At the parent meetings everyone told us not to expect mail for weeks from their child. I thought, "It won't be that bad. They will write immediately and I will hear from them by at least the third week." After all, I had packed the stationary myself. I was wrong! Lauren did write, but the letters reached us a few days before her return. Stuart was far too busy with his new family and latrine building projects to find the time to write.

Amgios also warned us about what to expect upon their return. A letter from the International Office described what "return culture shock" might be like. Each child had a very different response to re-entry into day -to-day- life in Houston.

One child hit the ground running and couldn't stop talking about the experiences, while the other needed a lot more time and space to become comfortable with life in the US again. Life in South America seemed better than here--less materialistic and more emphasis on happiness.

One thing they both had in common was a feeling of independence. They had become accustomed to making adult decisions and being seen as a leader in their communities--all this without our parental presence or guidance. "If I can live in South America for 8 weeks by myself then why can't I...( fill in the blank here). I think you get the drift of the conversations when it came to establishing new limits for this feeling of independence.

The letter from AMIGOS gave some terrific advice:

1. Give it time. Be patient with yourself and with your child. Trust that with time, all of these experiences will work out for the best.
2. Don't force them to talk about their experiences until they are ready. In our case, making a scrapbook with the stacks of photographs help bring out more of the stories behind the images.
3. Encourage them to stay in touch with their host family or other volunteers. Staying connected may help ease the transition.

As parents we had to feel our way through each departure and each return, yet we feel very positive about what Amigos brought to our family. Both our children left Houston as fun-loving, typical teenagers and returned from their Amigos experience with new-found confidence and maturity and a real sense of what life is like beyond our community. In fact, Stuart had been so impressed by the Amigos experience that he has been to the field for four summers. We are proud of them and appreciate the opportunity that Amigos offers Houston youth.