The Best of Both Worlds

I’ve often thought, lately, that I seem to be experiencing the best of both worlds. And there’s some guilt associated with that, but then, I wonder, would others feel the same as I? Family and friends back home seem to give me more credit than I feel I’m due, because this has been pretty great so far – very enjoyable and not too crazy. Maybe me being so content is why I get so much credit? I dunno. Because I feel VERY content with all I get to do and see:

I get to experience LIFE, living life, stuff you have to work at and earn to enjoy. I get to be in an environment that encourages and fosters personal maturation – skills and understandings I’ve lacked. Because before, some things have been prepared and handed to me, I’ve not had to learn certain things, not had to confront certain facts of life – facts as profound and personal as the realities of alcohol consumption, or as shallow and silly as cooking oatmeal or rice without a box with step by step instructions on it, or as medium as scaling and gutting a live fish.

I get to be removed from dozens of sinful temptations – gluttony (food and possessions), sloth (transportation and basic needs at arm’s length away) and all the other temptations of modern conveniences that can be distracting like TV and computers and stores.

I get to experience nature – raw, scary, beautiful nature – every day, unrestricted, in my backyard. Forget Kodak moments, fake flowers, staged oasis’s, it’s here, it’s real.

I get to LIVE in, not just visit, a village in the Hinterland region of a country in South America. I see and learn day to day happenings. I participate and help in those happenings. I get to be a part of life outside the life I’ve known thus far. I am given a place here in my village and I have accepted that place. Not bona fide yet, I don’t fit like a glove, but there’s been extension and reciprocation on a more than superficial level.

These are some of the more meaningful reasons I feel so lucky, but there are several secondary “perks” that I can think of, too:
-I get to travel and get cultured. I am taken care of with the basics, as well - and don’t have to worry about income (or taxes or gas or stuff like that).
-I get to gain some killer stories and pictures for back home.
-I get to still be connected with home and receive love, support and letters/packages from them. Tons of TLC; I feel spoiled.
-I get to make friends and have fun here – it’s not a solemn affair!
-I get to work with and be inspired by and meet so many different and amazing and accomplished and ambitious people! PC and HCN alike. (I think this is a more major reason, not secondary, actually)
-I get to spend my days with kids and BOOKS – books that inspire me to no end.

I get to be in a place that keeps me aware and responsive, that is relaxed enough to feel comfortable, but, at the same time, that calls me to work towards something, to give, to work with others. It is a higher calling than I’ve experienced before and I am honored to be attempting it, grateful for the opportunity.

Nick, a fellow volunteer in the region, said to me right before I left for my village that “sometimes, you need to take before you can give.” I have taken all of these “perks” and I have enjoyed and appreciated them. The spring term begins next Monday, and now, five months after that piece of wisdom from Nick, I think it’s actually time to start giving back on a higher level. I hope I’ve “given” a little thus far, but now it’s time to kick it up a notch. The familiar anxiety creeps up as I realize this and become unsure, but I now have five months worth of experience and relationships going for me. Let’s see if the new year can be rewarding on two different levels.
Happy New Year!