We Want Peace Where We Live

To comemorate the National Weekend Against Violence Against Women, the University sponsored an art exhibit with the theme of domestic violence and peace in Colombia. I was especially drawn to this collection of works done by school children, which speak to the Colombian situation from the perspective of the most innocent victims. I also love the optimism and wisdom the children display.

To see more photos of the art, check out my Flickr account.

We Want Peace

What is Violence to Me? Violence is what the Guerrilla Do With Us.

It's Never Too Late to Begin Again

Abandonded House! For the Violence Where We Live. We Want Peace!

Gringolandia

In the immortal words of Shakira, estoy aquí (I'm here).

I arrived back in Cincinnati yesterday after an exhausting red-eye flight, an unexpected delay in New York, and a few days of teary good-byes in Barranquilla.

It's going to take a while before I figure out how to live here in the States in a way that honors the experience I just lived in Colombia. In the meantime, I'm baking cookies and taking hot showers, shivering in the cold, and arranging reunions with friends. I'm also trying to remember that all of the folks I encounter in these parts speak english, so my automatic "gracias," "permiso," and "chao" don't make much sense. How sad to lose the opportunity to speak spanish every day...

As for the future of this blog, I'm not sure what'll happen. In the next few days I'll be writing at least two more posts about my final week in Colombia, so stay tuned. After this, you can probably expect this site to go dormant for a while. In February or March, I hope to begin my next big adventure, ideally working with immigrants on the U.S./Mexico border, and I'll decide then whether to carry on as a blogger.

Thanks for following my stories and for listening to the voices of Colombians creating and living new peaceful realities. I've loved having this space to share and to think, to record three amazing months.