This picture is of my neighbor in my village. One woman is pounding ground nuts (peanuts) into powder and the other is the woman who lives there, Anya(Miss) Nchedwa with her son Phyela (sweep).
A few weeks ago I embarked on the eight hour bus ride down to Lusaka for Midterm conference. It was the first time in six months that the entire group of people who I came into country with was all together. I am guilty of isolating myself, even from friends in Zambia. I think we all do it to an some extent, we get used to a slow pace, quiet life and don't reach out as much as I should. It was exciting to see everyone again, and reassuring. Friendships that were made during that first 3 months of training were sparked back to life. It was also super pleasant to realize that EVERYONE, all 22 of us from the original 27, was in much happier and healthier frame of mind than when we had last seen each other. We aren't the new kids on the block anymore. We have Zambia figured out to an extent, we are comfortable.
Even the conference sessions brought new spark into my service. It was inspiring and reinvigorating to hear about other people's services, their personal and work projects, failures, and ways of overcoming them. I have a few concrete plans and goals for the next year planned, as well as a few nice African vacations.
We also talked about what comes next. One year. That isn't so long. What is just over the horizon for us? Zambia has the highest rate of all Peace Corps countries of volunteers who extend a third year. I don't think that is for me. So my mind keeps churning up ideas for what's next. As always, I am indecisive, but I think keeping it in mind helps to prepare me and add an aspect of urgency to my service, which isn't generally present in Zambian culture.
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