Part Two: Training in Maryland and Seeing D.C.

I'm so thankful that my team got a chance to train together before we left the States. If we hadn't we would not have been as close as we were, and we would have been wholly unprepared to teach Namibian adolescents to "Choose to Wait".

It was reassuring to see some familiar faces from my Colorado orientation in March. We sat outside for hours talking about great leaders, and what sort of wisdom we could glean from them. Jameson and Lacey, our trip leaders, told us what to expect from the students at Youth for Christ in Namibia, the food in Namibia, the music. The weather in Maryland was perfect: mid to high 80s with birds singing. It was a welcome relief from the Phoenix heat I'd been living in for the previous month and a half.

Some of my favorite memories of orientation are:
- Watching Jameson and Lacey try to remember the hand motions to some of the African songs
- Making crazy sandwiches (cheese, hummus, and Cool Ranch Doritos was the favorite of me and Cierra)

- Sleeping on the floor and giggling all night long because we were so excited about the adventure we were about to begin
- "Choose to Wait" skits
- Eating Chinese food as a big family

Something I was really struggling with was the idea of "mine". I was seeing this trip as "mine" and hoping that "I" would experience and achieve things when in reality, it was all God. God had given me the strength, and the courage, and the funding. This was a theme in which I would fully immerse myself during my time in Namibia.

Our team didn't have time to walk around our nation's capital, so instead, we climbed on a church bus and did a driveby tour of Washington D.C. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, and so many other things. On our drive there, we saw Georgetown. I'd love to go back to D.C. and spend more time there someday.

After our driving tour, we went to the airport, and prepared to leave for Africa.