SEEP conference in DC

DC was a whirlwind trip. Every night was late and every morning came really early. We arrived on Tuesday election night and drove around to see the life of the city. It was cool but less than I expected, friends told us later that we were close to the action, but we just didn’t see it. But, I think it was pretty cool to be in the city as a new president was being chosen around the country. We saw overflows of people waiting for news outside bars and hotel lobbies, and also lots of fancy dressed people walking to political parties. But for us, we headed for the hotel room and just tried to stay up long enough to hear the results. We didn’t make it and discovered our new president-elect the next morning. The conference took place 8 – 5 everyday. It was a SEEP conference (I still don’t know what SEEP stands for, rob’s told me many times but it just doesn’t stick for some reason.) It was great, super informative, really encouraging. We learned a lot and met a lot of people which was wonderful right before we headed to the field. The first night we had dinner with Adrienne. She is HOPE’s expat personnel director and care giver based in Richmond, VA. She is really sweet and I’m sure she will take care of us well while we are in Rwanda. We may even see her in March. The second night we went out with 2 of Rob’s groomsmen, Justin and Matt, and 1 of their friends, Jeff. It was wonderful to hang out with them and visit before we left. It made me sad that we will be far away from that community in D.C. for so long. But hopefully they’ll still be there when we get back. The third and final day of the conference was crazy LONG 8 am to 10pm after a late night. And then the drive back to Lancaster, we arrived around 1 am after a couple stops.