Camp!

Today was my first day in camp. It was incredible how wonderfully familiar so many things were, the thatched roofs on little bamboo homes, bumpy roads and NGO signs everywhere. The smells of cheroots and betel nut took me right back to 2 years ago. The taste of Karen food and white rice almost made me tear up. The familiarity of everything, in spite of the newness, is almost more disorientating than a completely new and different experience would be. Words in Karen and Burmese that I didn't remember have started coming back, and I don't know how to feel about all of it. Mostly content, I think. Sort of unsettled also.

I'm excited and intimidated to be beginning this work, this project I have ahead of me. I know it's all a learning experience, and I also know that it won't all go according to plan. Right now that feels exciting, I'm pretty sure it won't when things start going wrong.