SJU in Peru Round 2: Retreat Weekend

We're back again, but this time with a brand new group!

The new initiative for 2011 began after all of us got back from the Christmas Holidays in January, anxious to begin our journey. Up until now it has just been the biweekly, informative meetings but this weekend was definately the turning point of our trip thus far. We got here Friday afternoon and after a dinner of delicous pitas we participated in some eye-opening team building activities. We discovered so much about each other and learned that there is so much more than meets the eye. Our group this year has great chemistry where we are able to share in serious thoughts or bounce silly jokes off of one another.

This morning Becca had us wake up at 7am to do some Yoga. Despite some of the initial moans and groans about the early wake up call, everyone found the excersize to be a fun, new challange. Among ourselves we split into teams that were in charge of preparing the different meals for our day. This morning it was our teams assignment to cook breakfast. Barbara made a fruit salad, Kat whipped up some decandent french toast and we left Jason, the man of the group, in charge of the bacon. There's something so bonding about preparing meals together and sitting down with everyone you made it for.

After our lovely breakfast, we headed over to the YMCA outdoor center for some surprisingly difficult yet fun camp activies. Our first task was to learn how to use a compas. Easy enough right? Let's just say some of us caught on faster than others. Not to promote gender superiority, but the girls finished first by a long shot. The next challange was to complete a high rope course. It required a great amout of upper body strength, tested our balance and pushed some group memebers to conquer their fear of heights. Barbara was really afraid up at the top but she felt really proud that she even went up in the first place. There were obstacles that were easier for some people to overcome than others, but the entire group was very supportive and we all helped each other along the way.

After spending a good while out in the sun, it was so wonderful to come home to St. Jerome's and have a meal specially prepared for us by Jordan, Jess, Jenna and Sean. They made a delicous stir fry and the highlight was definitely the salad. We were all very excited for this meal in particular, since Jordan is known around SJ for his excellent cooking.

Currently, we are in the process of setting up for the Mother's day Brunch and Silent Auction. One hundred percent of the proceeds of this fundraiser will be going to fund our initiative. We would like to send out a huge thank you to all of the people who donated items to be auctioned and for Chartwells, the catering company, who sponsored us and made this brunch possible. We wish all of you and you're wonderful moms a very happy Mother's Day. :)

We and the rest of our group members will be keeping you posted throughout our journey.

Till next time,
Barbara and Katherine