Struggles & Successes

Recently some of my friends in group 3, who just moved to site a month ago, asked me why no one ever told them how hard the first few weeks at site were going to be.  Looking back on that first year, especially that first month, I know how hard it is… beyond hard actually.  It is a personal battle of trying to find yourself in this foreign town, and trying to find your purpose for being here, a purpose to justify the struggle.  It is a challenge so much tougher than anyone warns you about or you ever imagined while filling out those Peace Corps applications in the comfort of your American home, as wanderlust occupies your thoughts.  I’m not sure if my blog properly reflected the struggles I endured, but my mom does call me her little optimist, and I always try to look on the bright side of things.  And while those first days at site were filled with personal battles, they were also filled with personal successes.  To invest yourself, your life, in your community is the only way you become a part of that community.  It is uncomfortable and tiring, but enduring those tough times is how you eventually find yourself.  Only then can you make changes here, and only then can you grow as a person.  That is how I viewed the beginning of my Peace Corps journey.

Peace Corps lunch in Dangila.

One month away from those everyday struggles and I’ve once again found myself in this battle of finding my purpose.  It took a week for me to realize I’d forgotten to downshift back to Ethiopian time and slow down my pace of life again.  And knowing I’ll be finishing my Peace Corps experience in one year brings both excitement and anxiety.  The endless possibilities for life after Ethiopia keep my mind busy, but my current lack of work makes me feel lost in Dangila once again.  I don’t just want to survive here for another year; I want to make the difference I came here to make.

After a week of feeling unsettled back in town I finally feel like I have my African shoes back on the right feet.  I still get the “ferengi” beckon when I walk through unfamiliar parts of town, and I haven’t figured out my purpose for coming to Dangila, but I do feel like I’m ready for my second year of service.  I know who my Ethiopian counterparts are in town that will help me to make changes in this community.  In addition, I have several potential projects that I hope to see come to fruition this next year.  I’ve been through the toughest part of my service, and I am certain this next year will simply fly by, so I am excited to see what 2010 has in store for me here in Dangila.

The Adventure Continues: Egypt

We arrived in Cairo at 5:00 on the morning of New Year’s Eve following a three-hour delay on our flight.  After resting until noon, we made our way with a guide to the pyramids.  That’s right; the pyramids that I’ve seen in pictures and movies my whole life were awaiting me on the other side of the city.  As the highway approached them, our guide pointed out the grand structures, peering through the local buildings.  I’ve been told that you shouldn’t get your hopes up, because they aren’t as big as you think they would be, so I’m not sure if I just had low expectations, but either way, I was impressed.  We drove to a side street nearby and swapped out our tour guide’s car for an even better mode of transportation: camels!

Since the elephants in Tanzania were wild, this was the first chance we had to ride on an animal, so my brother and I were very excited.  As we headed toward the pyramids, although awkwardly bouncing around on the back of a camel, I had a sense of complete serenity.  Riding up to the pyramids on camel, with hardly any other people around, was like going back in time.  If only you couldn’t see the distant tour buses near the base of the biggest pyramid you would think you were in a different era altogether.

We spent the next day exploring Cairo, eating delicious food (well, ok, it was Chili’s, but I haven’t had American food in a year! And it was on a boat on the Nile!), and outdoing ourselves at the Khan-el-Khalili market.  I must thank my family for putting up with my cravings for every American chain restaurant I saw: Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, McDonalds!  

The following day we visited the National Museum in Cairo, and that night headed on an overnight train to Luxor.  The Valley of the Kings, Thebes, and several other tourist stops were on our agenda and they didn’t disappoint.  That night we drove to the Red Sea town of Hurghada, the part of the vacation I’d been awaiting for over three weeks.

Since I came to Africa I knew one thing I couldn’t miss out on was diving in the Red Sea.  After arriving in Hurghada, I spent a day looking around town deciding on a dive company, and spent the next two days in-and-out of the water on five dives.  While I was sad to not be spending the last couple of days of vacation with my family (they aren’t divers), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see one of the seven underwater wonders of the world.  Each afternoon I would return to the hotel filled with stories of my scuba diving adventures.

The marine life is amazing, along with the different types of corals.  When all you can hear is the sound of your exhaled bubbles and you look upward 30 meters to the surface of the water, it is like you are in another world.  The ecosystem on a reef is mindboggling; the way the animals work together and live together.  It feels like you are witnessing something that you weren’t meant to see.

I compared Tanzania to The Lion King, and I couldn’t help but thinking I was in the middle of Finding Nemo on the Red Sea.  The things you get to see in nature around the world as just amazing, and I think Disney realized this a long time ago.  The Ethiopia Disney movie has yet to be made, although I think they’re missing a goldmine of opportunities there!  The three consecutive countries we visited each offered unique highlights, and I was so blessed to spend the month with my family.  Thank you for that unrivaled opportunity!