I am doing my best to avoid committing myself to expectations of my service. I have read many times that people go into their service with very high expectations and find them to be completely crushed when realizing they are unattainable. A classic example of this is people who say they hope to change the world through serving in the PC.
While I try to limit my expectations of the outcomes of my service to such broad goals that will inevitably lead to disappointment, I do have many smaller goals and things I expect to have happen and believe are achievable. Some of these are things I will need to seek out to accomplish, some will be a result of the nature of my service and won’t have much choice in the matter.
- Positively impact the life of as many children as possible.
- Find a way to work with children with special needs in my community.
- Learn to speak siSwati at a conversational rate by the end of my service.
- Make new friends, both in community and other PCV (peace corps volunteers).
- Ride a bike in Africa!
- Ride a bike in a wildlife nature preserve (this is a real thing at one of the parks in Swaziland).
- Not drive a car for 27 months. Should be pretty easy as the PC forbids PCVs from driving.
- See wildlife unique to the area including giraffes, elephants, lions, rhinos, and zebra.
- Have a hammock as my main piece of furniture.
- Camping and hiking
- Swaziland sunrises and sunsets
- Star gazing without light pollution (I really hope to see the milky way)
- Photographing my experiences
- Visit other countries in the Sub-Sahara that I would be unlikely to ever see otherwise
- Downsizing to only have 100 pounds of personal belongings to last me two years.
- Get back to the basics. I am excited by the thought that I won’t be able to just mindlessly surf the internet and will be communicating through handwritten letters like I did before using texts and emails.
From Cincy to eSwatini 