Ready and Thankful.

Well I'm down to ONE WEEK left in Santiago. My thoughts on this are the two words I used as the title of this entry: READY and THANKFUL.

Here’s why:

These two months have been everything from invigorating, frustrating, exhausting, and awe-inspiring. As I start to pack up my bags, say my goodbyes, and eat my last delicious Chilean avocados and clementines, I think I will continue to feel a sense of extreme gratitude for the gift of these two months that have allowed me to explore issues that I find deeply important. However, it is definitely time for me to get back home and start figuring out how it is that I’ll integrate this work and this experience into my life.

My parents came to visit last week (we spent a few days exploring Buenos Aires, Argentina and then came back to Santiago for the last 3 days of their trip) and this was wonderful and in many ways, an amazing way to start acclimating back to my US life again. I loved sharing pieces of my Chilean life here with them and it was really amazing to see some of these places through their eyes. I'm also excited to get back to Boston. Being away from Boston has helped me gain some clarity on the really amazing friendships and experiences that this past year has brought to my life and I have definitely found myself aching for the city that is slowly but truly becoming a home.

I'm also ready to wrap things up here because I do feel like these have, in many ways, been an exhausting couple of months where I have been brewing in new information, ideas, environments and trying to soak in everything here in the most present, sponge-like way possible. I know that this is an incredible gift but it is also downright exhausting!

I’m ready to start thinking about how I can support Con-spirando, their insightful visions, and the great work they do in a way that isn’t intrusive but genuinely supportive.

I’m ready to start thinking about the many ways that I have seen U.S. college students engage social justice and human rights work abroad and how this work can potentially change the world or unknowingly perpetrate the very abuses we seek to eliminate.

These two months have been an incredible gift where I’ve been able to continue thinking, experiencing, and soaking in some hugely important work. What will happen next? I’m READY to find out.

Greetings from the Santiago Airport! (written on July 22)

Today I’m thinking about airports. For one, I’m sitting in one (on my way to spend a few days in Buenos Aires with my parents!) and I’m looking out a huge glass window, watching droves of people with rolling bags briskly walk by as they travel to places near and far. Sitting here, I realize that I LOVE airports. For me, they represent the anticipation of unknown places, untapped knowledge, and the rush of adventure in planning a journey.

For me, travel and movement has always been a choice, almost always been a joy, and always been “my right.”

As I sit here basking in my love for airports, I think of friends of mine who have had an altogether different experience with airports: a painful experience where deep, deep discrimination is awakened and ripped open. I think of friends of mine whose last experience in an airport was against their will. Handcuffed and shoved onto a plane, many people know U.S. airports because they, unlike me, have been told that they are NOT allowed to enter some countries.

Are they criminals? Are they somehow “lesser beings” that don’t deserve the basic right to movement? Why do I deserve it and not them? Why was I able to zip back and forth in and out of Mexico for two years while a Harvard classmate, someone who has lived in the United States since he can remember, is threatened to be shipped back to a country that has never been his home?

Ripped from their homes, they are flown back to Mexico or wherever “they come from.” They, unlike me, can’t think of travel as an exciting adventure.

So yes, for me, a citizen of the United States, a woman with privileges that would be unfathomable to many, airports are fun and exciting…. And airports are also a reminder that my blue U.S. passport gives me basic human rights that my very country actively works to deny in others.

"Home Is Wherever I'm With You"

HOME.

As all of you probably know, I've been a woman on the MOVE these past few years, spending significant time in Ohio, Cuernavaca, Boston, and most recently, Santiago, Chile. In each new place, I spend a crazy amount of time creating a life, a routine, and an environment that I can hopefully eventually call HOME. In each of these new places, I inevitably find myself thinking at some point that it will NEVER happen. Crying buckets at Parents Weekend my freshmen year at college, standing on the roof of my Cuernavaca apartment, looking out at the city and wondering how I landed myself in a place where seemingly nothing was familiar, and most recently, walking across a larger-than-life university campus, pretending to look bored and jaded, but really feeling overwhelmed and awe-struck..... these are the moments that I just want to turn back the clock, go back to elementary school and come home to Park Street in Montclair, New Jersey.

But these are also the moments that have made me realize that home is so so so very much more than an address, a town, or a country. In each new place, it has been the kind and wonderful people that consistently come into my life and turn each strange new place into a home.

So here I am, almost 5 weeks into my 8 weeks in Santiago. Will I leave this place feeling that I'm once again leaving my home? Well... no... I think that may be unrealistic for a 2-month stay! But being here has once again given me the chance to realize the many homes I do have and the people that I call home.

Last night, my friend Tiffany (one of those friends who turned Boston into a home!) reminded me of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4306i99LMXo&feature=related

As I sit here in Santiago, the lyrics to the chorus make me think of all of you who make up my many homes in New Jersey, Ohio, Cuernavaca, Boston:

"Ahh Home. Let me come home
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome.
Home is wherever I'm with you."

One Month Down, One Month to Go!

