No comment needed (except for this one, of course).Thursday, August 20, 2009
Back at Home (Again)
My jet-lag is terrible. It's 12:40 a.m. and, after sleeping for a solid 3 -4 hours this afternoon, I'm wide awake. Coming back is always far worse than going there (wherever that may be). This return has its additional stresses - there is a wedding to be planned, exercise to be done, and a job to be found. Of course, there are the fun parts to: Catching up with friends, hanging with my fiance and Scotta the Cat, and visiting with my family. I feel so happy to be home; so sad to not be sleeping right now.
This past trip has formented changes in me. Every time I go overseas, I learn a little more about myself. First of all, I learned that my Uzbek is really quite excellent - quite possibly the best foreign language that I speak/have ever spoken. I only wish that it were more useful. If you'd like to start a conversation circle, you know where to reach me. Second, I gained confidence in myself as a manager and director, which I really needed. Finally, I suspect that I have found my life path (cheesy sounding, but its almost 1 a.m. and my brain isn't functioning correctly).
Getting to know my amazing female colleagues on this trip and comparing their experiences in Central Asia to what I've learned through my studies and my previous travels, I realized that what I really want to focus on is gender issues - not just for the sake of the economy, though it's crucial to a healthy economy to have an educated and professional female population, but because women are inherently equal to men and deserve to be treated as such. I have a some fledgling ideas about how I'll go about implementing change, but it's a sensitive subject and will take a lot of time, research, and more experience in the field (Ritchie can be my research assistant ;).
Overall, I feel very grateful for this experience, not just because of what I learned from my role as Resident Director and through working with the staff and students (each amazing in their own way), but also because of what it taught me about myself. After searching through muddled thoughts about my future for years, everything has suddenly become clear.
Isn't it funny how that happens?
This past trip has formented changes in me. Every time I go overseas, I learn a little more about myself. First of all, I learned that my Uzbek is really quite excellent - quite possibly the best foreign language that I speak/have ever spoken. I only wish that it were more useful. If you'd like to start a conversation circle, you know where to reach me. Second, I gained confidence in myself as a manager and director, which I really needed. Finally, I suspect that I have found my life path (cheesy sounding, but its almost 1 a.m. and my brain isn't functioning correctly).
Getting to know my amazing female colleagues on this trip and comparing their experiences in Central Asia to what I've learned through my studies and my previous travels, I realized that what I really want to focus on is gender issues - not just for the sake of the economy, though it's crucial to a healthy economy to have an educated and professional female population, but because women are inherently equal to men and deserve to be treated as such. I have a some fledgling ideas about how I'll go about implementing change, but it's a sensitive subject and will take a lot of time, research, and more experience in the field (Ritchie can be my research assistant ;).
Overall, I feel very grateful for this experience, not just because of what I learned from my role as Resident Director and through working with the staff and students (each amazing in their own way), but also because of what it taught me about myself. After searching through muddled thoughts about my future for years, everything has suddenly become clear.
Isn't it funny how that happens?
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