Into the Bush

My last night here in Maryland, I came to understand what it is to pack up your life into two impossibly small, unbelievably heavy suitcases in order to take a chance on an unknown place where a new space awaits.

Come Monday, when most people are returning to their regularly scheduled schoolwork, jobs, or otherwise, I will be a shiny new teaching intern in the mountains of Malawi: Dedza, the site of the Malawian College of Forestry. My job in the Peace Corps will necessarily involve teaching, but I will be there to first help improve secondary schools at the grassroots, community level (read: they are not a government priority, yet). I will train in a village-based "cluster," so it will be less like sitting through classes and more like taking the jalopy out for a spin with my brand new PC buds. I can picture it now: "Does anyone know what that road sign back there meant?"

I will be living in a "homestay" for the three months of teacher training, so I'll get an intimate glimpse into - and a chance to be a part of - the Malawian family. Imagine intensive language classes until noon, working in the classroom until dinner, and then coming home to a "mom" or "sister" speaking to you rapidly in a language you're just beginning to grasp. Talk about a brain workout! Throw in pit latrines and bathing under the stars, and you might harken back to summer camp with the soundtrack on mute.

It won't be so bad. I'm actually very excited for the new language - but the intensive immersion training is a new thing for me, so all sorts of scenarios (like the previous one, for example) are playing out in my head. I am not sure what language I'll be learning, even though I have done some work with Chichewa; I could be in a Chitimbuka-dominant area too.

Most everyone wants to know how I'm going to eat vegan in Africa. Well, if I wanted to do that, I'm sure I'd use my resources to find a way. That's not part of the plan, however; I feel that the protest of the Ag industry's careless practices is going to be really irrelevant in a place where a chicken is slaughtered in honor of a guest by the host family, right before being cooked -- and in a place where food production for export is much more important than importing fun things like tangelos from new zealand and bananas from guatemala. I have seeds to plant a garden, but you better believe I'm going to eat what is available for my own health as well as to show respect for my new home culture. Integration is about changing your ways - not demanding others cater to peculiar American preferences.

But you'll hear about all that when it comes to pass! This week of preparations has been wonderful for absorbing so much love from many friends who have taken the time to "see me off." Most of my relatives have given me their blessing, which means a lot; I don't come from a very adventuresome, service-oriented family, so the idea of it still seems a bit left-field to them. But they have come to understand my passion and commitment, and are supporting me as best they can -- and that's all I could have wanted. I feel strongly now that the life I have had here has been very full of good people, and I am sad that I'm leaving it at such a time -- even though my departing caused so many great visits! I choose to interpret these events to mean that there is much to come back to, and that I have many examples of good people to enrich my life in the US.

It's time to switch over to the travel blog, and I'll write there as much as I can. I encourage any and all of you to drop me a letter in the mail, because it only costs 94 cents, and because I'd love to hear from you about the familiar and comforting details of home! Especially election drama.

Job Satisfaction and Other Myths

This has been one busy month spent working hard and playing hard. I got all choked up today telling the bosslady how much I like my (primary) job, so I thought I would share a bit about that.

Working at an environmental justice group is a feel-good job. There are people depending on my organization who have a real chance at doing something really important for their communities and who are willing to walk 240 miles on foot to succeed (and much more). I like the people aspect of this NGO because it gives a new dimension to the environmental part of the work; the toxin concentrations in the air, the cancer and disease epidemics, the leaching landfills all have a real face. The human dimension is much more compelling than the abstract idea of a couple bird species getting wiped out. I can imagine packed town meetings in my head, I can feel the fear and grief of parents whose children have developed serious and rare illnesses overnight, and I can hear people pleading with governors who just can't provide a good answer to why it's too expensive to act on behalf of the health of the citizens. People power is hopeful and uplifting - even when an effort doesn't succeed. To simply know someone else is there is to be strengthened.

I'm also becoming quickly biased against jobs in the private and government sector, since part of what I'm paid to do is to examine their gross and often appalling failings. I don't want to be paid with dirty money, nomatter how badly chemical companies might need someone to be the seed of change from within the organization. Why should my college education be a sentence to a life of guilt?

Despite all the positive points, it has been hard to cope with intern and cashier wages, especially with the Christmas social blitz (fun!). Recent calculations yielded 40 hours time work+travel for my internship plus 14 hours for my cashier job at Roots - that's turning out to be a lot of work. More than I thought 2 jobs would be. It's frustrating to not have time to write even though the urge is usually there once every week or two. Forgive me for being so lax recently - let's hope this is just an adjustment period.

Stuff, things, food on the table.

I'm back from Europe! There is so much to share about the experience. What a wonderful gift to receive. Now, to finish the blog (which is only currently halfway there!)...

Living at home again has been a rough adjustment. I'm just amazed at how much time two people can spend looking after their stuff - things that become their entire lives, instead of things that compliment and facilitate lives. There is a lot more to my parents than stuff, but maybe the transition from being a backpacker running on 4 sets of clothing for a month to stumbling through a house full of possessions and noise pollution has been harder than I anticipated.

Nonetheless.. one material possession I can appreciate is trip pictures! I just started printing some today, and even got high compliments from my Dad, buyer of many an expensive camera accessory. Now that I'm relatively adroit at keeping up with them, photos and journaling a great way to hang onto and share memories. I'm so thankful that I had a friend to borrow a camera from - Emily did me an amazing favor! It must have taken a huge amount of trust to let it go for an entire 6 weeks.

Now that I'm back, it's officially time to work on doing something productive to move toward winning my very own multigrain loaf. To that end, I just dug out an article I photocopied from the New Yorker about an innovative, green designer named Amory Lovins. He envisioned a different energy future in 1976 (Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken? pdf) and is the CEO of a company I would be excited to work for (!). I'm also interested in internships at Friends of the Earth, who are centered in DC. Lovins worked there before founding his own company; I'm sure reading more will lead me to other interesting opportunities. Excitement!

Edit-
3 websites for green jobs were recently e-mailed to me by a friend:
1. Young Professionals in Energy
2. Greenjobs
3. Renewable Energy Access