Please excuse my hiatus - I have been enjoying the relative luxuries of Oasis Motel in Gaborone, the capital city, with my fellow Bots 9 volunteers (“Bots 9” meaning the 49 other volunteers I train with). It was an occasionally overwhelming, intermittently informative, yet frequently fun two weeks of training. I trekked home today loaded down with two extra bags – one of a couple days’ groceries and another of thick manuals and guides on topics ranging from working with youth to project design management. On the combi ride from the motel to the bus rank, a fellow volunteer Mark commented, “I don’t feel like I’m going home. I feel like I’m leaving again.”
Looking back, I realize that the past four months have really been spent in a constant state of upheaval. Before I left for this training, had you asked me if I felt at home in my house, I would have responded in the affirmative. Now, as I sit on the floor in front of my awkwardly-placed coffee table (I live in a round house, remember? The layout is terrible!), I’m not sure this really does feel like my home. It’s like starting all over. Throughout Peace Corps training, you can’t escape the cliché that “Peace Corps is a rollercoaster of emotions.” Fact: I hate clichés. Fact: that particular cliché is absolutely true.
I have a week before the next term of school starts. With that time I hope to visit the government offices in my village and find my footing once again. I can’t honestly say it’s something I’m looking forward to, but it’s essential to my service… and probably, in the long run, my sanity.
Adding to my rollercoaster ride is a lot of worry about friends and family back at home. Praying for the Hilton family, the Paice family, the Kazarian family, JoBeth Dunsmoor, my Uncle Kenny, my Uncle Dan, and all of their family and friends. Here in Botswana, prayers for the Rampipi family and friends.
I always feel like I’m on a rollercoaster, but I never want to get off. There’s a certain high you’re always on. –Leonardo di Caprio
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