Someone once told me that words are our most valuable tool because they can both remedy and inflict wounds. I am choosing to use my most valuable tool to tell about my adventures as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunity of doing exactly what I've always wanted to do. Not many people are fortunate enough to say that they are living their dream, especially at the age of 22, but I can. I don't mean to brag, I only wish to express how grateful I am for this once in a lifetime experience.
Although I have had many adventures throughout my 22 years of life, nothing can compare to the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is something I have already realized and I'm only two months in. I have certainly never been away from my friends and family for two years. I have never lived in any country other than my own; I have visited plenty, but never stayed for an extended amount of time. I have never thought twice about the Tagalog language, and certainly never thought about learning it. I have never completely given up my life for the sole purpose of service. But, all of these "nevers" are about to change. I will be living in the Philippines, away from everything and everyone I've ever known, for two years. I will be serving the Filipino people as an English teacher, and I will, on some level, be speaking Tagalog. Shit, I've never seen that in writing until now.
I have been living in the baranguy of Lamao for about a month and in the Philippines for two months. I already feel as though I have learned and grown more in these past two months than in all of my years in college combined, and that's saying a lot. For instance, I have learned to appreciate and value the expression of a heartfelt smile. There was one day in particular that I was so homesick and tired that I felt like crying while walking to my house; the tears were welling up on the brim of my eyelids and couldn't be bothered to wait until I was some where private. Just as they were about to fall, I literally fell in a pothole and onto my butt. If you know me at all, then you know that this is a typical scenario for me. Before I had time to pick myself up, an elderly woman who was shorter and smaller than me lifted me up and brushed me off, in the most literal sense. I had no idea who this kind soul was, but she knew me, and she told me that I was too beautiful to be looking so sad. My eyes met her face, which was wearing a big, warm, toothless smile that immediately made me feel at peace. Her wrinkles creased to show her old age, but the light in her eyes said otherwise. I smiled back at her and she told me that that was the only face she wanted to see. I pass by this woman every day on my way to school and she always shares with me her most heartfelt smile, and I give her one of mine. Until now, I never knew how invaluable this simple exchange could be.
In addition to learning about the sentimental things, I have also learned some pretty practical life lessons. I have learned how to wash my clothes the "Filipino" way, which consists of scrubbing with my hands approximately 19,000 times until my fingers are raw with cuts. I now know that drinking buko juice from a street vendor will almost certainly give me amoebas. I have come to realize that, if I'm unsure how to properly Mano Po someone, I should probably just skip it all together. I know that it is better to wait for my students to talk to me first because if I say something to them before they're ready, it will overwhelm them and take longer for them to feel comfortable with me. And, I know that if someone asks me to sing videoke with them, I should always oblige.
My life has become a never ending cycle of change and growth. I know that things will keep
changing because change is the only consistency in my life right now. Even though all of this change is overwhelming at times, I would not want it any other way. These changes will ultimately change me, and I could definitely use some of that. I joined the Peace Corps to learn and grow, among other reasons, and I cannot grow while remaining the same.
