I have
now been back in the United States for a little over two weeks. Although my
transition back up to this point has been smooth; it has also been very eye
opening to me. I know that I will continue to see how my past year in Malawi
has changed my views of life, but over the past two weeks, here are a few
things I noticed right away:
Every
Monday the town of Mulanje did not have power due to the scheduled blackouts
that the country has due to lack of enough power being produced. Due to this, Lauren
and I both became attuned to the sound of the refrigerator coming back on when
power returned. Since being back I find myself hearing
the familiar sounds of appliances, or the air conditioner shutting off and I
look up at the lights to see if we just lost power. Having electricity all day
everyday is such a blessing that we often overlook because it is so constant in
our lives. For me, every time I hear the sound of something switching on or off
I will remember the days in Malawi I went without power, and all of the people
this problem still affects daily in Malawi.
Readjusting
to driving here, thankfully, has gone smoothly. The first few times that I was
driving I turned the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal, but I
spent the past year doing that in Malawi; I’m used to messing those up. (They
are on the opposite sides of ours in vehicles designed for British style
driving.) The biggest challenged I faced with driving in Malawi was not the
steering wheel on the opposite side, it was the hundreds of people and animals
walking on the road that I had to carefully navigate around. Not having to
navigate around the people, chickens, and goats daily, reminds me just how
fortunate a society we have that does not rely on walking as our main source of
transportation. As I sit in traffic, or as I hit the windshield wipers instead
of the blinker, instead of being upset I find myself being very grateful.
Convenience
is not something that is prominent in Malawi. In fact often things in Malawi
seem to be very inconvenient. Since I returned I have been overwhelmed with the
amount of convenient things that are available to us as Americans. It seems
like everything we could possibly, want, need or desire is right at our
fingertips. This has been one of the most overwhelming things about being back
for me. For the past year nothing has been particularly easy. If we wanted to
cook a meal, everything, and I mean everything, had to be made from scratch,
with grocery shopping done once a month so planning ahead was extremely
important. Now, if Heather and I decide we want something specific for dinner
we pop right down to the “small” Giant Eagle two minutes away from our house
that has absolutely everything we could possibly need to cook with. The abundance
of our convenience is really overwhelming after living so simply for the past
year. I look forward to finding a good balance of convenience but still living
simply and integrating the things I learned over the past year into my daily
life here in Pittsburgh.
Re-adjusting
to life here and discovering what is next for me will continue to be a new kind
of adventure. I am blessed to be surrounded by my friends and family here
during this time of readjusting and am very grateful for all their love and
support as I adjust. I know that this process will take time, but if I am being
honest I think there are certain things that I may never fully get used to, and
I think that is okay.
