is that I am now a proud and happy owner of an air conditioner! In Peace (or Posh rather) Corps! Ridiculous, I know. To straighten things out, I didn’t buy it for
myself but was rather gifted it by a generous benefactor who happens to be from
my village and very good friends with my old language trainer. Last hot season I met up with the two of them
and had lunch in Sandema, during which he was very impressed that I was able to
live here during hot season and vowed to get me an air conditioner for next hot
season. Even though people make a lot of
broken promises, I remember vaguely thinking he seemed pretty serious about it
and maybe was a man of his word but I didn’t really think about it too
much. I even told him maybe it be better
to get the a/c for the computer rather than me.
Lo and behold one beautiful day in February the unit was delivered and
later installed. I started using it soon
after Valentine’s Day (best.present.ever) and it really has made a world of
difference in my sleeping in super high temps.
This amazing gift makes me reflect on how sometimes when you serve you
end up being served yourself; it’s all very humbling. I’ve
gotten way more out of my Peace Corps service than I could ever have given and
not just because of the air conditioner. It’s just a physical representation of the
many blessings and experiences I’ve had here.
I’ll end this post with an encouraging passage about service
from a great book (my fiance's favorite in fact) My Grandfather’s Blessings:
Service has a life of its own. A single
act of kindness may have a long trajectory and touch those we will never meet
or see. Something that we casually offer
may move through a web of connection far beyond ourselves to have effects that
we may have never imagined. And so each
of us may have left far more behind us than we may ever know.
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