Orlando, Florida

I had the luxury of escaping the premature winter temperatures for a weekend in Orlando, Florida with a couple of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. These are people I do not keep up with in everyday life, though I find their company quite pleasurable. My experience in Lesotho turned me anti-winter, speaking on behalf of currently serving and returned volunteers I doubt many would disagree. The cold water bucket bathing, lack of heat, short days followed by long nights, bitter winds, and wet snow are hard to forget. The toughest of nails cringe at the faintest sign of the African winter.

When the opportunity to congregate in the Orlando area presented itself, I had no objections on location. Upon arrival at our host's home--I knew the decision to join the troops was a good one; C.C.J.'s place sat comfortably outside of Orlando, near enough to the beach, and came equipped with a screened-in porch and pool overlooking a deceptively large lake. The weather was a cloudy 75--warm enough for us to take a dip in the pool (and ocean). You can imagine where the majority of our time was spent.

Florida's economy is based largely on tourism, for the average tourist there is plenty to do. On the readjustment scale, we are all well beyond the 'reverse culture shock' phase; I have no doubt we could have handled Walt Disney World, an afternoon on the golf course, the Orlando Museum of Art, or time at Wekiwa Springs State Park. The want and need for scheduled activity was nonexistent though; being together brought a sense of contentedness to the group. Across-the-board we are practical and simple-minded people. Or maybe that's giving us too much credit(?)--as a unit we were indecisive. We met in the barren land of Lesotho and managed with the company of one another. We were gathered on the late-November weekend for our missing mutual friend--but I think we were all ministered to greatly ourselves. The conversation was intentional; we shared memories and spoke of the future.

As I traveled home and tried to recount to myself how sacred the weekend had felt--I found myself at a loss for words. (That doesn't happen often!) I think the best way to summarize it is this: being together in laughter, encouragement, silliness and many emotions in between rejuvenated me. Beach patios. A sandy football game. Cocktails. Music. Swimming. Card games. Frozen in these moments, I was relaxed. I could 'just be' as the overwhelming outside world floated gracefully on by.