"Try and avoid the elephants"

9/7/19

           There seems to be a lot of tradition when it comes to Peace Corps. Tradition that leaves you wondering why you’re standing in the middle of a room with a blind fold on and a camera going off. No this was not a gender reveal party, or a scene from 50 shades of grey but rather the announcement for where we will be living and serving for the next two years. Imagine 49 confused and slightly helpless soon to be volunteers standing over a map that’s been tapped to the ground. Suddenly everyone is told to take of their masks for the big reveal! Annndd! “Wait where is this again?”

           Moments before removing the blindfold I was still not sure how I would react. I was told that I’d be up in the north, but what does that mean exactly? I wasn’t sure whether I should shout, cry or laugh because I had no clue what I would be getting with my site. Fast forward .2 seconds to removing the blindfold and I learned I was to be living in Kazungula (Ka-Zoon-Gu-la). Cool. What does that mean? I then turned around to see a wall of other volunteers located in the East side of our makeshift “map” (Still better than apple maps) on the ground and quickly realized that I was very separated from everyone else. The following are my thoughts right after taking off the blindfold.

Okay I’m alone

Okay there’s the other Ben. I have a friend

Am I sad I’m away from everyone?

No. That’s odd, I thought I would be

I’ve heard the North Is beautiful

Maybe I’ll see an elephant.

Wait I still have no clue what this all means.

           That final thought was the presiding feeling for the next hour. Excitement for something I didn’t know anything about. Kind of like that first bite of chick fil a. You just waited 30minutes in line for a chicken sandwich, so you’re excited, but have no clue how it’s going to taste.

           Even after reading through the packet I was still stuck with a mixture of confusion and excitement.

Alright I’m going to be in a clinic in this village, here’s where it is on a map, there’s a lot of tourism and yet I still have no clue why everyone is telling me I’m lucky. We came into this service and were told no expectations again and again so why should this be any different?

           If anything, the excitement came out of an anticipation of the unknown. An almost uncanny grip that has perpetuated throughout training.

           This whole experience has just reinforced the no expectations moto. Only a week later after coming to site can I finally understand what makes this place special. I now live in a village that I can walk from one end to the other in one hour, a community that is excited to have a volunteer, and a clinic that once again has me being the token male in a group of females. That’s funny only if you grew up in the church as a male. The ratio is pretty good.

           All in all, I’m excited to see what this journey will bring me in the follow months. The only question is can I outrun the lions and dodge the elephants.