ASB Reflections

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Honduras: The Crossing Of The Threshold

I’ve always been fascinated by literary theory, particularly in the examination of the Monomyth or the Hero’s Journey. In this form, the hero begins in an ordinary world, enters a new strange world by some unknown force, faces challenges, receives new knowledge or a boon, and then returns to to his/her own realm to practice and spread the gift he/she has been granted, which also presents its own challenges and can be more difficult than the journey itself. Good examples of this form include Star Wars and The Odyssey. The story has been summarized into 17 individual steps, which make up three greater headings: Departure, Initiation, and Return. In this journey to Honduras, it’s safe to say that we are at step 4 of 17: The Crossing of the First Threshold.

We are about to leave the comfort of our homes and lifestyles to enter into a new world not entirely unlike our own. The rules are different, the obstacles unknown, and the experience… unparalleled, unique, and worthwhile.

This is my first trip with ASB, but I’ve had the opportunity to travel outside the country before during a semester-long experience and one that lasted three weeks during an interim. If I have learned anything during these trips, it’s that nothing goes as planned, and that things turn out better if you don’t hype them up. I’m excited for this trip because, for the first time, I have no real plans or ambitions for the trip.

In this trip, there is a singular united goal: to make a difference. Our issue is rural healthcare. We’re looking forward to helping others in service to a world that has granted us so much. Some of us get to dust off our old Spanish skills and take them for a test drive on a highway. There will be laughter (because I’m there), potentially tears (also because I’m there), and overall the experience should go swimmingly, no matter what happens. We have the opportunity to affect not just the experience of but the very being of human life here, and there is no higher calling.

There are two goals accomplished in the Hero’s Journey from the hero’s perspective: Step 11, the Ultimate Boon, which is the achievement of the goal of the quest, the completion of the task the hero sought after. For us, this is the service itself. Perhaps more important, however, is step 10: Apotheosis, the revelation of divine knowledge of happiness, love, beauty, and bliss.

I hope we find it. I hope we see that this trip is more than just service, a snapshot into Honduran culture, an examination of rural healthcare practices worldwide, and an opportunity to be with great people doing a great thing.

I think it’s possible. I’m excited.

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ASB Texas

I am a true believer in the idea that surrounding one’s self with something can lead to a deeper understanding of it, which is why I am excited to go to Texas in a few days.  An issue like immigration cannot be settled or thoroughly understood from any place but a border itself.  Immigration has become a more relevant issue in politics and the news, which is why I was delighted to find an ASB trip to Texas.  I would like my trip to be educational as well as rewarding.  With an issue as relevant as immigration, my trip to Texas will be interesting to share hopefully for years to come with family and friends.  Few people get a chance to fully engage themselves in learning about an issue for which they are passionate.  However, I will use this experience to do just that and to share what I have learned with those equally as passionate because I know immigration will continue to be relevant to everyone living in the United States in the years to come.

 

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From home to Honduras

I hope I don’t get sunburned. That’s one of my biggest concerns right now. I’m a native Arizonian and I still always get sunburned. There seems to be no immunity to those UV rays.

Other than that I can honestly say I am so excited about going to a new country. My mother has been prepping me on what to expect, but there’s a feeling of excitement of going to somewhere unknown to myself and being a stranger. I like the aroma of adventure that is to come.

I can’t wait to meet the children and the native Hondurans. I want to be exposed to their culture and help them in any sense possible. If it is simply through communicating or hygiene practicing, I just want to help.

-adrienne

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T-2 Days

In just 2 days, we will land in sunny Honduras to begin our ASB trip.  Our team has been preparing for this for a little over three months, and we are ready to roll!  We look forward to hours of icebreakers in the airport followed by an awesome week.  I’m not so sure what to expect, this will definitely be different than my previous ASB trips to Alabama and Ecuador.  I’m really excited to learn more about the Honduran culture and way of life, and can’t wait to work with the local community!

Look out for another post about the trip!

