Sunday, November 25, 2012

The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line, but it is more fun togo in circles

I am road tripping it across the USA, last I looked at my odometer I think I have put 7000km on it since October 30. I should probably check the oil before I continue driving. I am currently in Oklahoma and have gotten a strange look or two when I say I drove here from Alberta via Iowa, Kentucky, the Carolinas and Ohio. However when you road-trip it is not about the destination as much as it is about the journey.
I had a few musts on this trip, visit my brother in Iowa, attend a conference in Louisville KY, and attend a 3 week course in Colorado. I could have just bought a plane ticket and flew from place to place but I would have missed so much. Being mobile as well as having some time, since I quit my job the end of October, has allowed me to drive in circles and I have been loving it.
Here are a few highlights

  • en-route to Iowa -  I saw Mount Rushmore, those presidents are large, and the amount of work required to carve a face out of the mountain  is phenomenal. 
  • Iowa  - I was able to stay with my brother and his family I enjoyed playing with my nieces and nephew, making cookies, going for walks and just doing life with them.
  • Louisville KY - Here I attended the Global Mission Health Conference, 2000-3000 past, present and future medical missionaries all in one place networking and learning. I was able to talk catch up with some long term Tenwek missionaries, meet some new ones and the best part was reconnect with a great group of friends that I met at Tenwek in 2011

This is the second year in a row that the six of us were able to reunite at the conference. We crammed in a as much conversation as we could in a few days, staying up late trying not to waste a moment. Despite the miles between us and busy lives that limit communication throughout the rest of the year when we are reunited it feels like we have never been apart. I'm sad that I will miss this next year, maybe they can Skype me in but it won't be the same. 
  • Greenville SC- After the conference I drove down to Greenville, one of these great friends I mentioned above lives there, she was working nights so we were only able to spend time together in the mid-afternoon only, but it was totally worth it. I spent the rest of the day exploring Greenville - is a beautiful city.


  • Boone NC - en-route from Greenville to Duke I stopped in the Samaritan's purse office in NC, It was only 2 1/2 hours out of the way so since I was close it was a good visit. I was able to connect names to faces as well as talk with the bio-med guys. They receive all sorts of medical equipment from around the USA, fix it up (if possible) and then send it off. Being there to share ideas was helpful to all of us
  • Duke University NC- Here I was able to visit another friend that was also at the conference we had great times playing Frisbee, having challenging conversations and  attending interesting classes (IE problems with the American health care system)
  • Piqua Ohio - This was the last visit with a friend who was also part of the six of us. I was able to meet her family, make cookies enjoy walks and eat some good food. 
  • Tulsa OK - So this I where I am now, I am reunited with a friend who moved here from Kenya in the spring. We have shared some great memories about Tenwek. I also attended a Thanksgiving dinner with her, my second American thanksgiving and her first. We will see what the next few days have in store for us.

So this weekend I will head north west to Colorado where I will spend three weeks in a missionary training course. It will be fun to not live out of a suitcase for a while, although there is that quick flight to Minot for a family get together...

As you can see the journey has been exciting and this is something I need to apply to life in general. When I get to Kenya in January I have a practicum and language training to do, it will be May before I settle in at Tenwek - it is important that I remind myself that this will be like a road-trip with fun detours along the way and rather than fly through it to get to my goal of being at Tenwek I should just enjoy the journey.