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MEETING THE FAMILY A YEAR LATER, QUEBEC, APRIL 5TH 2006 |
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MEETING THE FAMILY A YEAR LATER
We are impatiently waiting
for this moment. On February 21st, we leave the jungle of Costa
Rica to at last see our family and friends. Here’s how it goes.
At the airport, we are greeted by our parents. They quickly find
us, hug us and shed a couple of tears. What a delight to reunite
after all we lived this year. We still have a lot to tell and we
are impatient to meet the rest of the family and friends. |
Patrick’s family |
THE RETURN SHOCK
To be honest, the reality of things was not quite what we
expected it would be. We knew the accumulation of our
experiences would have changed us, but the question is: at which
intensity will we live this change? The only way of noticing it
is by coming back to a well-known reality. We are often told
that we live in a consumer society, but are we really conscious
of it? It’s like suddenly having a very different mindset of
what surrounds us. We literally rely on the purchasing of
material goods to fulfill a need. We attach more importance to
what we look like than to what we are. We adhere to ideas that
are not necessarily ours just because it’s the message sent in
our societies. By writing these words, we know we’re repeating
what many people have already said, but we felt the need to
express them again. |
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As incredible as it may seem, it
wasn’t in Guatemala, sharing our everyday life with orphans, or
living some time in Asia that we experienced our biggest culture
shock. It’s back home that we truly live it. Yet, we know that
everything is not false in our society; the real, the true and
the beautiful still exists. We just need time to find a sense of
balance in our way of looking at things. We know that nothing
will ever be like before because we can’t deny our conscience.
Be assured that once the adventure is over (we still have at
least 2 years to go) we will find a way to build on our new
perspective. Since our trip carries on, we will continue
understanding and observing what surrounds us to set up the
principles that guides our lives. |
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