Since
as far back as I can remember, I’ve had a fascination of
cultures
unlike my own. My sophomore year I went on a school
delegation to
China and lived with a host family for a couple weeks. I spoke no
Chinese myself and struggled adjusting to all the changes, but I knew
the cultural exchange was worth it when I learned through scribbling on
napkins that my host father’s favorite song was “My
Heart Will Go On”
from the Titanic Soundtrack. I began to sing it and he ran to grab his
violin. My host mother and sister chimed in singing their broken
English and then continued on singing songs from Spice Girls and the
Backstreet Boys.
The
following summer I pursued my interests in Spanish and signed up for a
six-week exchange in Mexico. There, I fell in love with Latin Culture.
I met some of my best friends in the world that summer in Mexico, and
brought my family to visit them this Christmas.
My Junior year I found the
program Amigos de las Americas.
AMIGOS is a youth Peace-Corp-like volunteer
program for young adults who were looking for challenge and adventure.
I signed up right away! Throughout the training that year I became
confident that AMIGOS was the perfect program for me- combining
cultural exchange, community development, youth leadership, Latin
culture and service all into one fun adventure! The summer of 2004 I
lived in a tiny indigenous town in rural Paraguay for two months.
Living with a host family, I worked with local youth to help them
complete a project they had dreamed of for years- building a community
park. Adjusting to the eight o’clock bedtimes, bucket baths,
constant
cumbia, guarani language, conservative culture, and eating mandioc root
and stale bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner initially proved to be
a challenge – especially when you throw the responsibility of
having to
complete projects with little-to-no guidance. It proved, however, to be
the most rewarding and enjoyable experience of my life
I knew I wanted to continue working with AMIGOS and upon returning
to Portland I quickly took the responsibility of being one of the head
trainers for new volunteers. I independently started a Spanish tutoring
program for volunteers nervous about the language barrier and helped at
training once a week. After another entire school year of fund-raising
and training I flew off for my second summer, but this time to the
Dominican Republic. My town in the DR couldn’t have been more
different- tropical heat, intensely open and sexual culture, 3 AM
bedtimes, and uncontrollably energetic kids. All this was new
and -
yet again - took major adjustment.
I spent my Dominican summer running
a day camp for 130 children, in collaboration with 14 other Dominican
teenagers. Along with learning to Bachata and Merengue like a native
(hah, I wish), I gained much more experience working in child education
overseas, and personally witnessed the active political struggles among
Caribbean nations, especially the deep racial and political conflicts
between Haiti and the DR. I couldn’t bear to leave at the end
of my
eight weeks so I expanded my trip a few weeks longer, and used them
traveling independently around the country, staying with Dominican
friends and in cheap hotels.
And shoot, that brings me to this year! What have I been up to? Well,
working who-even-wants-to-count-how-many
hours a week, and saving for my next trip! A week from today, actually,
I leave for
Frankfurt and will spend the following four months visiting friends,
volunteering at Work Camps in Romania, and sleeping on a number of
uncomfortable Hostel bunks. My future with AMIGOS looks bright, as I
have been repeatedly nominated as a supervisor for volunteers and have
been asked to apply for the summer of 2007. I am a passionate person
and have many interests and qualities, but if I needed to define myself
by one in particular, it would my love for the global world and all the
fascinatingly different people in it.
