In the past two weeks we all experienced so many things and changed so much, but now it is time for us to return home. As we all packed our bags, make some last minute purchases and some exploring, we also had to say our final goodbyes.
During this time, it’s hard not to think about what returning home would be like. We will be parting ways with the new friends we’ve made and the beautiful city of León, Nicaragua that we all grew to love. I personally find hat the hardest thing about leaving León is not that we have our farewells today, but actually how we have to take our memories with us. We will always remember the bonds we created, the lessons we learned, and the marks we left behind. The way that we perceive and feel towards everything that we have left in America will change. We will be viewing everything from a new, different perspective and readjusting to the home that we’ve known our whole lives may prove to be a bit of a challenge.
Two weeks ago we immersed ourselves into a completely new culture, and now we do so again with our own culture, knowing in our hearts and mind that there are cultures out there so vastly different from our own. The question now is how will we be able to face the same community we have always known with a different perspective. The answer should be simple: to be respectful and open-minded, just like we’ve been for the past couple weeks. However, that would mean that everything we’ve learned, and the leadership skills we’ve acquired, would all be for naught. The best way to utilize all of our newfound knowledge would be to apply it into our lives. Everything will seem so different than it was before. We must be the change that we want to see in our community. Our memories of everything we experienced in León will always be with us, all we have to do now is share it with others. That could be an experience in its own way. It won’t be easy, but I think it’ll be fun.
Christine Trinh – Team Tuani ’17
Thank You