Reflections on the Christmas Holidays and Life After SALT

It has been about 16 months that I have been home after my year with the MCC SALT program in Guatemala and El Salvador. These months have gone by fast, at times, and drudgingly slow at other times. Just like my year of SALT, I guess. Some days have been great. Other days have been hard. The first 6 months at home were especially hard for me, and I appreciate the people who supported me through this time, and everyone who welcomed me home and wanted to hear my stories. A few weeks after I came home, someone asked me if SALT had been a life-changing experience for me. I don’t remember what I said at the time. But thinking of this question now, my answer would be “not exactly”. I had been to Guatemala before, and other Latin American countries as well. I had seen numerous times the heart-wrenching signs of poverty, and heard the devastating stories of civil war and violence.  I do think something does change, when you are living with people every day in a different culture, as opposed to just visiting and hearing their stories for a couple weeks or a couple months. Yet, I don’t think life-changing experiences are as complex as we make them out to be. For me, my year in Central America, although perhaps a life-changing experience in some ways, was more a “life-giving” experience. It was a time when I experienced the joys and pains of being outside of my comfort zone. I experienced being a stranger in a new land, and received mountains of hospitality, as well as grace and patience, as I made mistakes, and increased my understanding of the language, culture, and the unspoken social norms. Hospitality was especially felt over the Christmas holidays, when I spent my 2 weeks of vacation with my host family in Guatemala, and their extended family. I gradually experienced what it feels like when a foreign country and culture turns into a place I can call home.

But I don’t think you have to take a big trip in order to have a life-changing or “life-giving” experience. I also don’t believe that people can only experience these things once or twice in a lifetime. Since coming home to Canada, I continued to have many life-giving experiences, where I have been out of my comfort zone, and have had my perspectives on life either change or broaden.  These experiences include volunteering with MCC’s Circle of Friends program in downtown Kitchener, be-friending some Guatemalan migrant workers living outside of Tavistock, delivering Christmas food hampers to those in need, and helping out with my church's youth group. Some of my day-to-day experiences living, working, and volunteering in Canada (or more specifically right here in Tavistock, and nearby Kitchener) have been just as significant for me, as some of my days living in Guatemala City or San Salvador. So really, my time in Central America wasn’t necessarily “an experience”, but my life and my reality, for a year.

In reflecting on my time in Central America, I miss the spontaneity and joy and the little things that are celebrated every day, when life is lived in the moment. I miss the constant reminders that life is hard, but we can persevere and survive if we work together, and open ourselves up to others. This is what makes life beautiful. One of my favourite authors right now is Brené Brown, and she talks about how you cannot have true joy, without gratitude. She talks about how “gratitude is not an attitude”, but a practice, something that you intentionally have to do every day. I think that gratitude and joy is something that many people I met in Central America practice every day. They exude joy in their everyday lives, because they are grateful for what they have: the present. They don’t get Christmas bonuses, weekend getaways, or month-long vacations to travel. But they are grateful for the little things they experience every day, and they experience them with joy, because they know they might not have these things tomorrow. They have all experienced intense suffering, both as children and as adults, and live in a culture of fear. But the majority of the people I met chose not to stay inside hiding, but to go out into the world with joy and gratitude every day. When I was in Central America, it was easy for me to be grateful, because I experienced new things every day. But being home this past year, this has not been so easy. Yet I am learning this is maybe a way I can keep the spirit of Central America with me – to find joy and gratitude in the everyday things. It has taken me a year, and I am still trying to figure it out. And I am continually reminded of this whenever I visit with some of my Guatemalan friends here in Tavistock – 7 Guatemalan migrant workers who are currently living and working on a pig farm, with a one year work visa. This Christmas (just like last year) my family will be sharing a Christmas dinner with them over the holidays. For me, this helps me to “pay forward” some of the hospitality I received while I was in Central America. But also, getting to know these young Guatemalan men has been a life changing or “life-giving” experience for me (and I think for my family as well), and we have learned a lot from them, including about joy and gratitude. Joy and gratitude are so counter-cultural especially at this time of year, with "Black Friday", our consumerist Christmas habits, and our "never enough" culture. Over the upcoming Christmas holidays and into the new year, as I continue my journey in "life-giving" experiences and cultivating joy and gratitude into my life, I also encourage you in your own unique journey.