Growing Abroad

          I don’t even know where to begin.  The last month or so has been a whirlwind of emotions, new experiences and time passing quickly yet Swazi style. Group 12 was sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers on August 28^th and all 37 of us will be dropped off at our sites the next day to begin our service of 2 years in the Kingdom of Swaziland.  Writing this now it still is hard to believe that I have been in Swaziland now for over 3 months, time has been a strange thing since landing in Africa.  Training was a long 9 weeks that I still look back on and question how it went by so quickly.  The ceremony was held at the Royal Swazi Spa and Golf Resort outside of the town of Mbabane, which is the capital of Swaziland.  In attendance were the Prime Minister of Swaziland and the US Ambassador along with a few ministers of departments, judges and other prominent figures from Swaziland.  All of Peace Corps Swaziland staff were there including the current volunteers from Group 11 and some Group 10 volunteers, who were extending for their 3^rd year.  It was an immense honor to be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers and to begin our 2 years of service and the growth that we can hope to bring to our communities and individuals.

         The adventure was only beginning as we departed to our permanent site with all our stuff loaded down in trucks and ‘khombi’ (taxi) and starting the journey to our sites, which were spread in all directions in Swaziland.  Arriving at my site my things were unloaded and put in my house, all in a matter of about 10 minutes, the driver and the 2 other volunteers in my travel group said goodbye, the truck pulled out and it disappeared down the gravel road.  I really was left to my own device; there was no more staff, no more volunteers, and no teachers to help me, just myself and the people that I would call my family for the next 2 years.  My things were strewn across the empty house in piles and my family and me kind of just stared at each other for what seemed like hours.  Really it was only a few seconds before they asked if I needed a bed to sleep on until I was able to travel to town to purchase my own.  The process of making my little oasis was set in motion and I don’t think I will get my house exactly how I will like it till the day I head back to America.  It is a slow process, which I will soon come to realize is how everything I set out to do in Swaziland will be.  I have to look at the small accomplishments each day and learn that the pace of life is rather different than what we are used to in America.  Something I read which made great sense for a Peace Corp volunteer is to create a list of goals you would like to achieve in your community, write out goals for 2 days, 2 weeks and 2 months.  Your goals in 2 days will take 2 weeks, your 2-week goals will take 2 months, and the goals you wrote for 2 months will be your 2-year goals for your service.  This helps to not become overwhelmed and able to put things into a better perspective.

         The last 3 weeks at permanent site have been crawling by, but the funny thing about time is that I can’t believe that I have already been at my site for 3 weeks.  I have spent time at the community garden, been to meetings with community members, introduced myself at church, shadowed some classes at the high school, observed a community soccer game and still trying to learn this card game called ‘casino’ from my younger ‘bhuti’ (brother).  An important lesson I have learned so far is that the relationship building will be one of the most critical things for me to work on if I would like to see any progress in my community.  Taking each day as an adventure and just learning to roll with life and whatever the day may bring my way.  The Peace Corps really is a 24/7 experience, making the conscious effort every day to step out of your comfort zone and flourish in the experience that comes from that.  It is only the beginning of this life changing journey and the only thing I can be certain of though is that God is standing right next to me every step of the way helping me navigate these paths, relationships and experiences.