Jogging

Before moving to Virginia, I had decided I wanted to try to go running more regularly. When I first arrived, however, I went into a little bit of "climate-shock." Every time I stepped out of our air conditioned apartment, I immediately felt short of breath. I was confronted by this weird, thick, heavy air that seemed to make it impossible to breath fully. And then I came down with a cold and/or allergies that put my nose out of commission for a good week. So my whole ambitious plan of jogging on a schedule totally flew out the window.

When I did recover from my cold, I was warned to have a little more care around people than I might be used to in Wisconsin. Unlike Wisconsin, there seems to be a lack of friendliness between strangers in Virginia. When jogging or biking at the UW, it's routine to smile, wave, and give a nice "Hey there!" or "Good morning!" to any fellow exercisers you might meet. Here, unfortunately, this behavior is definitely not encouraged. In fact, I was told to not smile or wave with random passers-by while jogging because it might give the wrong impression, and it just isn't something people do.

Fredericksburg does have a very low crime rate, so I'm not particularly worried when I go out jogging. And one of the students and I have teamed up and becoming jogging buddies! We both seem to lack the self-motivation needed to get up early and go running by ourselves, so we are going to keep each other company! She's familiar with the campus and its surrounding neighborhood, which is a huge help for me, since I don't have a great sense of direction.

One of the ways we work with students as missionaries is called "incarnational evangelization." Essentially, it's the idea that as we share everyday life with students, we can build up a relationship and encourage them in their walk of faith. Jenniffer, my jogging buddy, is a super-solid Catholic who is already involved at the Catholic Student Center at Mary Washington. By jogging with her, we can get to know each other, discuss different things that are happening in life, and learn from each other. I appreciate her help to me, by giving me motivation to wake up and get out of bed to go running in the morning, and I hope I can reciprocate and show my gratitude in the weeks and months to come!