The closing retreat was a lot of fun! It was so nice seeing my fellow interns, Ash and Marisa, in PERSON!
Taken after a lovely evening with Krista in her thriving garden. you wouldn't believe she only started it during the pandemic!
I also got to see our boss, Brian, for the first time in person, as well as several people we met with virtually over training week.
I got to see LEGS, people! I was finally able to figure out how tall everyone was (taller than me, as always….). I saw what kinds of shoes Marisa wore at camp (Skechers sandals), what everyone’s ankles looked like (your typical ankles), and so many other weird things you notice more after a global pandemic.
The best part was probably just being able to have down time with all these people I’d only ever interacted with via Zoom. There’s a deeper sort of bonding that takes place over impromptu in-person conversation that you just can’t get over Zoom. Maybe it’s the eye contact. Whatever it is, it’s a really special thing.
A casual scene at the Allisonville guest house. We stayed there during the retreat. and this was a pretty common sight. Brian in a chair, Marisa on the floor, and Ash and I sprawled out on the couch. This was taken when Timothy came to visit. (note that he preferred the chairs)
Brian is a selfie man. He took a lot of group selfies over the course of the retreat. I'm glad of it, though--we would've hardly had any pictures if it weren't for Brian!
I really valued getting the chance to meet with these people I had come to respect and admire over the course of summer. I was able to not only look them in the eye, but also just chat casually with them, hug them, eat with them, and just drive around to places with them. It made me very happy.
Debriefing and snacks on the deck with Randy, our Spirituality Coach from Training Week
I had fresh fruit and coffee at Randy's! (The other interns drank iced tea.)
We didn’t really do anything spectacular while we were together, but we had fun. We went out to the Cheesecake Factory that first evening! Brian made us a lot of really tasty food. Ashlyn made us pasta one night. Krista and her husband cooked us a whole feast! Essentially, we ate well. We even made a fire and roasted s’mores one night!
Some pasta Ash made for us. She learned it from TikTok!
Some delicious breakfast tacos, courtesy of Brian.
We stayed up late talking and watching old Disney movies. We talked a lot about our various camp experiences and did a lot of reflecting. We got matching tattoos, got Starbucks, went to Trader Joes…honestly, we mostly just talked, but it was much needed talking! We all had things we wanted to share and process.
S’mores with ingredients from Trader Joe’s!
The interns decided to get matching tattoos together. It took us a while to land on a design (we're all quite different, with different tastes), but I think we landed on something that we could all be happy with. I think it's cute, but elegant. Plus it's kinda a play on DPF's logo! It's a good commemorative tattoo for our experiences as peace interns.
It was a much-needed retreat!
This was taken at the Vespers/Campfire area right by the house. Funnily enough, Randy's son actually helped build the site!