friends

So Josh asked about friends. Great question. So of course I have other Peace Corps friends that we see every couple of months. Adam one of the guys I really connected with during our training is posted on the opposite end of the country so we see each other maybe once a quarter or so. At site though is a different story. I have Tina which is fabulous (I recommend doing Peace Corps while you are married). And there are the other teachers who I guess I would call co-workers a type of friend in the same way you may call co-workers friends...you chat and discuss work and what not but outside of work there isn't really a whole lot. Then there are students. They are probably the closest thing that I have to friends. I spend a lot of time with them, I enjoy their company, we have fun together. The problem is that I have a hard time being 'friends' with them because they are students. It is drilled into you that the teacher student relationship is NOT a friendship because that can lead to a lot of problems. On top of that we typically are at school doing things for students and preparing lesson till between3:00-3:30 and then we go home start the fire for dinner have that ready to eat by 4:30-5:00 finish eating around 5:30 clean the dishes and put hot water in the thermos for the morning and have maybe 10 minutes before it gets dark to work in the garden. After it is dark it is read for a bit and then get in bed. So, I sometimes feel like there isn't really time. There isn't really much time for recreation and there isn't much time for relationship. granted part of that is because some the time that I do have for relationship (Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon) I like to spend on my relationship with my wife. It is odd how you can live together and work at the same place and still find a way to neglect the type of relationship that is needed to have a a marriage work. And honestly that is the friend that I need most and cherish most. So as far as friends go, i have a few but none of them are close. I'll try to think of some good stories of what type of things I've/we've done with people that will give a better idea of the type of friendships we DO have.