Logging on to Google+ was not that new to me. I’d browsed the page a few times before but never in depth. Certainly not enough to know every nook and cranny of the site and how it worked. By the time I got to Global Citizen Year’s page I was too late and the hangout was full. I was disappointed but patient. I was informed they’d make a new group soon enough so I waited and fiddled with my fingers and adjusted my webcam and refreshed the page.
Until it was open again! Of course my laptop decided to be difficult and make my voice heard but keep my face unseen. So I closed the screen and entered again. New faces with familiar names were before me.
First the formalities and then the silly effects to break the ice. The staff became pirates! Voices overlapped and questions were asked and repeated but we learned well enough what we had to about packing and fall training and other concerns. That’s one of the many great things though. You get so much support you feel you already know the staff. You know them from their emails, from their Facebook posts, from your interview, and even from videos on YouTube that they made when they were a Fellow!
The staff members had a meeting though so they ended on schedule. And yet no one seemed ready to go.
“But please! We encourage you guys to stay. Get to know each other!”
Just a suggestion. A reasonable one right?
We tried, at least I know I did, to ignore the awkward silence and develop some form of conversation.
“So who’s going where again?” But after a while and some more minor questions a few faces had dropped out. Little by little we were left with a smaller bunch.
“And then there were four”
A hipster with a mustache, a fancy pants with a monocle, a scuba diver, and a pair of uneven sunglasses floating midair.
We held on to some formalities at first, asking questions about college, reapplying, food, water, and what exactly we were getting ourselves into. And as we ran out of formalities we brought out ourselves. Our worries, our hopes, and best of all our funny bones.
I guess it started with a bag of chips. Baked Ruffles in New York to be exact. It continued with a breakfast burrito in California and moved onward with Greek Yogurt in Connecticut. It made full circle with a bowl of cereal in New York once more. We ended up sharing a meal together. After only meeting for the first time we had a dinner over screens. Now, when else is that going to happen in my life? Lady luck was generous enough to toss me into such an amicable group. Not always talking but still content with each other’s company. A few new friends living in my screen.
Wonderful stuffed characters like Perry the Platypus, Ms. Pig, and Lulu, even made guest appearances!
Time passed by quiet and quick. Before we knew it almost three hours had passed! It is true what you hear, you know. Time flies when you’re having fun.
Going away for so long is frightening and new, but if I get to do it with other amazing individuals, with people who make each other smile…
…I think I’ll be just fine.
🙂
