Normalizationizing

People do all sorts of things to mix up their routine. At the top of the list are vacations or weekend trips out of town, joining a book or a recreational club, or buying a extravagant automobile. Somewhere on the list—for those of us who have the liberty—are extended trips abroad. Writing to someone last week, I realized how while we can take trips to learn and work for the people of another nation, things tend to become routine pretty quickly. I’m sure I’ll find more out about the stages of my trip once I am back on home soil, but here’s a start.

You prepare to leave for your trip, which for me involved everything from submitting a leave of absence form, saving a bunch of money, and packing up my doormat. Then there are the goodbyes, and the feeling that you will be gone for an eternity and everyone will have moved when you get back, which of course is not the case and all that you have missed out on is another humid summer in DC. Rushing off to the airport, you spend two days in anticipation and wonder what the other people in the world are doing with their Monday, you may even chat someone up on the plane and tell them all about what you hope to do in the next upcoming six months. Nevertheless, you are helpless to tell them accurately.

Upon arrival, there’s great excitement and the novelty of somewhere new in the world. I was shocked by the luxury and hospitality of my temporary home, and even in the car from the airport Stael and Carlos told me tell you that instead of tú they are accustomed to use vos here in Paraguay (which, interestingly, used to mean king and with the deposition of the regal system became the way to address your common man). Acclimatization to the language had begun.

The first couple of weeks are really exciting, and there are many new people to meet, hang out with, and work with. I was introduced to several people and who I never saw again, either because their work wasn’t relevant to mine or they just couldn’t be bothered beyond introduction. You adjust to a new schedule, new transportation, the food, and the novelty of wearing a tie to work each day. It turns out that I was also swept up into the social scene by a lovely Paraguaya on about my second day, so much so that I have a pretty good idea of what the nightlife is like in Asunción. My caddiness got the best of me, though, I must report. I wouldn’t know the place like I do if it weren’t for her, and she deserves a shout-out for that and for the good times.

About three months in, and with completion of a major project, things started to become routine. At work it was like reporting for another day’s duties, at home it was food that I had already tasted and people to whom I had recounted my provenance. There was still much room for novelty at that point, however. I began teaching a class and was challenged by the lesson plans and the fact that I knew how to write English but not necessarily how to teach it; I went several museums and learned about Paraguayan culture. I even traveled once, and it felt like I was away from my home town of Asunción.

I prepared for my journey to a country that I had scarcely heard of nor seen on the map (we Americans are rather ignorant of world geography, are we not?) just to see it all become the same. I sit here and type this behind my desk as I would in the States, and I will wake up and go to work in the morning. I will get to the office after my normal breakfast of toast and make a Nescafé to sip while I browse the news and blogs, perhaps chat with my brother about what is going in DC. Work is work, my preferred beer is what I drink, and I get drinks or a snack at my metaphorical corner bar. I have even taken to jogging again and picking and choosing what food I eat and when. This country and the contacts that I have here are now what I deal with each day, and they seem increasingly normal—I will of course see new things, but day to day things are more or less standard.

It’s amazing how quickly things normalize in our lives. Despite all the experiences and learning I've had and will continue to have during my time in Paraguay, day to day all things at last become routine. In both out lives and in our relationships we have to change often so that they don’t get become so normal as to take our spirit or stifle our creative energy. The excitement and adjustment is the same when we move, find new love, or secure a new job. There will be another crescendo as I prepare to leave Paraguay but were I not leaving the normalization would persist. From this uncharacteristically long and philosophical post, perhaps the conclusion is that life is generally just normal—the best that we can do is invite challenges and change, and enjoy the people and good times which surround us. Through change and enjoying the people closest to us, our routine becomes reassuring rather than discouraging, and our normal lives become rich.