one whole year!

   i am a peace corps volunteer.  i became one for a multitude of reasons- some altruistic, some selfish, some i didn't even know until i got here- but i am a volunteer nonetheless.  and i have now been in Thailand for a whole year. when i got here i was excited.  then i was disappointed and disheartened.  next came fear followed by anger... finished with a whallop of confusion (this is 11 months of emotional rollercoster we are talking about here).
   it's amazing to think how far i've come.  i speak thai.  i eat food spicier (with grosser ingredients) than i thought possible- and i enjoy it.  i live without air conditioning- and i enjoy it.  i ride a bicycle everyday.

  i teach students and adults more than just the english language.  i know the people who work at my bank, at my post office, at the market...i know my neighbors names and their children's names and what everyone does and where they go...i am part of a community.  and that is the most amazing thing. 
   in america we all walk around inside our bubble.  i LOVED my bubble, my privacy, my aloneness...things that i had to give up in order to stay sane here.  while i fought for months, i now have the perspective to say that the bubble is bad.  THROW YOUR BUBBLES AWAY (or, at least, make them more permeable...more a screen door than a glass one). 
   haha, of course, i have a lockable door where my neighbors have none, and i often lock it (thai people don't know how to knock, my friends were always just walking right on in.

i like his shoes

  why shouldn't they?  everyone's door is always open...they are amazingly open and welcoming).  i also have the safety of knowing that i am the outsider and people are going to help take care of me.    
   i more than live in sawang arom, i am part of sawang arom.  it effects me and i effect it.  in the end that is the best thing about this past year.  I belong- to Sawang Arom, to Peace Corps Thailand, to a group of fellow volunteers who I consider family...Thailand brought me belonging...and i am forever grateful.