The Job Dance

So, I'm looking for a job. I have been here in PA now for a few weeks and have had very little luck. A lot of people have my name as a Spanish tutor, and a couple places actually have my resume. Well, one of the places called me and it looks like we may be setting up an interview in the near future. However, it is in Pittsburgh. The good things about it are that 1) I will be doing almost exactly the same stuff I did at work in the Tetons, which I like and feel comfortable doing and 2) it will pay me better. If I am offered the job and take it, the not so good things are I will 1) have to get a car and 2) have to commute an hour+ to work every day. That isn't very appealing to me, especially with the oncoming winter. Plus I wouldn't get near as much time off as I'd like around Thanksgiving or Christmas. But I guess that's how the world is. I can't have the schedule of a college student forever. And having a car would make life somewhat easier, especially with winter coming.
But the real challenge will come, (though perhaps it may be a saving grace) if and when any of the other places I've shown interest calls me. Then I have to go through this cutesy dance of "I'm still considering some other positions" and "I'm still waiting to hear back from someone" and fearing all of a sudden everyone will drop me like Pippi Longstocking drops dirty dishes. I know that's not all completely rational, but I've had to do this before and I'm not a fan. It's nice to have choices, but sometimes I can be sickeningly indecisive.
I know God has a purpose for me in this time though. So may He continue to guide me and provide for me as I dance for Him.

Fall Fun

While I was in high school one of my favorite parts of fall was going apple picking with my Mom. We'd go to the orchard, pick apples (and eat as many as we wanted while we picked) and then go home and make apple sauce and other delicious things which contained apples as a main ingredient. It was a delightful time-I loved sharing that time with her and there is nothing like eating crunchy, juicy apples, straight from the tree.
I didn't really get to do that while I was in college. Home was kind of far away and I never made it apple picking in Grove City. This year though, I am thinking (and hoping and praying) will be my last fall in the US for a few years, so I want to make the most of this time. I have loved the changing colors of the leaves, twice (in WY and PA), I bought apple cider last week, and yesterday and whole bunch of friends from school and I went to the apple orchard nearby. We couldn't "pick your own" because it was so late in the season, but we bought 3/4 bushel of apples and went home and baked up a storm. We had apple sauce, apple breads, apple pies, baked apples, apple slices with caramel and apple cider and candy corn. It was spectacular!!! I really enjoyed "being domestic" and cooking and baking all that wonderful food. And it was a great time to share with my friends.
I'll miss fresh apples in Costa Rica, but I know that there are much more important things to worry about there. Maybe I can start a tradition with mangoes!

Back in Grove City

I'm very happily unpacked back in Grove City, Pennsylvania-I never felt like I really unpacked all summer. It's been quite a transition. I have felt quite overwhelmed most of the week, but with time things are getting a little easier. I've been learning the need to just take life one step at a time. It's hard to put in to practice though, especially where there is so much to be done. I am
I have seen a LOT of people. I made it to IV on Tuesday night and went to the Homecoming Dance for a little bit on Friday night. (I've decided that white men can't dance. I knew I was spoiled in the Tetons. People there really knew how to throw a party. But Grove City dances (with the exception of the Gala) have always been terrible and very lame. The best part is always the chocolate fondue fountain.)
I also saw oodles of people yesterday at Homecoming. That was very overwhelming, but it was great to see so many people. It feels like it's been way more than 5 months since I graduated. And I realized that as nice as it is to have homecoming, it is NOT the one time a year people can/should catch up with their friends. If I am going to stay friends with someone, I hope we will stay in touch and try to see at each more frequently than just at Homecoming. It is just one day and there are tons of people there. It is nice to say hi to people, but it is not a day for quality time with people. It is a day full of small talk and brief catch-up time. And that is nice, but it clearly can not be the basis of a continuing relationship.
I am working on finding a job. It is a bit tough since I don't have a car and there aren't a ton of jobs in the area, but I am considering substitute teaching. Maybe that will be able to help keep me busy. I feel like I have a lot to do anyway though in order to keep raising support and staying in touch with everyone.
I am house-sitting right now with the fiancee of an engineering prof. She is hilarious and wonderful. And she loves to hug as much as I do-maybe more!!! Needless to say we get along really well. And it is great to be in this house again. I also stayed here a couple weeks in January when I took a 2 week intensive class at school and it is great to be in a familiar place, to sleep in a bed I've slept in before, to know where most things are in the kitchen, and to know how to work the DVD player. It's wonderful.
Tonight will also be an adventure as it will be my first time back at my church here. I am so excited! I feel like it will be a relief more than anything else. I didn't get to regularly attend one church all summer, so I am pumped to go back to my church here. I know it will be a little different than it was a few months ago-things always are. But with the liturgy, the clear, Biblical presentation of Truth, and the wonderful fellowship I know it will be great!

