Our Lady of Mattaponi...or is it?

The retreat was foused on community, with a splash of simple living thrown in. One of my favorite aspects of the retreat was the chance for the seven of us to talk as a community about how we're doing on the simple living aspect of JVC. We all agreed that while we'd like to challenge ourselves to be more conscious of how we use resources like water and electricity, as well as being more aware of where the food we buy comes from. Buying local and organic on a budget is a challenge in itself, but we're going to do our best.

We came back from retreat rested and refreshed, only to discover that our house had been pranked by the Camden community, who had apparently gained access to the house after we had left for the retreat center! Allow me to explain... There's a long-standing prank war between the Philadelphia and Camden JVC houses, which both of our communities have been more than willing to continue. Our Philly community struck first this year with the brilliantly orchestrated replacement of the Camden community's infamous "monkey painting" with a Twilight poster (in some people's opinions, an upgrade...decide for yourselves once you see the monkey painting below!) It was only a matter of time before the Camden JV's sought their revenge...which they did by stealing all of our house's most notable pieces of decor, such as Stephen the Social Justice Dragon, a blown-up version of the Declaration of Independence signed by FJV's, and the Philadelphia JVC quilt (pictures of these priceless items would be provided if it were not for Camden's thievery) - not to mention useful things like bulletin boards. Well played, Camden. Well played.