My Story by Marisa Gast
Marisa Gast
A suburban house with white picket fence, great backyard, wonderful friends, great neighborhood. Everything seems in place. However, life is not only that. Where are the new experiences? How can we be more active in the world? When can we make a little corner of the world better?
After living in Naperville for 18 years, my husband, Luis, and I wanted something different and more meaningful. Then we received a call from the Peace Corps to serve 27 months (a little more than 2 years) in Mozambique, Africa. Being from Colombia, South America and having been in the States for more than four decades, a new continent was appealing.
New challenges, interesting experiences and a chance to fulfill one of our dreams to make one place a little better. So, the house was sold. Goods donated. Closets emptied. All Packed. Gone.
I remember very fondly the day we arrived to live with a Mozambican family for the first three months, before we were assigned to our community for the rest of the time. It was a rainy day, and the 55 volunteers were so afraid to get off the bus that had taken us to the stadium where a group of maes (moms) were waiting as nervous as we were, to welcome us to their homes and the community.
They were in a semicircle, with signs with our names and singing in Changana, the dialect of that region. The colors of the capulanas (the fabric of the typical skirt), the sound of the chanting and these beautiful faces, made our hearts melt. And, even though it was cold, we got off the bus with a warmth in our hearts.
Walking everywhere in Africa is the norm and it is one of the advantages of this neighborhood. Walking tothe library, the supermarkets, churches and restaurants here reminds me of our way to the school, to the market and to the only Catholic church in town in Africa. We had a couple of free months to get to know our community there. It took a while for some people to see the mozungos (white people) in town as part of their lives.
Two years passed way too quickly, and we were back in the States. We chose to live in the city instead of coming back to suburban life.
Before leaving for Africa we went to Edgewater and checked the neighborhood. The lake, the restaurants, the library, won our hearts and we decided to land here. The return ticket said Edgewater. And here we are.
As our experience in Africa lives in our hearts, we found in Edgewater an elementary school that serves children from Eritrea and Ethiopia. I revived the story time that we did with the children of my community over the porch of our humble house every Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed the naivety and the joy of children's smiles. There are things that do not have an explanation, but being in connection with the African children in the United States was a reliving of the love that we received in Messica.
We started very easily to become part of the community in this neighborhood. Through Friends of the Edgewater Library, the Stitching Ladies knitting group, the Loyola community, Sierra Club, the African stores and other ethnic restaurants and even the gyms around the area make us feel at home.
The park and the lake fill me with peace.
The park and the lake fill me with joy.
The park and the lake are the reason for Edgewater!
Copyright © 2024, Marisa Gast