Reflecting on Southern Hospitality

Greetings from the South!

In just over 24 hours I've managed to fall in love with Southern hospitality, sweet tea and the beautiful, warm weather I've encountered. Needless to say, and much to my parents delight, I am not ready to stay...yet ;)

I've enjoyed the campus here at Southern, and last night I was able to go out to dinner and see a bit of the town. Today we had our orientation for Project Connect, the organization in charge of my Immersion. To give a little background, my summer Immersion will take place in Castleton-on-Hudson, under the supervision of Pastor Amber Malone, who has a two-point parish (about 7 miles apart). I'll basically be shadowing her, getting to see first-hand what a pastor really does throughout the week. I'm really excited; today we were able to sit down and figure out exactly what types of things I'll be able to do: give two sermons, give multiple children's sermons, help out with the Senior High Camp and Confirmation Camp, and I'll be taking a lot of control for the Vacation Bible School. I am, as you might imagine, unbelievably excited! I'll certainly post more blogs on my Immersion as the summer progresses (I'm thinking of turning Wanderling into my permanent blog since it has the most followers...thanks =) ). I met a lot of cool people at the orientation and had just a great time. I usually cringe at these types of events- they seem like continuous getting-to-know-you events that I usually find to be irksome. However, I felt right at home with all of the people I met and I'll be Facebooking them shortly.

Tonight I'm meeting up with one of my good friends from Oxford, Dabney, who lives south of here, in Georgia. I'm so glad her and I are getting to meet up, not for long, but it's better than nothing! So having to come down to Southern instead of going to Gettysburg or Philly has been all around very much worth it! Of course, the fact that I'm lounging around in summer clothes isn't too bad either!

As for the next few days...
I'll be up before the rooster crows to be at the airport for my 7:25am flight. Amber is flying on a different plane to NYC for a meeting (calm down mother, I will be able to fly to Philly just fine ;) ) and I'll be flying into Philly to meet up with my group from Cyprus. From there we will fly into Athens (about a ten hours flight...sedate me now, please) and then from there we fly into Larnaca, Cyprus. I'm incredibly excited! I can't stop smiling.

For those of you who worry about airline security, rest assured everyone is doing their job. I have on suitcase which has in it a box of archaeological gear (sharp objects, random things) and not only did they inspect my luggage, but then inspected and then reinspected my box of gear. At least I can pass this information on to my friends going on the trip.

I must be off to figure some things out and do some reading. I'm trying not to stress out about anything too much. In a few days, once my Fellowship application is sent off to England (more about this at a later time) I will be stress free, living it up in Cyprus!

Please continue to keep myself and my archaeology group in your prayers.

Blessings!