I haven’t been writing much. I’ve been very busy since I got back from Mexico. Most of my activity has been focused on my next adventure. I’m delighted and a bit freaked out by turns. After a year of preparation and a nine month long application process, only this has made me feel like it’s really happening.So for the last month I’ve been immersing myself so much in where I’m going and what I’m going to do there that I kind of forgot why I came back to Australia — to spend time with my family, watch the leaves turn red, eat my favourite and familiar foods and have a few moments of quiet before life gets all exciting again.
Lately I’ve been having these little pangs of what I’m calling homesickness-in-advance. The yellow hills dotted with greyish gum trees on the drive back from Sydney, call of a kurrawong, and crunch of acorn caps under my feet at the bus stop are provoking a wistfulness that I’ve never experienced before.I’ve never really been homesick. I do sigh with relief when the plane lands and I step out into home, but I’ve never wanted to go back early. I hope that how I’m feeling about where I am now isn’t a sign that’s going to change!
I have arrived at the house of David and Alejandrea Hinojosa. David is my Rotary host counsellor. They have been so lovely and welcoming, inviting their daughter and grandchildren over to meet me. Luckily my luggage arrived only 12 hours after I did!
Tomorrow it’s language test day at the institute. I’ve fallen back into Spanish pretty easily, in between the jetlaggy tired periods. I find that I can chat away well for an hour or two, until I get to a point where I need to use some difficult verb tenses, and then my brain just freezes.
I arrived last night, without my luggage! Fortunately it’s been located and will arrive in the next few hours, in time for me to catch a lift to Cuernavaca this arvo. Hopefully the jar of Marmite I’ve brought over will be intact, and my friend Chris will be able to indoctrinate his daughters into the cult of boiled brewer’s yeast. Ew.
I think I’ve found an NGO with which to spend some time while I’m in Cuerna. It’s a sort of coordinating body for local indigenous and cultural organisations, and they need some assistance with evaluating their activities and planning for the future.
It looks like a good opportunity for me to share some of my skills in project implemetation and evaluation and at the same time widen my experience. I’m just a little concerned that after my 8am-2pm classes I’ll be of little use to them!
(it is a little strange to be posting about volunteer work overseas directly above the voluntourism comments, isn’t it?)
Today I booked my flights… twelve weeks from today.
