What is Peace Corps?

   I'll be home soon and I know the questions will start almost from the moment I step off the airplane. "How was living in Africa for two years?" "What's PC like?" and "What was the best part?" and "What did you learn?". I love that friends and strangers alike will ask these questions, but I'm already wondering how to answer. So I thought I'd start now. With less than 3 months to go my nostalgia is on overdrive and I'm finding myself reminiscing more than usual.
   So, what is Peace Corps, you ask? Well...
-it's waking up with the sun as the birds sing you good morning
-it's teaching s pupil 'heavy' vs. 'light' as you help her carry 10L buckets of water up from the river
-it's wondering if your poop will ever be normal again
-it's singing the ABC's with iwe's 26 times as you put Banangram letters in the correct order
-it's reading more books in a 2 year span than you ever thought possible
-it's crying days at a time because you miss home and wonder why you ever signed up for this in the first place
-it's laughing with your family as you sit under the stars before dinner
-it's leaning patience, again and again
-it's sitting on your porch with a hot cup of coveted coffee as you watch a storm roll in
-it's your baby sister nuzzling into your chest as you walk her down the path singing "You are my sunshine" for the umpteenth time as your heart overflows with joy
-it's coming home to kids yelling your name in excitement as you walk down your road
-it's sitting and crying with the yamayos as you mourn the loss of another child
-it's learning to be creative with cooking and realizing a meal doesn't seem complete without tomatoes and onions
-it's laughing with your sisters as you try to navigate bush paths on bikes just to get potatoes 45 minutes away
-it's appreciating the still and quiet of a lazy afternoon
-it's killing rats, spiders and unknown creatures on a regular basis
-it's realizing that there are more similarities than differences in a culture you once thought of as only starving and unhappy
-it's  realizing your body is capable of more than you could have imagined
-it's more marriage proposals than most celebrities get
-it's wondering how you survived that transport ride, again
-it's being humbly amazed at the kindness perfect strangers show you every day
-it's your sister falling asleep on your couch in your sweatshirt as if they were her own
-it's endless nights of 2 hours of sleep, and nights of sleeping for 12
-it's wondering if your clothes will every fit right again
-it's finding that a two room mud hut can in fact feel like home
-it's washing your clothes, dishes and hair in the river
-it's stopping to watch sunrises, sunsets, stars and storms and smiling at every one
-it's having a conversation with a 3 year old when neither of you speak the same language, and it not mattering at all
-it's the joy of package or a letter to remind you you're not alone
-it's eating new foods and finding you like them
-it's hours on the roadside waiting for a ride
-it's leaning to kill a chicken and that it does indeed run around with its head cut off
-it's spending the afternoon making peanut butter with your yamayo and sisters
-it's having countless in-depth, meaningful, challenging conversations with Peace Corps friends
-it's discovering the world and how beautiful it is
-it's teaching your class the 'Hokey Pokey' and laughing every time
-it's cheap cookies and wine with your female co-workers after a long week
-it's babies in your lap everywhere you go
-it's falling in love with writing actual pen and paper letters
-it's teaching kids how to play Spoons
-it's fireworks and s'mores with friends of both cultures on the 4th of July
-it's Skype dates that fill you with joy
-it's carrying 20L of water every day
-it's learning to plant and harvest crops and understanding a small sliver of the work your community does every day
-it's missing birthdays, weddings, births, funerals and numerous other milestones
-it's watching in amazement as the scenery of your village changes with the seasons
-it's making numerous cultural mistakes and being accepted anyways
-it's listening to the church congregation sing acappella and being mesmerized by the beauty of it
-it's building friendships and trusting and being vulnerable and loved
-it's questioning who you are, what you believe, what you value, what you want in life, who you want to become, what you enjoy, what makes you laugh, cry, wonder and just how much you can handle
-and it's realizing you're exactly where you're supposed to be and exactly who you're supposed to be right in this moment. And that that person is actually pretty amazing. Despite the heartache, the challenges, the unknowns. It's discovering that this journey was worth it all; that you're a happier, stronger, more independent, easy-going, spirited, loving, appreciative woman than when you landed in this beautiful country two years ago. And that is an amazing and wonderful thing.

  These 2 years have blessed me beyond belief and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I've fallen in love with the people I've been surrounded by and with a culture I feel that I'm now a part of. Zambia will forever claim a piece of my heart, no matter how far I roam. I can't say thank you enough-thank you, THANK YOU, family and friends, for sharing this journey with me. For the prayers, letters, packages, texts, phones calls, e-mails, pictures and abundant love that you have given me these 2 years. You have been an incredible part of my journey and I appreciate beyond words your willingness to share me with this wonderful place I've come to call home. Here's to an incredible ending to an incredible adventure...