adventure

You are most welcome.

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Currently lying in a bed at my Head Teacher’s house and feeling content in knowing that I am comfortable and happy in my future home. Who would have thought that I would be this happy in a place that is so far from California? Not me!

I am 4 days into my site visit and I am truly hoping that the rest of PST goes quickly because I want to live here already!!!! My new site is called Mphomwa and I will be teaching at Mphomwa CDSS. My house is, technically, in a village called Jembe. My house is BEAUTIFUL.

My new house was built just for me. It is huge! I am so looking forward to making it my home. I have ordered furniture and have many ideas. Mostly, I’m looking forward to getting a dog.

I went to church today in Mphomwa (necessary for integration) and at the end of the service I was asked to come to the front and introduce myself. Not only did I introduce myself… I did it all in Chichewa! I was so proud of myself.

My school has 15 teachers and I will be the 16th and the only female. The students seem excited to have me here. The class sizes are around 100+. That will be a challenge.

My favorite part of my new site is my Head Teacher’s youngest child. A little girl who is almost four and reminds me so much of my Leiana. She attached herself to me on day one of my visit and I call her my shadow. Such a blessing especially because being away from my nieces has been one of my biggest struggles. Her snuggles have filled me with joy and filled the void that I’ve been feeling so much lately.

Mphomwa already feels like home. I feel like I belong and I feel like I have a purpose here. I can’t wait to move into my new home and start contributing to this incredible community.

Ndathokoza Kwambiri (I am very grateful)

31

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365 days ago I was sitting on my couch in California and filling out my Peace Corps application. I remember thinking that it was such a long shot and that there was no way they would pick me.

Fast forward one year and here I am… the day before my 31st birthday and I’m here! I’m in AFRICA! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ACTUALLY be selected out of thousands of applicants to have the privilege of serving in the Peace Corps.

31. So I am sure that you are all wondering what exciting plans I have for my birthday, right?! Well… I’m going to…….. church. Yep! This good little Jewish girl is going to church. Also, I’m going to re-mud the floor in my room AND do my laundry! But, I’m in Africa and I am basking in this incredible journey that I am so blessed to be on. My first year of my thirties has been one hell of a rollercoaster with millions of twists and turns and ups and downs. I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself and successfully spoken my truth in many situations that I had never had the courage to previously. I look back upon this last year and I am so proud of this woman that I am becoming. This person. The things that I have overcome in this past year and the lessons I have learned. There are so many.

My life has been enriched by incredible relationships with people I never expected to meet and this has continued to be the case within these few weeks that I have been here in Malawi. Even with the trials that I have already had, I am happy. The process to get here was so long and complicating and now that I am here, well, it is so clear as to why that is. Africa is not for the faint of heart. This journey will not be an easy one… but it will be worth it. It already is.

With a happy and hopeful heart, I welcome this year with open arms.

It takes a village.

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I mean that and I have a village… and then some. You know what I also have? A mom. The best mom in the whole entire universe. There is only one person that I would turn down Malawi for and that person is my mom. Lucky for me, she knows that I need Malawi as much as Malawi (hopefully) needs me. I haven’t written in a while. I am hoping to write more frequently when I’m away from home. However, I have no idea what my time in Malawi will bring. I am learning as much as I can as quickly as I can.

I’ve had a lot of blood taken lately. I’ve seen a lot of doctors lately and been pricked with a bunch of needles to the point where I felt like a pin cushion. Needles are not my favorite. Luckily, I have a mom who is not anti-vaccine so I am all current on all of my shots. My antibodies came back good which meant I only needed the extra vaccine required by the Peace Corps. Yellow Fever. Yikes. Luckily, again, the needle was small so it didn’t hurt too bad. The experience wasn’t my favorite but it’s over. Moving on.

Have I mentioned how great my mom is? Oh yeah. So my mom and all of my doctors could be considered my village. BUT… I have more than that. My sisters, dad, stepmom, and extended family. They are amazing. I’m not trying to be all sappy. It’s just that we just made it through the holiday season and my family really reminded me of all that I have to be thankful for. Them.

Ever since I got my invitation, I’ve been trying to show up to things. To show up for people. To make plans and keep them. To say yes to invitations. Just show up. I want to know that I have made every effort to show the people that I love and care about that I love them and that I care about them. I have tried many times to show people that I love and care about them only to have that thrown in my face. The nice thing about leaving is that they won’t have time to do that. I can give and give and then leave and keep on giving to those that are waiting for everything I can give them when I get to Malawi. Sometimes it is more about how you can make others feel than about how much giving everything you have completely drains you. Much of my life has been spent feeling “too much” or being “too much” and I hope that my “too much” will finally turn out to be just enough in this new place that I am venturing to in only five months.

I can’t believe Malawi is only five months away…

I was worried that my mom wasn’t taking this time seriously enough. I was mad that she didn’t want to talk about it all the time. I got so frustrated because she wasn’t responding emotionally the way that I wanted to. When I confronted her about this… well… I was wrong. This experience is really helping me to understand emotions on a very different level. This waiting game and the anticipation of my impending adventure is showing me all of the millions of waves of emotions that I had no idea would happen. Every day is a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I realized that every day is a rollercoaster for my mom, too. We all feel things differently. There is no “right” way to feel. Realizing that is incredibly helpful for me. I needed that. The next five months are only going to get more and more intense for me on the emotional scale and I am going to do my best to handle my emotions and help those around me with theirs. Because they are my village and they are wonderful.