It's Official!

It’s Official!—October 29

It’s official, folks!  I am leaving the country on the 29^th of November.  BUT I won’t actually be Stateside until Christmas time… :)

On the 29^th I’ll be flying north to San Salvador, El Salvador to stay for a few days with some friends, to eat some pupusas and all around enjoy Salvadoran culture.  From there I’ll make my way one more country north to Guatemala to meet up with Rachel and other friends.  This will be my first trip to Guate and I plan on enjoying the time exploring the cultural context as well as seeing what some partner mission agencies are up to.  There will also be a few work meetings scattered in there and who knows what else.  From Guatemala, Rachel and I will hop on a bus north to Mexico where we will go city hopping, from Chiapas to Mexico City to Tijuana.  We have many friends and contacts at every stop who can both host us and show us around.  It should be a blast!  Eventually we’ll make it to California (our goal is before Christmas) where I’ll spend some time with Rachel and her family at their home in Santa Barbara.  Then, when I’ve had my fun, I’ll fly home to chilly Michigan sometime in early January.  Save some hot cocoa for me!

You may have also heard that I will be returning to Central America next year.  Fact.  But first I get to spend 5 months at home, so don’t worry about me running off just yet!  I won’t leave Michigan until early June, which leaves plenty of time for us to catch up.  And, I don’t want to give away any of the details just yet, but I’m cooking up some fun things to do once I’m in Michigan.  And by fun, I mean educationally fun…  don’t turn your nose up just yet—it’ll be very worthwhile.  I’ll make sure of it. 

Guiss and I in Leon

You may have also noticed that I didn’t update my blog last week, and I apologize for that.  I was not actually in the country at the time and so I was unable to write anything.  But I’m back now.  Last week, Rachel and I went north to León, Nicaragua to visit Guissell as well as my new bosses.  Yep, next June I’m moving to Nicaragua!  This time, I’ll be working as a partner missionary with the Nehemiah Center (http://nehemiahcenter.net/) which means no more volunteer status!  Working my way up the professional ladder, as it were.  And I am absolutely thrilled with my job description!  I get to work with the Nehemiah Center’s cross-cultural educational programs, ranging from high school students to adults, from one-week trips to semesters abroad to long-term internships.  I get to put not only my anthropological background to use but also my experience here in Costa Rica.  To boil it down, I’ll be helping to design and develop better ways to experience living in a new context to ensure that participants get the best out of every moment.  I want them to feel like they can take something home with them and not feel forever stuck in the tourist phase of cross-cultural exposure.  The idea is NOT to have them come down to Central America to change the world.  The idea is for them to be changed by Central America.  And then go home and plug-in to their communities, sharing their new perspectives, ideas, and experiences.  We want to create people who become newly dedicated to their North American contexts, contexts where they have the advantage of being local experts (rather than being naïve outsiders).  Slogan: Live in a new context to learn how to appreciate your own context.  Leave, be liberated, return, liberate others.  As I’ve said before, missions is not just for far off countries.  Let’s not forget about our own backyards, our own neighbors, our own homes. 

And I’m so thankful that I get to be a part of it :)

For those of you who hate paragraphs, here’s a bullet-point summary:

• I’m leaving Costa Rica on November 29 to begin a bus trip north
• I’ll be in the United States (California) by Christmas
• I’ll be back in Michigan by early January
• I’ll be moving to León, Nicaragua sometime early June (details above)
• And I have no idea how long I’ll be there :)

Stay tuned!