Homeward Bound

          It is just under 2 weeks now until I will be making my way to Johannesburg for the grueling 24 hours on a plane and some 10 hours in airports before I touch ground in Portland, Oregon for the first time since I left on June 24^th, 2014.  It will be the first time being back in the United States since I left also that 2 ½ years ago give or take a few weeks.  I am not sure what to expect in these upcoming days and it really hasn’t begun to sink in that I will be traveling home to see friends and family for the first time in a long time.  I have been trying to reflect on how it will be like, how I will feel or act when I am home and how have I changed in my time here in Swaziland and the Peace Corps.  Some of me is nervous for how I will survive, excited to be home with friends and family and all the good food and drinks, how will my stomach survive that change, excited to be able to share Swaziland with everyone, but nervous if they really care and how long I can actually hold their attention before they get bored or sick of me talking about Swaziland.  I know all these things are real life and will happen but I am thankful and grateful for the support of my friends and family in the United States and my ones here in Swaziland.

         Some things I am most looking forward to when getting home is having Mexican food waiting for me at the airport, not that Chipotle want to be Mexican food, but the authentic stuff you find on the West Coast and in Oregon.  I can’t wait to have a beer that does not taste like Keystone or Coors light, but something with that dark rich taste of chocolate and pumpkin spices.  Being able to get in a car and run to the grocery store, not worrying about how you will carry everything home and having the AC going.  Since it will be winter that won’t be happening, so being able to turn the heater on or have a warm fire going while home.  The smell of Thanksgiving food and Christmas food and pumpkin pies and all those holiday smells including the real Christmas tree.  I can’t forget the pumpkin spice lattes and having actual coffee at home or on the run in a cup that is not Styrofoam and spilling all over you.  Being able to use my phone and not worry about how much data I will be slaying by using Instagram and the ability to download and watch all the shows and movies I have missed since being here.  I will be bringing them back to Swaziland so don’t worry about that.  Most of all it will be being home with my family and seeing friends and being together for a full 5-weeks.  It is time for me to recharge and prepare for the last 9 months I will be spending in Swaziland.  Or that is how the plan goes for now.  We all know my 2-years has now turned into 3-years so who knows where the 3-year plan will go.

            What am I nervous about?  One is the fact of being back on the other side of the road and all the traffic that will be happening.  I have gotten used to the slower pace of life here and not having to drive anywhere, or being allowed for that matter in Swaziland to drive.  Good thing I have a younger brother who can drive me everywhere, even pick me up when we are out with friends.  I am nervous about the richness of the food and drinks and my stomach adjusting to that cause I know it will not like it at first.  I am nervous about my patience with people when they complain about something so “First World Problem” and not wanting to jump down their throat.  Life has gone by since I have been here and people have moved, gotten married, had children and started new jobs.  Will it be the same and coming home and expecting everyone to be the same and to pick up where we left off?  We all have our own lives and the World continues to turn no matter what we are off doing.  It will be exciting to hear about all the change but will be difficult at first adjusting and getting back into the life back home.

         Some people ask how has the Peace Corps changed you and it has been difficult for me to answer that sometimes.  I want to say it hasn’t changed me much but I know it has and it can be easier for others to see that but more difficult for the individual to notice their change.  They can be little changes in your mannerism from the way you stand or sit to just little things you say that have picked up from Swaziland.  I do know “Yebo” and “Eish” will be a common phrase my friends will hear when I am home and will give my strange looks.  It can also be the bigger things from my patience to how I can get more frustrated now with the actions and the things other people choose to talk about.  Are you really upset because they put whole milk in your latte instead of non-fat milk?  I can’t tell you all the ways I have changed and how the Peace Corps changes your outlook on life but I can tell you it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made to join the Peace Corps and have been extremely lucky to be blessed with living in a Country like Swaziland.

         My time home will be filled with traveling to Seattle to see a best friend then flying to Colorado to ski and be reunited with my best friend from the Peace Corps to back to Seattle then down to Portland for some Peace Corps events and talks then home for the last few weeks for Christmas.  It makes me tired just reading that sentence.  The time will be great and packed full of adventure and activities but will go by too fast in the end.  It is important to make time to rest and just enjoy the time home and not look forward too much to coming back to Swaziland.  Our time with friends and family must not be taken for granted and we need to enjoy all the time we have with them from the talks that go late into the evening over drinks to speeding down the slopes for the first time in a long time.  I have a life here in Swaziland, I have a life there in the United States, and I am looking forward to sharing all our lives together and hopefully one day bringing them both together.

 

One of the first sunsets in Swaziland

Our first taste of Swaziland

Things I miss from the United States                  Things I will miss from Swaziland

1. Friends and Family                                                1. Friends and new Family

2. Coffee and Beer                                                       2. Chicken Dust and school beans

3. Mexican Food                                                          3. Buying a meal for $1.50

4. Driving in a Car                                                     4. Not worrying about a car

5. Snow and Skiing                                                    5. All the soccer played

6. Football Games                                                      6. The simplicity of life

7. Fast Internet and data                                        7. Not worrying about my phone

8. Snow Storms                                                          8. Thunderstorms

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.

Ayikho indlela lengayi ekhaya “There is no path that does not go a home”

I really don’t know when my sense of adventure and traveling took hold.  Ever since that point though I have not slowed down.  It is hard for me to tell people where I am from when they ask, “Where are you from?”  Oregon, Colorado, Austria, Arizona, now Swaziland.  All of these places have made up me in some form or another so I really can’t answer that question.  Sometimes I tell people Oregon, others I am from Arizona, and still that I am from Colorado, with a little Austria and currently Swaziland mixed into that.  The straight answer though?  I was born and raised in Oregon and began my adventure at 15 when we moved to Colorado. One thing is for certain though is that I would not be here without our Savior, Jesus Christ and trusting God’s path in all ways.  My loving and supportive parents and family, all my friends along this path who have all touched me in some way or another, and my better half, have all made this possible today.

“All my life I have seen where You’ve taken me, beyond all I have hoped and there’s more left unseen, there’s not much I can do to repay all You’ve done, so I give my hands to use.”  In the short 25 years I have been alive God continues to amaze me everyday with his works, what he has done and doing in my life and where he has brought me to today.  It is beyond belief that I am now in Swaziland to begin one of the greatest adventures of my life so far.  From my time in Austria where after high school I attended a Bible school, to college in Arizona and my time at Northern Arizona University to now, it is beyond all I have hoped or could dream of.  That is how I hope to live my life. To continue to give God my hands to use and be open to wherever he sends me and uses me.  Something that I have learned is to have an open heart, listen and be willing to go wherever He sends you.  Sometimes it may be a place you are uncomfortable in, but knowing where he brought me from and what He provided is what comforts me during the difficult times.  I cannot wait to share my adventures with everyone and the lessons learned as I continue to walk this path home from Swaziland.  Who knows where the next adventure will be and the fork in the road will take me but for now, it goes through Swaziland on the great continent of Africa.