Big & Small

Mid-February already? Are you sure???

Not only is it mid-February, but it’s also been 1 year since I received my official invitation to serve with the Peace Corps. It’s been wild to reflect back on this time last year. It’s safe to say quite literally everything in my life looks different, yet the Lord’s presence remains constant. What a gift!

The past few weeks at work I’ve been helping recap the month of January for the website as well as hanging up some of the kids’ art on the bulletin board to showcase their work. Additionally, we’re finishing up the library inventory and brainstorming ways to get kids reading! Any suggestions? Or better yet, wanna come read them a book? ;)

One of my favorite moments from the past 2 weeks was sitting at a cafe near the center in Skopje and opening my mail (after finally remembering to check my mailbox…oops). As I read notes, looked at pictures from friends back home, heard an increasingly more familiar language that’s not my own, and watched many people walk by, I was reminded of just how big AND how small the world really is. Things like mail and FaceTime can make me feel so connected to people miles and miles away while I simultaneously encounter hundreds of people living their lives around me and never know their name, let alone their story.

Big and small.

I’m beginning to wonder if that’s a better way to sum up being a Peace Corps Volunteer. In my American raised, efficiency driven mindset, the work I do can (at times) feel insignificant, unimportant, or even meaningless. But then I step back and watch my co-workers work hard day in and day out, sharing dreams of what they’d want to do if they had time… or what they hope to do one day when they have capacity… all the while supporting the educational development and immediate needs of students. What a cool opportunity to support big dreams in sometimes seemingly small ways.

---

Something I’m learning: where the buses go without looking at the map

Something I’m doing: having coffee with other volunteers when they come to Skopje :)

Something I’m missing: chips and dips, specifically buffalo chicken dip, queso, and creamy jalapeño (iykyk)

Something I’m enjoying: warmer weather!