So what's it really like?

I've been visiting my parents in the States for a little over a week now and people keep asking me "So what's it really like?" I think they expect me to change my answer from what I originally say; to tell them I can't wait to move back to the States, that life is extremely difficult in Rwanda, that I'm not happy, I really don't know. But to be completely honest, I really have no idea what their imaginations have conjured up as being what they believe to be life in "Africa". I am happy. I love my job. I love the area that I live in and the people that I live with. Yes, it is difficult. Peace Corps is not easy, but it's not supposed to be easy either. I knew what I was signing up for and I do not regret my decision. 

Then there's the inevitable "oh! you are such a good person" conversations. Doing Peace Corps does not make me a better or a worse person than you. It was a choice. I made a choice to join the Peace Corps and I made that choice to learn from and experience a different culture. It is nothing self-righteous; I'm not doing it to be a humanitarian. I have skills that I can share with people in Rwanda and they have skills which they can share with me. I am learning just as much as I am giving. This is the type of work that I like to do, the job that makes me happy, and that is why I made my choice. It is the same as when someone chooses to start a business, they do it because they like it. People liking different things and wanting to do different things with their lives doesn't make one person better or worse than another. 

The truth is I have a job that is perfect for me. It's not perfect for all people, and that's ok. I don't expect people to like the same things as me, we're all very different. I am happy with the way that I am living and the work that I am doing. Yes, I miss my family and seeing most of them for the first time in over a year is great. But this is not my home anymore. It is a very strange feeling to be a guest in the house that you grew up. It's like being in a strange state of limbo; I'm a guest in Rwanda and as much as it feels like home, it's not, but coming home I feel like a guest here too. It's difficult to describe.