It might sound cliche but it's hard to believe that a year ago today I was boarding a series of flights that would take me to Buenos Aires Argentina; these little journeys were just the beginning of a 4 month journey with WMF Flesh Argentina. At times it feels like it was some sort of epic dream and yet it's those sensory reminders that bring the memories flooding back in full force. Cigarette smoke mixed with car exhaust. Mistaking a billboard with a bag of mulch as an add for mate. Hearing the rare but beautiful flutterings of Spanish speech. Walking down a strip of sidewalk, feeling the concrete beneath my feet.
In the past 8 months since I've returned these memories resurface at random moments. While some memories are prominent others sneak up on me and yet I'm finding that even the most prominent memories, those details of everyday life in Buenos Aires, have become muddled and fuzzy. I have taken to writing down some of these memories, trying to muster up as much detail as I can with the lapse of time.
I remember one night having a conversation with one of my fellow teammates about the impact that a 4 month stint of time can have, how in 20 years or so what we will remember about such an experience. Taking into account the big picture of life, the span of years and the handful of decades that are held in life, 4 months really is a small portion of the whole. But I think even accounting for that reality, we both agreed that something significant was happening, significant enough that I am pretty sure in 20 years I will be able to recall the joy, beauty, brokenness, and love that came out of those 4 months in Argentina.
A mis amigos- Walter, Adri, Jen, Jer, Mateo, Amanda, Jason, La Iglesia Bautista de Constitucion, la Iglesia en Bajo Flores, l@s bonit@s en Retiro- y a Dios gracias, gracias por todo.
Y el viaje continua