-Alana

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anxious!

We leave for the trip in four days! I’m getting very anxious. I think we all will have a wonderful time and make a real difference in Texas. I’m excited to understand how the immigrants feel when they first enter America and how they learn to assimilate into our culture. My favorite thing will be seeing children! I’m looking forward to seeing my team again, but i’m dreading packing. It will all be completely worth it in the end, though! See you all in a few days! :)

Aubrey

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Pre-reflection of San Juan, Texas Trip

Yanel Garcia

January 14, 2013

There are only five days left until I embark on a memorable, educative journey. I have longed to have an opportunity to learn about immigration reform and immigrant rights in the borderline between Mexico and the United States. The reason being is that I come from a Mexican-American background, and both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. Going to San Juan, Texas will allow me to meet and interact with Texas residents/immigrants of my same ethnic background and understand the immigration that occurs in the US-Mexico border wall.

My parents’ process of legal immigration to the United States went smoothly and appropriately. However, through my young-adult life, they shared past stories with me about friends and family coming to the United States from Mexico illegally, all in search for a better life. I have also been told stories from former classmates in high school that they witnessed US Immigration being cruel to Mexican immigrants and that they struggled to make it alive as they hitchhiked from Mexico with their families.

After being told these interesting yet heartbreaking stories, I asked myself, “What can I do to be well-informed about this social issue?” and “What can I do to promote equal rights for them?”

The moment I read through the application for ASB Texas, I knew this trip will fulfill my aspiration of knowing the lives of Mexican immigrants in other specified locations, besides my hometown Chicago, and helping them in any way to impact their lives; I simply took the “Cur Non?” initiative.

After this trip ends, I hope I return to Lafayette with the mentality that I was somehow a role model to my family and the Mexican-American community for sticking to my roots and treating immigrant rights as a topic I am devoted to.

 

 

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Pre Trip Post

I have a saying on my dorm room wall: go once a year, to a place you have never been.

Back in September, when the ASB application came out, I looked over the different trips, and Costa Rica immediately stood out to me. I think at first, the words, sustainable agriculture, resonated with me. I have always been aware of the environment, but I saw this trip as a unique opportunity to learn about it in a completely different way than ever before. Besides those practical reasons, I saw a chance of an adventure that I could not pass up. I’ve never been to Central America, so I wanted to see a new corner of the world. I wanted to experience Costa Rica’s lush forests and spectacular views.

Now, after reading blogs from last year’s trip, and looking at La Grande Vista’s website, I am more excited than ever! I can’t wait to see how my experience compares with what I have read about. I’m not entirely sure what awaits me two days from now, but I am ready for whatever challenges will come.

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COSTA RICA!

There’s a curiously powerful lure that surrounds Costa Rica. There’s its natural environment—forests and beaches that unfurl in rugged and untamable tendrils under your feet as you walk along them; there’s the lifestyle—the sacred, unbreakable code of an easygoing, relaxed, yet full and exciting life.  And then there’s the combined urge to let yourself be consumed by the pura vida and disappear into the mountains, adopting a life of surfing, gardening, and simply soaking in life.  From the anecdotes and stories I’ve heard from those who have visited Costa Rica, it seems unbelievable that such a small country could have such a profound impact on so many lives. As I pack my bug spray, sunscreen, and sunglasses into my rucksack, I feel a surge of anticipation welling up inside me, both in eagerness to finally experience Costa Rica and with a strange foreknowledge that I’ll be extremely reluctant to leave it.

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Two days until Costa Rica!

After buying all my sunscreen and printing out my insurance card, it has finally hit me that we leave for Costa Rica in two days! I have never been to somewhere so different from where I live, and have very little idea of what we will actually be doing on the farm, but I strangely am not nervous at all. It’s reassuring to know that we have team members who have experience in the field of sustainability, have been to Costa Rica before, and know Spanish, yet also comforting knowing there are other members like me who are jumping in blind. I can’t wait to leave the cold behind and get to work!