“Reverse culture shock” is an emotional or psychological reaction that people experience when they return home after living abroad for a long time. It all sounds very dramatic, doesn’t it? Reverse culture shock! It’s also sometimes referred to as “re-entry,” which sounds even more dramatic because it sounds like what astronauts go through when they return to earth. But Trish is not a dramatic person so her reverse culture shock is, quite frankly, a tad anticlimactic. Her version might as well be called, “Reverse culture observations”
She has had many reverse culture observations while helping Allen navigate the US healthcare system and picking up his prescriptions. Another reverse culture observation involves school buses. Yep. Big yellow school buses. You see, in Central America, it is a common practice for individuals to buy retired US school buses and then set up their own bus routes. In Guatemala, people buy the buses and repaint them with elaborate paint jobs. (While Trish didn’t mention what sort of elaborate paint jobs, it’s fun to imagine vehicles painted like The Partridge Family’s bus or the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo driving along the roads of Guatemala.) Alas, the retired buses in Honduras don’t experience an Extreme Makeover, Bus Edition. They still look exactly like they did when they were carrying kids to and from school–yellow with the name of a school district written in black lettering.
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| Examples of Guatemalan painted buses |
If you’ve ever driven behind a school bus, you know they aren’t exactly known for their speed. The same is true of retired school buses carrying passengers in Honduras. The difference is that, in Honduras, if you’re behind a bus and it pulls over to pick up or drop off passengers, that is your moment to easily pass it. It’s expected. If you fail to pass a bus when this opportunity presents itself, the vehicles behind you are not pleased! With decades of that sort of bus protocol programming, Trish finds herself having to fight the urge to put the pedal to the medal and whizz around a school bus that stops in front of her . . . even when she is in the US. If she actually did it, that might be shocking, but since she has, so far, been able to stop herself, it’s merely a reverse culture observation.
Even though she does have to stop behind school buses, Trish is enjoying her time in the US very much. Well, aside from Allen’s back saga, she is enjoying her time. The truth is that both Allen and Trish have been overdue for some time off – especially over the past three years or so. Even though Trish is still working for the ministry, working remotely is different than being there 24/7. She’s still working on updating children's profiles and Allen is still called in on some ministry matters even while he’s recuperating from surgery. But they do have more time to focus on other things, as well.
For Trish, focusing on other things means that she is able to devote more time to working on her book about the kidnapping. She is working with a hybrid publisher, which comes with some major upsides. One of the biggest upsides is that Trish doesn’t have to worry about fitting her worlds into the publisher’s mindset. She has also been given a lot of flexibility in regard to timing. Trish’s publisher has been willing to work with her through her unexpected international move and Allen’s surgery. One thing about working with a hybrid publisher, however, is that Trish will be responsible for marketing the book. She’s learning how to do some things that are outside of her skillset – like setting up an author website and creating a dedicated Instagram account. She is squeezing all of this in when she can.
Trish wants everyone to know that we can expect her to start posting things as an upcoming author very soon. So much of book marketing is done online, so having those who have followed her as a missionary following and sharing her social media posts will make a major impact on how much reach the book achieves.
She is keeping busy with work and some fun things, too. Trish has made some new friends. She and Allen have been enjoying the church they’ve been attending. They are currently attending online but are thinking they may be able to return to in-person services soon. Trish is also delighted to be playing her harp regularly again! She has played the harp since she was ten, but the humidity of Honduras and the lack of someone to do regular maintenance on the instrument there meant that it was necessary to leave it in the States - just one of the sacrifices made to follow their calling!
Trish’s mostly unflappable nature means that she enjoys the things she gets to enjoy and doesn’t pine about the stuff she doesn’t. So, while she would surely love to hold her newest granddaughter, she is contenting herself with lots of photos of baby Charlotte and her other grandchildren.
As always, please continue to pray for Trish and Allen as they deal with all of the things!
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