One of my responsibilities in my new role as Assistant Field Director with WorldTeach includes helping lead conferences at various points when groups are in country. For every group we hold an extensive Orientation, a Mid-Service Conference, and an End-of-Service Conference. This past weekend was my first experience leading a conference, as the September 2012 group had their End-of-Service Conference here in Quito. It was really interesting and thought-provoking for me to be a part of this conference, as I experienced this same conference as a volunteer exactly one year prior.
During the conference, I led a session about thoughts on going home. And during that time, I shared with the volunteers a fantastic quote about returning home from living abroad that I read as a volunteer in June of 2012, and which I’d like to share here:
The problem is the word home. It suggests a place and a life all set up and waiting for us; all we have to do is move in. But home isn’t merely a place we inhabit; it’s a lifestyle we construct (wherever we go), a pattern of routines, habits, and behaviors associated with certain people, places, and objects, all confined to a limited area or neighborhood. We can certainly construct a home back in our own culture – just as we did abroad – but there will not be one waiting for us when we arrive. And this is true even if you move back into the same house you lived in before you went overseas. In other words, no one goes home; rather, we return to our native land and, in due course, we create a new home. This condition of homelessness is perhaps the central characteristic of the experience of re-entry, and the confusion, anxiety, and disappointment it arises in us are the abiding emotions of this difficult period.
– Craig Storti, The Art of Crossing Cultures
As I read this quote now, I find myself really relating to it once again, even though at the moment I’m returning to a foreign land, rather than my native country. However, having just been back to the States for 9 months, I think this quote is spot on. When I moved back to New Mexico, I was in another new place, but quickly created a new home for myself through routines, familiar objects, and a close-knit group of friends. Now that I’ve returned to Ecuador, I’ve found that coming back to this country, and Quito in particular, has been surprisingly easy so far. The initial transition has been much smoother because I know people who are already here and many things are familiar to me – including daily routines like knowing bus routes or where to get a good almuerzo.
However, I’m once again in the process of creating a home for myself. I took a big step towards making Quito feel more like home last weekend, as I moved into my own apartment – which already feels like it’s my space because of the familiar and meaningful things I brought with me. I’m also getting to know those neighborhood places, like the nearby bakeries, tiendas, and parks, that I’m sure I’ll regularly frequent. And, I’m creating those routines that are such an important part of daily life – including commuting, for which I just ordered a new custom bicycle today! I’ll have a specific post on that bike when I pick it up in a week or so.
Even though it could feel incredibly daunting to pick up my things and move to Quito because it’s so far from home, I know that I’ll quickly build my own sense of home here over the coming weeks and months. As I do so, I look forward to staying in touch with all of you back in the States, getting to know much more about Ecuador, and sharing along the way here on my blog. To end, enjoy these pictures of my new apartment!
Ecuador Endeavor 