The Sky

Hello everyone,

So this has been a pretty chill week overall, but there were a few cool points. First off from the too do last week I've mostly just been working on the Server project which has been coming along pretty well. It's been fairly hard coming since I have to learn how to code in Javascript, JQuery, PHP and MySQL. Due to this the creating of the forms will take a lot less time once I understand better how to send a multidimensional array into MySQL. This week hasn't all been nerd-core though, there have also been a few exciting things to happen!

First off the three photos at the beginning of the  gallery at the bottom are some of the sites I see most days before and after work. That along with the photo a few weeks ago of Foho Matebean, you can really start to see the beauty of this country side. It's fairly obvious, but I edited the first photo to really bring out the colors of the sunset here. There are also the gorgeous star lit sky's each night which is something that's very rare to find back in the states without heading out into the country. It's these small beauties that really help to counteract the loneliness and occasional frustration that comes from working in a foreign country. I am however also lucky to have my friends and family to remind me of my mission here and to deter the feelings that come along with not speaking your native language for bouts of time.

I've been thinking about a few things that might add the the resourcefulness of this blog and have decided to add/change a couple of things. One of the first is to change out the Podcasts on the Short Stories page with Educational Youtube videos in English that can be gain contextual information about the English language. This change was inspired by a video I watched recently talking about a language acquisition method that will hopefully work better for any future English classes I decide to teach. Another thing I'm adding is a "Days since" counter which will hopefully map out how I've changed as the days have passed since arriving in Timor. It'll also just be cool to see how long it's been! Lastly I'll be going back and editing to the picture format of the first posts I made to match the current format because I believe it looks a lot better.

Beyond all that this project with the server has been eating up my time, but I'm sure by the end of it I'll have an amazing feeling looking back at all the hurdles I needed to jump in order to get this thing working. Let me know if there are any other changes you guy's would appreciate on my blog. This honestly is as much for all of you as it is a good way for me to articulate this experience. I'll let you all decide what would be a good idea! Send any of those idea's or idea's for future posts in the comments and I'll try to make something of them. Unfortunately I have to get back to the server... she calls me.

... ummm anyways, I'll just leave you all with this.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.

Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

~Helen Keller

Much Love,

~BW

Hamartia

Hey All,

It's raining again today and I found myself looking for something to write about. I decided to write about a misconception I believe there is for what Peace corps volunteers do in their permanent site. This misconception can be a fatal flaw when it comes to a volunteers success, hence the title.

I'm talking about assumption! I feel like the idea is that volunteers are heading into a site with a grand plan for what needs to be, "fixed." This is an understandable assumption because the term, "Third world" has built up a connotation that leads people to believe that people in these countries are inept or in some way less than those living in the first world. It's important to understand this when going into any position where you're trying to assist others in development, because the only sustainable way to help is from below, not above.

This to be said, there is no room for pride or grandeur in service, only humility. It can be asserted therefore that one cannot come ito the Peace corps (or and service based volunteer work) with a plan for how to affect change. This is where a lot of frustration is started when people enter the Peace corps thinking they'll be an NGO or affect change of their own design. However, the change one can affect when serving from below is a sustainable and generational kind of change that will do much more in the way of development than any NGO can do without community involvement.

If you are in a position to help anyone, or are wondering if your change will last after you leave, just ask yourself this, "Do I want this, or did my community ask for it?" Until I speak with you again, here's the quote of the day.

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens"

~Jimi Hendrix

Much love,

~BW