It's funny how many times in Peace Corps you say, "...and I've never felt like that before!" Sometimes it's a great triumph where you've helped with something and seen an almost magical change or transformation, sometimes it's amoebas or dysentary.
Either way, it's always a new and exciting experience.
The other thing that's funny is all the experiences you have that are similar or the same as ones you've already had but the context is so different that it feels like something all new. Like a shower... I'm sure you've taken many a shower, or rather, I hope you've taken many a shower. But after you come in from a month of nothing but bucket baths (or sometimes, when we have no water, a baby wipe bath) a shower is the most wonderful thing you've ever experienced. You disentangle yourself from the web of people that you've somehow wedged into a small van that masquerades as public transportation and walk through the massive crowds. You inevitably muscle away from a few moto drivers yelling at you and the taxi driver invasions that accompany your exit and make your way onto the dirty street. You climb onto yet another bus and sit and sweat as you wait for it to fill up. You finally disentangle yourself (and your bag) a second time and start the walk down to the magical land of other Americans and lazy TV time and SHOWERS! You strip the clothes that you've probably worn 3 or 4 times so as not to have to carry as much, or wash as much. And then there's running water, AND you can adjust the temperature with the turn of a handle! No boiling, no mixing with cold water until you hope there's enough to bathe with and also at the appropriate temperature. It's a beautiful thing and a wonderous feeling! And then you're clean! What an amazing invention!!
Today it's raining like crazy. I love it, it means a quiet day and awesome nap time. It's also a natural shower, but I'll wait for the delightfully warm unnatural variety.
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