Just over a month ago I sent out my third newsletter updating friends, family, acquaintances, and supporters around the world about the first few months of 2014 as a YAGM volunteer in Gorogszallas, Hungary. The newsletter is a strange animal because I find that I really have to be in the right mood to hit my stride and try and craft something that gives a few snapshots of the last two months. How do you pick what to write about, and how do you synthesize so many new, yet still very connected experiences? Once you begin settling into a place, the routine gives a sense of normalcy to the revelations I experience each day in culture, language, and people. All that is to say that I have not been good about documenting or sharing some of the smaller, but no less significant, parts of these last few months on my blog.
In late January I filled out an application to attend a conference on gender issues among Roma people. After staring for a few minutes at two well phrased questions on the PDF and trying to articulate a good, concise answer, I became fairly convinced that I had lost my command for the English language after being immersed in Hungarian for half a year. Even though it always takes a little while for me to hit my stride on the newsletter, I look forward to the days and weeks that follow when I hear back from some people with thoughts or even just a few words of encouragement. Newsletter season also means I get to hear from other YAGMs around the world. Their words remind me that although we’re in different parts of the globe we are accompanying each other with many of the same questions of faith and being.
By returning to this blog with more focus I hope to share how some of the things I’ve been thinking about over the last months are coming together as we leave winter behind and plunge into a new chapter of the year.
In late January I filled out an application to attend a conference on gender issues among Roma people. After staring for a few minutes at two well phrased questions on the PDF and trying to articulate a good, concise answer, I became fairly convinced that I had lost my command for the English language after being immersed in Hungarian for half a year. Even though it always takes a little while for me to hit my stride on the newsletter, I look forward to the days and weeks that follow when I hear back from some people with thoughts or even just a few words of encouragement. Newsletter season also means I get to hear from other YAGMs around the world. Their words remind me that although we’re in different parts of the globe we are accompanying each other with many of the same questions of faith and being.
By returning to this blog with more focus I hope to share how some of the things I’ve been thinking about over the last months are coming together as we leave winter behind and plunge into a new chapter of the year.
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