Are you homesick yet?

Over the course of this month, several people in my office and friends from home have asked me if I'm homesick yet, seeing as how I've been here for a year (year since Swearing In on Sept. 28. 2007). My answer: Depending on the day! My mood falls under three catagories:

I can't believe I'm in the Peace Corps! I can't believe I live in a different country!

There are days when I can't imagine myself being anywhere else. I've wanted the chance to live in South Africa for a while now and have wanted to be in Peace Corps for even longer. I can hop on a taxi be in a different country in less than 3 hours. Life in South Africa and Rustenburg seem strange and foreign and I love it!

Life is normal.

There are days when I almost forget that I'm not in the U.S. (because the infrastructure of Rustenburg can be compared to any smallish city back home). Nothing particularly exciting happens. I'm just going from home to work and doing a little hanging out with friends in between. It feels like any ole regular day back in the U.S. I'm just living my life. Rustenburg has become my home, just like Chicago became my home after moving from Atlanta. Life is fine as wine!

Don't even go there...literally!

Then there are the days....those beautiful, 98 degree, sunshiny days (because it rarely rains, is rarely cloudy, and "winter" lasts a few short months) when I just want to go home and am ready to blow my savings on a plane ticket. During those days, I miss the "things" about home that are not here, but not "home" itself (and they are mostly food-related things...more so now because I'm hungry and I like to eat in general): Chick-fil-a; Wendy's; Mr. Everythings in the AUC; Taco Mac's; Carol Street Cafe; Casa Grande; Atkins Park; Adobo Grill, Willy's; up-to-date movies and music; flying to meet up with friends; a post office that will deliver my packages on time (sorry guys, it's starting to sound like I have a hang-up with the SA Postal Service).

Those I-wanna-come-home-right now-days, luckily, are far and few in between and only tend to last a day or so and then life gets back to normal. Once I'm over them though, the perspective that I had pre-funk comes back and I realize how lucky I am to be in my situation. I have made great (lifelong) friends, an adopted family that loves me, a job that is allowing me to experience new things and challenges me every day, support at the tip of my fingers, health care coverage that only our dear President must get, amazing sights/sounds/smells/smiles (I had to continue with the whole "s" thing...I was on a roll!), no bills (all of my living expenses are paid for), and an opportunity (for two short years) to see the world through different glasses.

My experience and having people constantly asking me about "homesickness", has made me evaluate my definition of "home". Home, to me, is not associated with a particular place. Sure I miss the people and things in different places, but home is where I am. I'm at home in South Africa. Rustenburg. Chicago. Atlanta. Durban. Bukoba. Cape Town. Potch. Savannah. When my two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer are over (one more year in fact), I'll leave Rustenburg for the next location...I'll miss my friends, Nando's, taxis, the irritating post office, the freedom, music, Generations, men's white leather loafers with pointed tips, the loss of personal space, budding democracy, and the many things I've yet to discover....home.