Tour of Family

On my tour of family, this week in town visiting: Cousin L, Aunt A, and Uncle D!  If you know anything about our family we love to be tourist in our home town (and we have even more fun when guests accompany us).  This weeks the fanny packs were stuffed, cameras were hanging from our necks, and maps were stuffed in our back-pockets.  We were ready to compete with the rest of the D.C. summer vacationers.

As a side note the tourist game started about ten years ago when we decided to venture to the Kansas City Plaza (30 minutes from home) for spring break!  Can you say hotel pools and japanese steak house?  In the past seven years we have had the opportunity to live and play in South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and Virginia!  Now that we only stay in each state for an abbreviated amount of time, most would consider us long term visitors anyways.  Needless to say, the game has lost some effect, but we still tackled D.C. with the best of them!  
It was really nice to have company in town (and I look forward to reuniting in Maine)!  L is an abundance of energy.  He managed to amaze a professional babysitter and at this point in my career little amazes me.  We enjoyed playing ping pong, guitar hero, guesstures, and skip-bo.  I even managed some time off from working to catch some rays with the rest of the gang, do some more site seeing, and eat delicious home cooked meals!   One of my favorite memories from the week include Lukas finding an "X" on the home phone after Dad insisted "Q & X" were not on phones.  Dad, welcome to 2009... welcome to texting!  In his defense, I guess those letters used to be left off phones.  I'm taking his word on that.  Disheartening for C.D., but a good laugh for me.  C.D. realized he has the same interest as a 10 year old after repeatedly getting excited to play wii bowling!  Guesstures always provides good laughs, such as, mom acting out welcome (the game had just been turned on and was welcoming her to electronic guesstures) or Aunt A acting out stooges using 4 fingers!  Finally, last night in a game of skip-bo L kept calling people "poop turds" in swedish.  Oh ten year old insults!  Google failed me on the actual spelling of the swedish version, but the phonetics are "ben corven" if you are interested.              

"the toughest job you will ever love"

Today, July 20th, I officially accepted my Peace Corp assignment in Lesotho teaching secondary math.  Yippee!  I also got my passport pictures taken and learned I have to write an aspiration statement and an official PC resume.  I also complied a list of things that need to happen before November along with things I need to purchase.

This all made me realize how precious my last few months in the USA are.  I want to spend time with my brothers, comfort my parents and make them confident in my decision, visit relatives, and enjoy conversations with friends on the phone who are living 8 hours away (but soon will be much farther).  I want to stop working so much and really spend time reflecting and relaxing.  Gandhi was once quoted saying, "there is more to life than increasing its speed."  This is so true!  I am really trying to work on slowing down and taking time for others.  It is in the chaos of life I seem to miss the most important things.  I am super excited and ready for Africa, but I want to enjoy the time I have here before I leave.   

Salkehatchie

This past week I returned to Salkehatchie after taking the past two summers "off." This year was very unique from years past, mostly because of my new adult status! This camp holds a special place in my heart so I am glad I was able to return. Salkehatchie is a summer service camp that takes place in 43 different sites across South Carolina where high school and college age youth and adult community leaders help persons of different cultures by upgrading their housing. The camp provides all participants with opportunities for personal growth, new freindships, and service.  

Year after year Salkehatchie reminds me how blessed I am.  My house does not leak, I have floors that are level, the rooms in my house are square.  I have way more than I need.  These people have next to nothing but are some of the happiest people I know.  They have the greatest faith in the world.  How can that be?  In a world where we are satisfied by material possessions, the home owners remain enthused and hopeful about life.  I wish I could live like that all the time!   

I worked on the home of Jessie McDaniel.  She was a loving lady who worked full time with stroke patients.   She took her one week off work to help us improve her house.  She picked up shingles, swept sawdust, held boards, and even cooked us a delicious afternoon snack.  Ms. McDaniel was truly appreciative of the work we did.  In previous years disabilities or age have prevented me from forming a relationship with my home owner.  This year I got to witness Ms. McDaniels heart of gold!   I can only hope she touched the youth as much as she touched me.

This year was different, really different. I could not help but think about my upcoming journey to Africa! Salkehatchie is a big part of why I am choosing to leave the comfort of America behind. It is so important to me to go overseas and work at the grassroots level. Hopefully, I will gain a new perspective on life, learn about another culture, and become fluent in a second language. I want to come back and share stories of the Lesotho lifestyle because I bet the Salkehatchie homes are the million dollars mansions overseas and that does not seem fair. We all need to be a little more aware. Too often we live out of our comfort zone and it takes an economic crisis to put us in our place. I wish it did not have to be like that.  

Programs like Salkehatchie make poverty seem real. Unfortunately most of the year I turn away from things that make me hurt and forget about people who struggle daily to keep their loved ones warm/cool, dry, and safe, but I am challenging myself to think daily about these people and give back more. Besides bringing the Lesotho culture home, I want to take the American culture with me.  I am going to tell stories of the people attending Salkehatchie! Why I think Americans and typically selfish, there are a portion of people who choose to give back and I want them to be represented.     

Longing for Lesotho

On Thursday, July 9th my Peace Corp invitation kit arrived in the mail!  I am going to Lesotho, a small country completely landlocked in South Africa.  My departure date is November 11, 2009. Those of you who have constantly supported and encouraged me (thank you!) throughout this lengthy process can imagine my abundant joy to now know where I am going and when I am leaving.  For those of you who do not know I started filling out the application in October, was interviewed in January, completed medical & dental records in February and March, tutored calculus February-May, and started volunteering at the Free Clinic and NOVAM in June (and will continue until the end of October).  I was ready to quit in April, but I am so glad I persevered.  (I hope) This is going to be a worthwhile experience!  I am ready to roll, there is no time like the present.

Disclaimer:  I do not know how many of you will read this blog, but for those of you who chose to follow me I want to warn you.  The main focus of this blog will not be grammar or to inspire you because that would be a waste of my time.   The purposes of this blog are to keep you updated on my life while I am away, allow me to have a release, and serve as a remembrance of my two plus years overseas!  This blog is going to be a documentation of my adventure, my real experiences, and my opinions.  I want to remember the highs and lows of living in Lesotho.