Back from the Beach and Reenergized

We just finished up our five day retreat at the beach with the two members of Jesuit Volunteers staff who came down to Tacna.

I feel refreshed (even though I could´ve used a little more sun in order to motivate me to frolick in the water a bit more) and filled with new ideas and excitement. We covered a lot of topics (doing a social analysis session, talking about the highs and lows we have felt from the last year, beginning to plan ahead to welcoming the two newbies in November, and spending a day in silence reflecting and for me, writing letters to people at home).

One great moment was reading my application from about a year and a half ago. At first, it made me feel a bit old (I mean, shoot, I am about to turn 25 in December. Not old, but definitely starting to internalize that in no way am I a child nor adolescent anymore). I also laughed a bit at some of the ways I phrased my ideas. Overall, however, it reminded me that I was seeking a program that would not simply give me the space to experience living and working in Latin America for two years, but would push my personal development and support me (through community and through prompts and spaces for thinking about the different ways of living, the difficult stories, the everyday challenges, and the everyday joys that I knew were to come). While I was sitting on the deck of the house watching the waves one morning (feeling good after a morning run and enjoying my coffee and a crossword puzzle), I felt very content with the choice of JVC. Retreats and aspects of the program like this are quite powerful. And after all, who does not enjoy a little r and r at the beach to recharge the batteries.

Also, my application contained a number of little nuggets that struck me. This quote from C.S. Lewis especially jumped out at me after almost a year of ¨experiencing¨ (which I know can be a very broad and general term): ¨Experience is the most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, you learn.¨