Boon

Boon (n)- Something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit

Well, I'm off! By the time you're reading this, I will have landed in Zambia and be eagerly inhaling all the sights, sounds, and atmosphere of my host country. 

Preparing for Peace Corps service has taken much preparation. I would have been even more utterly lost without the help and support of so many people. From the very beginning, conversations with friends and family about whether or not Peace Corps was the right decision, a motivational speech from the lady at the Hilo Police Department while I was getting fingerprints, help navigating the requisite paperwork from the folks at the post office, the talk-it-through conversations with roommates covering to-do lists, advisors helping me file paperwork to finish my master's degree before my departure, people making time to spend with me whether traveling in person or communicating through video chats, incredible generosity in helping me find the items to make my life in Zambia more enjoyable, thoughtful connections to others who live/have lived in sub-Saharan Africa, wishes for safe travel, resources and preparedness from the Peace Corps staff, and most of all, endless love and support from my family. 

I have received an overwhelming boon of encouragement. It makes me tear up now, to feel so loved. I take great comfort in the idea of being in a foreign land far over the sea, undoubtedly occasionally lonely, but steadfastly connected and cheered forth by my own community at home. 

Sincere thanks, to all of you. 

I also wanted to take a moment to identify the boon we, as Americans, live with in our everyday lives. Occasionally, a shake-up of the everyday privileges we enjoy is essential to our appreciation. From the day I received my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps, I began to reconsider the simplest of actions: turning on the light, using the faucet to get a glass of water, sleeping without a mosquito net, access to information, pursuing an education, having a flush toilet, being white in the United States, being moderately well-traveled... the list in interminable. In the past few days of staging, we have again confronted our culture, our perceptions, our values as Americans preparing to integrate into a foreign culture and our way of life is staggeringly comfortable. 

There's nothing like seeing your life from the outside to make you appreciate what you have. Even if you're not planning to live in a developing country, I encourage the exercise of gratitude for our boon.