Visiting Jules

I can't possibly express to everyone the oddness of Julie's life right now. She has tried to explain the whole situation to me, but words don't do it justice. Before visiting her, all she had told me was that she was living in a dormitory and would have to move out in the fall. Silly me, I assumed this was a school dorm. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Her apt/dorm room is situated in the middle of the country at the end of a 10 minute drive on a horrible rocky driveway. At this point, I began to question why students would ever live way out there. She told me just to wait.

as we round the last corner, there are 3 quaint houses that looked as if they belonged in another country. They reminded me of the little hotels that we stayed in while in Switzerland and Austria. They also kinda remind me of a ski resort I've been to. All I know, is I wish I had had a camera w/ me to take pictures. O, and there were about 8 chickens and roosters running around & one of the "houses" was really a chicken coup.

Julie's room was tiny & had a single bed, a bunked bed, no closet, a tuperware drawers, and a tiny sink. Downstairs there was a sitting room that had a bunch of bibles in it. The dorm had 2 kitchens and the one that Julie used had about 2 large refrigerators, 1 stove, at least 6 mini fridges, 6 hot plates, and 4 sinks. There were also 3 little tables w/ cute place setting all laid out (Jules lives in this place pretty much by herself). She told me that the owner holds some seminars or bible schools for these women so they all get there own place setting. However, I think it's very bizarre that they are just sitting there waiting. Their were 2 toilets that were each in this little closet space & their were 2 showers in another room between them.

while we were investigating the other kitchen, Julie's roommate Doug came in. Doug is about 50 and is doing electric work or something for this company and his home is in Oklahoma. He began to tell us stories of some other people who were apparently living in the other dorm.

the next day we walked around a little bit more. On this property, there is a tennis court, basketball hoops, swing sets, and an enormous pool w/ a diving bored and slide. This just blew my mind even more. O, and there were 2 more buildings similar to Julie's. Again, we are in the middle of the woods at this point.

eventually, we learned that Dotey (the owner) used to run a swimming & tennis club b/c there was nothing to do in the town. Several years ago, she built these "dorms" to house women when she decided to do these retreats. Apparently Dotey is a born again Christian and wants to share the good news. On a side note, her husband is a minister in Switzerland (which probably explains the design) so they make weekend trips to see each other. Somebody has too much money.

there were many other weird parts and strange stories, but this is the gist of it.