I am overwhelmingly excited, nervous, anxious, and nostalgic all at the same time as today is my second-to-last day in the land of the free and the home of the brave. My two formal duties while in Colombia are to teach English at La Universidad Libre and conduct microfinance research with ACCIÓN. Luckily I am neither a trained teacher nor an experienced researcher. But I feel I’m right for the job. My greatest asset is most likely that I am American: a real, live, breathing, thinking, acting component of American culture.
Travel has taught me that some people love us, some hate us, some can’t decide, but either way almost all are interested. So what do I say? What is it like to be an American? Daily life, education, music, movies, language, friends, family, food, geography. So much to consider. “America is part of the human condition, within its borders there is vast variety of interest, amusement, goodness, evil, humor, absurdity, and all the other human attributes” (Alistair Cooke). Could we please be more vague?
One thing I know for sure is that I’m proud to be an American. Proud to call this place my home. Patriotic not just because I was born here, but because of the simple fact that we don’t need to rely on others to tell us that sometimes we need change. America is a self-critical nation. Read any newspaper, magazine, journal, you name it, the evidence is clear. America is in constant struggle to “be the change [it] wishes to see in the world” (Gandhi). I can pay my country tribute by doing the same.
Soo enough of my sappy America shpeel; I head out Sunday morning. Colombia’s first impression of me will be too much luggage (trying desperately not to over pack but I feel it’s inevitable), along with my broken nose, stitches, and fat lip. Cute. I’ll let ya know how it goes and more importantly what I learn along the way.
Annie, I just briefly read through your blog posts and felt compelled to say hello and to tell you how positively impressed I am by your character and insight through these few entries. Not that I didn't know your strength of character before, but there is evidence here of the strong woman you've become as opposed to the young girl I once danced with. Clearly it's late and this is getting a little sentimental. But none-the-less, I wanted to share my reaction and to wish you lots of luck on your adventures in Colombia. I've known many friends who have worked abroad in teaching or service positions and have all found their experiences both immensely challenging and immeasurably rewarding. I hope the same for you! Safe travels and God bless! -Katie B :)
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