I've gotten these questions several times, and I can never really find a solid answer for them.
Yes, being back in the US definitely has its benefits. For one (and I think most importantly), security is much better here, and I feel safer than ever walking around at night without the need to constantly scan my surroundings to make sure nobody's coming up to rob me.
But after living in Honduras for 7 weeks, I wouldn't quite consider being back in the states a relief. In fact, many parts of me fell in love with customs and traditions and ways of life in Honduras, and I definitely learned a few things there. I think the main thing is that I learned to appreciate how fortunate we are in America. In Honduras, the police enforcement, the living conditions, the cleanliness, and the availability of resources were all very poor. In our town we would see drug runs right behind our house, many of which the police knew about, and the police were often in on the drug exchanges. We would see houses throughout El Porvenir made of sticks, roofs barely intact, dirt floors, and they would have one small mattress for a family of 8 to sleep on. Everywhere you looked there would be trash, and there was no enforcement to stop littering. It was dirty in all areas no matter what, and that was something I learned to live with and accept and understand as being an element of an underdeveloped society. There was no ambulance or traffic-regulation, so if you were in a high-speed collision and you were severely injured, people from the sidelines would literally just watch you die because there's nothing you can do. Hearing things such as this make me so grateful for the fact that we have a government that enforces safety at all times, and seeing the poverty-stricken homes and families makes me so thankful that I have a legitimate roof over my head and not just some hay strapped together and laid on top of the foundation.
Another thing that I always think about when reflecting on what I took back from the experience is the fact that children in Honduras are happy simply playing with rocks and sticks (and maybe a soccer ball, if they're lucky). It's seeing the lesson of "be happy with what you have" really be put to the test because honestly, coming back to the states and seeing kids unhappy because they don't have the newest game console or a 72" HDTV in their home to play Call of Duty makes me ten times sicker after coming back from a place where that kind of stuff isn't even (and will probably never be) an option for them. The realization that I've taken so many things for granted over my whole lifetime and that I need to realize what I truly have struck me hundreds of times throughout the trip, and that feeling alone has made me take monumental steps towards individual growth, self-actualization, and the building of tolerance, and those are just a few things that I can name that changed me as a person from this experience.
I think just being exposed to such poverty and poor living conditions made me want to go to as many places in the world as I can and make a difference in one way or another. Whether it be via teaching English or assisting medically, this trip has definitely awakened the fire and passion in me to travel around the world and offer any sort of help in places that really need it, and for the rest of my life that will be the driving force for me to do what I need to do to achieve that goal.
I will never forget the people I met on this trip. It seemed like the greatest people from all ends of the world just converged together all with the same goal: to offer a helping hand to those in need. They all have the biggest and most accepting hearts of anyone I have ever known. I think they are truly the thing that made this experience so enjoyable for me. By the end of the trip I literally felt like they were family, and I'll never forget how awesome they are. Joe, Katlyn, Julie, Shawna, Michelle, Ruth, Jana, Natasha, Rachel, Amy, Eddie, Stephanie, Courtney, Other Stephanie, Shannon, Guido, Kelly, Lindsey, Steve, I'll truly miss you all very much, but I know for most of you it wasn't goodbye but more of a see you later!
There's so much more I'd like to say, but I'll save that for another day!
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