Is it weird to think, "I have it good?"

I look around. Mud everywhere, ants on the counter top, a chicken coup, the water hasn’t come today. My view from my bedroom window – green hills, the dry forest, filled with two little houses made of sticks. Men carrying crops from the chacra to their humble homes. My little friends playing in the dirt, white clothing is non-existent. Shoes are a rare notion. Barefoot “campo feet” - nice and calloused. Babies crying. A beat up combi comes down the dirt road every now and then honking incessantly for passengers, to wake up a town that looks like that last frontier. Someone's playing Kumbia music VERY LOUD (a sound only Latin volunteers can appreciate). My room cramped and chaotic with walls covered in letters from friends in the states and so many trinkets that have a place but look like their lying around due to a small living space. A kid friend comes to the window to ask me how I’m doing, if I want to come outside and play futbol. I’m working on a lesson plan. The sun is beating down through the cracks in the aluminum rooftop and life just got sweaty. Drip. Drop. Time to turn on the life saving mechanism called ventiladora (fan).

Is it weird to think, “I have it good?” I am undergoing a living experience so different than anything I could have ever imagined. So extreme, so foreign, so exciting – all at the same time. I say I have it good because I am doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing in life. The unconventional. The daring. The “all my friends think I’m crazy” thing. Living on the extreme side. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer for crying out loud. I am naturally a person that lives simply, doesn’t ask for much, so it didn’t take too long to get used to the developing world daily bump and grind, but I still need to remind myself every once in a while of the immense difference from the first world. Shock myself a bit.

There are days I want to sit on a couch and watch TV comfortably and eat ice cream. There are days I want to drive myself to the beach, have myself a little surf sesh. There are days I wish I could be there in the states for my friends when they get a new boyfriend, a job promotion, hired – period. These days make me ever-so pissed and help me learn patience at the same time. You cannot always have what you want. You also must appreciate everything you have. Taking things for granted is no longer. I have learned a lesson we all think we know very well – sure we always say to “count our blessings” but now it’s real to me. I have lived the lesson. That’s why I say, I have it good.    

AMBUSH!! Some of my favorite little ones.