Kiwi to Artichoke

So,
I thought I would be writing a good blogging about my par-tay yesterday. Let's just say it resulted in a good journal, which will be a post for another day. But I am going to opt for a letter from a friend this week that helped me see all of our interconnections, interdependencies, intentions (good and bad), and can only come with the clarity of the rising sun.
Emirembe.

Turn, Turn, Turn.

I am struck by how similar Peace Corps experiences are, no matter where you go: the time delays, the formality of nothing, the strange pairing of ignorance and ingenuity. Ah the memories! My unsolicited words of advice to you: don’t take on too much and don’t stress yourself out! There is no need for you to figure out your project, much less your life, in any hurry. Time doesn’t move the same way in other cultures. It is not linear, fast or planned and charted in any way. It simply exists as an observation and a cause for respect, displaying itself in the wrinkled faces of revered (and therefore utterly rude) elders. Know what I’m saying? (The babushkas of Kyrgyzstan used to push themselves to the front of every line, ignore all requests and salutations from others, and demand backrubs from solicitous strangers in the public bathhouses. Are the old grandmothers of Uganda the same?) I have found myself missing the simplicity of the present—that unstructured time that exists without consequence or “waste,” without knowledge of or thought for the future. It is frustrating as hell, but also serene to adopt the idea that time has no end point and therefore no inherent value. Why plan tomorrow when you can live today? Relish living the present moment as they do. That feeling won’t last forever. I realized I must sound like a raging lunatic. You are welcome to say that I am as crazy as the babbling babushkas. I won’t be offended. I have plenty of unsolicited advice, but lucky for you I have an early plane to catch—a schedule that won’t wait for my unfinished dreams, as much as I may want to stay in bed to complete them. I hope you will write about your to-do as soon (if) it occurs and I am sure we will hear more about your evolving project and ideas.

Over and out,

Kiwi