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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A Note to Incoming Volunteers and Current Ones Jaded

It is very hard to remember that this is my current and chosen reality. That this is their permanent and unwavering reality. They often do not understand my “choice” because they do not have liberty or in many cases opportunity. When I do something they don’t understand, which is all the time, it is NOT out of stupidity; it is NOT their timetable on which I live, they know I’m here to live for a bit and maybe give some and probably take an unrecognizable amount and then go and am likely never to return. They know this and they still put up with it. Our lives are shockingly different and yet we cohabitate, not easily but sometimes fluidly, and that should ultimately be chocked up to THEIR ability to adapt, not yours (mine).
It says a lot for their capabilities, their culture, their innate hospitality and their curiosity and their fear; it simultaneously speaks loudly of Americans.
Come here knowing you’re coming, you chose this, you choose this; although they are willing and able to house and feed and help you, they do not have any choice in you. Be patient. Close yourself when you feel this slipping. Take a break and wander your thoughts until you get back to this: your reality here is somewhere between 1 and 800 days. They will (very likely) never ever leave.
They are not dumb.
They are not stupid.
They are you if you’d been born into this life, this strife and this humble life.
Come and be good to yourself, you are the only one who can guarantee it, and when you are good and have done good you will, inevitably, do good.

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