38 hours to go

At least, that's the estimate I came up with for travel time between the time I leave Jay's house in La Paz and the time I arrive at my (parents') house in Hillsboro. With enough reading material, music on my iPod, and money for food and coffee, it shouldn't be too bad.

I also have my first post-congress speaking engagement confirmed: this Friday at a Presbytery of the Cascades meeting in Portland. Jeff Harvey and I will talk about our experience at the congress for about ten minutes, and also sit by an informational booth in case people want to learn more. He and I skyped yesterday to try and brainstorm ideas of what we're going to say, but weren't able to come up with much. I think one obstacle (for me, at least) is that it's difficult for me to imagine which stories, ideas and reflections, of the many I have about the congress, would be most interesting to someone from the US who is hearing about it for the first time. I might try out some possible stories and ideas on willing family members and friends before Friday.

It's funny how my excitement about being in Bolivia keeps changing on this trip. A week ago I felt worn-out and did not have much desire to see anything new. I only wanted to hang out with my friends and wait out the remaining days until coming home. Last night, however, my perspective shifted and I didn't want to leave. There are several things I love about Latin American culture, but I know that I also just love traveling: being in new places and coming into contact with new cultures provides so many growing and stretching experiences for me, and it's often a lot of fun. However, I also know that with the right perspective, the US, Oregon, even Hillsboro can provide these growing experiences as well, and that there are still plenty of "foreign" aspects of these places. G. K. Chesterton: "The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." As I return to the US, I'm sure this will happen to some degree. Aspects of US culture will jump out at me that used to remain unnoticed in the background. This is often termed "reverse culture shock," and lasted for a couple days when I returned from Central America in January 2009.

So, family and friends, know that I'll be doing a lot of mental processing the first couple of days. The initial "How was your trip?" question is fine, but a couple days later having a longer conversation would be great. In fact, if I could ask a favor, it would be to have conversations with you where we talk about my trip and both try to come to a better understanding of it, including the congress, US-Bolivian cultural differences, etc. These conversations would help me "put the pieces together" of all the various memories and experiences I've had here into a coherent whole. Also, it would help to feel understood by the people I'm closest to and would help me reconnect with you.

And that's that! I'll soon be off on my La Paz-Santa Cruz-Lima-Miami-San Francisco-Portland route. I very much look forward to seeing you all and enjoying the beautiful Pacific northwest during spring. See you soon!