This past week seemed to fly by, and there was never a dull moment. With so much going on, I thought I might list the days individually, rather than just formatting into one long post. I apologize for not getting this up sooner, SORRY SUNNE..;-)
Monday/Tuesday:
As this week's title eluded to, class was taken outside of our normal confines to an offsite location for a leadership development retreat in Hedgesville, West Virginia, approximately 2.5 hours from Falls Church. The Woods Resort was an excellent opportunity to get out in nature and break away from the same ol' sterile classroom. There were many goals including leadership development, bonding, learning to work in teams, and of course a chanced to "catch our breath." Upon arrival we were broken up into several teams and worked on exercises that were physically and mentally demanding, many of which initially seemed impossible. The exercises tested us all, and at the end, they all led to a greater exercise that involved all 95 students to work together to ultimately defuse a "bomb". I don't want to give away any more, since there are some incoming folks who are peeking at this blog as well. I can say, it was a good time.
Monday night is also the opportunity for the students to have a little fun with a presentation of the "follies"...or skits that poke fun at things that have happened while in class or a presentation of talents. Our class has such various backgrounds, which provided great material to work with. Just to give you an idea the first week of class we had to introduce ourselves and discuss an interesting fact...our class includes a relative of OJ Simpson, a decendent of the Donner Party, relative of gold medal basketball olympian, the winner of a national dance contest, and someone who was on Prince William's water polo team, just to name a few. All students were assigned to committees during the first week of A100 (my diplomatic training course). I was assigned to the follies committee, so I had to come up with some material or skit for Monday night at the Woods. I decided to do a skit with Matt Foley...the motivational speaker from Saturday Night Live. I guess I really took the show, as everyone came up afterwards and were just raving about the performance. I have to admit, I was extremely nervous at first, but I quickly got over it and had many in tears by the end of the show. It was a blast. There was a DVD made that we are supposed to be getting that has my skit on it, so it will be available for later viewing. ;-)
Saturday:
As I have previously mentioned, the class has committees, one of which is in charge of setting up after-hour events. This Saturday, I signed up to go on a white water rafting trip. Yep, you heard me correctly. Now don't get me wrong, Indiana has some water...and I have been kayaking/canoeing, but this was a little different. The group set out for Harpers Ferry, which is located in West Virginia to raft down the Shenandoah, which then meets up with teh Potomac River. The river was not too crazy (class 1-3 rapids), but it was a great way for me to "warm up" to the experience. I have to say, it was a blast! Our group was approximately 24 people, so we occupied four rafts with six people in them, and a guide. It rained/misted most of the day, but it didnt keep our spirits down. We had a great time with water fights and surfing rapids with the rafts...yeah you heard me...my guide just happened to be an over-zealous river junkie who thought he had something to prove. Needless to say, we didn't flip, but came close several times.
In all, it was a great week with a lot going on. I even had the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and try some authentic Vietnamese Food. The Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain had even eaten at the same restaurant late last year and raved about it, so I thought, I have to give it a try. I went as far as even tasting the JellyFish Salad. Hmm...can't say I was a big fan, but the other food was pretty fantastic. I also ventured out with friend to a moroccan restaurant called Casablanca. It was awesome. We were served in traditional moroccan style, watching belling dancing while sitting on padded benches with pillows. It was really neat, and the food was great too (lamb with honey and almonds, chicken with lemon and olives, chicken kabobs, and kofta kabobs). **PHOTOS TO COME.
I am couting down as I have less than a week before I find out where I will be going. I send my best to everyone back home and look forward to keeping up to date with what is going on back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment