Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away—we need you this dry and dusty day!

I’m sitting in my hotel room watching an epic thunderstorm rage outside, and I can hear children laughing and playing in the street below.  It’s nights like these that I am amazed at my life, and that I’ve ended up where I am. 

Being in the Peace Corps has been a lifelong dream for me—since 4th grade, at least, and now here I am, a real live Peace Corps Volunteer, loving the monsoon season in the country that has become my second home.  I hear the squeals of the kids below and I know they’re down there, swimming in the street and dancing around naked while the rain falls and the thunder crashes.  I hear their happiness and I think of all the things they don’t have, and don’t know they don’t have.  I hear their laughter and my heart melts, because I know that right now, in this moment, this is where I am meant to be, and their laughter won’t always be the soundtrack to my life. 

Rain has always been a good thing for me—it clears my head and washes away the cobwebs, helps me see what is important and what can be let go.  To the people of Cambodia rain is just as important, as the rainy season is off to a late start and the rice farmers are worried about crops.  In a way, whether we need to think straight or feed our families, the rain here does the same thing for all of us—it offers hope. 

I don’t know what the future holds for me, or for Cambodia, but I do know there’s an abundance of hope.  And that, my friends, is something that I, and this country, could use a lot more of.  So I’ll welcome the rain, and the children’s laughter, and let it remind me of all that is and all that could be.