Comparisons.

It's funny how things change.  And how they stay the same.  Here's a fun reminder.

About this time last year I met my family for a pretty awesome trip to France.  My hand-me-down, never-need-them-because-I-live-in-the-tropics shoes fell apart in the streets, which led to some distraught time in a huge department store.  I also shivered a good bit.

This week, there's been quite the cold snap here and I am once again shivering like crazy, although I can say I'm slightly better outfitted for the weather.

Last year at Christmas time, I was eating rice on the floor and harvesting rice with my Malagasy friends and family.  I was eating litchis by the basketful and sweating profusely.

This year, I'm stretching out Christmas to make it as long and cold as possible.  I spent the actual Christmas day with family in Massachusetts, where we ate turkey and stuffing and cranberries.  No rice could be found on the table (or the floor).  We carefully stepped along the driveway to avoid slipping on the ice.  Next week will be second Christmas with the North Carolina part of the family, and I am willing to bet money there won't be any rice there either.

Twenty-fourteen.

Living in America, I feel like January is all about fresh starts.  It's a new year, and society says you should resolve to change somehow.  New Years and the craziness of Christmas had barely passed when I stepped into the stores to find dirt-cheap Santa chocolates and tons of hearts and pink glitter.  We don't have time to linger on that holiday that just ended because it's time to gear up for the next.

Seeing how I haven't posted anything here in almost 6 months I guess I got sucked in a little bit.  So what's the update, you ask?  Here goes...

I started a new service position in September.  I've learned a whole lot, ranging from how to give instructions suitable for a kindergartener to how to cook about 15 different things made of pumpkin.  Here's a short photographic account:

Exploring the garden after school.

Coloring!

Kindergarteners getting elbow-deep in the pumpkin fun.

So far my domestic service has mirrored my Peace Corps service in many ways, with lots of ups and downs, new friendships, mistakes, and victories.

So what's in stake for 2014?  As always, I'll try to do my best in my service, but keep in mind that my best effort isn't always perfection.  I'm looking forward to moving out of service in the second half of the year.  In everything, I hope I can find a balance between a desire to move slowly and disconnect, and the reality of a life that is busy and fast, between enjoying the moment, valuing where I've come from, and looking forward to what's ahead.

Happy New Year!