surVAILance

Here's a description of Vail and the area around it:

Physical:
Vail is situated in a long valley stretching east to west, with Vail at the easternmost edge. I-70 runs down the middle of the valley parallel to the Eagle river. The valley is maybe a mile and a half wide at the bottom. It's surrounded by beautiful 11,000 foot mountains, some of the taller ones still are covered with snow. Since Vail is in a valley, it's stretched out a lot. The closest thing you could call downtown is called Vail Village. It's architecture looks like what you would see in the Swiss Alps and the town is mostly pedestrian. There's a free bus service around the city so it's really easy for us to get into the village--our project housing is on the opposite side of I-70 so we either have to walk to the pedestrian bridge or catch a bus.

Altitude:
Vail is at 8,150 feet above sea level (I looked it up and Louisville is 466ft above sea level), and you can definitely feel it. When I first got here I had a headache and it was a little harder to breathe. After the first two days, I don't feel the altitude anymore. The other effect of the altitude is the sun. Our staff kept telling usto make sure to wear sunscreen when we are out and about and that the sun is a lot stronger here. Well, they were right. On our second day here we volunteered with the Teva Mountain games and we were outside for 2 1/2 hours. I did put on some sunscreen but I wasn't too worried. Wow. The staff were right. Anywhere I didn't put sunscreen got really burned: back of the legs and arms especially. According to the internet, there is 30% less protection from the sun here because of the thinner atmosphere.

Cultural/Spiritual:
I've only been here a few days but the culture and values of this place are pretty obvious. Everything here is about athleticism.It seems like every person here is an expert in one or more outdoor activities, things like, bouldering, mountain biking, skiing, dog training, kayaking, snowboarding, road biking, mountain biking, fishing, fly fishing, running, hiking, mountain climbing, etc. The people here live for this stuff. I don't want to be too quick to label everyone here, but it's like outdoor activities are their religion. And if outdoor activities are a religion, Vail is a holy city, a pilgrimage site for this religion. People from all over the country and the world come to participate here. The people here are pretty evangelistic for their proffered sport and love to talk anyone about it, even stranger. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with outdoor activities in themselves. All these things are great, fun, and are an amazing way to experience God's creation. What I am saying is that a life with it's focus on and worship of these things is wrong. It's the same thing as all sin and idolatry, "It's making a good thing into a god thing (-Mark Driscoll)." The people here want to be as self sufficient as possible and they don't see a need for God in their lives. But the Vail valley definitely needs Jesus just as much as the rest of us.

I'm still looking for a job. I've had a few leads and I had one really good interview earlier today so hopefully that'll work out.