Half-time check - Dec. 16th

I've just realized that I'm six weeks into my 3 month stay. Half-over already! It's really hard to believe this much time has passed, and it seems impossible to imagine that it will soon be time to think about packing up and coming home again.

What have I learned so far? Well, I can now almost consistently pee directly into the 4" x 6" hole of the average concrete latrine. Just think, I might have gone through life without mastery of that feat!

I've learned that I have lived an incredibly privileged life, full of so many things that are delightful but unthinkably extravagant relative to what's really needed to get by.

I've learned about many things that we seem to have lost track of in North America...what it REALLY means to selflessly help your neighbours, how to live in the moment and do what needs to be done right now (even if that means messing up somebody else's schedule!), what honest gratitude looks like.

I've learned that probably the only thing that could really make me crazy out here would be to not have the possibility of communicating with my friends and family at least every few weeks.

I've learned that when you're walking down the village road and somebody comes up behind and pulls the backpack off your back, you are NOT being mugged. Rather, someone has decided that you look like you could use a lightening of your load and will lug the pack the rest of the way home, more often than not grabbing a hand to hold at the same time.

I've learned that when you practise it long enough you can learn to walk confidently in the dark, just using your eyes as best you can and trusting that your feet really know what they're doing on a familiar stretch of road.

I've come to accept the Thermos as one of the great inventions of our time.

I've learned that unquestionably I am able to live alone, quite fearlessly, without pining for companionship. I've also learned that it would be amazing to have somebody in my life who could share this sort of journey, as I know it will be far from my last.

I wonder what the next six weeks will teach me.