jakorte's blog

Tuesday morning was a surprise. When we’d arrived on Sunday night, I happily introduced myself to the young woman who occupied the bunk next to me. A lone traveller from Minnesota, she had arrived in Louisiana, to meet up with and become a member of this week's STEM group.

“Hi,” I blurted out. “My name is Jodi and I’ll be snoring next to you!”
She laughed, or more truly – she coughed and wheezed, and snuffled, and told me that she had a prescription for antibiotics on its way. She ended up staying back at Aldersgate Monday while her team headed out to their assignment. I knew that must have been tough for her. She had traveled alone to meet up with the group and then ended up being excluded from the first real full day of work.

Tuesday morning, I was sick. I wasn’t sick like her though. It was more of a semi-constructive “Hey, this is a new facility, let’s check out the bathroom repeatedly and in great detail for long stretches of time” kinda sick. Spent a lot of time in there; came up with a few ideas on things they could do to improve the new facility. Mostly, I shuffled back and forth from bathroom to bunk, glad that the administrative offices hadn’t moved in yet. I’m sure I would have been a continual treat to see every 15-20 minutes trudging down the hall.

Eventually, that ridiculousness stopped, tapering off around noon. I slept for a bit, and woke up feeling like it might be ok to get dressed and maybe search the kitchen for a banana or a piece of toast. On my way out to the common area, a small “tour” group of three ladies from Mississippi came through to look at the bunk room. I spent some time talking to them about the set-up and what was awesome about it, and what recommendations our groups had come up with to improve the space.

I continued with them on their tour; a quick round through the bathroom and my list of potential improvements, the social space, and lastly the kitchen. Our cook was in there planning dinner, and we got to talking. And then suddenly, I got to peeling, and dicing, and well, cooking. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping to prepare a jambalaya dinner, and getting to know the angel who had volunteered to cook for all the folks from STEM and GITC.

Tuesday morning, staying back really hurt.
By Tuesday evening, it began making a little sense to me.
It’s that separation thing again.
I want to be in – but not too far in.
Except when I’m out, then I want back semi-in.
I also will admit to feeling too close to being considered a leader. I wasn’t, and as I’ve said before, I knew didn’t want to be. This team had two leaders who I felt it was important be allowed to work together, without my influence. I know they felt differently, but I wanted to be more semi-part of the team, than fully involved in leadership.