While cooking breakfast this morning I was also making notes in my journal, and as I walked to the stove to remove my eggs the page turned back to the first day of my African journey. I’ve kept a journal since I was 8 years old, and my favorite part is going back occasionally to read entries from long ago, and having the sights, smells, and emotions rush back to you. This was a particularly exciting day for me as I left the protective womb of the Peace Corps and ventured out on my own. I thought I would share this entry with you.
4 April 2009
It just occurred to me that I could be in the US right now if I wanted to. I’m sitting in a bus station in Pretoria and I just had that feeling that I could be in the US waiting to go somewhere familiar, somewhere with friends I’ve known forever. For some reason it seemed like a very strange thought…
This is it! I’m on the bus, and my adventure is officially beginning. I feel as though I’m floating. Maybe sitting on the 2nd story of the bus, looking out a huge window, and listening to “Such Great Heights” has something to do with that.
I feel such an immense debt of gratitude to the universe, like I could never repay it, but I can try. There is so much work to be done in Africa. This truly is a magical continent. I am in love with South Africa right now. There is so much beauty and diversity. Unfortunately there is also the painful history of colonialism and apartheid. And if that wasn’t enough, now there’s AIDS. I learned yesterday that an estimated 25 million children will be orphaned by AIDS by 2012. But there is hope, and I think that is why I love it so much. There are amazing people doing incredible work. Hopefully alongside these people I can give back some of what the universe has given to me.
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