First Week Flaberganza

Sr. Camille (left) with staff and resident

Whew! I've only been here since Monday, and what a week it's been! I'll try to sum up so this post doesn't get incredibly long, but there is much to tell.

I left for the airport in Flint early Monday morning only to arrive there and find out I had left my driver's license at home. With no picture ID and only copies of other official documents, I was afraid I was going to miss or have to reschedule my flight. By God's grace, they let me through security and check-in with my passport copy. The plane ride was pretty non-eventful....had an hour layover in Cleveland before re-routing to DC.

When I got into Reagan International, there was an interesting turn of events. :-) I had a few delays getting down to the baggage terminal where Sr. Camille (postulant director in DC) and Meg (volunteer coordinator) were waiting for me. Sister called me on my cell phone very worried I had missed my connecting flight as I had emailed her about me not having my driver's license with me. I finally get down to claim my bag, and find that not only are all the bags gone, but mine was not at the ticket counter, and Sister and Meg were nowhere to be seen either. After talking with some of the staff and some mild confusion, I finally find out that Sister and Meg picked up my bag and were upstairs. So I got a hold of them and we finally meet up. :) What a morning/afternoon lol! When we arrived to the Jeanne Jugan Residence I got a tour and met Michelle, who is also serving here this summer. Then we went to evening prayer, dinner, and then I went to bed as I was exhausted.

The rest of the week has become somewhat of a blur of events. I've aided the residents in getting from one place or another (the other day we went shopping - always a big deal around here :) - and helped one of the residents buy shoes), helped with sacristan duties, served meals, hosted at the cafe while the residents played bingo, painted a few ladies' nails, had some good conversations getting to know the residents, watched Padre Pio Miracle Man part 1 for a movie night we had, went through some orientation things (which included a drug test in somewhat of a shady area of DC), and we also planted tomatoes and watered plants (we have basil, lavender and other flowers, and strawberries!).

In addition the other volunteers and I are working on a big project with Sr. Camille for Mother Benedict's golden jubilee. We're having a big celebration New Orleans style where mother is from. So far this has included making veggie hats for the veggie patrol float, walking around in a cardboard patriotic float for the volunteer's practice run, interviewing residents for the royal court, singing "You Are My Sunshine," and making party favors.

The normal schedule I follow is something like this:
7:30am Morning Prayer
Breakfast
9am - 11 Hospitality aide/sacristan duties
11am Mass
12pm Serve lunch to the residents
Eat Lunch
1-5pm Hospitality/sacristan/cafe host/random activities
5pm Rosary
5:30 Evening Prayer
6pm Serve Supper to Residents
Dinner
7pm-8pm Evening activity M-F
Bed

It's been a struggle getting to learn all the residents names (there are probably about 150 residents here). I tend to learn a few new ones each day...and it's so wonderful getting to know them. Some are not afraid of chiding you or speaking out (such as when an elderly priest shook his head in his hands when I told him I didn't know there was a St. Christina or what her feast day (and mine) was lol). But most are such a joy...I even got a great big hug from one of them today. :-)

Many of the residents are from different countries too (Germany, Argentina, Italy, and others) so the accents are fun but makes it hard to understand them sometimes. A lot of them like to tell you stories, and most just want your attention and love. There is one lady from Italy who is definitely a saint...she's blind and has lost both legs, and has been through a tremendous ordeal yet has the kindest and sweetest disposition. When you look into her eyes you see Christ. There's also an older gentleman who dresses up each day in a suit and bowtie, though he is blind he is very kind and I will be reading to him every so often. There are more that I would love to tell you about...I'll save them for another post. :-)

The days are very busy here. It's been kind of "go go go" a lot. :-) But it's great that there is so much variety and time to participate with the sisters in Morning/evening prayer. Daily Mass is such a blessing of course. They also have a holy hour twice a week. I haven't been able to spend as much time with the sisters yet, but there are still 5 weeks to go. I was able to meet Sheri this past week for dinner as she was also in DC for work, which was nice. Taking the metro was interesting as it's been a while. I get every Tuesday off with the other volunteers, so I'm sure we'll have some interesting adventures via that mode of transportation around DC.

Well, I think this post is already long enough, so I'll wrap it up. I hope all of you are doing well, and I have kept you in my prayers. Please leave me comments!!! :-D I will try to post more pictures later, but for now I'll upload some that I took of the room I'm staying in (as you'll see, the sisters spoil us). They're located under the pictures tab above.

Peace and Love of Jesus to you all!
~Christina