It seems like the whole world is changing around me, now that I can tell people where I'm going and what I'll be doing.
At the post office, where they don't handle passports after 4pm, they gladly and voluntarily made an exception for me -- on two consecutive days -- just because I was joining Peace Corps. In fact, the line on Tuesday was about two dozen people deep, and the woman who processed all the information for me said that I could have just jumped in front. I wasn't in a hurry, though, and I think she appreciated that as much as I appreciated her taking care of my paperwork expeditiously!
Every day, more and more people tell me what a great thing I'm doing, and maybe I might believe it. But for now, I'm content with doing this for the people of Mozambique who don't have the privileges I've enjoyed for almost 24 years now. It may sound corny, but I can't help but be ashamed with how easy my life is right now. I paid for a pop (soda) the other day, putting $.60 in the machine and realizing that's what the average Mozambican makes in one day. I've been putting all of my purchases in a different perspective -- instead of thinking about it in terms of how many "hours of work" something costs.
Not that I took much for granted before, but I've been scrutinizing more and more every little thing that I do, and realize that most of it will be foreign in just over a month. My father told me, "It's not like you're headed into the Dark Ages." I'm not exactly expecting to be wading through my own feces, but at the same time I know the concept of air conditioning will soon (thankfully) be completely obscure.
Something else that people have been telling me is how they could never do anything like this. As if I've done anything yet :> . But I think everyone is capable, it just requires an open mind and a willingness to work hard. And I think those two things are what people are scared of -- if they open their world up, then they think they will lose all of the security they've worked towards for years, and they'll have to work doubly hard just to get that back.
I'm glad everyone's communicating their well-wishing to me, I just hope that the communication continues into October and beyond. Letters from home are so vitally important -- especially when you're seven time zones, one large ocean, one language, and one hemisphere away.
