Visits

I've been in San Francisco for a week and a half. It's been great to see everyone, to take my time to spend quality one-on-one time with friends without feeling pressured or rushed. Although at this point I feel like I might be hitting my capacity for social interactions.

It's hard for me to conceptualize the fact that I've really been gone for 9 months. I've seen and done so much. Since I've been away I always felt that I was only existing as half a person, waiting to return to SF and feeling like part of my life was missing. Being back has given me perspective on my experience away. Looking back, the last 9 months seem fuller then I gave them credit for. They gave me more life and experience in the world, rather than taking it away.

In some ways it's been difficult for me to relate my last 9 months to the overly social, party atmosphere in SF. Maybe I've just moved past it. Most people seem to understand how important my journey has been and how it has changed me. They ask me about my experience and try to understand it's impact. In other environments, I feel like I'm some sort of twelve legged alien from another planet and I just can't relate at all.

So far, the highlight of this trip has been my visit to Amy J.'s school to talk to her students about my experience in New Orleans. There were about 15-20 'special ed' kids ages 9-12. They prepared questions for me to answer:

(Did you find any pets in New Orleans?
What was your most favorite part about cleaning up in New Orleans?
Were there any skate shops?
How old are the kids we can have as pen-pals?
Did you make any friends in New Orleans?
Are there still any buildings left standing?
Was the food all soggy from all of the water?
What could you do to change the world if you could?
What were your feelings about New Orleans when you first set your eyes on it?
Were the streets covered with junk?
How long do you think it will take to clean it all up?
Where are the kids going to live and go to school now?
Where do the kids live whose homes were destroyed?
What do the breathing masks look like?
Is there any technology or awesome vehicles to help rebuild the city?
What was the food like there?
Do the kids in New Orleans have to do homework?
How many people had been killed?
How many schools were damaged?)

I tried my best to answer what I could. Talking to the students about my experience and attempting to answer their questions as genuinely as I could, brought back the vivid and intense emotions I had experienced while working in the relief effort.
At one point I had to struggled to hold back my tears. It was emotionally draining, but entirely fulfilling.

I can only hope I somehow made an impact on their lives; inspired them to look beyond themselves, to understand the world around them, to have love and compassion for other human beings, to give them the courage and the confidence to know they really can make a difference in their world.

aawww, mooosh... and here comes the overload of idealism, optimism, and compassion I carry with me, always. It fills me to the brim and continues to break my heart daily. cheeeesey but, true.