Yay for shots and safety

Here are updates from shots.  We've had 2 shot clinics so far and one more to go.  My first clinic I got 2 shots.  The second clinic, I got 2 more shots and a TB test (so far, results look negative).  Pain hasn't been an issue until I had a new type of shot most recently.  Now I have a sore arm.

For the kids, face painting was a big hit.

 Secondly, we got cool band-aids!

We've been hard at work in class all week.  A lot of us use our computers to take notes, as can be seen by all the power strips scattered across the classroom:

Every week we have a new main topic.  This past week we talked about cousins that are in troubled areas of the world and how we know that their trouble is actually a good thing because it means that a difference is being made.  This coming week is training for trouble and how to be wise in our words.  Please remember this time as it is very important and informative, but it makes a lot of people stressed.

Orientation is in Full Swing

Hey everybody!

My orientation is in full swing here in Virginia, and while I'd like for my time to be more focused on enjoying things like this:

It really looks a lot more like I'm spending time doing this:

Oh, and also, this:

Yes, that's right, Fingerprints.

(We've been filling out a lot of forms, and this one required me to get dirty.  That picture is after I've washed my hands.  Twice.)

Well, really, I've been enjoying my time, meeting a lot of new people and really growing, learning from other peoples experiences.  While I spend the majority of my day in classes, I get to meet and converse with other people at meals and evening and weekend activities, whether those activities are planned or impromptu.  For instance, tonight the singles are going to a teacher's house for dinner.

The weather here is a lot like home, but about 5 degrees colder most of the time.  And amazingly, that 5 degrees means much more SNOW!  I'd been here all of 2 days before we had a nice dusting.  The next day, our walkways were really icy, but within 2 days it had all melted.  And then a couple of days ago, we had a 50 degree day.  Yup, it's just like home.