Orientation

Before India - there was orientation Colorado Springs... It allowed an opportunity for all of us interns from offices all over the world (Costa Rica, Uganda, UK, Canada, and India) to get to know each other before we headed off into obscurity. We stayed at a retreat center in the hills of Colorado, quite appropriately, called the Hideaway. Below is a good view of Pike's Peak from our backyard. The week has been spent going on hikes (lots of hikes) through the mountains, rock climbing (which can be seen below), various seminars to help familiarize us with eMi (Engineering Ministries International) and good quality time to become acclimated with the interns that will be traveling half way across the world with us. As some of you may know already, I'll be working eMi's office in the northern Indian city of Mussoories (about 3 hours north of Delhi). I'll be there with a couple from Memphis - who I met at orientation, a Japanese-American arthitect intern named Ko (who is already there), an Australian intern named Miriam, and various other staff members that are already there. The couple, Andy and Susan Kizzee, are the best people I could have wished for. They are extremely laid back, down to earth, and easy to talk to. Not to mention the fact that they are shining examples of what it means to be a young Christian couple after the heart of God. After only this week, they're like family. That can be said of all the interns here. We're all extremely different people, from literally all over the country and world. Everyone has their own quirks, their own eccentricities. Enough so, that I probably should write a short story some time borrowing from the eccentricities of the characters here. At the same time we all have our own differences - yet we're all here for the same reason. We're all here to serve the poor around the world in the best way we know how - engineering and architecture. That is a bond that is shockingly strong and unconditional. Really, only after a short week - these people are family. That's really the highest compliment I can give them. All of this just makes it harder to leave. Yet....there is work to be done.

Tomorrow the journey to India begins. I'll have Atlas Shrugged, the Roots crew, and the Kizees to get me through it enjoyably. I'll arrive in India and the reality of the next 9 months of my life.....

Below: me and Kizzees plus a group picture with all the interns.

Don't worry the writing will become more natural and expressive as I write a couple more of these.

Enjoy - more from India.