Batch 4: ID-7 Rumah
It has been....
338 days since I graduated from American University.
245 days since I left Washington, DC, my home for 4 1/2 years.
59 days since I left Sydney, Australia, my home for almost 6 months.
11 days since I left Staten Island, New York, the place I have called home my whole life.
Home is a transient and unusual concept to me, as someone that is continuoulsy moving from one place or position to another I haven't had time to reflect or internalize many of my past experiences. When you live in the present, sometimes it's hard to think about so many things that have happened in such a short span of time and how said experiences have affected you.
For everywhere that I have gone, I find a place or group that I call home. Since arriving in Indonesia, I've come to realize that for now and even when I arrive at my homestay, although my placements will become my home. Right now, my fellow trainees, or "Batch 4/ ID-7" as Peace Corps calls us, is who I will ultimately come to call "home". The Peace Corps Volunteer Lounge, that I'm currently sitting in will eventually become that safe haven and my friends here will be my family.
When we arrived in Surabaya, all of my nerves about not knowing what to expect in Indonesia were relieved- because to me Surabaya at least from a climate/foliage/atmosphere perspective is just like Sri Lanka. It was as if I found myself back in Colombo. It's interesting for me as an American of color, to experience Indonesia. Thus far in my encounters, Indonesians aren't sure what to make of me. This is the first time that it has occurred to me that I will not only have to convince people that I'm American but that my background is Sri Lankan not Indian (but let's be real, that was a struggle in itself in the states too). One of my biggest cultural struggles (so far) has been not using my left hand. In Indonesia, it is customary not to use the left hand in anything, because it is considered rude or unclean because the left hand is used for cleaning after one goes to the toilet. Even though I'm right-handed I never realized how often I actually do use my left hand! It's defintiely been a deterrent to my multi-tasking, for instance if I'm eating with my right hand, I usually use my left hand for my phone or vice versa.
There was a moment when we were en route to Indonesia at the Singapore Airport and as I looked around at our group that has taken over the Ambassador Transit Lounge. I saw our diversity- our various backgrounds, personalities, hometowns, aspirations but more than our differences were our similarities as well. Our goals, nervousness, anxiousness coupled with excitement and openness to each other. We're all here for various reasons but once we're in Indonesia- our footing is all the same. We start at square one, as Trainees, Americans, PCVs, future TEFL Teachers and the challenges we face will be our own and how we face them may differ but at the end of each day and each experience we will call each other home.
As we're separated into our training villages, many of us are less concerned about who we will see each day as opposed to those we won't see everyday. We've grown into a certain interdependence with one another and there's beauty in our strange bond and at the same time, I think that as we experience degrees of separation from one another we'll also realize how much of our service is truly independent of our other volunteers.
338 days since I graduated from American University.
245 days since I left Washington, DC, my home for 4 1/2 years.
59 days since I left Sydney, Australia, my home for almost 6 months.
11 days since I left Staten Island, New York, the place I have called home my whole life.
Home is a transient and unusual concept to me, as someone that is continuoulsy moving from one place or position to another I haven't had time to reflect or internalize many of my past experiences. When you live in the present, sometimes it's hard to think about so many things that have happened in such a short span of time and how said experiences have affected you.
For everywhere that I have gone, I find a place or group that I call home. Since arriving in Indonesia, I've come to realize that for now and even when I arrive at my homestay, although my placements will become my home. Right now, my fellow trainees, or "Batch 4/ ID-7" as Peace Corps calls us, is who I will ultimately come to call "home". The Peace Corps Volunteer Lounge, that I'm currently sitting in will eventually become that safe haven and my friends here will be my family.
When we arrived in Surabaya, all of my nerves about not knowing what to expect in Indonesia were relieved- because to me Surabaya at least from a climate/foliage/atmosphere perspective is just like Sri Lanka. It was as if I found myself back in Colombo. It's interesting for me as an American of color, to experience Indonesia. Thus far in my encounters, Indonesians aren't sure what to make of me. This is the first time that it has occurred to me that I will not only have to convince people that I'm American but that my background is Sri Lankan not Indian (but let's be real, that was a struggle in itself in the states too). One of my biggest cultural struggles (so far) has been not using my left hand. In Indonesia, it is customary not to use the left hand in anything, because it is considered rude or unclean because the left hand is used for cleaning after one goes to the toilet. Even though I'm right-handed I never realized how often I actually do use my left hand! It's defintiely been a deterrent to my multi-tasking, for instance if I'm eating with my right hand, I usually use my left hand for my phone or vice versa.
There was a moment when we were en route to Indonesia at the Singapore Airport and as I looked around at our group that has taken over the Ambassador Transit Lounge. I saw our diversity- our various backgrounds, personalities, hometowns, aspirations but more than our differences were our similarities as well. Our goals, nervousness, anxiousness coupled with excitement and openness to each other. We're all here for various reasons but once we're in Indonesia- our footing is all the same. We start at square one, as Trainees, Americans, PCVs, future TEFL Teachers and the challenges we face will be our own and how we face them may differ but at the end of each day and each experience we will call each other home.
As we're separated into our training villages, many of us are less concerned about who we will see each day as opposed to those we won't see everyday. We've grown into a certain interdependence with one another and there's beauty in our strange bond and at the same time, I think that as we experience degrees of separation from one another we'll also realize how much of our service is truly independent of our other volunteers.
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