I finally graduated!

...Well at least I finally feel like I have now. Until now, it felt like I would still be packing up my room for the 4th time and taking the 14 hour drive into Atchison, Kansas, home of the Ravens. Until now, I have subconsciously been waiting to see my housing assignment telling me that I will be an RA, with the names of my roomies listed beneath my room number. It never really felt like I was done with school (and in reality, I'll be going back to school for years to come), but the infamous facebook has put it into perspective for me. Statuses like "Benedictine, here I come!" (E.B.A.) and "Back to Atch. Love," (F.H.)make me finally realize that instead of packing up an entire trailer with my wall art and desk lamps, I will be confined to packing up two suitcases, a carry-on, and one personal item, much of which will be taken up by school supplies for my classroom.

I've finally realized that it's time to move on to bigger and better things- things that my 3 years in Atchison have prepared me for- things bigger than myself- plans set before me. I pull my hair back into a pony tail and brace myself for what is to come.

There is actually very little of what I know is to come in the future months. Here is a list of facts I do know:
1. I will be a volunteer teacher at Mount Carmel High school.
2. I will be there for a full school year, coming back home for Christmas break.
3. I will live in a house with the other women volunteers while the men will have a house of their own.
4. I believe there will be 13 of us this year- 8 returning from last year.
5. 3 recent Benedictine grads (including myself) will be part of the team!!
6. I am scared to death of reworking my sleeping schedule to wake up 4 times per week for 7am Mass.
7. Our housing and meals are free.
8. We eat all/most?? meals at the rectory of the church there.
9. I will be bringing a lot of bug spray.
10. Snail mail takes approximately 3 weeks to be sent and received with no guarantee of its arrival. (see address below) Good thing I'll have internet access and a 4 year old laptop. As someone famous once said, a four year old craputer is better than noputer.
Shelby Chavez
Catholic Mission
Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize
Cayo District
Central America
11. Volunteers have the weekends off and are free to travel.
12. Benque is right on the border of Guatemala, which is very dangerous territory at present, so I have my doubts about traveling there.
13. The kids there love to play futbol (soccer).
14. Female teachers wear skirts to the knee or pants with a modestly fitting shirt.
15. I'm failing to recall any other things I know for certain.
16. So I'll just take up space to make my list look longer.
19. Want to hear an anti-joke?
20. Knock knock.
23. Who's there?
24. To.
25. To who?
27. To whom.
28. One more anti-joke for the sake of a longer list.
29. What's green and has wheels?
31. Grass. I lied about the wheels.
32. Please reference anti-joke.com for more.
34. Parental guidance is recommended.
35. When you are at the high school, a student would not say, "I'm a sophomore this year." He would say, "I'm in form two."
36. The academic achievement levels of many students is much lower than students in America. Teaching form one math would be comparable to teaching 5th and 6th grade math.
37. First year volunteers have been asked to refrain from dating while down there. I'm very okay with it, actually.
39. I can't get enough of John Mayer's version of Free Fallin'. Youtube.com it!
40. Bet only a few of you readers actually noticed the number skipping in my list. All for the sake of a longer list.

So you see, I don't know a whole lot about what I will be doing this coming year and it makes me flooded with emotions. I'm very anxious to know what I will actually be teaching, the number of students I will have, what form I will teach, etc. It actually makes me very excited to go into another adventure blindly, not knowing what will happen, going into it with an open mind and no expectations. For some it might be very constricting, but it's very freeing for me.

I'm sad. For the past three years of leaving home for the start of school, the end of Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, it has never gotten any easier to say goodbye. I think this time will be a bit different, though. This time I can't just pick up my cell phone and text my best friend, Mae with something funny that happened during my day. I just can't call my mom when I need to vent. I can't just call my sister, Erica when it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember who said the funny line from the movie that I keep quoting.

While I try my best to cling to those closest to me, I suspect that I'll have to distance myself a bit to find myself clinging closer to Christ than I have ever before. I find myself in a relationship (if you can even call it that) with Him that is in need of some dire repair. This is my prayer request from you while I continue to prepare for this mission- that I can set myself aside in order to truly find Christ. It's hard for me and I NEED your prayers.