Siyabonga

An absurdly and ironically short post for a topic on which I have more to say than any other. I have to be continuously jolted by reminders that tomorrow is, actually, Thanksgiving. Obviously not on the list of South African national holidays, my inability to get into the general holiday spirit is probably most affected by the weather (we are approaching summer here, and I have already gotten a taste of the mind-numbing heat and humidity) and even more importantly, not being near so many of my loved ones at this time. I am however very thankful for the loved ones I have found here, some of which I will happily be gathered around tomorrow, as we celebrate Thanksgiving at the house of the the American director of the organization Mpilonhle, who you may recall I have been doing some work with recently. Some of my best PCV friends and the other American volunteers will be there for what promises to be a lovely and much needed evening of good food and company.

The craziness of this week has not afforded much time for reflection, and not nearly enough time to write a proper post with even a fraction of the things I am thankful for and which I can list without even thinking. But I did have a rather nice realization in a moment of reflection that followed another hard-to-believe reminder of the holiday tomorrow. That realization is this: I have never in my life been more aware- on a daily, or even hourly, basis- of all of the things I have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving has never been such a constant part of my consciousness. Truly, and maybe especially here, it is often the only emotion that makes sense, the healthiest way of dealing with my own challenges and the challenges I see around me, or the most powerful emotion I feel during happier times. For better or for worse, every good thing, and most beyond most especially, the gift of family and friends and their incredible love and support, has been made exponentially more precious through this experience. This is not at all to say that I now have a perfect awareness of or gratefulness for all of the things for which I have to be thankful. I am not sure my head and mind are big enough for that to be possible. However, as I have said many times before, if this heightened awareness and appreciation is all that I will have gained from this experience (which, already it is definitely not) I could not but say that it has been worth the blood, sweat, and tears :)

You should be hearing a lot more about thankfulness often in the future. For now I am going to drag my gardening-weary body to bed, though not before wishing you all a beautiful Thanksgiving filled with all of the gifts and love that your heart can stand. I give thanks for every second that I get to live and love with you :)

Ukubonga nothando (Thanks and love),

Claire