Numb

I left Grand Teton National Park on Sunday afternoon. It was cold. There were a few inches of snow on the ground. It was really cloudy, so I couldn't even see the mountains. I'm sure it was snowing there again. We saw some bison. Most of the trees had no leaves left on them. It was so sad!!! The Tetons have been my home the last two summers and now they are over 1500 miles away and I have no idea when I will see them again. I know someday I will. I have to!! But leaving was really sad. I got quite choked up and as I put it when I was in 8th grade "my eyes were misted." If I hadn't have been in a car with 4 men I probably would have just let go and cried. (I was riding with Angel and his son Carlos--2 members of the most wonderful Mexican family ever-- Tulio, and my friend Luciano).
Surprisingly, none of my good-byes to humans were emotional. I just started to feel a twinge of emotion when I said goodbye to Jessica (my beloved fellow HR clerk from Chile) when something interrupted us and she had to go. Luciano was pretty emotional when we said goodbye. I wanted to be, he has been such a dear friend. But-nothing. I get really frustrated at myself sometimes. I feel like I never cry when I wish I could or feel like perhaps I should.
So, I traveled for some 18 hours yesterday. I was able to take some time to try to process everything that's going on, but I hadn't gone through the shock of getting back to PA yet. I knew I was definitely back in Gringolandia though - there was no one for me to speak Spanish with all day! I already really miss not being able to immerse myself in Spanish whenever I please. :-(
Anyway, I landed in Pitt and the first person I saw that I knew was Chrissy. She was a freshman at Grove City last year but we bonded well. When I graduated this spring and said my good-byes here, she was the only person that made me cry. And soon to follow was my best guy friend here, Bryan.
It was so good, but also so weird to see them. Everything here is just so surreal! It is good to be back here, I was starting to feel ready to leave the Tetons-especially since it started snowing and the mountains were covered-I feel like their beauty just got smothered in plain whiteness. But it is so strange to actually be back here. I knew it would be another transition and that it wouldn't be easy, but I am going through culture (and more) shock! Grove City is full of white people and I've been hanging out with people from Turkey, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Nepal, the Philippines, Jamaica, etc. It is humid here and the air is incredibly thick! I've been living in a desert at 6,800 feet. It was winter in the Tetons when I left. I was wearing the scarf Jessica gave me, my winter coat and mittens. Here, it is fall, and there are all sorts of different trees here-the Tetons are dominated by Quaking Aspen and evergreens.
The car ride home was hilarious. I was trying to tell 3 stories at once and describe my life out west and note all these different things. Bryan interrupted me once and just had to laugh I was so scattered, but that's just how things are for me right now. I feel like I haven't totally left the Tetons, and I haven't completed arrived here yet either.
Ok, I want to wrap this up before this gets any longer, but I have to share the best part. We got to the Reuber's house (my new current residence) and my friend Meg (a daughter of the professor who owns the house) was here to greet me. It was about 12:30am by the time we got here. We took my luggage downstairs to my room. I opened the door, AND INSIDE THERE WERE 11 OF MY FRIENDS FROM SCHOOL!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. The thought of them doing that had crossed my mind earlier in the day, but I had quickly dismissed it. They actually did it though. I was surprised. Again, I just wanted to cry, but no tears came. I am starting to wish I would have just let myself cry in the car on Sunday. So, after hugging everyone, eating cookie cake and hugging everyone again I got to share with them just a little bit of what's been going on with me. It was SUCH A BLESSING to be surrounded by all these people who stayed up late at night and left their schoolwork to show how much they love me. Fellowship and community are the things that I lacked most in the Tetons. What a welcome it was! And everyone was calling it "home." The cookie cake even said 'Welcome Home, Carrie!" I have been referring to Grove City as "the closest thing to home" since I don't really feel like I have one on earth right now. But, I know I am loved here and I will be here until my support comes in. So, for now it is home.
Anyway, before everyone went back to school they prayed for me. How wonderful it was to join with others in giving thanks and making our requests know to the Lord! He is so good to me!!! All praise and glory be to His Name!

Narnia!

