This month I had my one year anniversary for living in my Malagasy village. I've already spent one whole year in my community! Looking back on this Year One of my Peace Corps service, I definitely can sum it up as a totes adaladala experience. I saw a lot of places, did a lot of things, and felt a lot of feels. Through the adventures, trials, and seasons of it all, the lessons I have learned are beyond measure. And because the lessons are many and sometimes indescribable, it has taken me a while to process them all. But in this reflection, I've identified three lessons that I have had the greatest impact on me at this time...
Lesson 1: Not only can I still be friends with people I disagree with, but I can actually learn a whole lot from them even as we disagree.
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| Jamie and Brienne in Game of Thrones. Image from tumbler |
It's not easy to be around people who don't see eye-to-eye with you, whether that be in politics, values, cultural differences, or the quality of Justin Bieber's music. Because of this, I think it is often too easy for us to surround ourselves with only the people and ideas we agree with and then shut out, dismiss, or even become aggressive towards anything opposite or outside of our set way of thinking. I sometimes did this in the United States whether I meant to or not; I did know several people very different from myself, but I never had to spend time with them on a consistent basis or build more meaningful relationships with them because is was so easy and convenient to surround myself with people just like me. But now that I'm in Madagascar, that is no longer an option simply because people just like me don't exist here. So, in this last year on the Red Island I've been strongly challenged to live, work, and go to a deeper human level with people different from me on an everyday basis.
