It's so hard to believe that 14 weeks have passed and we now have less than a half week until the end of our Maryknoll Orientation Program. As with all things, it seems like a lifetime ago and a blink of an eye ago that we left South Carolina and pulled into the parking lot at Bethany. I am so excited to be finishing because that means the next step is just getting on the plane on the 28th! But, at the same time this next step comes with a huge number of emotions.

This weekend will be our Sending Ceremony, which is pretty much like a graduation. And at the end of the weekend we'll have to say goodbye to the wonderful people that we've met here. Over the past few months, I've made some amazing new friends. As I said at the very beginning of training, we all have very different stories, yet very similar paths. So it's been easy making friends here because in some ways we understand each other very well. So, needless to say, it's going to be a tear-jerker to say goodbye to these folks.


From the back row, left to right.
Chris, Rick (El Salvador), Darren (El Salvador)
Me, Dee (Cambodia)
David (TZ), Mabel (TZ), Hyun Jung (Brazil)
Caitlin (TZ), Carolyn (Brazil), Nena (Bolivia)
Gloria (Bolivia), Isabel (Brazil), Maria (Cambodia)
Sirikit (Brazil), Donna (Bolivia)