Introduction

In Spanish, my name Kelsey Silva literally translates into “Kelsey Whistles,” though I can barely make a shoosh noise with my lips pursed together. I grew up in Orange County, California  but in a life very different than what is portrayed on TV. San Francisco feels more like home to me now than southern California, though I do miss the warm beaches amidst the northern fog. I love photography, frozen yogurt, traveling, and The Kite Runner is my favorite book.

Cancun, Mexico June 2012

At the University of San Francisco I study International Studies with a focus on Latin America and Cultures, Societies & Values. Through USF I have had many opportunities to travel the world and become engaged with social justice issues. Primarily I have traveled to poor areas in Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Thailand, and Cambodia studying social justice and getting inspired to actively create change. I study and I travel so that I may appropriately serve a community with the resources I have in my American life.

I recently returned from a life-changing study abroad experience in El Salvador. It is a tiny country that is full of hope for a better future, but is misunderstood by most of the world. With CASA de La Solidaridad, I experienced “simple living” in an act of solidarity with the majority of Salvadorans. I gave up wi-fi, hot showers, washing machines, and television, and it was a very relaxing experience being away from the demands of modern technology. Part of my study abroad was going to a praxis site twice a week. Praxis, meaning “practice, as distinguished from theory,” involved being in community with Salvadorans without needing to help them or impose Western ideals. Drinking coffee with my praxis community and listening to their emotional life testimonies was a bigger gift than anything I could have given to this developing country.

The title of my blog comes from a very special scene in Alice & Wonderland, when the Mad Hatter tells Alice she has lost her muchness. Muchness is “the quality or state of being in great quantity, extent, or degree,” referring to one’s true essence of self.  I have chosen to study, live, and work in Washington D.C. as a journey to find what matters most to myself and discover who I want to be and what I want to do post-graduation.