new friends

We are meeting so many cool people here at PFO/TCK training (Pre-Field Orientation/Third Culture Kid)! We have met many people who were missionary kids themselves who are now going back into the mission field or staff members who are here leading these next few weeks who are on the missionary field after growing up there themselves.

I find the most interesting people to talk to are those who have spent their lives in Africa. The stories they tell are just incredible, and one man we had dinner with tonight has spent almost his entire life there, then as a missionary kid but now as a missionary raising his kids there. He has moved all over the world, but his longest times have been in various places on the continent of Africa. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him tonight and hearing all that God has done in his life and the lives of people he knows.

We also met other people going to ICSB! One of the girls got there this winter and missed the training last summer, so she is back just for the training. She brought a yearbook with her so that we can see pictures, especially of the kids I had when I student taught. She had them this year in her own class! Pretty cool. The other girl who is going will be getting there sometime after us because her mission board has other mandatory training she has to attend, and that isn't until September.

It's funny how we quickly establish relationships with these people we have just met because we are all going through the same transition process together. Some of the things I thought I was totally weird for experiencing are things that others say they feel too, which makes me feel a little less abnormal. They keep telling us that we will establish deep bonds with the people here, and I can already feel that. It's so incredible to be going through all of this!

But I am so pooped...