PFO- Days 9 and 10

Yesterday we spent the morning in a simulation. They broke us into small groups of about 12 and took each group into "hiding" because of "political unrest that was occuring in the country where we were working." We were led down a pitch dark hallway into a dark closet type room. We were given notes that we could barely read, updating us on the status of the situation. We had to choose three people as the first ones to be picked up by the rescue helicopter. It was very interesting to see how people reacted in this simulated stressful situation. It was also interesting to see who took up leadership and how people went about deciding who got to be saved. My group worked really well together and stayed fairly light hearted. Other groups not so much. My group for some reason had a bunch of guys that kept wanting to try to escape. They were taking apart lights to try and turn them on and taking apart the ceiling to see if they could get away. The other interesting thing was that one of our group members had been in a real life situation like that and so he told of his experience (as well as others in other groups who had also been in similar situations). We ended the afternoon by talking about our conflict resolution styles and affirmation.

Yesterday during our dinner time my future roommate, another friend, and I took some time to explore downtown Memphis. We found our way (just getting a little lost) to Beale Street, home of the blues. We went into Peabody Hotel and saw the duck master collect the ducks from the fountain and lead them in a straight line on the red carpet. Tons of people stood around and snapped pictures of the ducks. Oh I should probably also metion there were only about 5 of them. I've tried to be descriptive as possible but you are probably still wondering "you did what?" I can't really explain it but supposedly it is famous. We also tried to find Graceland but unfortunately only ended up driving by and snapping a picture.


Happy Fourth of July! Today we had sessions mostly about academic stuff like English language learners, Christian education, and international curriculum. But tonight we got to celebrate with an all american dinner of hambergers, hot dogs and apple cobbler. The church we are staying at had a picnic with tons of watermelon and homemade ice cream. Then we sat out on the grass right outside and watched a local fireworks show. Lastly, we ended the night with a fun game of cards.