In the couple of weeks since coming back to the US, it’s been quite an adjustment back to my regular routine of classes, work, and my reflections have evolved dramatically from what I was thinking and was feeling while I was in the field. Even the basic parts of my day, including my appetite, sleeping patterns, and ability to focus on my classwork, were a struggle to reclaim, lacking the intensity of our jam-packed days in Mindanao that kept me on my toes the entire time I was there. I’ve multiple times found myself walking in downtown Monterey or sitting at home, and I will lose myself thinking about a particular meeting or person I spoke with, to the point that I forget what I’m doing or where I’m going. I think mentally I didn’t process everything that we had seen and heard in terms of the conflict, nor had I even processed all of the daily cultural differences between the Philippines and the US.
The first example that comes to mind is about the bananas. On a daily basis, I ate at least one or two bananas of various types—big, little, green, yellow, boiled, candied— and coming back to the US I’ve had a pretty strong aversion to the fruit that was previously one of my favorites.
Bananas for sale at a local market in a village outside Cagayan de Oro.
Also, after spending two and a half straight weeks in 95°F weather sweating half my body weight, I came back to Monterey where the average temperature has wavered between 45°F and 60°F, and I spent the first two weeks here wearing at least two more layers than everybody else. Lastly, in the Philippines, the terms “sir” and “ma’am” are used in almost epidemic quantities. On maybe my third or fourth day there, I started to pick up the convention in my attempts to be polite, and then I accidentally brought the habit home. The word “sir” was no big deal, but I was definitely received with raised eyebrows upon calling a couple of women “ma’am” when I was clearly not trying to be facetious.
All of these are such small details but they overwhelmed me as I was trying to fit back into my life of classes, work and California. There are some parts I miss, others I don’t, but either way I certainly felt the impact of traveling halfway around the world and back in a matter of three weeks, and I’m feeling relieved in having passed through the transition phrase without too many bumps.