As I start this entry Day 30 has just started. I am 28,000 feet high, somewhere between Santiago and the equator. My CSC adventure is over. The only thing left is the last 18 hours of my 26 hour trip home. Hopefully I’ll be able to post this entry when I reach the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
In the afternoon of Day 26 Evan, Gayathri, and I delivered our detailed presentation and executive presentation to Canales. We delivered them a day early because Cristóbal had to go out of town. In the morning on Day 27 we trained the Canales staff on how to build an M&E system (Monitoring and Evaluation). On Day 28 we met some of the Canales staff for a small breakfast and then proceeded to the Final CSC presentation where each team provided a summary of their project. After the Final CSC presentation many of us went to a Peruvian restaurant with Aldo and Marcia. Later in the evening we had a dual purpose celebration in my room: to celebrate completing our CSC presentations and to celebrate Zuzana’s birthday. Zuzana’s birthday was actually on Day 29, but we went by the start of Day 29 in Slovakia. On day 29 we went our separate ways. In all likelihood I will never see most of them again.
The experience was over far too quickly for most of us, but that’s what made the experience so special. Knowing that we only have 23 or 24 days to develop a solution for something we knew very little about on day 1 was a large part of the experience. It forced us to learn how to deal with the cultural and personal differences of our individual teams and the bigger team. Knowing we only had 3 weekends to experience of the beauty and wonder of the Puerto Montt area motivated us to be very active on the weekends.
It’s really hard to explain the CSC experience without living it. That’s why when I get home I’m going to encourage my wife to apply for CSC, although I’ll also warn her that CSC is not for everyone. I was lucky; Chile 5 was a great team and Canales was a pleasure to work with.
The best way I can describe my CSC experience is to say that on a interpersonal level it was very similar to high school, except think about squeezing your 4 years of high school into 4 weeks. Just as in high school there were “classmates” I got to know extremely well and others I barely got to know. Just as in high school I developed some close friendships. Just as in high school, I also knew that after “graduating” we would go our separate ways. Unlike high school, I know that the likelihood that I will ever see any of my CSC classmates again is low. Some of us may keep in touch, but I doubt we’ll ever have that CSC reunion that we talked about at the party.
In my case, the 4 week nature of the assignments seemed to intensify the friendships that were developed. This made saying goodbye more difficult than I expected. Perhaps it was a bad idea to have a party in my room on Day 28. When Dee suggested it I thought we were all going out somewhere afterwards, but as it turns out we did not. That meant I watched my new friends leave one by one until there was nothing left but a bunch of dirty dishes, balloons, confetti, and me. Somehow as each person left it became more apparent that our CSC assignment was really over.
After everyone left I finished cleaning up and tried to go to sleep, but I couldn’t. I started to debate whether CSC really is a life changing event. If it is, what does that mean? How will it change my pre-CSC life? Will I be bored going back to my normal job? Will I miss the city life? Will I now want to travel the world? Will I ever visit any of my CSC friends? If I do will the friendship seem the same? Will I ever come back to Puerto Montt? If I do, will it be the same? Many questions were rushing through my head. Unfortunately I had (and still have) very few answers. I guess time will tell.
If I did not like watching everybody slowly leave my room on Day 28, then Day 29 was not going to be much better. We left the hotel in waves. I got up to see the first group off because I did not get a chance to say goodbye to Julia, Colin, and Waran the night before. The first wave left around 7:00 am. It had Julia, Tricia, Dee, and Zuzana. The second wave left around 9:45. It had Waran, Kapil, Masahiro, and Gayathri. The final wave left around 2:30. It had Colin, Anjana, Evan, and me.
The flights out of Puerto Montt were delayed by two hours. That caused problems with my connecting flight. While I was working that out Colin slipped away again without saying goodbye. The secure and unsecured sides of the airport were separated by clear glass. We did recreate the Spock/Kirk hand scene in the end of the Star Trek II movie. Anjana, Evan, and I waited with Aldo and Marcia until it was time for me to report to the boarding area. After passing thru security we parted. Anajan and Evan went to their gate and I went to mine (originally all three of us were on the same flight, but mine was switched to get me to Santiago on time). Now, here I sit: on a plane heading home. It feels great, but at the same time it feels sad.
