Jilliteracy (letters): Full circle (trippy)

Two years ago today, I was three buildings and four floors away from where I am right now, listening to the same traffic noises and contemplating a similar snatch of dog poo residue on my shoe, typing something on this same computer. Trippy.

I had come with a study trip group from Lee University as a TA and interpreter. A free trip for me, but I think I earned my keep. We’d spent my birthday week in Chile, and had driven across the Andes and the width of Argentina to get here, conjugating verbs and trying not to lose students en route (codename: where’s Kelsy?).

Buenos Aires didn’t impress me. It was (and is) gray and gritty, agitated and agrandado, confusing and chaotic. It never fails to surprise me. We held our classes in the seminary, and with as many times as we rang the bell, must’ve put whoever was on guardia (door duty) that week through…a lot. And yet, every time I walked through the front door, I was greeted with a kiss on the cheek, a smile, and a ‘buen dia!’ The students then have graduated now, but the community is similar: learn, live, love, and lead together. (and che, if there’s a birthday, get soaked and break a window).

I was invited to return to study and teach here, and kept it in the back of my mind as I pondered/prayed through post-graduation possibilities. Delayed paperwork, a bit of heartache, and the gift of God’s peace later, I came back.

Two years ago tomorrow, I was walking down the cobblestones of Colonia, Uruguay taking a tour. Four days ago I was walking down those same cobblestones, renewing my visa, when a girl from a Lee study trip group called my name. They came to Buenos Aires tonight, and will go to church with me tomorrow morning.

It’s trippy trip moments like these that make me remember two years ago today, and wonder about two years from now. Full circle.