I've been home now for nearly three months. I thought that while I was gone everything would stay the same, but that hasn't necessarily been the case. The economy has taken a huge down-turn, and although I'm optimistic that I'll find a job soon, it's not going to be as easy to find one as I had hoped it would. That's the macro-level. On the micro-level, things are pretty much the same. My friends hae continued in their jobs and are still living basically how they did before I left, with few exceptions.
But I've changed.
I didn't think I'd change fundamentally while I was gone, and I still don't think I have. I wouldn't have ever considered myself very materialistic, and I have done very limited shopping, etc. while I've been back. That's partly because I don't have an income, and partly because I realize that I don't need a million things - clothes and shoes, in particular. I made it through six months without making any major purchases, and I can continue to live on a shoestring and be happy. When I think about purchasing something, I think of the poor people in the countries I visited. They have NOTHING, and in a sense they're better off than me in that they aren't able to afford things, so they don't have the desire to own them.
And I have gained an appreciation for the way people in those poor countries operate agriculturally. When I learned that harvesting crops manually generates a better yield, I gained a better understanding of why having huge farms is not the answer to our food needs. How much waste has been generated because of the way farming practices have evolved in major countries? And couldn't we learn some lessons from the way the oor people do it - and do it effectively?
Hopefully I'll find a job soon . . .
