America feels really far away right now. Sometimes I really miss it, but when I do I remind myself how lucky I am to be here. I am getting more out of this experience than I ever planned to. And I am learning more from my villagers than they are learning from me. I cannot exactly remember when I decided I wanted to come to Africa or when I wanted to do Peace Corps. Was it my parents' devotion to community service? Or volunteering as a young child? Was it the political science classes I took in college? Or inspiring Professors at Hobart who were returned Peace Corps Volunteers? I am not really sure. I have to think it was a culmination of things. And now, I am here. I have been here. I can say that I comfortably live in a village in Africa. Sometimes it is hard to look at the bigger picture when you are so consumed with work and day to day tasks. Like, where is my next bucket of water going to come from? Or, I really need some more charcoal for my stove. But I really need to remember that this is a crazy and wonderful experience that I will have only for a short time longer.

Before I came to country everyone said that the first year of Peace Corps is slow and that the second year zooms by. So far that has been true. With more involvement with Peace Corps office, planning trainings, and helping to compile information to improve some programs, the work has increased, and with that time has slipped through my fingers. There is so much I want to do! My grants have not even been approved, my bigger projects yet to be started and I still have not successfully created a garden! With only two months left before my trip home to America and then after I return home, less than five months before the Close of Service Conference (a conference where we all polish our resumes, get letters of recommendation, and figure out what we are doing with our lives, which afterwards we will return to our villages to wrap everything up) I am stressed! For those of you who know me, I am sure you are not surprised at me using this word to describe how I feel, but really, there is not much time.

To conclude, I love this beautiful place I live in and the beautiful people I live with, who invite me in to their homes, constantly feed me, teach me the local language, sometimes see me cry and overall enjoy my presence. While I am frustrated with work right now, I feel so lucky to be here and I am so glad that I am fulfilling a dream that started, well, sometime, long ago.