Two years ago today I boarded a plane to leave Puerto Montt Chile. My CSC Chile 5 assignment officially ended the day before. I remember waking up early so I could say goodbye to the first group of my team mates as they left the hotel to catch their flights. A few hours latter I came back down to the lobby to say goodbye to the second set of team mates to leave hotel. I was in the third and final group to leave the hotel. We left shortly after lunch. Of course my last lunch in Puerto Montt was same as my first lunch in Puerto Montt: a Cuarto de libra con queso - a 1/4 pounder with cheese at McDonald's.
Much has changed since that Saturday. Two team members no longer work for IBM. Two team member have gotten married (not to each other). One team member has become a mom. Two team members have moved to different countries. Calbuco , the volcano that many of my team members climbed in 2014, erupted again in 2015. Perhaps most importantly ONG Canales, the organization I worked with, continues to grow and thrive.
Canales is now 4 years old. In 4 short years Canales has expanded its reach into 3 regions of Southern Chile. They are working with technical schools and have impacted the lives of many teachers and students. I wish I could say that I was an important part of their success, but they did that all on their own. I'm just grateful that for 4 weeks they let me be a part of their team. I continue to wear my Canales jacket with pride (although it is getting a bit worn out).
Over the last month some of my Chile 5 team members have shared a few of their CSC memories on Facebook. It is nice that a portion of the team remains in touch via social media. It was fun to reminisce about our experiences in Puerto Montt. I suspect that over time we will do less and less of that.
As I reminisced about my time in Puerto Montt it occurred to me that upon returning from my assignment I actually went thru the 5 stages of grief - much like one does when they lose a close family member or a friend - although I'm not sure I went thru them in the traditional order. I guess in some ways this grief makes sense because for 4 weeks my team mates were like my family and Puerto Montt was my home.
When I left Puerto Montt I was definitely in denial. I refused to believe that the team would just go back to life as it was before we came to Puerto Montt. I thought the friendships we forged would not diminish just because we left Chile. When I realized that was not the case I moved into a bargaining stage. I told myself that team members will come visit me or I will visit them or we would have occasional reunions via Skype or maybe even in person. As day 365 approached I created a video of the team's CSC experience. When I posted the video on day 365 it wasn't received with the excitement I anticipated and I moved into an anger stage. Anger moved into depression. How could an experience I thought was so great just seem like another business trip to others? Finally, I moved into the acceptance stage. I realized that CSC was just a job and the friendships made during that 4 week assignment were not much different than the friendships I made in as a child, or student in college, or a new hire at IBM. While I don't consider many of those friendships to be over, they also are not very active. So is the case with my CSC family.
I still have hopes of visiting several of my CSC team members again. I still have hopes of returning to Puerto Montt again. I still care about Canales. I still care about the friends I made in Puerto Montt. But hopes are just hopes. They are not expectations. If none of these things happen that is fine. I at least had my 4 week CSC experience. It was an experience of a lifetime. An experience I plan to never forget.
#ibmcsc chile
Much has changed since that Saturday. Two team members no longer work for IBM. Two team member have gotten married (not to each other). One team member has become a mom. Two team members have moved to different countries. Calbuco , the volcano that many of my team members climbed in 2014, erupted again in 2015. Perhaps most importantly ONG Canales, the organization I worked with, continues to grow and thrive.
Canales is now 4 years old. In 4 short years Canales has expanded its reach into 3 regions of Southern Chile. They are working with technical schools and have impacted the lives of many teachers and students. I wish I could say that I was an important part of their success, but they did that all on their own. I'm just grateful that for 4 weeks they let me be a part of their team. I continue to wear my Canales jacket with pride (although it is getting a bit worn out).
Over the last month some of my Chile 5 team members have shared a few of their CSC memories on Facebook. It is nice that a portion of the team remains in touch via social media. It was fun to reminisce about our experiences in Puerto Montt. I suspect that over time we will do less and less of that.
As I reminisced about my time in Puerto Montt it occurred to me that upon returning from my assignment I actually went thru the 5 stages of grief - much like one does when they lose a close family member or a friend - although I'm not sure I went thru them in the traditional order. I guess in some ways this grief makes sense because for 4 weeks my team mates were like my family and Puerto Montt was my home.
When I left Puerto Montt I was definitely in denial. I refused to believe that the team would just go back to life as it was before we came to Puerto Montt. I thought the friendships we forged would not diminish just because we left Chile. When I realized that was not the case I moved into a bargaining stage. I told myself that team members will come visit me or I will visit them or we would have occasional reunions via Skype or maybe even in person. As day 365 approached I created a video of the team's CSC experience. When I posted the video on day 365 it wasn't received with the excitement I anticipated and I moved into an anger stage. Anger moved into depression. How could an experience I thought was so great just seem like another business trip to others? Finally, I moved into the acceptance stage. I realized that CSC was just a job and the friendships made during that 4 week assignment were not much different than the friendships I made in as a child, or student in college, or a new hire at IBM. While I don't consider many of those friendships to be over, they also are not very active. So is the case with my CSC family.
I still have hopes of visiting several of my CSC team members again. I still have hopes of returning to Puerto Montt again. I still care about Canales. I still care about the friends I made in Puerto Montt. But hopes are just hopes. They are not expectations. If none of these things happen that is fine. I at least had my 4 week CSC experience. It was an experience of a lifetime. An experience I plan to never forget.
#ibmcsc chile