One year out of 24
I celebrated two big anniversaries this month: August 18 was my first anniversary since moving into my village and August 20 was my 24th birthday. There truly was no better way to ring in these celebrations than with a bout of diarrhea and a rumbling stomach, which caused me to reflect on a few of the challenges that I have overcome and decided to celebrate. This job isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, surprising as that is, and this first year spent in a rural village in Togo—my 24th year of life—has been a true test of my resiliency. At any moment I can pick up my phone, call my boss and say, “I’m done. I quit,” and in the next instant, Peace Corps will buy me a one-way ticket home. I can leave Togo with no questions asked and no red tape to cross, and trust me, over the past year, there has been more than one instance where I have wanted to do this. This power, this privilege , that I have absolutely frightens me, as does this seemingly unceasing diarrhea. I feel an im...