Reflections upon return

So I fell off the ball in the last few weeks of my time in El Salvador. It was a challenging few weeks, as I felt really pressured to accomplish a lot before I had to leave. I was also sad about leaving behind the friends I made, the craziness of San Salvador, the excitement of exploring the country, Friday night dancing at Cafe la T, and the community members of Arcatao. I felt bad about leaving in the middle of the research project, right when Deisy needed more support. She now has to plan and facilitate the remaining workshops as well as provide accompaniment to the families going through the exhumation process, which will be starting soon. She has to do this mostly on her own. I also felt bad leaving right when the International Masculinities program was starting. The 25 participants came from 17 different countries and from what I heard had a very rich experience. I was just beginning to feel comfortable in my job when it was time to leave.

Despite all the craziness right before leaving, the CBC team gave me a wonderful goodbye party at the Lago de Coatepeque and I spent an amazing weekend with Deisy and my two roommates from Spain at the beach (see pics). Then I was off to Guatemala to travel for 2 weeks with my brother. Although we had a fabulous time, I felt very strange as a tourist just passing through. Tourism in Central America is so weird, but maybe I'll save this for another entry.

This whole experience really changed my outlook on social work and my life plans. I realized that to be useful working internationally, I need more skills and experience in program development, evaluation and strategic planning. I'm hoping to find ways to develop these skills so I can go back and work for a longer period of time. I was also just generally inspired by the level of organization CBC has, their ability to put gender theory into practice and their attention to the self-care of their staff. I was also inspired by their spirituality, senses of humor and passion. I know I'll be back soon...