Just A Thought — Integration 02
“Home has really less to do with a piece of soil than, you could say, with a piece of soul” -Pico Iyer
Although there are other editions to this column still baking, I thought as our new friends of 23–02 (welcome!) head off to their new sites, it might be appropriate to talk about some thoughts concerning integration. Thus, here’s a bite-sized entry about that.
Integration is the essence of our job and encapsulates two of the three goals of the Peace Corps (or 3, if you count the 4th, but I’ll leave it to Sophia to talk about that one). It becomes the overhanging thought of our everyday lives and seems to be the source of a lot of our fears and worries as volunteers, especially as we’re starting out. It happens way slower than we would like it to, and that can be aggravating to say the least.
So what do we do? Well, I like to go fishing.
Fui a Pescar!
For me, going fishing means taking a walk. Strolling through the pueblo, and if a Dominican bites, then you got yourself a little bit of integration for the day.
When you go out fishing, you aren’t necessarily expecting to get any catches. It’s for the sake of being out there on the boat, present with what you’re doing. If you get a catch, then great. That’s wonderful. Maybe you’ll even catch a few more along the way. But the benefits come simply from the act of going out there and putting out the bobber in the first place.
I’m not saying a walk will cure all your problems or take away all your fears and worries when it comes to integration–but it’s certainly never caused more problems.
And so, to add to the list, here are some more subtle methods of integration that I enjoy along with their respective fishing metaphors.
1. Running
If you’re a runner (or want to be), great. If you’re an introvert, even better. You’ll love this one.
Not only does running initiate a laundry list of positive phenomena in the body, but it works wonders for getting your face out there. The whole pueblo gets to see you, and all you have to do is smile and wave. You aren’t even expected to stop and chat, introverts! This is my personal favorite. This, of course, is fly fishing.
2. Chilling in the galería
If you aren’t a runner, then this is also an option. Some of my best memories have started from me sitting in my galería or the sidewalk in front of my house, usually reading a book, and letting the Dominicans come to me. You can smile and wave as they go by or join any others sitting outside as well. You may be surprised at the number of conversations or invites you may find simply by sitting. This, as you might have guessed, is ice fishing.
3. House visits
Perhaps you’ve spent some time in site and made a good friend. In this culture, stopping by unexpectedly doesn’t seem to faze many. As we know, people are happy to bring out a chair and indulge in conversation almost anytime. This is a more direct approach, which constitutes spear fishing.
4. Public gatherings
Once we spend some time in our sites, we start to learn about the regular gathering places and times. This could be church, bi-weekly basketball games at the cancha, or one-off holiday celebrations that we never knew were happening in the first place. Going to one of these big pre-made social gatherings can make it easy to talk and get your face out there to multiple people, which makes this net fishing.
Admittedly, some of the points in this article were me trying to see how far I could extend the fishing metaphor. But if you have more I should have added, please list them below.
But here’s the central point of the fishing metaphor: You don’t control what you catch. There’s days where you get nothing. And that’s okay. All you can do is put the bobber out and show your face. Going fishing for the sake of it, so that on the days where you feel you’ve contributed nothing to your community, at least you did that.
In short, the best advice I can offer is this: take a walk. Every day. The longer you stay in your house, the harder it is to leave. You don’t have to say yes all the time, but say it enough to get you out of your comfort zone. Take deep breaths, and take it one day at a time.
Just a thought.
