Today marks the end of my 11th month here. In some ways, I can't believe that I'm approaching the 1 year mark and in other ways it feels like I left home a lifetime ago. As that one year mark approaches, I've been looking back at a list I started when I first got here--"Things I took for granted." These were things that I didn't have here and realized I took for granted at home. Looking back on it now, I'm really glad that I did. In part it helps me remember what the really early days were like but it also helps me to appreciate all the things that I've had to navigate. I also remember saying to myself on multiple occasions "In three months this won't seem like such a big deal." For some things, that has definitely been true (e.g. having no street names, house numbers, etc to use when you're trying to find some place). But for others, they are still challenges--and they may very well be challenges for the entirety of my service. So for these next couple posts, I'm going to reflect on a couple themes from the list.
The biggest theme that jumps out at me when looking over the list is loss of autonomy. I knew two things going into this experience: 1) I am independent almost to a fault; and 2) I would be losing some autonomy. Notice how I said "some autonomy"? The reality is that I now know it would be more accurate to say "nearly all autonomy". Some examples to illustrate the breadth of the loss: a) cannot find out how to get anywhere on your own--must ask others; b) cannot do simple things like buy gas for your oven on your own--have to ask someone to take you; c) being wholly dependent on and subject to another person's schedule when you go somewhere; d) not being able to execute anything at work on my own. Some of these--like a, b, and d are just annoying and frustrating. But item "c" in particular causes me a great deal of anxiety (and I am not an anxious person). This is where a trip out for food or a drink turns into a whole night out--and Lucians don't mess around in the being out--they like to stay out late and drink a lot. If you go out with someone who has a car, that is your only option for getting home; there are no buses at night and there is no such thing as Lyft or Uber here. So if they want to stay out until 2am, I'm staying out until 2am. Most of you know that I am NOT a 2am person--I am a person who is getting up at 4am so she can go running before work, LOL. So the choice comes down to either staying home alone again, or taking the opportunity to be out and experiencing Lucian culture. To be clear, I don't actually get the opportunity to go out very often (maybe 5 times since I've been here) so these episodes of anxiety are few and far between, LOL. In reality, the work-related loss of autonomy is probably the hardest for me to deal with. I have been so lucky to have a career at an institution that allows me so much autonomy across multiple aspects of my work. I appreciated this before I left, but this experience has really drawn a line under that appreciation and given me clarity about how important autonomy is to me as a professional.
This post has gotten far longer than expected, so I'll wrap up with some quick updates via photos! First set of photos are from Earth Day--students got sidewalk chalk (a real treat here) to draw Earth Day inspired pictures!
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