Sprung!

With the mountainside in my view, the sun splashing the kitchen walls, I sit and write this as the fire burns and breakfast’s potatoes sizzle in my new non-stick pan. This is my second morning to wake in the house which I will be in until at least October.  While there are drawbacks, like the non existent bathroom ( but there’s an outhouse) and the bare cement walls (which my brother noted made it look like I was in the newest SAW movie), I am happy to be here. There is a wild satisfaction engendered by cleaning all of my own dishes, organizing things in the kitchen (and every where else) into the precise way I want them. It’s mine. 

Now that I have total control over my environment, I have very high expectations of myself. I no longer want to melt into a make believe world watching movies or TV shows on my computer. There is no reason for me to sit in my room for hours on end anymore. Luckily, there have been times in my life when the last thing I felt like doing was turning on the TV and so my challenge will not be as great as possible. Recently, I can’t stop thinking about my favorite little paradise on earth, Lake George. Only, it’s not just the body of water and land that is Lake George that I yearn for, it is the summertime Huletts Landing Community as well.

Last summer I didn’t find myself wishing for this oasis at all. With all the new sensory experiences, there almost wasn’t room for missing anything. Now that my group’s year anniversary in Armenia creeps closer, I think we are all reflecting on the time that has passed. Not only are we seeing how very fresh and fragile we were upon arrival – but also we are remembering why we are here and what we sought in coming. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my friends here and it seems we are all coming around this first year bend. We know what we want to focus on and how exactly we are going to approach that goal, we know who our friends truly are and finally, we just watched our first year flash in an instant. With this is in mind, we are all taking mental note to accomplish whatever it was we sought from the beginning.

I know that one of the things I desired most was an opportunity to take a large step back from my reality and realize what is was I needed to be happy.  Already I am seeing a much greater difference than before, understanding that some things are far more important to me than I had previously realized.  For one, cooking meals daily and entertaining folks semi-regularly is a great passion of mine. I’d forgotten how much I love to host get-togethers. Lengths of uninterrupted silence is yet another need that I have discovered. While I had known that each of these things were enjoyable for me, I didn’t quite understand how it would affect me were they to be taken away.  Huletts Landing has always been a place where I could have many of my needs met. There is such a serenity in the atmosphere and people , joy in the voices of children and an attitude that whatever you want to do to make yourself happy, just go ahead and do it. I miss that sort of freedom, I value that freedom.

One of the greatest challenges of my Peace Corps service will be the limitations of freedom as a young American woman. Yet with the new house, I get to spread my wings that much more than before. And Lordy-lord, does it feel good.