One month in Santiago, Chile and I feel like I’m finally getting to a point where I’m beginning to understand why I’m here, what I’m going to get out of my time here, and how/where to focus my energy and attention. I can tell that I’m beginning to “settle in” because I no longer feel the need to over-analyze every little thing that happens to me and I think I am just better equipped now to accept the good and also the not-so-good aspects of my Chilean life! My two internships (Teaching Assistant for a course on Human Rights in Latin America and working with the Colectivo Con-spirando) and the activities related to those two internships definitely take up the majority of my life. Luckily, I am finding both of the internship sites to be extremely relevant to my background and interests but also really rejuvenating and different. Most of my work with Con-spirando has been related to their upcoming book on Religious Fundamentalisms and the Body. Together with Susan (my co-worker whose house I am living in!), I am translating an article about the history of fundamentalisms in the United States from English into Spanish. We are almost done with it but it has definitely been a big undertaking that would have been completely impossible without Susan! I am also writing an article that I’ll submit to maaaaaaybe hooooopefully be published in their book. I’m really thrilled with work at Con-spirando and I know it’ll be extremely relevant to the work I’ll be doing back at school in Boston.

A particular highlight of my month was a weekend workshop on art therapy in the mountains outside Santiago. Together with an eclectic and kind group of kindergarten teachers, nuns, and university students, I spent 3 days in a beautiful lodge dancing, painting, sculpting, laughing and learning about the ways that we can get to know others and ourselves through the arts. I originally signed up for the workshop pretty randomly and not too sure that I wanted to do it (I always get SO nervous attending events where I don’t know anyone!!) but it ended up being incredibly relevant to my own work, FUN and just was an amazing chance to meet new people.

A few highlights that I am looking forward to soon include a visit from Nelly Del Cid, an incredible activist and friend from Honduras, trips to Viña del Mar (with my Montclair friend, Sam!) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (with newly-spanish-speaking parents!), and of course, continued living, learning, and exploring around Santiago!

And to all of you out there, I’d love to hear how you’ve been! Being here amidst all this newness and unfamiliarity makes me think of you all constantly and I would love to hear how you are all doing.

More about the Colectivo Con-spirando

I recently sent an email out to a group of people who I knew had particular interests in the areas of religion, human rights, women's rights, spirituality, etc so that they could learn more about Con-spirando (the organization that I am interning with this summer). I know that there are many more of you who would perhaps be interested in learning more about the great organization so I decided I would also attach my email message and some additional information here!



Hi friends and family!

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying your summer!
I'm sending you this email because I think you all might be particularly interested in learning about the Colectivo Con-spirando, the organization in Santiago, Chile where I'm interning this summer. Con-spirando is a women's theological collective with a wide network across Latin America. It brings voice to women across Latin America through it's publications (which this year come in the form of two books but in the past have been quarterly magazines) as well as myriad workshops, rituals, and courses that bring women together to heal, write, dream, and converse.

This summer, I've seen the great work of Con-spirando first hand through a series of trauma-healing workshops that the organization is doing with neighborhoods affected by last February's earthquake. The members of Con-spirando are incredible facilitators and I was amazed at the work of healing that they are undertaking in communities where that work is so badly needed. As some of my friends with particular interests in religion, feminism, Latin America, human rights and other related areas, I thought you might want to learn more about Con-spirando because I think they are one of the best examples I have ever come across in opening space and giving voice to people who might otherwise remain silenced and harmed by oppressive forces in today's world. It speaks deeply to my own goals and values and I imagine you will find it inspiring as well!


Here are some places online to learn more about them:

Their website is: www.conspirando.cl.
(and for those of you who speak Spanish, the article on their homepage is about their latest workshop on post-trauma which I was lucky enough to attend with them)

Some of their articles have been translated into English and can be found here:
http://www.conspirando.cl/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=60&func=select&id=5

A list of books published by Con-spirando and links to how to order them: http://www.conspirando.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=75

HI Susan!

I just learned that my new Chilean friend and housemate, Susan, is a reader of this blog (and will use my blog as a way to practice her English)! So, Hello Susan! Thanks for letting me stay at your house!

A little evening story time

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario. Monica and Julie have stopped into a department store after a day where all plans have fallen by the wayside (we had originally set off downtown to explore a museum and try a vegetarian restaurant… only to find “CLOSED” signs on not one but BOTH places). A bit defeated, but mostly just amused, we stop into a Macys/Sears-esque department store called Hites. I need some good walking shoes and Monica is looking at clocks. A few seconds in the shoe section teaches me that here in Chile (or at least here at Hites), my feet are considered abnormally gigantic (US shoe size 8) and I am relieved to finally find a single shoe box labeled with my size (Chilean size 49). The box is sitting close to the bottom of a wall-to-wall line up of precariously stacked boxes. As I slooooooowly slide the box out from under the stack, I begin to notice the top boxes sloooooowly falling, then sliding into the rows of boxes next to them, then smashing into the rows of boxes next to them...… seconds later I am huddled in the middle of the store screaming “OH DIOS MIO!!!!!” as shoes come flying out of their boxes, crashing down over my head, bouncing off my shoulders and landing crazily all over the department store floor. I am in complete shock, crouching over, my hands over my head, screaming “OH DIOS MIO!” while the rest of the store looks on in some combination of stunned amazement, extraordinary annoyance and hysterical amusement.

