Something to Be Gained

“Having been borne across the world, we are translated men. It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation; I cling, obstinately, to the notion that something can also be gained.” ― Salman Rushdie

In geometry, a translation is a physical shift that maintains the integrity of an object's form and features, but installs it in a new location, giving it new context and function. Standing in front of my 10th grade students, I am translated. The new context doesn't change who I am or what I do, but that person and those actions have a different impact. I have to listen, hear, and speak differently, both for the language limitations and because when I am in public I represent something much larger than myself, and I am always conscious of the weight my words and actions carry as a Peace Corps Volunteer, especially in Liberia. This isn't study abroad adventure. I find myself thinking differently, too. My fashion sense has re-adjusted to West African styles (some would argue that it never left), my sensibilities about correct public and private behavior have been altered, and there isn't any physical thing from home that I miss enough to impact my quality of life here. People are a different story, but that comes with the territory. I am still/again myself, but I have missed this version of me! When UN vehicles, Liberian English, and the collective community consciousness have become my new normal and I can't imagine myself in any other place, doing anything else, nothing feels lost in my geographic shift. I feel found in this translation. I fit differently here, not better or worse, but translated...