Take Two

Hello Stranger

My dear followers it has been several months since I last updated this blog, I know you are all wondering what happened to Liz? What has she been up to for the last six months? A) Did she fall madly in love with a local and take off to live in a beach town? B) Did she join a “rebel” group and is now starting a revolution? C) Did she travel a bit, do some international development work, experience several levels of culture shock, get sick with typhoid fever (3 times) making her go home to Canada? If you picked option C you guessed right! As Lesley my CIDA internship coordinator at Niagara College would say “flexibility and being open to whatever happens are key qualities to a successful international internship”. Although I consider myself to be a flexible and open-minded person sometimes it’s hard to see things from this perspective, especially when you are cycling through several high and low peaks of the Culture Shock cycle all at once, causing mass confusion.

I must give props to all my new Canadian immigrant and refugees; I now know what it feels like to not fit in, feel isolated and experience self-doubt.  

Let’s do the Limbo 

I had the privilege of using my recuperation/x-mass holiday downtime to process and meditate upon my experiences in Peru. When I first arrived in Toronto I had mixed feelings about being home, it was something I hadn’t “planned”; I hadn’t planned to get Typhoid Fever ( http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/ ), who does, right especially if you got vaccinated! I found myself in a state of limbo, unsure if would go back to Peru or stay in Toronto. Unsure if I would be able to complete my internship, because of the ambiguousness of my recuperation timeline.  The opportunity of staying in Toronto was also unclear, although I had more support systems the lack of an apartment, job and unwavering cold was also very unwelcoming.  Experiencing anxiety about the uncertainty of my future, plus being sick was very overwhelming so I decided that I needed to chillout. Enjoy the holidays with my family and friends, and just focus on getting better that things would come together, and that I would be able to make the right decision Toronto vs Peru once I was physically well. This sounds logical right? Well it took me a while to figure this out, I needed to listen deep down inside and follow my inner voice something that most of us are not use to doing, including myself. I didn’t figure this out on my own, meditation ( http://www.friendsoftheheart.com/), & the support of my naturopath Rebekah, friends and family helped me get grounded. 

This Brings me to “Take Two” 

As I sit here in the airport lounge waiting to board my flight (which is now two hours delayed due to snow),  feeling well enough to eat the spiciest Indian food and confident about my choices, I embark on my newest adventure to Peru. Although some of the time I spent in Lima were very difficult with bouts of depression, cultural confusion, and sever pain and debilitation from the Typhoid Fever, I also had many positive experiences; personal, professional and cultural, which lead me to take my second leap and continue on this path of growth and exploration. 

I promise to update this blog/rant podium often. 

Much peace and love to all of you,

Liz