Changes

I feel as if I am standing still while the world around me is changing. That may sound depressing. I picture the scene from Notting Hill (Chick flick movie) where the main character split from his girlfriend so is all depressed. It shows him sulking while the seasons are changing around him. That is not what I mean. Let me try to explain.

While I’ve been in Zambia the last year in a half, I have kept busy with different projects. I visit fish farmers and teach HIV/AIDS to my community. I've also become friends with many people in my village, so spend a lot of time with them. Through living in a rural village amongst people from a different culture, I have learned more about myself in many ways. That I can’t even begin to explain.

Since living in my village in Zambia, I’ve seen different changes in my community and also have heard and seen changes that have been happening in America (through facebook statuses and visiting home in December).

In Zambia, I have watched my friends become married and/or become pregnant. I’ve had friends move away due to jobs or family issues. Over the two years my host parents have divorced. When getting here I frequently spent time with them but since the divorce my host mother has moved away with her three teenage daughters, making my visits to their house less frequent.

In America, many of my friends have become engaged or have gotten married. Finishing graduate school and landing their first big job.

Meanwhile, I remain in my quiet village in Zambia. Although I am keeping busy, nothing significant has happened in my life. I get up, cook breakfast, have a program, cook lunch/dinner, hang out with my village friends. And I truly do enjoy this kind of life. I love Zambia and couldn’t be happier where I am at. It is just a quiet simple life I am living.

Even thought this place feels like home, I know it is just temporary. I don’t have to worry about finding a boyfriend or getting married, like many young Zambians in the village at my age do. I don’t have children so don’t have to worry about feeding them or taking them to the clinic 16 km away if they get sick. And I don’t have to deal with the busy life in America. Always being on the move; sitting in traffic, worrying about this or that, etc. I spend my weekends just as any other day. Instead of going out, I sit under my mango tree reading or listening to music.

So, there are changes going on around me, in my village and in America, while I remain in the quiet village of Kawama. Teaching fish farming and HIV during the day and watching the sunsets and watching nature in the evenings. Life is good!