In the afternoon of Day 26 Evan, Gayathri, and I delivered our detailed presentation and executive presentation to Canales. We delivered them a day early because Cristóbal had to go out of town. In the morning on Day 27 we trained the Canales staff on how to build an M&E system (Monitoring and Evaluation). On Day 28 we met some of the Canales staff for a small breakfast and then proceeded to the Final CSC presentation where each team provided a summary of their project. After the Final CSC presentation many of us went to a Peruvian restaurant with Aldo and Marcia. Later in the evening we had a dual purpose celebration in my room: to celebrate completing our CSC presentations and to celebrate Zuzana’s birthday. Zuzana’s birthday was actually on Day 29, but we went by the start of Day 29 in Slovakia. On day 29 we went our separate ways. In all likelihood I will never see most of them again.
The experience was over far too quickly for most of us, but that’s what made the experience so special. Knowing that we only have 23 or 24 days to develop a solution for something we knew very little about on day 1 was a large part of the experience. It forced us to learn how to deal with the cultural and personal differences of our individual teams and the bigger team. Knowing we only had 3 weekends to experience of the beauty and wonder of the Puerto Montt area motivated us to be very active on the weekends.
It’s really hard to explain the CSC experience without living it. That’s why when I get home I’m going to encourage my wife to apply for CSC, although I’ll also warn her that CSC is not for everyone. I was lucky; Chile 5 was a great team and Canales was a pleasure to work with.
The best way I can describe my CSC experience is to say that on a interpersonal level it was very similar to high school, except think about squeezing your 4 years of high school into 4 weeks. Just as in high school there were “classmates” I got to know extremely well and others I barely got to know. Just as in high school I developed some close friendships. Just as in high school, I also knew that after “graduating” we would go our separate ways. Unlike high school, I know that the likelihood that I will ever see any of my CSC classmates again is low. Some of us may keep in touch, but I doubt we’ll ever have that CSC reunion that we talked about at the party.
In my case, the 4 week nature of the assignments seemed to intensify the friendships that were developed. This made saying goodbye more difficult than I expected. Perhaps it was a bad idea to have a party in my room on Day 28. When Dee suggested it I thought we were all going out somewhere afterwards, but as it turns out we did not. That meant I watched my new friends leave one by one until there was nothing left but a bunch of dirty dishes, balloons, confetti, and me. Somehow as each person left it became more apparent that our CSC assignment was really over.
After everyone left I finished cleaning up and tried to go to sleep, but I couldn’t. I started to debate whether CSC really is a life changing event. If it is, what does that mean? How will it change my pre-CSC life? Will I be bored going back to my normal job? Will I miss the city life? Will I now want to travel the world? Will I ever visit any of my CSC friends? If I do will the friendship seem the same? Will I ever come back to Puerto Montt? If I do, will it be the same? Many questions were rushing through my head. Unfortunately I had (and still have) very few answers. I guess time will tell.
If I did not like watching everybody slowly leave my room on Day 28, then Day 29 was not going to be much better. We left the hotel in waves. I got up to see the first group off because I did not get a chance to say goodbye to Julia, Colin, and Waran the night before. The first wave left around 7:00 am. It had Julia, Tricia, Dee, and Zuzana. The second wave left around 9:45. It had Waran, Kapil, Masahiro, and Gayathri. The final wave left around 2:30. It had Colin, Anjana, Evan, and me.
The flights out of Puerto Montt were delayed by two hours. That caused problems with my connecting flight. While I was working that out Colin slipped away again without saying goodbye. The secure and unsecured sides of the airport were separated by clear glass. We did recreate the Spock/Kirk hand scene in the end of the Star Trek II movie. Anjana, Evan, and I waited with Aldo and Marcia until it was time for me to report to the boarding area. After passing thru security we parted. Anajan and Evan went to their gate and I went to mine (originally all three of us were on the same flight, but mine was switched to get me to Santiago on time). Now, here I sit: on a plane heading home. It feels great, but at the same time it feels sad.