July, part 2: the gift of the present

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Disclaimer
This blog, this post, and all related accounts are not an official Department of State publication, and the views and information presented are the Grantee’s and do not represent the Fulbright Program, ECA, the Post, Fulbright Commission, or the host country’s government or institutions.

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I procrastinated writing this post for days. Every time I circle back to the blank page, the task of revisiting the jam-packed days in Montevideo and Minas washes another wave of exhaustion over me like a rolling tide. However, the soothing balance between hot mango tea and Vashti Bunyan encourages me to give this reflection my best shot.

. . .

“The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why it is called ‘the present.’”
 Deepak Chopra

The present is an instantaneous gift that evolves. If you fail to recognize it –to grasp it– it disappears into the historic past. Then, you must shift your focus to the next gift. Jamil, a Fulbright ETA (English Teaching Assistant) from Honduras, scribbled this quote on the easel propped to the side of the conference room projector. As he gestured to the quote, Jamil exemplified how he started his lessons: with a quote of the day.

This method worked. Deepak Chopra’s words stuck in my clouded head throughout the rest of the seminar. 

The gift of the present grounded me as the other twenty-something Fulbrighters from Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Paraguay, and Guatemala floated from one workshop to another. The previous two exhausting days of the seminar were history. The future was a mystery we were all anxious to solve. However, we leaned into the present moment of convivencia in a stuffy conference room, rejuvenating hotel breakfasts, and liberating laughter over shared experiences. Those moments were the gifts that made it all worth it in the end.

I forget the struggles of yesterday and the mysteries of tomorrow when surrounded by people who aprovechan the present in an easygoing presence. I forget the emotional burnout, fatigue, and stress of moving to a new province. I forget the mysteries of establishing routines, finding community, and manifesting potential projects awaiting me in Punta del Este. 

With the right people, I can just be.

As Dr. Shamari Reid, the regional enhancement seminar’s guest speaker eloquently relayed: “We are human beings, not human doings.” In the last two weeks of July, I shared the Present in Colonia de Sacremento and Montevideo. I shared the Present on walking tours, over asado and dulce de leche desserts, and one too many americanos. I shared the Present with energizing, inspiring, and humbling human beings: my high school Spanish teachers and regional Fulbright ETAs.

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