You miiiiiiight know that I'm prone to exaggerate but en serio peeps, I would say no less that 80 pairs shoes came leaping out of their boxes and onto my head/on the floor this afternoon at the delightful Hites department store.


(For the recond, Monica bought a clock and I waited till the next store over to purchase my coveted pair of ENORMOUS shoes. )

Pensando en ti....

I can't help it. Chile makes me think of Mexico. Casi non-stop.

Such different countries, so far apart physically... a million and six reasons why Chile is not Mexico and Mexico is not Chile.... but alas, here I am. Cuernavaca, Mexico, estoy pensando en ti!

I think being here in Chile brings me back to some of the most challenging and also most transformative aspects of my life in Mexico. As a communicator, much of this for me revolves around language. As I mentioned in my last post, the language issue is one with which I struggle so much. It makes me realize how much I consider language to be one of my favorite creative outlets! I love playing with words, creating new meanings for words (tap, anyone?), and expressing ideas with strange and elaborate flourishes. But in my second language, I am relieved and amazed when I can communicate a basic thought without eliciting a confused or amused look.

So that brings my mind constantly back to Mexico. A place where the simple became complicated, the normal became strange, and the routine became revolutionary. For all you out there who changed my life during those two years, you may be physically further than before, but estoy pensando en ustedes more than ever.

<3

10 Days In

I've been in Santiago, Chile for 10 days now and it's been everything from exciting, beautiful, and fascinating to challenging, lonely and confusing! Luckily, I've had experience with the vaaaast highs and lows that can come with getting acquainted with a new place and I think it's a challenge that I'm willing to take on! I think my first 10 days could pretty much be divided into 3 parts: 1) First few days of just playing and exploring the city, 2) Orientation week with the Harvard college students, and 3) Short trip to the southern cities of Concepción/Talcahuano to meet with a community affected by last February's earthquake.

I landed in Chile last Wednesday, June 9. I'm living with a young couple in the ñuñoa neighborhood of Santiago. It's a great location... lots of interesting places to explore and really close to Santiago's confusing-- but definitely comprehensive-- public transportation system! The woman I'm living with also works at Con-spirando, the women's collective where I'll doing an internship this summer. Since the other students hadn't yet arrived and orientation activities weren't starting till the following Monday, my early arrival gave me plenty of time to settle in, get the lay of the land, and start exploring the city! Together with my professor/pal, Monica we tried lots of different restaurants, familiarized ourselves with some of the public transportation (although I'm still confused....), and began preparing for the students' arrival and the course on Human Rights that Monica will be teaching and that I'm assisting with. Assisting with the course in this case basically means that I'll attend the class sessions, maintain the course website, and meet with students as they prepare for their class presentations. The first few days were fun and REALLY helpful but I found myself ready to get the show on the road and start the official orientation!

The Harvard College students that I'm working with this summer are part of a program through the college that matches them with internship sites and also provides various lectures, excursions, and orientation activities. I was lucky to get to participate in the orientation activities this past week which included trips to lots of sites around the city (especially some powerful visits to introduce us to the fairly recent dictatorship under Pinochet and the diversity of views that still exist around that time!) and presentations on everything from culture shock to Chile's current political and economic situation. As we explored, listened, and talked about the frustratrions/joys of this adjustment, I was CONSTANTLY reminded me of my incredible co-workers at the Center for Global Education in Mexico who are quite the experts at Orientation Weeks of their own! We also had the first 4 class session of the Human Rights course. I think it is going to be great and I'm so excited to learn about these issues within Chile's particular contexts.

The end of this week took me to the southern cities of Concepción and Talcahuano, the areas most affected by the recent earthquake here. Con-spirando has been asked to give a series of workshops around personal and spiritual well being as people make meaning of this huge trauma that has occurred in their community. Three of the women from the organization gave a great workshop (very creative and really well organized, in my opinion!) and generated lots of interesting insights from all who attended. While my official role was to photograph the workshop itself, I found myself absolutely amazed by what was happening around me and am so excited and honored to get to learn from people who are doing such important work that can far too often be overlooked.

The weekend trip itself brought up a lot of the main challenges that I personally find myself confronting here. First of all, language is SUCH a challenge for me! I knew it would be but the reality is hard. I find myself so embarrassed to admit that I lived in Mexico for two years because I'm constantly confused as the accent and vocabulary here (particularly amongst young adults!) just seems so unfamiliar! I hope this gets better over time as I get more and more used to everything from lingo to just the general way of life that is so different from the places where I have lived before.

I start work at Con-spirando this Monday. My schedule for the rest of my time will generally be 4 days/week at Con-spirando, 1 day/week with the college students on excursions, and 2 evenings/week with the Human Rights course. Whew! Thanks so much for all of you out there who wrote to me on my birthday last Tuesday. It was SOO wonderful to hear from so many friends and family. I'm thinking of all of you and would love updates on how life is in your corner of this world!


Here is a link to the photo album where I'll be posting pictures along the way! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060919&id=28500257&l=8a1a0be573