Got inspiration?

Today I was talking to one of my most favorite people in the world about living in a foreign place and about how difficult it can be sometimes when all the things you love and cherish are at home in America. And then I said something to him that I didn't realize about myself. I told him, "I'm not here in China doing anything noble really."

As tough as it is out here in China, it still feels like I am doing it only for myself. Training for Unicamp and being up there at camp for one week was also tough. But I had one thing that kept me going--the kids. No matter how much they rolled their eyes at me when I tried to play "Big Booty" with them, or how they would fight and not pay attention when I was teaching them how to make yarn necklaces, or how spiders would crawl all over my face and neck at night, I still loved it because I knew that I was giving the kids a break from whatever troubles and worries they might have back at home.

I feel like theres something more I should be doing here in China. It's not like China is free from the millions of problems developing countries face everyday. We might have working toilets and traffic lights here, but there is still plenty of poverty to go around.

Where did this all come from? A friend of mine is currently in Africa doing missionary work with his Church. He is an aspiring doctor and is traveling back to Africa for a second time counseling parents about worms, teaching kids English, and also teaching people about the Bible. There is no electricity where he lives. It takes him forty minutes to walk to fellowship. And he eats what the locals eat. I imagine it is not an easy life in Africa. And for me to complain about my restroom not having any real plumbing seems unwarranted compared to what he must deal with in Africa.

He included zero complaints in his email. Every comment was only positive. Maybe I feel like I need to do something more noble because his email reminded me that it really isn't that bad here in China.

The last line in his email was that he hopes he can return to Africa as a doctor and help people. It's people like him that reminds me not every pre-med is only interested in being a doctor for himself.

Oh I really hope I can do something really awesome in my life--something that I could be proud of and smile because I've made someone else's life a lot better. I can't wait for that day!

haha or maybe I shouldn't wait and just start acting!