One year in...

As the title says, I'm just a few days away from the first day that I got here in country. One year can change a lot of things, especially when you're in a world completely new to yourself. Like it can teach you new things about yourself, build relationships with people you otherwise would never have known, or even just show you how much you love to eat rice and beans. It also lets you know that some things about you won't change. Like the fact that I still love to watch Scrubs (thank god for having 6 seasons with me), hang out with close friends and talk life, or sometimes just lay around with a good book and devour all that is inside.

I've also learned that learning a new language is a truly challenging experience, and that even though you use it every day you still find yourself trying to communicate in words you don't fully understand. But the most important thing I've found is that each person, regardless of who they think they are or where they stand in life, has a sort of indestructible inner-self that makes them who they are. Even the smallest insights can be enough to make one happy, or at least content with life.

I've spent so much time recently running all over the place and working on training materials for new trainees who arrive here in country shortly that I haven't had too much time to sit down and think on my own experiences. I've helped to decided what the newbies will learn during the first 11 weeks they are here, where they will visit, what I personally will be doing for 2 weeks to introduce the ICT curriculum, and now here I sit in Lome working on the toolkit that the volunteers will be able to use for resources in the ICT domain. Being busy continuously is a different feeling now, I feel a little more “American” at the moment.

I've managed to travel more in this past year than I have my entire life, I've managed to meet people who speak completely different languages than me and manage to have conversations. I've learned what it feels like to live in Africa, what the difference of 20 cents is to a full stomach. I've discovered what obstacles seem to be, and how there is no way you can really be prepared for each one that comes your way. I've also learned to take them in stride, and just try your hardest to make things work. Everyone has problems, learning to deal with them and overcome them successfully is what makes a person great.

Heres to another year...