This blog offers no proof that I’ve been living and working
as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia for over a year now. In the age of “fast food” (mainly
inauthentic) communication, I’ve been savoring the written word in the form of
letters and journal entries. After
all, living in a village without electricity forced me to do that. Oftentimes, though, as I sit in front
of a computer I wonder: “What the heck is there to write about?”
In terms of personal projects, I suffer from the
quintessential procrastinator’s dilemma of not knowing when to begin. When I’m engaged in learning a new
skill, whether it is cultural or physical, that activity has my full attention
and energy. I can’t write when
actively engaged. Then, when I’ve
mastered that activity, it goes into my normal processing and thus loses its
“specialness.” In essence,
whatever I find to be of normal activity here may not be so normal to those who
aren’t here. I have to remember
that.
What’s motivating me to write now? Well, in all honesty, my access to the Internet has improved
since changing work projects and moving to Lusaka (although the networks I rely
on for such access is shaky at best).
The real motivating factor is so
much has changed since my last little post in May that I’ve been able to
overcome “creative constipation”. I’ve had a bit of time to digest the dynamics
of living and working in Zambia and I finally have the courage to open up about
my growing pains as a global development volunteer.
Please feel free to explore my blog. In an attempt to play catch up, I'll be posting a series of entries in the next few days, but I should be posting more regularly from now on.
