To my long lost fans that haven't heard from me in several weeks (or is it months now?)...I have returned! I have spent the last month being coddled by my dear friends in Denver (namely my fabulous caretakers Kristen and Matt!), spoiled in Florida by my wonderful family while spotting manatees and dolphins in the intercostal areas, and cuddled in Ohio while lounging in Nicaraguan hammocks and exploring beautiful Appalachian caves with Cody. So whats on the itinerary next for this avid traveler and lover of adventure? Well, I have just arrived in San Francisco where I will begin my course of study in nursing/midwifery in two weeks. I have started setting my roots in the Haight where I am living on the third floor of a classic California Victorian, in a room whose floor to ceiling bay window looks out into the sky and close by bald cypress trees. Just a stones throw from golden gate park and the UCSF campus I am able to explore the little nooks and crannies of the city, the way I would enjoy a new frontier in Latin America. So, now that I am back in the U.S.ofA. i can say that life should be a journey for all of us...that each turn in the road should be savored, whether the other side presents us with a steep hill or a lush flat pasture...its the discovery and steps that move us onward that give us life!
Now back in my mother country I am able to look back over the last several months of my life and comment upon it. If I were to sum up my experiences in a quick sentence explaining what I gained/learned/felt I can easily say that this trip taught me what it was like to be a woman in the world. So what does that mean, you ask, knowing that I am already a woman and have spent thirty years as one? From midwifery clinic, to woman's center, to impoverished nicaraguan women, miskito ladies, quechua mothers, young women on buses, my own interactions within the latin american medical realm...all of them acted as my teachers. I have a deeper understanding of how the majority of women in the world subsistence live, i understand how they are demeaned in healthcare settings, I have seen them empowered by midwives, I have seen them subjugated by men, I have seen them in their daily roles achieving domestic feats that I could not hope to realize myself! I feel a deeper empathy and understanding for what a woman truly experiences in varied environments. To come full circle, it has always been my clients that have served as my most potent teachers, and the women that I worked closely with in Latin America, as patients and friends, that have again taught me. With this refreshed view on a woman's world and appreciation for my many teachers, who transcend the role of classic student-teacher, I feel ready to delve deeper into the medical community and realize my own role as a competent provider for the many faces of woman and their families. This is the end of my big sabbatical trip...but the journey never stops, the wheels keep rolling forward. Next stop: University of San Francisco...mexico...burma...??
Lastly...I want to here from all of you. Please feel free to keep connected with email, but if in San Francisco, let me know! My new information is: 707 Shrader St, San Francisco, CA, 94117, and my new phone number is 415-350-8832 (beginning 6/15).
May your journeys surprise you!
xoxo, kari