I went on my last big hike on Monday. It was wonderful. I felt like I came full circle. My first hike of the season was to Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, and into Cascade Canyon (the most hiked trail in the whole park, I'm sure). And Monday, I did the same thing, but Luciano and I went farther than April, Gretchen, Daniel and I did. We actually made it to the Forks, at the end of the canyon (6.5 miles from where we started at South Jenny) in 3 hours. We were moving!! It was so wonderful!!!!!
We took the South Fork and not much later, we started getting in to snow. It had snowed in the mountains over the weekend. There wasn't a whole lot where we were, but enough to make everything look pretty and make a few little snowballs. I seriously felt like we were in Narnia though (before the curse of the White Witch was broken). I was hoping Mr. Beaver would pop out from behind a tree and start hiking with us. It was so beautiful! There were dark evergreens, a view of a long cascade, snow, lightly coating everything, and we were swallowed in to the depths of the mountains!!
We stopped and had lunch at Sparkling Falls (which Sarah, April and I named when we went to Hurricane Pass via the South Fork earlier this summer) before turning around. The little waterfall isn't near as sparkly anymore because most of the snow from last winter melted. But, it was still a marvelous lunch. Everything bagels and stale chocolate chip cookies never tasted better!
It was a bit sad and very nostalgic for me to leave Cascade Canyon. It is one of my favorites and I have no idea when I am going to hike there again. I have been there more than any other canyon in the park. But I know I will return...someday.

CLOSED!!

I went to church this morning with a really sweet lady named Tracy. We really enjoyed the trip in the car to and from town. The foliage is absolutely gorgeous here. The leaves have been yellow for a while, but now there is more orange and red and it's just gorgeous. The mountains were totally masked by clouds because it has been raining here for the last day, but they have cleared now, revealing a new layer of snow that went down to probably 9,000 feet or so (that's my very rough estimate). We also had great conversations both ways too. With all the transitions that I am facing I have a lot to process and it was really good to talk with her. Church was really nice too. :-)

It was so weird when we got back to the lodge though; there was a sign in the road that said "Closed to Public Entry." CRAZY! Today was closing day and everything shut down for the season at 11am. No more restaurants, no more shops, no more people in the hotel rooms, no more people to send on hikes, no more weddings, conferences, nada. It's over. I've worked seasonal positions before, but I've never actually made it to the bitter end. It was a little eerie to sit in the lobby earlier and actually be on a couch closer to the huge picture windows. (Employees are asked to sit further back to give preference to guests.) I also took advantage of the baby grand piano. It is normally kept locked, but it was open for some reason and I had my hymnal with me, so I got to tinker around with my minimal piano skills and have a little hymn sing. It was wonderful! And the acoustics in the lobby and really nice.

It is kind of strange to see people working in their normal clothes since uniforms are no longer required. This last week is going to be really interesting. It will be full of good byes, and the lodge will seem more and more empty as the servers, bussers, front desk and activities agents check out in the next couple days. Then the housekeepers will go, then the kitchen staff.

It's all pretty surreal. None of the good-byes I've said thus far have really hit me. All my Turkish friends are gone. Last night my tico (Costa Rican) friend Daniel left. My good friend Laura is leaving tomorrow along with both of the Honduran Alexes. I fear it won't all hit me until I leave town next Monday. Luckily the amazing head housekeeper Miriam will be on the bus to Salt Lake City with me. That should help ease things a little bit. But, it is still going to be so weird! I guess that's life though. Time just keeps passing and it's time to keep moving on. I am so grateful God is with me through it all!

Bittersweet

As you may know, I am really excited to go back to Grove City. I know it is just a little town in Pennsylvania near some sweet Prime Outlets and the intersection of routes 79 and 80, but there are some wonderful people there and Slippery Rock is the home of what I consider one of the best churches in the country. It is a comfort zone for me.
But I really love the Tetons too. If I didn't, I wouldn't have come back here this year. There are a lot of wonderful people here too (though I haven't know any of them near as long as some of the folk back at school) as well as the most gorgeous mountain range in the whole country. Just the other day it hit me how much I am going to miss these mountains. I will confess, I am a mountain addict. The thought of not being able to hike for months is terribly depressing. And not being able to look out across Willow Flats at Jackson Lake and the Tetons will be like having my backyard confiscated by cruel monsters.
I know I need to go though. I am ready to go. It is time to move on. And I've decided that I'm okay with bittersweet endings. My life is so full of transitions right now, I think it's good to be ready to move on to the next thing. At the same time, if I'm sad about leaving the place I'm in, that means I've had a good experience. So, I'm really going from one good thing to another.
Sometimes I get so excited for the future it's hard to remember to live in the present. God has a purpose for me here. He has a purpose for me each day. And I want Him to fulfill that purpose. I don't want to get too distracted. I can't wait to see my friends and go to church at Grace, but I also want to finish well here and have a good sense of closure. May God continue to give me the grace and bring me through this coming transition.