida, Jericho, Gezer, etc. (Mind you we left the city a bit for these last two) Then, the second week we spent doing overnight trips from our JUC campus base. The first to the south and the Negev where we visited places like Askelon on the Mediterranean, Beersheba, Masada, and the Dead Sea. Then four days in the Northern part of Israel, the Galilee. While there, we lived on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and spent time exploring the Jezreel Valley, Dan, Caesarea Philippi, and Capernaum. We even looked over the border into Lebanon and Syria. Throughout all our time at JUC, I really appreciated the way we, as a group as well as individuals, were encouraged to wrestle with Biblical texts and use our surroundings to bring the scriptures to life. I know that within our group, everyone really appreciated our JUC leader/teacher, Aubrey, who was always willing to talk about differing interpretations of scripture and sort of discern with us what the text is trying to say.

Free Travel:

After our two weeks at JUC, it was time for free travel. Our group split up into smaller groups and headed out into different directions, some to various places in Israel, and others (myself included) to the beautiful city of Istanbul, Turkey. 11 of us flew out of Tel Aviv super early Sunday morning, and then split into smaller groups once we arrived… or rather Melissa and I split off from everyone else. Melissa and I spent our week at a small family run hotel in the Fatih part if Istanbul (Istanbul is HUGE, and neighborhoods can be like their own little cities). We spent the week walking through the city, visiting beautiful mosques, riding ferries, and trying a bunch of different foods. In particular, I fell in love with a hot drink called Salep which is hard to describe because we don’t really have anything like in the U.S. but is delicious. Other food favorites were Kumpir (Baked potatoes) and Waffles, both of which are prepared “Subway style” where you start with the basic ingredient (Potato or waffle) and then add a bunch of toppings. Delicious. One thing we thought about doing, but ended up not doing due to the cost, was a turkish bath… but who knows, maybe I’ll get the opportunity to do so at some other point in my life.

Ecce Homo:

Last week, we returned to Jerusalem and lived at the Ecce Homo convent in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. I loved it. Returning to the Old City felt like a homecoming of sorts, and it was interesting to have all these French nuns surrounding us. While at Ecce Homo we studied Hebrew (aka. tried to learn the alphabet and a bit of vocab), visited Yad Vashem (the national Holocaust museum), and explored the city in individual groups. Places like the Temple Mount, the Citadel Museum, Dominus Flevit, Garden of Gethsemane/Church of the Nations, Peter in Gallicantu, Garden Tomb, the Upper Room, and the Holy Sepulcher. In essence we spent one day tracing the path of Jesus during Holy Week from the Last Supper to his Resurrection.

Kibbutz Hannaton:

This week we are staying at Kibbutz Hannaton in the Galilee. Not the sea, just the region. A kibbutz is essentially an intentional community that traditionally was like pure communism where everyone worked on the kibbutz and had everything in common. Kibbutzim are mainly agriculture based and allowed for everyone to work on the farm and share responsibilities. Since the 70’s Kibbutzim have moved away from the pure communism of their origin and in addition to the profit from kibbutz businesses, members of the kibbutz put money in the communal “pot” for shared resources and making sure no one in the community falls below the poverty line. In general, however, people mostly work off the kibbutz, own their own homes on the Kibbutz property, etc while also being a part of the kibbutz community.

I’m hoping to give at least one more update before I return… but no promises.

Lots of Love, Mandi Jo

P.S. Less than 4 weeks left… How is that POSSIBLE???

Here, There, and Everywhere!

12 Saturday Jan 2013

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Dear Friend,

This past week I have moved back in to my home suite home, here at EMU. I have begun the large piles of reading for this semester, and even completed my first assignment. Despite all of these great, back in the good ole’ routine type activities… I know, without a doubt, that this semester will be different than any of those I’ve experienced so far. You see just this this past Thursday (at 4 am, I might add) a bus full of people left EMU and headed to Dulles as they leave the U.S. for a cross-cultural in Guatemala and Colombia. On that bus were some very important people: Christina, Kelsey, Everett, and several others that if I tried to list them all, I would soon have too many names to mention and still be reasonable. I was planning on  gathering with them this morning before heading out, even had letters written to Kelsey and Christina for their journey, but alas, my alarm did not go off as planned. (Apparently, when I checked to make sure it was on, I accidentally turned it off… how ironic.) So I have their letters, and they do not.

Today, yet another group of peoples will be leaving for cross-cultural! This time, it is the Middle East group, which is awesome for two reasons (a) because that will be me in 1 YEAR! (b) it’s the Middle East. This trip is also taking away friends, like Megan and Victoria… I have not yet written letters to Victoria (but am planning on it!), but I have written letters to Megan (and ALREADY given them to her.) So if all else fails, at least Megan will have letters for her trip.

Speaking of strange semesters, I made a schedule switch Thursday evening… I dropped Spanish, because it was awful, and added Young Adult Literature which is like a breath of fresh air… the kind of air that make you want to frolic through fields. I have several classes for which I expect to be spending lots of time doing the required work, and I was looking at Spanish and thinking “this too?” So when I realized that for Young Adult Literature I would be reading 20 YA books (Any suggestions? leave a comment!)… my heart literally jumped for joy and I thought, “How often are you asked to participate in your primary source of joy and have it count as homework?” Not often… well in college, never… until now. So now taking a break from homework is actually completing an assignment, and time away from homework isn’t nearly as much fun and actually doing it.

It’s been a while since I “checked-in” so I’ll do a quick one before I leave you to your day.

Physically-

I feel rather sluggish, I haven’t worked out since before break, which is  weird since I’m now used to working out on a regular basis. Despite this, I am feeling hopeful about my workout routine this semester. I just need to settle into my schedule first aka. I still haven’t figured out where a workout fits in with my regular class schedule in a way where I won’t show up to class sweaty and stinky… It will happen.

Emotionally-

A little worn out. I think I’ve just started to realize that people are actually leaving for their cross-cultural and that when I have something that I feel like I just HAVE to tell them, they won’t be there to listen. Not because they don’t care, but because they’re on the other side of the world. Now when that moment actually comes and they aren’t here… I might shut myself in my room for a while and pretend that they’re actually are… be prepared.

Spiritually-

Here there and Everywhere… This isn’t what I was thinking when I titled this post, but it fits. Some days I feel like I am at peace, other days, I feel lost and disoriented. Not so much in the sense of feeling doubt and disbelief, but more the sense that I feel like I should be DOING something, but I don’t know what it is.

Goal: Figure out when I am going to work out, and actually do it