Thanksgiving

Today is thanksgiving and there is alot to be thankful for. A great site, being here one year, not getting too sick, not having any major problems, and of course making the move of quitting work to be here in TZed. I think I made the right choice and I am on the correct path in life.

I have been in Mbeya for one year and I remember the first time I came how there was no electricity for weeks. I also remember how it was to meet all the previous volunteers and now these same volunteers have left. I can imagine now how they must have felt a year ago as we welcome new ones to the region. And at the same time I am trying to imagine how sad they must have felt leaving. How would it be to leave my site? I can't even begin to describe the feeling but it is like leaving a home that you may not come back to. It's not like when I left the States knowing that I would see my mom in 2 years to come (or even sooner now that I am visiting home). It's going to be different because I don't have a blood-related family to come back to, but at the same time I have the family that I created in TZ. The neighbors that treat me like their daughter, the kids that treat me like their sister, and the students and fellow teachers that treat me like their friend. I hope to come back to see them after my two years, but I don't know what the future holds for me after this commitment. And that is scary.

But for now living in the present I don't have to think about that thankfully as I have a year left, and for that I am very thankful.