Back in the USA - Transitions Aren't for Sissies

I've landed. After two and a half years South of the Border, serving in Peace Corps Mexico, I'm back and re-adapting to life in the Washington fast lane.  

Sure is different here – and I’m different too.  Living in small-town Rioverde, working in subsistence farm communities, I grew accustomed to the desert heat, the slow pace, the boredom and isolation that comes with being an only gringa in my pueblito, and the confusion trying to connect across the culture divide.

I learned the value of Mexican expressions like ni modo, so it goes, and ahorita, now in a little bit, which may mean NEVER!

Perhaps you caught some of the play-by-play blogposts. It was a bumpy ride at times, like the dirt roads leading to Zamachihue and Paso de Botello, where I worked with indigenous women’s cooperatives to cultivate native plants and sustainable livelihoods. More about my Viva Viveros project here:  http://annes-eye.blogspot.com/2012/12/viva-viveros-cultivating-native-plants.html.

Thanks to many kind friends and trusty compañeros in San Luis, Rioverde, Guanajuato, Queretaro, and out in the campo (you know who you are), I survived, maybe even thrived, in Mexico. 

Now that I’m back, I join the distinguished ranks of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) – no red carpet welcome home or free health care plan, but plenty of happy hours.

So what’s next?  What am I up to now (besides partaking of happy hour)?  

I have an exciting book project in the works - Sustainability and the Human Element:  Lessons from the Field, the Boardroom and Within (working title) - based on my combined Mexico and SeeChange experience. I’ve been in creative-obsessive mode over it since before my November Close of Service.

But life intervenes. 

My basement flooded in the last downpour; the roofs are leaking, the plumbing’s going, and my contractor bills are piling up. I’m still living out of boxes, sifting through stacks of mail, and rekindling old friendships. I’m learning how to speak in Ingles again, but scared to lose my Spanish. I’m discovering the truth about gluten and GMOs and stand, bedazzled, in the aisles of Whole Foods trying to choose a peanut butter. I miss comida and my friend Rita. I’m going through batteries of blood tests for imbalances, re-engaging with NPR, trying to avoid media-hype, and re-learning how to zydeco dance. 

By far most difficult of all, my mom was diagnosed with cancer my first month back; so I dropped everything and flew out to be with her through emergency surgery.  She’s doing miraculously well; and we are optimistic for her longer-term recovery.  But we all know what a wake-up call that is.

I’m in a state called Transition - one foot still planted in Mexico, I'm straddling the border, and DC, USA is a long reach.

Transition takes time. Just because I'm president of SeeChange doesn't mean I can skip over it. They say this reverse integration is harder than adapting to life in your expat country; and they may be right. It's not for sissies. But it sure is fertile ground for exploration.

So I'm going to explore - take some blogtime and write about it - starting with the story of my border-crossing by bus - oh, what a ride, and the symbolic start of my Transition.

Have a read - post a comment - drop a line and reconnect. To my friends south of the Border, please don't lose touch.

Gracias y felizes, thanks and happiness, Anne